Despite All-Ireland setbacks, Pat Ryan's leadership and integrity shone through with Cork
Fintan O'Toole
WHEN A LINE was drawn under Pat Ryan’s first season in charge of the Cork senior hurlers, he reflected on a below-par start.
His team had contributed richly to a series of Munster thrillers that summer, drawing with Tipperary on a heady, high-scoring Saturday night, and pushing the then top two sides in the province, Limerick and Clare, to within a point in contests away from home.
Ryan’s clear-eyed approach would have served him well after that 2023 campaign. He knew it was a results business and finishing fourth of five in the Munster table was not an outcome sufficient to meet the expectations surrounding the post of Cork manager he held.
If the pressure increased before the outset of 2024, it ratcheted up further with defeats in Cork’s two opening Munster encounters.
What unfolded from there was a testament to Ryan’s management skills. Over the next 15 months he steered Cork to two All-Ireland final appearances, a first Munster title since 2018, and a first league crown since 1998.
There were other offshoots of his reign, in particular over the last two summers, as a line from last night’s Cork board statement pointed to.
“Pat’s tenure cannot be measured by trophies alone, as he brought a spirit and flair to the side’s play that captivated the masses across a rollercoaster three-year period.”
The series of engrossing encounters served up under Ryan’s stewardship when Cork collided with Limerick, the heavyweight presence that have defined the modern era, will linger long in the memory.
Recent events tend to dominate the discourse.
Ryan formally brought his time as Cork boss to a close yesterday morning, 34 days after his last game in charge.
Cork came desperately close in Ryan’s tenure to ending the Liam MacCarthy barren spell that has hovered over the county, but the stunning nature of the latest final defeat has consumed so much attention.
The staggering second-half turnaround that generated so much pain for Cork and joy for Tipperary ensured that that All-Ireland impact would be long-lasting.
After a mind-scrambling second half that Tipperary won by 3-14 to 0-2, Ryan’s post-match summation that day in Croke Park still feels salient.
“We just got out-worked really. It was a lot of good play by Tipperary that won that game. Luck had absolutely nothing to do with it. The harder you work, the more breaks that come for you.”
It captured Ryan’s logical and composed approach to management. The 2024 All-Ireland final reversal brought dejection in a different form, pipped by a point after an extra-time epic, but as he pointed out this season before the Croke Park showpiece, there was no great mystery about that outcome either to him.
Clare were the better team and that paved the way for them to head home in celebration with the silverware, just as Tipperary were the superior outfit last month.
During his time with Cork, Ryan has repeatedly touched on a few cornerstones of his managerial philosophy.
The ownership of the Cork team has always been rooted in the players and supporters, not him as the one wearing the bainisteoir bib. He has freely shared his belief that given so many candidates would like an attempt at being Cork boss, he always needed to assess whether he was improving the side to ensure he remained at the helm.
In his parting statement, issued by his club Sarsfields, Ryan honed in on the subject of loyalty.
“In life, sometimes loyalty is a word linked to weakness, but I was reared to believe it to be the ultimate strength of a person’s character and I would like to think I displayed plenty of that in my time as Cork manager, I know I received so much of it in return from the Cork senior hurling group.”
That loyalty was not just something he demonstrated to his players, plenty of whom he has long-standing relationships from his days as a coach under Kieran Kingston in 2017 and as the U20 boss in 2020-21, but also to his management team.
As a group of sideline operators they had formed a strong bond during their time overseeing that period of immense U20 success for Cork hurling, and he had links with some that stretched back to his own county playing days in the ’90s.
He spoke of being offered a new term in charge of Cork but after discussing with his family, the conclusion was that ‘it is best for me to seek a different challenge after five years of managing Cork teams.’
The all-consuming and intensely demanding nature of such inter-county positions can explain a decision to opt out.
Ryan had to fulfil his role this year in the wake of the tragic passing of his brother Ray in February.
He had always carried himself with great dignity as Cork manager, that and his impressive leadership shone through all the more at a time of such grief and emotion.
The Cork board statement issued last night reflected the high esteem in which he was held across the county. His ‘customary courage and dignity’ were referenced along with the legacy he had created.
Ryan leaves Cork in a strong position, albeit the scrutiny and the pressure will be greater on the squad after this year’s All-Ireland than it was after defeat 12 months ago.
The spotlight falls on the identity of his successor, with Ben O’Connor and Noel Furlong both leading candidates, enjoying simliar profiles of recent All-Ireland winning underrage success with Cork teams and strong work locally at club level.
The new manager will inherit a group populated with players Ryan has funneled through from his triumphant U20 teams of 2020-21. Eoin Downey, Ciarán Joyce, Shane Barrett, Alan Connolly, and Brian Hayes represent the wave that will backbone Cork in the coming years, while Diarmuid Healy was a breakout star this year.
The July final setbacks were shattering occasions and Cork’s pursuit of that long-awaited All-Ireland success endures.
But they cannot completely overshadow all of Ryan’s progressive work in charge of Cork.
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