Some teams might quiver at the prospect of playing a Munster under-21 football final in the same week as a league semi-final, but not Cork. Such is their current strength and depth across both codes that it would hardly matter if they played both those games on the same day.

Alan Cadogan is just one demonstration of that. This evening, against Tipperary, he hopes to win a second Munster under-21 football title, having also played on the Cork team that beat Tipp in last year’s final.

Cadogan might well have featured for the Cork senior footballers on Sunday too, when they take on Dublin in the league semi-final at Croke Park, except he's thrown his weight behind the Cork hurlers this spring instead – and that's enough of a demand for now.

No shortage
He's not alone, either, as older brother Eoin is also playing football and hurling for Cork right now. So there's been no shortage of advice, and Cadogan believes it is possible to play both codes as long as there is agreement between both managers – in his case Jimmy Barry-Murphy on the hurling side, and Seán Hayes on the under-21 football side.

“I’ve nothing to do with that really,” he says. “The two managers talk to each other and communicate, so that’s the way I look at it. And we’re taking it game by game.

“People hear the word dual player and think you’re out six or seven nights a week. That’s not the case. It’s the extra stuff that you do in recovery that makes the difference.”

With home advantage in Páirc Uí Rinn this evening, and with the prospect of winning four titles in succession, Cork will start as clear favourites, although Cadogan won’t be underestimating Tipp.