THERE is no denying that the Cork hurlers are in much better shape than was the case this time 12 months ago. They collected their second brace of league points against Limerick last weekend, and, after all the turbulence in the county over the past couple of seasons, their positive start to the campaign makes for a refreshing change.

Not that wins over limited teams like Offaly and Limerick are exactly mindblowing achievements, but it was evident in both games that the players, unburdened by any offfield distractions, are in the right frame of mind to put their best foot forward in the year ahead.

Denis Walsh, in his first full season at the helm, is bound to be satisfied with the way things have gone so far, although he doesn’t need to be told that the five remaining games in Division 1 will provide a far more searching examination of his charges credentials.

From the outset, Walsh made it clear that Cork will be doing their level best to win every match in the league, but he said it was a priority as well for the team management that every player on the panel should be afforded a decent opportunity to nail down a place on theteam. Already the selectors have started 22 players over the two games played to date, and they have used 24 in all.

The big talking-point after the Limerick match was the performance of Michael Cussen at full-forward. The Sars clubman made his debut the previous weekend, scoring a good point during a brief late cameo at wing-forward against Offaly.

He posted 1-5 from play against Limerick, and, even allowing for the shortcomings of the opposition, his performance went a long way towards confirming he will be a major asset to the team this year. Cussen has been turning on the style with Sars for quite a while now of course, and it would be fair to say that the East-Cork club wouldn't have won the 2008 county title, but for his outstanding contribution.

He would have come into the equation with the hurlers far sooner had he not been involved with the footballers, and, while it will much easier to gauge what he has to offer after the league campaign has run its course, the indications are that, of all the newcomers, he is the most likely to be included in the starting fifteen for the championship opener against Tipp on June 30.

Aisake Ó hÁilpin filled the full forward berth in the championship last year and did well, as was the case also in the league game against Offaly two weeks ago. It would appear to be a straight battle between Cussen and Aisake for the No. 14 shirt at this juncture, but that doesn't mean both won't make the cut come the championship.

Cussen has played much of his hurling with Sars at wing-forward, and he is a more polished sticksman than Aisake, so maybe further out from goal is where he will ultimately be accommodated. The Newtownshandrum contingent of Ben and Jerry O'Connor and Cathal Naughton were expected to return to training this week, although rumours are rampant at the moment that Jerry might be ready to call time on his inter-county career.

Hopefully, there is no substance to them, as the three-time All-Star and 2005 hurler-of-the-year has still plenty to offer at the top level, and Cork could ill-afford to lose him. Whether or which, competition for places is likely to intensify in the weeks ahead, as new team skipper Fraggie Murphy acknowledged after the win over Limerick.

He said that, while he was honoured to be chosen to skipper the team, he didn't feel under any additional pressure in the role. Revealing that the Denis Walsh had informed him from the outset that the captaincy didn't mean he was guaranteed a place on the team, he said his situation was no different from that of any other player on the panel.

The bottom line was that, like everyone else, he would be judged on performance, and he is happy to accept that. That has been a case of so far, so good for Fraggie, who shaped up well at right corner-forward in the games against Offaly and Limerick.

So too did Patrick Horgan in the opposite corner, and both are virtually certain to be retained for the visit of Kilkenny on Sunday week. Cork will play Clare in a challenge game in the meantime, and it will be interesting to see what the line-up will be for the match which goes ahead under lights at Fermoy on Saturday night.

It should provide some indication of what Denis Walsh and his co-mentors have in mind for the game against the Cats. In view of what happened last year in Nowlan Park, it can safely said the management will be putting out what they regard as their strongest fifteen at this point in time to face Kilkenny.

That could change from game to game of course, and, with Tipperary, Waterford, Dublin and Galway looming large on the horizon in the coming weeks, the selectors will be a lot wiser following the concluding league outing against the Tribesmen on April 18.

It was business as usual for Kilkenny as they made light work of dispatching Offaly in Nowlan Park last Sunday. Galway were equally emphatic winners over Waterford in Pearse Stadium, but the story of the weekend was Dublin's comprehensive sevenpoint victory over a near full-strength Tipperary at Parnell Park.

While one is always reluctant to put a lot of store in the result of a league game in February, the manner in which Anthony Daly's men outplayed Tipp was the most concrete bit of evidence to date that they are a team on the rise.