Five-time All-Ireland winner Orla Cronin feels time is right to step back from inter-county scene

FIVE-TIME All-Ireland senior camogie winner Orla Cronin has decided to step back from the Cork panel for the 2024 season.

The Enniskeane woman has emerged as one of Carbery’s finest and most decorated camogie players, picking up an All-Star after the 2020 season, but the 27-year-old has struggled with injuries in recent years, reducing her role with the Rebels.

In 2022 Cronin missed the entire league campaign and played in three championship games before stepping away from the Cork panel ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final; her woes traced back to a muscle issue in her hip. Injuries held Cronin back again in the Rebels’ 2023 All-Ireland winning campaign, though she did come off the bench in the quarter-final, semi-final and final victories. 

‘On her day, Orla is probably one of the best players in the country,’ former Cork boss Matthew Twomey said of the 2017 All-Ireland final player of the match, but new manager Ger Manley will plan without the classy Enniskeane forward this season. The persistent injuries took their toll and given she has been involved in the Cork senior set-up since 2014, she feels it’s the right time to step back.

Meanwhile, Newcestown’s Ciara O’Sullivan has not been included in the Cork senior panel for the upcoming season, as she focuses on her comeback from the ACL injury that sidelined her for the entire 2023 campaign. 

Having started the 2022 All-Ireland senior final, O’Sullivan had hoped to nail down a regular spot in ’23, but then ruptured her ACL in action for UCC in an Ashbourne Cup semi-final. She is closing in on her comeback, returned to non-contact training in December and is building towards a return to contact and games next month.