VETERAN ATTACKER PATRICK Horgan has insisted that his age is irrelevant as he gears up for a triple trophy assault with the Cork hurlers.

Saturday’s National League clash with Galway, at home on Leeside, is effectively a semi-final tie as the winners will advance to the final.

Cork haven’t won a league title since 1998 whilst many of Horgan’s colleagues have never won a Munster title either and the county has come up short in three All-Ireland finals in his time.

The 36-year-old is adamant that the current Rebels squad is the strongest he’s been part of though and expressed confidence in his own ability to keep adding value despite his advancing age.

“It’s a hard one because you get reminded of your age all the time,” said Horgan at the launch of the John West Feile 2025.

“Age shouldn’t be a thing (in hurling), not just because of the age I am. When you actually break it down into what do you need to do, to play at the level we’re playing, I think I’m able.

You probably hear from a lot of players that have moved on, they say you get a feeling at some stage, ‘this is it, I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I can’t get to the ball, I don’t really have the appetite to go and do the extras before training or afterwards’.

“But for me nothing like that has happened yet. I love it. I feel like I’m competing really well, same as anyone else down at training.”

Horgan is one of 34 different players who has featured for Cork so far in this season’s Division 1A campaign, boss Ryan’s options buttressed by the county’s three All-Ireland U20 wins in the last five seasons. As far as Horgan is concerned, this is the strong group he’s been part of in his 18 seasons as a Cork senior.

“Without a doubt, yeah,” he said. “Even though we still have a lot to do, like, we haven’t really done anything yet but we have a really strong panel, that’s one thing we do have.

“Everybody who togs out with us has a real chance of playing, there’s nobody who can settle into a position and be cosy.”

Cork hurler Patrick Horgan was speaking at the launch of John West Féile 2025. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE

The Glen Rovers man reckons last year’s MacCarthy Cup runners up are particularly stacked in attack.

“We probably have about 12 or 15,” he said of their forward options. “Again, everybody has a real chance of being in. Like, Paudie Power, he was playing out of his skin, absolutely hopping, and it’s just unfortunate he’s injured now and he won’t be available. There’s loads more and they’re all putting their hands up.”

Horgan said there was never any particular moment where he wondered if he’d come back himself this year though he rejected the suggestion that vying for personal scoring awards with Kilkenny’s TJ Reid may have influenced his decision.

“He’s actually older than me, a few months,” smiled Horgan. “I’d imagine he plays for the same reason I do. There’s no way you could only play for that (scoring records) and go down and train as hard as we’re training.

It’s really tough, watching what you’re eating, the time you’re sleeping, what you’re drinking, then the training on top of that. There’s way too much in it to be doing it for something like that.”

The All-Ireland then is the north star?

“That’s obviously everyone’s goal,” said Horgan. “But I’ve said it for the last few years, if we ever do win it, I’d say the same thing – it’s just one day. It’s what everyone wants but I just love the routine of it, going training and getting better every day.”

Right now, Horgan says it’s principally the league match against Galway that is energising him. Technically, two more wins will see Cork crowned National League champions.

“You’re talking there about the Championship – we have a game on Saturday night,” said Horgan. “After Saturday night, I don’t know what we have on, whether we’re playing again, whether we’re not. That’s how busy the schedule is and that’s how important every single game is.”

Cork have won three of their five 1A games so far, drawing with Limerick and losing to Tipp. They’re fresh off morale boosting wins over Kilkenny and Clare, firing 6-20 past the league and All-Ireland holders.

“I don’t think we have put in our best performance yet,” maintained Horgan.

I think we’ve a lot of room for improvement. And we know that. When we chat at training, we know there’s a lot more in the tank but we need to get it out. And that’s the aim.

Horgan shrugged at the suggestion that Cork could potentially use a league success as a springboard to summer gains, like Clare did in 2024.

“Who knows how important it could be,” he said. “Talking with Limerick, Clare, even Kilkenny people recently, all those teams have trophies, even from last year for some of them. There’s more teams outside of that who have won it in previous years. That’s just something we still have to break into.”