The nights may be dark, and the training sessions cold and wet, but that hasn’t dampened Mark Coleman’s excitement for the Ben O’Connor era of Cork hurling.
The 2017 All-Star was naturally sad to see Pat Ryan depart as manager after coming so close to All-Ireland glory.
That emotion has since been replaced by a fresh feeling sweeping through the Rebel camp as they begin their 2026 preparations under new boss O’Connor.
“It’s been a big change,” said Coleman at the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League launch. “There’s a lot of new faces around in the backroom team and the panel as well.
“Naturally enough, it’s always a tough time of year to go back training, but on the whole, it’s exciting to have a new management team. Everyone has a point to prove again.
“It was disappointing to see Pat go, but maybe it brings that bit of freshness again.
“It’s their first year, so they’ll probably drive it on another bit. It’s probably not what we were thinking at the time when Pat left, but it definitely brings a bit of freshness into it.”
As for first impressions of O’Connor’s management style, Coleman says the focus has remained firmly on S&C to date.
“We haven’t had much interaction so far this time of year, with no games,” he said.
“It’s very much strength-and-conditioning-based at the moment. I suppose time will tell, really.”
The same applies when asked about Niall O’Halloran’s departure as coach, three months after being appointed to the role.
When asked if he’d had many dealings with O’Halloran, Coleman replies: “No, absolutely not. We didn’t do any sessions with Niall at the time.”
Cork’s second-half collapse in the All-Ireland final against Tipperary was a topic they didn’t shy away from in the aftermath.
From those conversations, Coleman doesn’t detect any lingering scars which would impede their future prospects.
Coleman says the sobering defeat to Tipp will stand to Cork in the long run
He said: “You’re not going to just forget about it and put it to the back of your mind, because you need to take the learnings from it.
“There probably is a few things that we might sit down and try to figure out, but it’s a difficult one to talk about.
“You have to look at the team as a whole and see that there’s a young team there, and if you look at ’23, ’24, ’25, it’s been better every year.
“And that ’26 is going to be another step in the right direction, because ’25 was probably better than ’24 in terms of a bit more consistency and better performances.
“You have to look at it that way and look at ’26 again as another opportunity to build on that.”
Heading into his 11th year on the Cork panel, Coleman sees plenty of evolution in his style of play compared to those early days.
“I’m a different player in a way, in terms of when I came in first, I was very much a small, scrawny, little half-back.
“I was trying to get on loose ball around the place, whereas now, the way the game’s gone, it’s now reverted back to a bit more traditional at times.
“You need to be that bit more physical around the half-back line and you develop physically in the gym as you get older.
“The game has demanded it. You need to be a bit more engaging, physically, around the half-back line.”
Widely hailed as a classy hurler, Coleman reckons his defensive work is just as strong.
“I wouldn’t be seen as a defensive player, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a weak point of mine or anything.
“Maybe it was in the past, but certainly not anymore, I would say.
“Naturally enough, there’s probably people who are better defenders than hurlers, and their hurling ability wouldn’t get as much credit as it deserves, either.”