Brian Hayes feels last year’s painful All-Ireland final defeat might ultimately help Cork become a better team.
And he doesn’t believe the fallout from that loss to Tipperary last July will prove a burden in this year’s championship.
The Rebels led the 2025 decider by six points at half-time, but at the long whistle were on the wrong side of a 3-27 to 1-18 scoreline, managing to add just two points in a barely believable second half.
The manner of the collapse led to fears of long-term implications for the group, but with Ben O’Connor coming in as manager Cork managed to put together a very decent league campaign this spring.
READ MORE
And Hayes says the players are looking to the future now, not the past.
“I suppose we didn’t really have much time together because we were back to the clubs,” Hayes says of the weeks after the All-Ireland final defeat.
“But I suppose the initial few days after, you’re just trying to stick around the group and get a good support network around you. It was difficult at the time, but it’s definitely not something you’d be carrying with you going forward.
“It’s all part of the journey and we’ll definitely be better for it happening going forward, hopefully.”
Cork and Tipp renew acquaintances at Semple Stadium on April 19th in the first round of the Munster championship. The sides also met in the league in February, when the Rebels won by seven points.
Hayes says there’ll be no sense within the Cork dressingroom that the upcoming trip to Thurles is a chance to make amends for the All-Ireland final.
“No, I wouldn’t think it’s a revenge mission to be honest with you. Every season is different.
“We’ve already played Tipp in the league down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh this year and beat them. Even that game, that wasn’t a revenge game.
“We have had many battles with Tipp, and indeed with other teams over the years, so you cannot really focus on one game.
“Obviously there is that small bit of hurt from the All-Ireland final that might come into outside people’s views of the game, but for us personally, we are just going to be focusing on a performance.
“Once the game starts, I don’t think anyone on the pitch, whether they be Tipp or Cork, will be thinking about last July, because the noise is going to be crazy and you are going to take everything on its own merits. It is important not to overthink it. Looking back on last July would be irrelevant.”
But Hayes reckons there were plenty of positives for Cork to take from this year’s league campaign.
They lost the Division 1A final to Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds last Sunday but won five of their six group matches.
“[There were] some positive away wins that we’ll be looking to for confidence going away on the road in the Munster championship.
“We obviously wanted to win the league after being in the final but the result just didn’t go our way.
“Even losing against Limerick, we have another match played and more minutes in the legs and the pace of the league final was even different to the league in general. So we’re closer now to that championship pace.”
Hayes also welcomes Cork’s quick turnaround from league to championship, feeling the two-week window is ideal for the Rebels to get their summer up and running.
“I think the way it’s actually happening is brilliant. Limerick will be watching on the first day, I don’t really think that would suit us, after the league [final] you want to get back out there now and play the match.
“I think whoever is not playing the first match might be slow to start in the games. I think the teams who play their first match and are going in again the week after will be a bit sharper.”
Donal Óg Cusack’s comments on Tipperary last weekend poured some extra fuel on the fire ahead of the Semple Stadium encounter, with the former Cork goalkeeper saying that while Tipp can rise fast they also fall fast.
“I don’t really spend much time on social media these days, or as much as I might have when I first came on the scene,” says Hayes.
“We’re only focused on how we’re doing in training, on what’s happening next, whether that’s training or a practice match at the weekend or whether it’s a championship match.
“That’s no different now for the next 10 days.”
*Brian Hayes was speaking at the launch of Centra’s continuing sponsorship of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship.
