Cork footballers now desperately short of attacking options

Whatever happens to the Cork footballers in 2025 we can safely say that they will not be fielding the best set of forwards in the county anytime.

Injury has already removed Conor Corbett from the reckoning, as the Clyda Rovers attacker suffered another cruel cruciate ligament blow in August. Cathail O’Mahony has had his development seriously curtailed in recent years, again due to injuries, meaning Cork manager John Cleary cannot be confident of building an attack around the talented Mitchelstown man.

Castlehaven’s Michael Hurley has been one of the best club forwards in the county for the past two seasons, kicking 0-5 from play in the 2023 county final and four more in the 2024 renewal, but hasn't featured for Cork since scoring 0-2 in the 2021 Munster final.

Cork lost another talented attacker last February when St Vincent’s Blake Murphy stepped away from the panel after becoming frustrated with his lack of game time.

There still seemed to be plenty of attacking options for Cork but in recent weeks they've decreased with the retirement of John O’Rourke, Steven Sherlock and Damien Gore stepping away from the panel and now the news Jack Cahalane has also opted out.

Those players combined would make a decent forward line on their own.

O’Rourke owes Cork nothing after a dozen years for the cause, while Gore has been in and around the panel for a number of seasons without ever looking like nailing down a jersey, again hindered by injuries.

Sherlock and Cahalane look like real losses though.

Sherlock is arguably the most natural finisher in Cork and with the new rules coming in next year, with two points being available for shots scored outside the 40-metre arc, you would have thought that the St Finbarr’s man would have shone.

The frustration of being seen as an impact sub obviously irked Sherlock, but for him to be gone at just 27 years of age is a considerable blow.

Cahalane’s decision is arguably as equally as frustrating given his impressive displays this year in helping to drive the Haven to a second successive county crown. He looked like developing into the type of ball-playing centre-forward that could have helped transform the Cork attack from their over-reliance on the running game.

The expectation is that he is now focusing his efforts on cracking the Cork hurling panel, although you'd imagine he'd have to leapfrog the likes of Padraig Power and Robbie Cotter to achieve that, which will not be an easy task.

DEPTH

When Cork won the All-Ireland back in 2010 they were able to spring forwards of the quality of Ballyclough’s Colm O’Neill and Carbery Rangers’ John Hayes off the pine.

I’m sure they would have preferred to be starters that day against Down but would have known there was serious competition for places. They'd have also been aware the role of impacting off the bench in the late minutes of big championship games was an important one.

In 2025 John Cleary will undoubtedly look towards his bench during big league and championship fixtures and he will probably lament not being able to spring some of the aforementioned names.

Conor Corbett of Cork is tackled by Alan Sweeney of Clare. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

It is not only in the forward line where Cork have lost a lot of experience either, as the likes of Killian O’Hanlon, Tom Clancy and Kevin Flahive are also gone.

The new football rules are an opportunity to reset and try new approaches, but the mass exodus from the Cork panel in recent weeks and months mean that it is hard to feel confident right now about Cork having a successful league and championship campaign next year.

Especially up front, as it would seem that the players who could have exploited the new rules simply will not be there.

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