NEW Cork hurling captain Darragh Fitzgibbon was pleasantly surprised to be asked by Ben O’Connor to lead the Rebels – and he certainly wasn’t going to turn it down.

BY JOHNNY CAROLAN

The Charleville man, 29 in April, is about to begin his tenth season on the county senior panel, with Cork’s defence of the National Hurling League title opening against Waterford on Sunday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh (3.45pm).

Fitzgibbon, who succeeds Robert Downey as skipper, was an All-Star winner in each of the last two seasons and is delighted to take on the role, even if he hadn’t necessarily canvassed for it.

‘Yeah, it wasn’t something you really think about or you’re expecting,’ he said.

‘I think training’s been so hard as well that, (you) kind of just didn’t really think about it, but obviously it’s a privilege to be able to be asked and to be asked by a man like Ben O'Connor as well, something you can’t turn down.

‘I suppose you just have to read the room really, and, first and foremost, you have to lead on the pitch, you have the responsibility and you have to look after the players on the pitch. They have to follow your example, but, like, no bother having a chat with the lads or anything like that.’

Of course, it is a dressing-room coming off the back of last year’s All-Ireland final collapse against Tipperary, but Fitzgibbon doesn’t feel there is any hangover.

‘I mean, if we won the All-Ireland or if we lost the All-Ireland we’d still be playing on Sunday,’ he says.

‘I think the enthusiasm and the eagerness is still there, like, ever before. We’ve a good block of training done as well, so we’re looking forward to seeing how that training reflects on the field and how it translates to the field as well.

‘I think we’re all eager to get going. We know what’s in store, like how big the challenge is. I suppose as the years go on, you start to appreciate it more, do you know, probably the latter stages of it now, probably have more years done than more years left, so you want to appreciate it. Even when you come back training during the winter, you almost appreciate the winter nights more because, you know you probably don’t have that many of them left. It’s kind of out of your control, so you want to give them the season, try and make the most out of it. We’re looking forward to it.’

New manager O’Connor’s first coaching assignment was with a Charleville team featuring Fitzgibbon, with the north Cork club winning the 2018 Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship to ascend to senior level for the first time.

‘You know what to kind of expect and you know the way he kind of wants to play,’ the Cork captain explained.

‘You know that he’s a winner too as well, so you take confidence from that. I think, whether he’s on the field playing himself or in management, he’s won everywhere he's gone, so we take confidence from that.

‘I suppose our generation all looked up to Ben as well when we were growing up, so it’s an honour to play for him and his backroom team.’

And, while the management may have changed, the aims remain the same. Last year, Cork ended a 27-year wait for the league title but Fitzgibbon doesn’t feel that that necessarily means the desire to win it again is any less.

‘That’s probably to the outside,’ Fitzgibbon said.

‘I think every team takes the league just really game-by-game, that's probably how we did last year. I think your overall goal going into any season is just get out of Munster, whatever way that is, whether that’s win Munster, get to a final or come third. You just want to get out of Munster and then you focus on the All-Ireland.

‘If you lose a league match, you just analyse it, learn from the mistakes and try to improve. Obviously, every league match you go out and you want to try and win, but I think every team knows their ultimate goal is just to get out of Munster.’