Now that Patrick Horgan has found himself on the outside looking in, a player turned pundit with the reputation for speaking his mind, there’s no ducking the hard questions about Cork’s prospects in Sunday’s Munster hurling final.Or beyond it, for that matter. If Horgan believes Cork can beat Limerick “by a point or two” on Sunday, he also believes Cork are “100 per cent” All-Ireland contenders again this year – and he should know what he’s talking about.After 18 seasons in the Cork jersey, Horgan retired in the aftermath of last July’s 15-point defeat to Tipperary, at 37, the all-time top scorer in the league and championship by some distance. While he has been viewing games a lot differently this season, there’s no hesitancy about saying things as he sees them.“I suppose when I was playing I wouldn’t have looked at many hurling matches,” he says. “Just because I didn’t want to form an opinion about opposition I was playing against or anything like that. I would have stayed away.“But saying what you see is probably the most important thing. I try to do that the best I can. You do look at it slightly different, looking for patterns, what are teams trying to do, what are they being stopped doing. Everything on the field is done for a reason, and knowing that is a help.”He believes home advantage in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday will unquestionably help Cork, although he expects there will be precious little between the teams. The bookmakers appear to agree.“It will be a moment, or a couple of moments, that’s it,” Horgan says. “One or two things go either way, and they’ll be one or two points in it. Maybe something brilliant here and there, and different stages of the game, will get it done for someone.“My head is saying Cork, by a point or two. It won’t be simple, I just think they can do enough. It’s not going to be easy, but hopefully they can get it done.”Since Ben O’Connor took over as manager at the start of the season, Cork were the only team to win all four games in the Munster round-robin phase. After Cork beat Clare in the last round, O’Connor told RTÉ in the immediate aftermath that “I suppose down through the years, Cork might have been accused of [being] nice hurlers but not working hard. We’re trying to change that.”Horgan later described those comments as “odd”, and while O’Connor has since clarified that he meant those perceptions on Cork hurling might have also been from the outside looking in, Horgan believes every team is ultimately built on the work ethic developed over many years.Cork’s Mark Coleman takes a sideline cut in game against Limerick last April. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/INPHO “This goes for every county, nothing at all to do with Cork,” Horgan says. “Take any county team, there’s a lot of work put into that. In the development squads, in 2016, 2017, there were a lot of players on those squads who are playing for Cork now. And in Pat Ryan’s reign, he introduced his under-20s. It’s not just the start of every year, when someone comes in and takes over the reins. It doesn’t start from there.“And I think Cork would be similar this year, same players, same strengths. They’ve always been seen as a very fast team, and a skilful team, and playing to your strengths is always what everyone is trying to do, as best they can.”As for consistency, Cork did endure that 15-point defeat to Tipperary in last July’s All-Ireland final, also losing to Limerick by 16 points in the fourth round of their Munster campaign – before reversing that defeat to win the Munster final, on penalties, after extra-time.“I think Cork have played at a really high standard for the last three or four years, but we can’t address the Tipperary one until this season is obviously over. But I think in the round-robin last year, there was definitely some sickness, and injury, in the camp. So I don’t think we were full strength for that game, which is why that [Limerick] game got away from us so much.”What is certain is that the Cork supporters have stood behind their team, decorating Páirc Uí Chaoimh in a sea of red for all the home games so far, none of which surprises Horgan.“It’s brilliant, definitely like having an extra player on the field. When Pat Ryan came in first, one of the first things he said was we need to give people coming to the matches something to support. Whether you win or lose, let them see that you’re giving everything. And they are playing an unbelievable style of hurling, speed, plenty of scores.”So are Cork All-Ireland contenders, win or lose on Sunday? “I don’t know why they wouldn’t. They’re playing Limerick on Sunday. And if you ask me, they’re the two best teams in the country by a distance. That’s not saying a surprise mightn’t happen along the way, but 100 per cent they [Cork] are contenders, as they have been. “It’s them or Limerick in my eyes, and I just think with the experience that Cork have had over the years, I think they’ll be hungry and wanting to put all that right.”Patrick Horgan was speaking as an ambassador for hurling championship sponsors Centra