Blow for Cork as four players opt out of John Cleary's 2025 panel
Opting Out: pic: Who Is From Steven Stepping Noonan/sportsfile Rebels The Sherlock, Camp Eóin Away Cork's
Cork’s senior footballers will be down four players next season due to inter-county retirements and unavailability.
Killian O’Hanlon and John O’Rourke have played their final games for the county as they have decided to retire, while inside forwards Steven Sherlock and Damien Gore are taking a year out.
Kilshannig man O’Hanlon (31) made his senior league debut for Cork in 2016 and followed it up with a first championship appearance two years later. A cruciate injury ruled him out of the 2021 and ’22 seasons. He returned to feature prominently in 2023 but a hamstring problem put paid to his contributions this past season.
Having made his SFC debut against Limerick in 2013, O’Rourke (32) had been one of the long-serving panel members up until this announcement. The Carbery Rangers forward line out under six managers in his inter-county career.
The 27-year-old Sherlock is taking time out having often featured as a substitute in recent seasons. The St Finbarrs attacker had been part of the set-up since 2018. However, he did start this year’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final defeat to Louth as well as the final group loss to Tyrone.
Kilmacabea’s Gore, 25, is also stepping away in 2025 and has been involved since 2019 when he won an U20 All-Ireland.
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