BEN O’CONNOR CAN appreciate the glare of the spotlight will be intense.
There is an inevitabilty to that given Cork’s 2025 season mixed soaring highs like Munster and league success with a shattering low as they crumbled in the second half of the All-Ireland final at the hands of Tipperary.
With Pat Ryan having vacated the managerial position and O’Connor taking over, there is natural intrigue surrounding how Cork will respond as a new season swings into view.
If it was felt that O’Connor was taking over a group whose confidence was battered by the events of last July, he has opted for a look forward rather than reflective approach.
“When the fellas came in, obviously we sat down and talked about the All-Ireland final. That had to be discussed. After that, that was it. We’re driving on for 2026 and we’re not looking back at all.
“I had plenty of bad days and it didn’t bother me. I was playing matches, my mother was above in the stand and fellas would be alongside her roaring in abuse. That wouldn’t bother me. That’s my mind-frame, that’s the way I’m wired. I don’t care.
“And I think that’s the way all these fellas are as well. They have to be, because they’re getting abuse. Every day they go out, there’s some fella going to be picked on. If those people came up to Na Piarsaigh or Páirc Uí Rinn on a Tuesday or a Thursday or a Saturday morning and see what those fellas put their bodies through. And then you have an ignorant cábóg above in the stand and he roaring and shouting abuse.
“There will be people who’ll tell you that’s an awful way to be, to not be worried about the general public. Well, we are. The decent hurling people, we want to go out and win matches for them. We’ve a great support and we realise that. We’re trying to keep it nice and tight and we’re trying to keep every fella confident.”
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Ben O'Connor and his management team at half-time of their recent clash with Limerick. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
He is conscious of the outside noise but determined not to be overwhelmed by it.
“I’m not on social media and I don’t read papers. I know there’s noise going on in the background and I know there are people commenting. But my job inside in this group is to keep every fella as happy as possible.
“As for expectation, where else would you want to be? I don’t want to be in any other dressing room in the country. Fair play to Pat and his lads for the last couple of years. They have a lot of the heavy lifting done. We’re just hoping that we’ll be able to tweak it here or there a small bit to put us back at the top of the ladder again. All the tools are there.”
One of the changes made has been the addition of Gerry Hussey to the Cork setup, filling the role previously held by Gary Keegan, and tasked with tuning the minds of the players correctly.
“I just saw him there, a few articles and seminars. If you want the best, you have to go straight to the top and Gerry is the best. He’s been involved with boxing and GAA teams. What we like about him is that he knows the GAA. Delighted that Gerry got involved and he’s head, neck and heels in it now at the moment.
“A bit of positivity. Vibrancy. Even if he only walked in and sat in the middle of us here, you’d feed off him. He’s so positive. He comes in and he’s one of the lads. He’ll have a mess and a joke and a craic. When a point has to be made, he’s well able to make it fairly clear.”
Gerry Hussey. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The pre-season circuit brought O’Connor to the Gaelic Grounds and Mallow as Cork manager but the sense of bigtime will hit home on Sunday afternoon.
Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a league opener as Cork manager. A dress rehearsal against Waterford ahead of their Munster meeting in May. He could get sucked into dwelling on the personal significance of the day, but O’Connor bats that away.
“It’s not about me. I’m one of a group that’s involved in this. Obviously I’m delighted, my small ones will see me walking out and they’ll be delighted. They’ll be waving down at me and they’ll have questions and answers for me after the match. I suppose it’s a big day out but it’s not about me, it’s not about any individual, it’s about the group.”
He thinks back to his playing days when he was starting out in the late ’90s with Cork and the different world he inhabited then as a league hurler.
“I got a phone call, it was on the Saturday and Cork were playing Wexford in Gorey on the Sunday. It was Fred Sheedy who rang my oul fella, there were no mobiles so it was the landline he rang at home.
“He said, ‘Would he be interested in going off to Gorey?’ and the answer was, ‘I’ll ring you back in the morning, Fred’, because I wasn’t at home. My oul fella said to me, ‘You won’t be playing or anything but it’s just a day-out, go off for the drive’.
“I went up to Gorey and I got 20 minutes, so it was well worth going that day. Things kicked off from there after. Fair play to Fred Sheedy, God rest his soul. He was the first man who got me going. And Jimmy, of course. All Jimmy said to me going on was, ‘Go on, get on a few balls if you can’. Nice and easy-going.
“Even comparing the times, the field is way up at the top of the town in Gorey so we were walking down afterwards to the hotel. I was with Fred, he’d be Kilworth. Even though there’s an hour between us, we’re considered locals! We went into the hotel and we were down early. He said, ‘We’ll have a drink’ and I was saying, ‘What do I say here now?’
“So I said I’d have a pint bottle and Fred said, ‘No bother at all’. A pint bottle of cider with one of the selectors after your first league game, it wouldn’t happen these days but I suppose that’s a sign of the times moving on.”
Ben O'Connor during his playing days as a Cork hurler. Tom Honan / INPHO
Tom Honan / INPHO / INPHO
He’s sought to move with those times and retains an open mind when it comes to the question of what tactical blueprint his Cork side will adopt.
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“Open to everything and anything. I have a way that I’d like to see it played with a touch of class. I like good hurlers but I’d like to think that when a bit of fight and a bit of dirt would have to be around, I wouldn’t shy away from that either when I was playing myself and I hope the players that I have picked out are all the same. We’ll be able to battle.”
“Some teams think they have to have a sweeper and I have no issue with it. When it came in first, I suppose Waterford were the best team at it and people were disgusted with it. Next thing, a few other teams were trying it now and again. I have no problem with it. We’ll know how to play with it and we’ll hopefully know how to play against it as well.”
Wins are still the currency he trades in and where the focus is applied.
“I want to win every game, no matter what it is. Challenge matches, everything, that’s the way I’d be wired. I like to win everything. If it was only a challenge match out on the 4G next week, I’d want to win that. If I was playing five-a-side soccer at home, I’d want to win that as well.
“I want to get the best out of every fella that we have. We’ll be tough taskmasters and we’ll demand.”
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Ben O'Connor: 'I had plenty of bad days and it didn't bother me, that's the way I'm wired'
BEN O’CONNOR CAN appreciate the glare of the spotlight will be intense.
There is an inevitabilty to that given Cork’s 2025 season mixed soaring highs like Munster and league success with a shattering low as they crumbled in the second half of the All-Ireland final at the hands of Tipperary.
With Pat Ryan having vacated the managerial position and O’Connor taking over, there is natural intrigue surrounding how Cork will respond as a new season swings into view.
If it was felt that O’Connor was taking over a group whose confidence was battered by the events of last July, he has opted for a look forward rather than reflective approach.
“When the fellas came in, obviously we sat down and talked about the All-Ireland final. That had to be discussed. After that, that was it. We’re driving on for 2026 and we’re not looking back at all.
“I had plenty of bad days and it didn’t bother me. I was playing matches, my mother was above in the stand and fellas would be alongside her roaring in abuse. That wouldn’t bother me. That’s my mind-frame, that’s the way I’m wired. I don’t care.
“And I think that’s the way all these fellas are as well. They have to be, because they’re getting abuse. Every day they go out, there’s some fella going to be picked on. If those people came up to Na Piarsaigh or Páirc Uí Rinn on a Tuesday or a Thursday or a Saturday morning and see what those fellas put their bodies through. And then you have an ignorant cábóg above in the stand and he roaring and shouting abuse.
“There will be people who’ll tell you that’s an awful way to be, to not be worried about the general public. Well, we are. The decent hurling people, we want to go out and win matches for them. We’ve a great support and we realise that. We’re trying to keep it nice and tight and we’re trying to keep every fella confident.”
He is conscious of the outside noise but determined not to be overwhelmed by it.
“I’m not on social media and I don’t read papers. I know there’s noise going on in the background and I know there are people commenting. But my job inside in this group is to keep every fella as happy as possible.
“As for expectation, where else would you want to be? I don’t want to be in any other dressing room in the country. Fair play to Pat and his lads for the last couple of years. They have a lot of the heavy lifting done. We’re just hoping that we’ll be able to tweak it here or there a small bit to put us back at the top of the ladder again. All the tools are there.”
One of the changes made has been the addition of Gerry Hussey to the Cork setup, filling the role previously held by Gary Keegan, and tasked with tuning the minds of the players correctly.
“I just saw him there, a few articles and seminars. If you want the best, you have to go straight to the top and Gerry is the best. He’s been involved with boxing and GAA teams. What we like about him is that he knows the GAA. Delighted that Gerry got involved and he’s head, neck and heels in it now at the moment.
“A bit of positivity. Vibrancy. Even if he only walked in and sat in the middle of us here, you’d feed off him. He’s so positive. He comes in and he’s one of the lads. He’ll have a mess and a joke and a craic. When a point has to be made, he’s well able to make it fairly clear.”
The pre-season circuit brought O’Connor to the Gaelic Grounds and Mallow as Cork manager but the sense of bigtime will hit home on Sunday afternoon.
Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a league opener as Cork manager. A dress rehearsal against Waterford ahead of their Munster meeting in May. He could get sucked into dwelling on the personal significance of the day, but O’Connor bats that away.
“It’s not about me. I’m one of a group that’s involved in this. Obviously I’m delighted, my small ones will see me walking out and they’ll be delighted. They’ll be waving down at me and they’ll have questions and answers for me after the match. I suppose it’s a big day out but it’s not about me, it’s not about any individual, it’s about the group.”
He thinks back to his playing days when he was starting out in the late ’90s with Cork and the different world he inhabited then as a league hurler.
“I got a phone call, it was on the Saturday and Cork were playing Wexford in Gorey on the Sunday. It was Fred Sheedy who rang my oul fella, there were no mobiles so it was the landline he rang at home.
“He said, ‘Would he be interested in going off to Gorey?’ and the answer was, ‘I’ll ring you back in the morning, Fred’, because I wasn’t at home. My oul fella said to me, ‘You won’t be playing or anything but it’s just a day-out, go off for the drive’.
“I went up to Gorey and I got 20 minutes, so it was well worth going that day. Things kicked off from there after. Fair play to Fred Sheedy, God rest his soul. He was the first man who got me going. And Jimmy, of course. All Jimmy said to me going on was, ‘Go on, get on a few balls if you can’. Nice and easy-going.
“Even comparing the times, the field is way up at the top of the town in Gorey so we were walking down afterwards to the hotel. I was with Fred, he’d be Kilworth. Even though there’s an hour between us, we’re considered locals! We went into the hotel and we were down early. He said, ‘We’ll have a drink’ and I was saying, ‘What do I say here now?’
“So I said I’d have a pint bottle and Fred said, ‘No bother at all’. A pint bottle of cider with one of the selectors after your first league game, it wouldn’t happen these days but I suppose that’s a sign of the times moving on.”
He’s sought to move with those times and retains an open mind when it comes to the question of what tactical blueprint his Cork side will adopt.
“Open to everything and anything. I have a way that I’d like to see it played with a touch of class. I like good hurlers but I’d like to think that when a bit of fight and a bit of dirt would have to be around, I wouldn’t shy away from that either when I was playing myself and I hope the players that I have picked out are all the same. We’ll be able to battle.”
“Some teams think they have to have a sweeper and I have no issue with it. When it came in first, I suppose Waterford were the best team at it and people were disgusted with it. Next thing, a few other teams were trying it now and again. I have no problem with it. We’ll know how to play with it and we’ll hopefully know how to play against it as well.”
Wins are still the currency he trades in and where the focus is applied.
“I want to win every game, no matter what it is. Challenge matches, everything, that’s the way I’d be wired. I like to win everything. If it was only a challenge match out on the 4G next week, I’d want to win that. If I was playing five-a-side soccer at home, I’d want to win that as well.
“I want to get the best out of every fella that we have. We’ll be tough taskmasters and we’ll demand.”
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Ben O'Connor Cork Cork Leader GAA Hurling