'In the playing group, we appreciate him' - The wait for a Croke Park chance with Cork
Stephen Barry
FOR DAMIEN CAHALANE, Saturday’s Croke Park start against Galway has been eight years in the making.
The Cork full-back last filled a starting jersey at GAA HQ back in 2018 for the epic All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Limerick.
Since then, Cahalane has swapped in and out of the team at different junctures, but his Croke Park days have been populated by bench roles against Kilkenny (2019 and ‘21), Limerick (‘21), Clare (‘24), and Tipperary (‘25).
That’s still significant minutes across three All-Ireland finals – an hour’s hurling combined on the biggest day of the year – but the opportunity now presents itself to head into the showpiece as a starter.
The St Finbarr’s hurler, who turns 34 next month, seems to have been Plan C under new management at the outset of 2026. Dáire O’Leary got the league in possession of the No.3 jersey, while Ciarán Joyce stepped in for the championship, until crumpling with a season-ending knee injury.
As Cork have done so regularly at big moments across recent years, they called for Cahalane.
More highly regarded as a footballer in his underage days, Cahalane’s longevity in the inter-county game is a mark of distinction.
He spent 2014 to ‘18 as a starter, winning three Munster medals between wing- and full-back in that stretch. His next, in 2025, was also won from the off, playing the entire 90 minutes and launching a long-range score against Limerick.
Those were the high points. Three championship red cards – both for successive yellows – have been career lows, against Galway (2015) and Waterford (‘17 and ‘24).
In between, starts became more sporadic across John Meyler’s final year, Kieran Kingston’s second coming, and Pat Ryan’s term. There was one in the 2024 championship, one in the 2025 league, one in the 2025 championship, and one in the 2026 league.
Yet in a pinch, each Cork boss turns to Cahalane. Used to training-ground tussles with Barrs teammate Brian Hayes, the defender is often entrusted with the opposition’s target man.
He juggled between Stephen Bennett and Seán Walsh against Waterford, while picking up Peter Duggan against Clare. His defensive instincts were shown early on the latter occasion, sprinting back onto the goalline and sitting on the sliotar to prevent Ian Galvin’s shot from crossing the threshold.
Cork’s Munster final deployment of Cahalane on Peter Casey was a notable change of emphasis – one he applied himself well to. He had moved on from the diminutive attacker before his game-winning salvo, switching onto Aaron Gilland and then Gearóid Hegarty, who did shake some change from Cork after relocating inside.
Against Offaly, Cahalane produced a couple of block downs on Brian Duignan before Oisín Kelly got away for a consolation goal.
Speaking about the full-back in the past week, Darragh Fitzgibbon hailed his psyche.
“In the playing group, we appreciate him more than anybody. He’s an incredible athlete,” said the Rebel captain.
“The one thing I’ve always admired about him, even since I came in, is his mental preparation and his mental resilience. It doesn’t matter what anybody is saying about him or how a game may be going for him.
“It might be going good or it might be going bad, but he’ll always back himself and he always has a few things that he knows work for him.”
Galway will pose another conundrum. They isolated one man inside while withdrawing the rest against Dublin in the Leinster final. Cahalane, who would appear to be a natural size match-up on Jason Rabbitte, could be required to fill that space.
Yet leaving their last man back isolated in an acre of grass is a red-line issue for Cork. Robert Downey must provide the shield against those most-inviting of deliveries
If Cahalane gets drawn out into the middle, he will be expected to use his physicality to turn back Galway runners and his stickwork to spark Cork attacks.
He’s rarely the hero, but another couple of solid, steady, seven-out-of-ten performances would go a long way for Cork.
*****
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