BEN O’CONNOR has urged Cork to win a league of their own for the first time since 1998.
During a 14-year playing career with the Rebels at senior level, O’Connor was a three-time All-Ireland SHC winner, twice alongside twin brother Jerry.
But National League success eluded the Newtownshandrum star, who burst on to the scene in 1999 and marked his debut season with Liam MacCarthy Cup success.
Ending a 20-year wait for an All-Ireland is the top priority for current boss Pat Ryan.
Not since O’Connor delivered a man-of-the-match performance in the 2005 final against Galway have Cork reached the summit.
Yet the achievements of Clare last season and Limerick 12 months earlier have shown that a league triumph can still act as a springboard for greater glory.
O’Connor said: “I think you go out to win every game and try to win the league.
“There are two competitions you play for every year — the league and Championship.
“Win the league, put that to bed and go after the next one then. I think there’s definitely something to be said about it.
“You have competitive games. You look at the teams that don’t get to the league final, they’re looking for challenge matches that weekend. Why not have a proper competitive match?”
Cork, who began their league campaign by swatting aside Wexford, will be aiming for back-to-back wins when they host Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.
The Division 1 final is on April 6 — a fortnight before Cork go to Ennis for a Munster opener in a bid to avenge last summer’s All-Ireland final defeat to Clare. O’Connor insisted: “Once there’s a couple of weeks in between, it’s fine.
“All counties have big panels now so every fella has game time. It’s ideal to blood fellas as well.”
Having managed Cork to an All-Ireland Under-20 title in 2023, O’Connor is well aware of the level of underage talent being generated on Leeside.
But the two-time All-Star, who stepped down from the role last year, said: “The only problem is that we have the young fellas coming through, we have a few in the middle, and then we have some of the older fellas at 28 and 29.
“They have to be doing it now because when you hit 30, it’s not better you’re getting. So now is the time.
“Last year, we could have been out of Munster and we ended up getting to the All-Ireland final, so we got our bit of luck, we took it, we drove on.
“It’s a big league ahead. Last year and the year before, there was a lot of looking at players and seeing what would they do. But I think Pat and the boys now probably have a fair idea.
“They can pick 12 of their Championship team already, bar no one getting injured. So it’s trying to get a settled team as fast as they can.”
l BEN O’CONNOR and twin brother Jerry are part of the line-up for the latest series of Laochra Gael, which is broadcast on TG4 on Thursdays at 9.30pm. The epi
