To an extent, yesterday's formalities marked the end of Mark Landers' remarkable year. Twelve months ago, captain of the Cork team but his exact position a matter of conjecture, he was actually on the verge of a historic campaign and the county's first All-Ireland in nine years.

Yesterday, among the guests at the Guinness sponsorship launch, his interview retreads the minutiae of winning and its consequences for him and the team - but the focus is on the future.

He says that the management team led by Jimmy Barry-Murphy have encouraged them to participate in the sense of celebration, and the demands have been predictably steep.

"It's been hectic. The county was 10 years out of the limelight. Back when we won in 1984 and '86 and the three in the '70s the Liam McCarthy maybe wasn't such a big thing in Cork but the reaction last year was tremendous and the reception we got in the clubs was second-to-none.

"The night we went to Killeagh, my own club, the road had to be closed for three hours and there were 10,000 there, in a small town."

As captain - Fergal Ryan takes over this year - Landers' own role has been magnified. He has had a fairly full diary, but he's not complaining.

"The cup is the main attraction but the captain is another - whoever he is, it could have been anyone. There were a lot of functions and meetings for myself. I've done an awful lot of them but one thing I'd say: I wouldn't give back any one of them, it's been something I've thoroughly enjoyed."

As the year grinds on, the team has to prepare for the different demands of defending the title rather than bursting through the pack, young, uninhibited and quite surprising winners.

"The element of surprise is gone. Other teams used to be the ones to beat. Now it's Cork. That's what happens when you're champions."

Deployed at the start of the championship in a surprise partnership with Mickey O'Connell as the county's centre-field, he is conscious that although it lasted the season, the pairing never quite caught the public imagination.

"I suppose it was experimental. I never played midfield for my club or county and Mickey won his minor and under-21 All-Irelands at wing forward.

"Both of us being picked was eyebrow-raising stuff. If we stay there I think we can only improve, we wouldn't have been as influential as we'd have wanted to be - apart from against Waterford - but there was fair quality in the opponents we met." Landers denies that Cork's eye has been off the ball in the National League, but as is often the case with All-Ireland winners, the campaign has stuttered. The next step along the road is the visit of Tipperary.

"It's a huge game for us. Cork have been beaten by Kilkenny and Waterford and we want to put an end to that run of defeats. For Tipperary, I think you'll see a good number of the first 15 who played the All-Ireland against Kilkenny. The championship's still eight weeks away but the selectors are anxious to get the championship team organised."

He worries about the possibility of injury in the short gap between the first round against Kerry and the probable semi-final against Limerick. But is there much point in fretting over the future? After all, a year ago, could he really have foreseen an All-Ireland?

"Every year when you go out at the start of the year, if you don't think you can win an All-Ireland you won't win an All-Ireland."