Hurling Interview with Seán Óg Ó hAilpín: Ian O'Riordan talks to the defender who assesses Cork's form ahead of their championship opener against Waterford

For the second year running Cork are on course to lose all three matches in the play-off phase of the Allianz National Hurling League. That clearly didn't harm their championship preparations last year, and according to captain Seán Óg Ó hAilpín the All-Ireland champions are once again finding some value in defeat.

It seems Cork have already moved on from the league, and aren't at all concerned about what happens in the last match against Galway on Sunday.

In assessing their current form Ó hAilpín makes it clear their thoughts are already on the Munster championship meeting with Waterford, now just over a month away.

"I'm not saying the league wasn't a priority," says Ó hAilpín, "and we would have loved to be in the final. But it's not like we were getting hammered in matches. And John Allen always wanted to blood in new players, which he's definitely done. I think he has a fair idea already of what team he'll put out against Waterford.

"So for us the league definitely served its purpose. And John is definitely focusing on the positives, not the negatives. But we have Waterford coming up on May 22nd and there'd be no better way to kick-start the championship than beating Waterford.

"They beat us last year, and the rivalry between us for the past few years has been huge. A lot of the players taking the field that day have known each other going back years. We know it's going to be such a crunch game. We believe we can beat them and they believe that can beat us."

The change in management certainly hasn't upset their league form. Allen had worked under Donal O'Grady for the previous two years, and according to Ó hAilpín the transition was seamless.

"With the exception of the three or four new guys that came in we all knew John very well, and he knew all of us. In terms of the training and the atmosphere over the past two years it's no different. He's changed a few things to his own style, but he has our full respect. And when a manager has that then he's already on a winner.

"The main difference to Donal is his approach to players. Donal was in your face, literally. And he wouldn't leave your face until he's happy. John has a different approach, but still demands exactly the same respect."

It was envisaged that the youngest of the Ó hAilpín brothers, Aisake, would join the Cork panel for 2005, but instead he joined Setanta on the other side of the world, signing up with the Australian Rules club Carlton Blues. The three brothers were together to help Na Piarsaigh win the Cork club title last October, but the elder Ó hAilpín can only wonder now if they'll ever play together again.

"I'd like to think the three of us could wear Cork jerseys in Croke Park together some day. But Setanta is doing something almost every GAA player has wanted to do. And I respect that. I'll always talk with them, but last year I was probably on the phone to Setanta every three days. I made a conscious decision this year that he's got to get on with his own life in Australia, and I've got to cut the ties a little, and get on with my own life. So I talk to him now like every two weeks.

"He's had another solid pre-season, and is playing in the reserves at the minute. But he's just taking it from there. The coaches have been telling him that it took the great Jim Stynes four years to break it out there, so don't put added pressure on yourself. He's just got to be patient. But he hasn't looked back. He loves the regime and the lifestyle.

"And it's a lot tougher than some people perceive the professional lifestyle to be. Setanta was getting up at 6.30 in the morning for pre-season training, and I don't think he'd been up that early before in his life."

Ó hAilpín's impressive role with Ireland in last year's International Rules Tests prompted rumours of a return to football, which up to three years ago he had successfully juggled with his hurling career. But he was happy to put an end to the rumours.

"I've made a decision that my football days are over. I just don't have time. I don't even have enough time for hurling. When I was trying to dabble in them both I was a good team player, but it wasn't like I was winning any individual awards.

"And I feel so much fresher in matches now than when I played the two. I'd be going into dressingrooms legless before even going out on the pitch. After the accident I had a couple of years ago I was more or less told it wasn't viable to play both games with that knee.

"But the reality was you're playing against someone like DJ Carey one week, who's been playing hurling 12 months of the year, and next week you're out against someone like Dara Ó Cinneide, who's playing football for 12 months of the year. Not even Superman couldn't manage that."