The nature of the second-half collapse to Tipperary in last year's All-Ireland hurling final was a harrowing experience for those on Leeside, yet the off-season has brought little respite.
While the Premier players and supporters bound around the county in jubilation, in Cork there was much introspection to such an insipid 35 minutes in which they went from a six-point lead to a 15-point defeat.
Rumours of a dressing-room bust-up have been repeatedly swatted away, while Pat Ryan decided the time was right to leave the hotseat after two All-Ireland final defeats in three seasons.
Patrick Horgan has also departed, while for the remainder of the group, the thorny issue of the loss to Tipperary dominates interview agendas.
Mark Coleman and Eoin Downey are among those who have been probed on the subject, and while the start of the league campaign should shift attention for a while, it is likely to come back into sharp focus ahead of the Munster campaign, and will lurk throughout the championship journey.
Waterford provide the opposition on Sunday for Ben O’Connor’s first competitive game in charge of the Rebels and the defence of a league title, and the three-time All-Ireland winner says he has little interest in what happened last season.
"When we met up at training, it was '2025 is over, 2026 is starting now’. We’re driving on from there," he told RTÉ Sport’s Marty Morrissey.
"We haven’t talked about it, and that’s the way it will continue. We are only looking forward, and onto the league."
The Newtownshandrum man also succeeded Pat Ryan in his previous Rebel role, in charge of the Under-20s, and has tasted county success with both Midleton and Charleville.
He has left the likes of Jack O’Connor, Conor Lehane and Luke Meade out of his 36-man league panel, though with injury concerns over Séamus Harnedy, Micheál Mullins, Tim O’Mahony and Ben Cunningham, O’Connor says it is far from a panel set in stone.
It is all something of a learning curve for the two-time All-Star in his first senior inter-county gig, and O’Connor admits that is wasn’t something he ever foresaw during a decorated playing career.
His short managerial career to date has seen no shortage of silverware – Munster and All-Ireland titles with the Cork U-20’s in 2023 along with club success – but insists the Cork job was not something on his radar.
"When you get involved with clubs, you enjoy that and you like to think you’d get a crack at some day," he said.
"I wasn’t expecting to get it this year. I was delighted to be asked and when I was asked, I jumped at the chance.
"Hopefully things go well."
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Watch Tipperary v Galway in the Allianz Hurling League on Saturday from 6.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
