NO WORRIES in Cork hurling for a change. Denis Walsh is ensconced in the role of facilitator seemingly to the liking of the playing panel, replacing Gerald McCarthy last year despite his previous intercounty managerial experience being just two seasons with the Waterford footballers eight years ago.

But, as Walsh says himself, he has been “coaching for a long, long time”.

That was enough to sate the most powerful players’ union in the history of Gaelic games. Enough to get their minds back on evolving the Cork style of play.

The short hand-passing approach has not been entirely dispensed with but in place of a Joe Deane the inside target man is now a pick between Aisake Ó hAilpín or Michael Cussen or both. Such a height advantage makes the early inside delivery that more enticing.

Walsh feels there is enough talent to alter tactics depending on the opposition. On Sunday it is Galway in the league final but the championship battle with Tipperary four weeks later will probably see a different approach.

“Tactically I wouldn’t be trying to impose my agenda on the players. I would look at what we have and work around that – work backwards from there really. I have looked at the material we have for the inside line and it would be remiss of me not to utilise that.

“I think we have guys who can do damage inside and we work on that as much as we can. We need to get good ball into them and that’s the test, the same as football really, to get that good ball in. You can get bad ball in all day long but trying to get good stuff in and create space . . . Traditionally over the past few years with the type of player Cork had, and so much pace out the field, they were able to take scores 50 or 60 yards out the field. Those players are still there of course, we haven’t forgotten that.”

They were 14 to 1 for the league title at the outset. The bookies were unsure of what Cork team would come out to play so they gave the well-versed punter some tasty odds. Walsh took the reins mid-league 2009 for a trip to Nowlan Park.

It resulted in a horrific drubbing from a rampant Kilkenny but it was the start of a process leading up the current crossroads. Due to enforced industrial action, last season was largely a write-off and yet it was important.

“From everyone’s point of view really most hurling people are interested to see how Cork are moving. We may have been under a bit of pressure to get going. But going back to last year we got a fair bit of momentum in the first few weeks.

“The Tipperary game, we were very unlucky to lose that. We haven’t changed much around but we did target every game. We did target rotating the team a little bit. We sent out a balanced team every time we went out.

“Momentum was everything with the way the league is formulated. Like Declan Kidney said last year when they won the Grand Slam, winning the first game meant you were still in the game. that was my attitude this year really.

“Once we won the first two games then the league final became a possibility because lads began to motor.” A capable Cork coach referencing another one.