The 31-year-old will join up tonight with John Meyler’s hurling panel after deciding to return to the game he last played at inter-county level in 2014.

The decision is a boost to Meyler ahead of his first season in charge, and in the wake of defender Steven McDonnell’s decision to take a year out from inter-county hurling.

Unquestionably though, Cadogan’s decision is a blow to new Cork football manager Ronan McCarthy, a Douglas club-mate of Cadogan’s, who could certainly use his leadership on the field and in the dressing-room with a fresh-faced group of Cork football rookies.

Playing inter-county with his brother Alan has always been an ambition of Cadogan’s. He maintained a dual role with Cork from 2009 through to 2012, when he was part of the Cork hurling team beaten in an All-Ireland semi-final by Galway. He concentrated exclusively on football in 2013 before returning briefly to the hurling squad in 2014 with a substitute’s appearance against Clare.

Cadogan won an All-Ireland with the county’s footballers in 2010, won a Munster title two years later and has collected four National League winners’ medals with Cork. He has represented his province on several occasions and country three times, the most recent being the two-test International Rules series in Adelaide and Perth.

He has continued to play both codes with his club Douglas, as was a star turn at centre half-back with the hurlers as they just fell short of a county final appearance in 2014, beaten in a semi-final replay by eventual winners Glen Rovers.