Rob Downey busy preparing for another final with Cork
Cork senior hurler Rob Downey pictured at the launch of the 2026 Munster Championships. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Click here to listen to the interview with Cork senior hurler Rob Downey.
By Cian O'Connell
Down by the banks of the Lee, Rob Downey is used to the hurling talk.
It doesn't bother Downey, the fact that sport peppers the conversations. "There is no real dealing with it, it's great," Downey says.
"I see it as a positive. I think the Cork fans are brilliant, the Cork public really get behind Cork GAA teams, any sport really. Cork is a mad sporting county. It isn't just hurling and football, it is everything really.
"We're very lucky, anywhere we go, we've a huge following. It really does make a difference to us when we're out on the pitch."
The next item on the agenda is Sunday's Allianz Hurling League Division 1A Final against Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds. Another match and occasion to embrace. "We're looking forward to it, obviously, at the start of the year, when you go back, you want to reach the end of every competition available to you," Downey says.
"So, we're there now, and all of our preparation is to try to put in a performance in the league final, and to see where we will go from there."
Ben O'Connor has afforded emerging players opportunities in the league. "It probably has been a bit of a mixed bag," is Downey's assessment of Cork's league.
"We'd a couple of wins in a row and a loss. Then, we beat Offaly to qualify for the league final. We'd a couple of young guys coming in, sticking their hand up which is great.
"Every team across the country wants competition in their training squad, and when you've young guys coming through, putting their hand up in matches, it definitely adds competition."
Two All-Ireland decider defeats hurt. Resilience must be demonstrated. "That's how you do it, isn't it?," Downey responds.
"You're not going to just lie down, accept it or anything like that. When you're a young fella, growing up playing hurling, all you want to do is to win an All-Ireland.
"Everyone in our group is like that. I suppose, you can't really look too far down the line either. You just get back, when January 1 comes, everything is up for grabs again.
Cork's Rob Downey in Allianz Hurling League action against Galway. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
"You do your best, put your head down in training, and try to put your best foot forward to do your bit for the team. That is all we're doing and we will see where it will take us."
The Glen Rovers clubman acknowledges it can be difficult to deal with a setback. "It can be hard, it is very hard losing an All-Ireland final," he adds.
"I think we're very lucky that we'd the clubs to go back to. I think we went back on the Thursday night because we were playing championship in 10 days time after.
"In that sense, you're very lucky to get back up on the horse straightaway, to take your mind off things. When you're back in with the club, it is full focus on them. You probably don't really have time to think about it.
"Obviously, you're hurt over losing the All-Ireland, but ultimately, if you dwell on it too much you'll end up staying back there when all you want to do is move forward."
In the Glen, a respect and love for hurling continues to be passed through the generations. "Growing up playing for the Glen was brilliant, really," Downey says.
"It is a great area to grow up in. The Glen was the hub of the area, we all met up down there, and spent all of our time down there. It was great. We've plenty of guys that went through, won great games for the Glen and won big games for Cork and captained Cork, too.
"So, advice was never too far away. You've some great guys down there. Obviously, Hoggie and Stephen McDonnell, I'd have played with them for Cork, they're a bit older than me. You've Eoin (Downey) and Micheál (Mullins) now.
"It is great to have that tradition of being able to produce Cork players. It is something we really do pride ourselves on. It is a great club to be a part of."
Maintaining standards and tradition counts for a lot. "It does, when I was growing up in the Glen, Patrick Horgan was always down in the Glen field, Stephen McDonnell was always down in the Glen field, Graham Callanan, all of those guys," Downey recalls.
"We always had someone very close to us, in touching distance really, to look up to. They were our role models, they set the standards for the younger guys in the club. When the Glen won the counties in '15 and '16, that drove us on even more.
"It is very, very important, and as you get older you probably realise that, the next generation coming up could be looking at you for that bit of inspiration."
