Pat Ryan says Cork have absorbed the lessons of 2023 for their bid to escape the Munster round-robin.
The Rebel boss believes they got their preparation wrong in the six-day turnaround last year and will give his players a break between games this time around.
Cork open with a trip to Waterford before welcoming Clare to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh seven days later.
"We definitely got it wrong between the Waterford and the Tipperary game. It was six days. I definitely think we got that wrong," says Ryan.
"We probably needed to give lads a bit of a break afterwards. We got lads back in straight away the next day for a bit of recovery and analysis work.
"We have an extra day this time between the Waterford and Clare games. We'll probably give them a bit more of a break this time."
Ryan is certain the home games against league champions Clare and All-Ireland champions Limerick will be vital for their progression prospects.
"Your home games are key. That’s what kept us out of qualifying last year. We beat Waterford and we didn’t play as well as we wanted against Tipperary. We probably should’ve won the game coming down the stretch.
"Those two home games will decide our year."
In the months of analysis that followed their narrow championship elimination, Ryan has pinpointed plenty of areas for improvement.
He’s seeking more flair in their game through extra goals and better long-range point-taking, aspirations which are boosted by the returns to fitness of Alan Connolly and Mark Coleman.
"One thing that Alan does is he goes for goals. He’s very, very direct in the way he does it. Tipperary have a couple of those fellas. Jake Morris does that a lot. Aaron Gillane does that with Limerick as well. It is a vital component of the way we want to play.
"If we want to be successful this year, we’ll need to be scoring three or four goals."
On the white-flag targets, Ryan says: "We got three points from our half-back line last year in the championship whereas we probably conceded 15 or 16.
"Both of those aspects are areas that we really tried to get after, that we shut down the opposition half-backs a bit more and create more scoring opportunities for ourselves.
"In fairness, Mark is back with us this year, he’ll give us that component. Rob (Downey) got the three points we had last year. It’s just encouraging lads to go forward a bit more. Ciarán (Joyce) has gone forward a good bit more for us this year as regards breaking through the lines.
"That’s something you have to be doing now in this modern game because you’re going to have to get 30 points to win matches."
Cork got some credit for "hollow victories" last year and Ryan is clear the campaign was far from success.
"We didn’t make progress. We didn’t get out. We’re trying to get back to the top table and get into an All-Ireland final. We were in one in 2021 and we didn’t perform the way we would’ve liked.
"Our job is to try and win an All-Ireland. That’s why we took the job on. Getting out of Munster is the first step in that. I’d bite your hand off for third. I think everyone would."
Still, many of the building blocks he wants to see were in place during 2023.
"We were very happy with last year. We’d a very consistent performance across all the games. We were fighting until the end all the time and we showed good heart.
"Previously, Cork teams might have played a small bit better in individual games but then there was a real bad lull in championship matches. Last year our effort was really good.
"Now it’s trying to marry that with consistent performance and a bit more flair to our game is what we want to be doing.
"I think we're in a better place but at the same time, I assume every team is in a better place than they were last year."
Ryan reckons the trip to Waterford will pose a unique challenge to Cork.
"They’ve been at pains to say that it’s all about championship for them.
"We know what we’re going to get against Waterford the first day. The first day last year against Limerick they were excellent.
"Walsh Park being open, we expect a huge challenge going down there. In fairness, Davy and his management team have been fairly obvious that they’re targeting our game."
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