Patrick Horgan insists he will never rewatch the 2025 All-Ireland hurling final, but he is confident Cork can contend for the title again next year.
The Rebels came in as hot favourites in July, against a Tipperary outfit they had thumped in both the league final and provincial round-robin.
Cork were six points up at the interval but lost by 15, 3-27 to 1-18, after a stunningly dominant second half from the Premier.
That was a fourth career reverse in a final for hurling's all-time top scorer, and he subsequently retired from the inter-county game, aged 37.
"I'll never look at it again," he told RTÉ Sport, of his last game in the blood and bandage.
"I'd imagine the boys going back now for the year ahead probably will review that game. Look at it as a team, and see where did they think it went wrong, but not for me, no.
"I try not to think about the end of the season with Cork at all."
But despite the pain of that loss, he is optimistic the wait for Liam MacCarthy could end at 21 years.
"I'd give them a big chance, even this year coming," said Horgan.
"There is no reason not to. They've been to two All-Ireland finals [in a row], they've won a league, a very competitive Munster Championship last year, and played great hurling all year.
"There is a really good side there. They're one of the best teams in the country so there is no reason why they can't do it. None at all."
"The break from playing for the last couple of months has been good because there were a few too many downers there"
Horgan's club Glen Rovers also coughed up a seven-point lead in the county quarter-final defeat to Midleton and, though he intends to keep training, he won't miss the inter-county pre-season.
"The break from playing for the last couple of months has been good because there were a few too many downers there.
"I'll just put the hurley away for another couple of weeks, start maybe next week again myself and go from there. I'll go out to the [ball] alley and all that kind of stuff still myself. That'll be the only training I do probably this Christmas anyway.
"I'll drag a few along. I'll torture them into coming. I'll probably end up going with [clubmates] Rob and Eoin Downey. I still have to give them another couple of lessons in the alley. They still haven't beat me there.
"There's nothing to miss [with Cork] this time of the year anyway because all there is is run till you drop, so I won't miss that."
It's not as if Horgan would have been sitting idle until the club season resumes anyway. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that he will take up his first coaching role, as a selector with Noel Furlong's Cork Under-20 management team. Was he not tempted to take a break after 18 seasons training and basing his life around hurling?
"In a way, I am on a break!" he says. "Because when you're playing, it's every day, every hour, everything you do is geared towards playing.
"But this is a bit different. You go to the training, you leave training and you're done for another while. Go off do your own training then. The time is really cut down massively. So, that's a help."
He says always thought management would be "Something I'd like. I just didn't think it would be as quick.
"[But] the game is moving so fast, I suppose in a few years what anybody knows now might be miles off.
"Just to get an opportunity to do it is brilliant. I didn't have to think much about it, it's something I'd love to do. That is why I'm doing it. If I can add any bit of value to the overall group, that'd be great.
"I haven't started yet so it's interesting and it's something I'm looking forward to. Hopefully [in] the next few weeks, we'll be back and hitting the field, and that's exciting.
"Not having coached before, this grade, I suppose, will help. If I was to go back, say to an underage team, what could I share with them? Whereas with the 20s, they're all fellows that are looking to get to the Cork senior team, and for me coming out of there and having learned what I've learned over the years, and passing it on to them… the biggest benefit I could give them is probably my experience over the last few years."
What does the four-time All-Star expect to bring to the table as a selector?
"It could be anything. It could be technical stuff. It could be how they see the game, how they see different situations when the ball comes around them. How they look at video analysis. Off-the-ball stuff.
"Playing at that level is a really high level and you can't go into enough detail. The more you dig down into things, the more you'll get out of it. All that will be something I'd be fierce interested in.
"Something I'm interested in is - when I was a player, trying to make myself better - but trying to make other people better and how they see different things. Sharing that information is really important."
He will be happy if he can have anything like the impact of Pat Ryan, whose departure as Cork manager helped Horgan to decide he was "done with it".
"He was brilliant. Always seemed to say the right thing. Brilliant with people. Unbelievable understanding of the game and the different changes in the game.
"A good understanding of all the different positions and what they expect. When you're doing up, say game plans, he would see the different positions that would be affected most by a certain plan you're trying to implement.
"But, overall, just how he spoke to the team, and got the support behind the team like he did, he did an unbelievable job."
But first of all, he will enjoy his first Christmas without worrying about training for 18 years.
"It does affect what you do in December. But none of the lads involved in a county panel would ever say that was a bad thing. You'd give up anything to be there."
Watch the Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship final, Slaughtneil v Naomh Eoin, on Saturday from 5.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
