THEY ARE THE undisputed current kings of Leinster hurling, having stitched together six successive titles.
Four of those have come at the expense of this Saturday’s opponents Galway, the last provincial clash producing an emphatic eight-point win in their favour in last June’s final.
And yet there is a curious atmosphere settling in around Kilkenny ahead of their opening Leinster test this Saturday.
Recent events colour the perceptions around teams. For all their championship prowess, it is a league tie that consumes attention in the build-up.
Seven weeks separate two games in Pearse Stadium, the Division 1A league meeting between Galway and Kilkenny in March, the Leinster round-robin renewal of acquaintances in April.
When the Kilkenny bus heads up the road to Salthill on Saturday, the memories of the 18-point whipping they suffered at the hands of Galway 42 days previous will be fresh in their minds.
Kilkenny conceded 0-35 and witnessed their opponents take 50 shots at goal. It represented the county’s biggest defeat since 1954. Manager Derek Lyng was left baffled afterwards at the non-performance served up.
Forward Eoin Cody freely admits it was an unacceptable showing.
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Kilkenny's Eoin Cody dejected after the match against Galway in March. John McVitty / INPHO
John McVitty / INPHO / INPHO
“Galway outfought us, out-performed us, outscored us – and we just didn’t answer back. We didn’t stand up. We let ourselves down. If you’re off by that much, you’re just gonna be punished. And Galway well and truly punished us.
“We’re lucky it probably came at the right time, that it’s not going to happen (this Saturday).
“It gave us a chance to reflect on ourselves and where we stood in terms of being at the level we needed to be to compete, first and foremost, and to win an All-Ireland obviously which every team wants to do.”
Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng. John McVitty / INPHO
John McVitty / INPHO / INPHO
The scale of the defeat was not in keeping with the ingrained resilience accustomed to Kilkenny teams, yet Cody is heartened by the response since.
“Obviously there was a lot of outside noise, but we said we’d block it out; had a few honest conversations amongst ourselves.
“We could have folded after that; we could have said, ‘Look, that’s the end of our year – we’re not anywhere near good enough.
“We said from there on, ‘Look, we’re going up again in six weeks, our first Leinster game, we go up and we’re going to be a different animal. And we’ll see now how that’s going to pan out.”
Psychology
The psychology is interesting. How is a loss of that magnitude parked to ensure confidence is not battered for the rematch? Cody picks out a couple of examples.
“We obviously lost by a fair amount, but Cork lost to Limerick by 16 points, two [games] before they beat them in the Munster final. In hurling it’s so weird that there’s days you can go out and lose to Galway by 18 points, but then you probably could play them next week and you could beat them.
“Take for example last year, Limerick and Dublin, Dublin just came with such ferocity and Limerick just weren’t able for it. Like, no one was expecting that. And it just shows what mentality, hard work [can do] and Dublin played that game with 14 men for a lot of it.”
Cody, who is currently doing a Masters in secondary schools teaching with the Hibernia online course, couldn’t escape all the reaction.
Criticism
The withering remarks from Andy Comeford filtered through but caused no offence.
“I didn’t need to be told by pundits or anyone else what went wrong,” said Cody.
“For me I got a good laugh out of that really (the local radio comments by Andy Comerford).
“Everyone has their own opinions. Andy is a character alright. There was nothing personal. He is a passionate Kilkenny fan and, look, he is right to come across whatever way he wants.
“It’s a bit of craic and obviously Andy is very passionate. I suppose you want to see your best hurlers playing hurling and for the boys (such as Huw Lawlor and Billy Ryan who is in Australia) they have hurled for Kilkenny for eight, nine, ten years and they just want to go off and live their life. The boys are after taking that leap of faith, and they are both really enjoying it over there and fair play to them.”
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Huw Lawlor after last year's All-Ireland semi-final loss against Tipperary. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
The backdrop to all this is Kilkenny’s wait for an All-Ireland title that stretches back to 2015. The county’s rich and illustrious past is not a burden in the eyes of Cody, more a motivation.
“For us it is absolutely an inspiration. I grew up wanting to achieve those things and now I am in the Kilkenny senior panel and I haven’t achieved it…it’s not that it’s a burden but it’s something that is hanging over your head. You want to achieve it. So, it is a driving ambition.
“But look, I am absolutely grateful to be from Kilkenny and it is an absolute honour and a privilege to wear a Kilkenny jersey whenever you go out. And then to represent those individuals and those teams who represented Kilkenny so well. I think it’s going to make it all the sweeter when we do eventually get over the line.
“The belief is absolutely there. The belief in Kilkenny is always there that we can do that. For us now, it’s not about talking about it. It’s about doing it; it’s about actions. That is where we are now.”
Saturday afternoon with a 4.30pm start. A good place to make a strong statement.
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'We’re going to be a different animal': Seven weeks after Galway beating, Kilkenny head back to Salthill
THEY ARE THE undisputed current kings of Leinster hurling, having stitched together six successive titles.
Four of those have come at the expense of this Saturday’s opponents Galway, the last provincial clash producing an emphatic eight-point win in their favour in last June’s final.
And yet there is a curious atmosphere settling in around Kilkenny ahead of their opening Leinster test this Saturday.
Recent events colour the perceptions around teams. For all their championship prowess, it is a league tie that consumes attention in the build-up.
Seven weeks separate two games in Pearse Stadium, the Division 1A league meeting between Galway and Kilkenny in March, the Leinster round-robin renewal of acquaintances in April.
When the Kilkenny bus heads up the road to Salthill on Saturday, the memories of the 18-point whipping they suffered at the hands of Galway 42 days previous will be fresh in their minds.
Kilkenny conceded 0-35 and witnessed their opponents take 50 shots at goal. It represented the county’s biggest defeat since 1954. Manager Derek Lyng was left baffled afterwards at the non-performance served up.
Forward Eoin Cody freely admits it was an unacceptable showing.
“Galway outfought us, out-performed us, outscored us – and we just didn’t answer back. We didn’t stand up. We let ourselves down. If you’re off by that much, you’re just gonna be punished. And Galway well and truly punished us.
“We’re lucky it probably came at the right time, that it’s not going to happen (this Saturday).
“It gave us a chance to reflect on ourselves and where we stood in terms of being at the level we needed to be to compete, first and foremost, and to win an All-Ireland obviously which every team wants to do.”
The scale of the defeat was not in keeping with the ingrained resilience accustomed to Kilkenny teams, yet Cody is heartened by the response since.
“Obviously there was a lot of outside noise, but we said we’d block it out; had a few honest conversations amongst ourselves.
“We could have folded after that; we could have said, ‘Look, that’s the end of our year – we’re not anywhere near good enough.
“We said from there on, ‘Look, we’re going up again in six weeks, our first Leinster game, we go up and we’re going to be a different animal. And we’ll see now how that’s going to pan out.”
Psychology
The psychology is interesting. How is a loss of that magnitude parked to ensure confidence is not battered for the rematch? Cody picks out a couple of examples.
“We obviously lost by a fair amount, but Cork lost to Limerick by 16 points, two [games] before they beat them in the Munster final. In hurling it’s so weird that there’s days you can go out and lose to Galway by 18 points, but then you probably could play them next week and you could beat them.
“Take for example last year, Limerick and Dublin, Dublin just came with such ferocity and Limerick just weren’t able for it. Like, no one was expecting that. And it just shows what mentality, hard work [can do] and Dublin played that game with 14 men for a lot of it.”
Cody, who is currently doing a Masters in secondary schools teaching with the Hibernia online course, couldn’t escape all the reaction.
Criticism
The withering remarks from Andy Comeford filtered through but caused no offence.
Comerford, who captained Kilkenny to All-Ireland glory in 2002, revealed he was ‘disgusted’ by the display in Salthill, claiming the ‘leadership on the field is absolutely terrible.’
“I didn’t need to be told by pundits or anyone else what went wrong,” said Cody.
“For me I got a good laugh out of that really (the local radio comments by Andy Comerford).
“Everyone has their own opinions. Andy is a character alright. There was nothing personal. He is a passionate Kilkenny fan and, look, he is right to come across whatever way he wants.
“It’s a bit of craic and obviously Andy is very passionate. I suppose you want to see your best hurlers playing hurling and for the boys (such as Huw Lawlor and Billy Ryan who is in Australia) they have hurled for Kilkenny for eight, nine, ten years and they just want to go off and live their life. The boys are after taking that leap of faith, and they are both really enjoying it over there and fair play to them.”
The backdrop to all this is Kilkenny’s wait for an All-Ireland title that stretches back to 2015. The county’s rich and illustrious past is not a burden in the eyes of Cody, more a motivation.
“For us it is absolutely an inspiration. I grew up wanting to achieve those things and now I am in the Kilkenny senior panel and I haven’t achieved it…it’s not that it’s a burden but it’s something that is hanging over your head. You want to achieve it. So, it is a driving ambition.
“But look, I am absolutely grateful to be from Kilkenny and it is an absolute honour and a privilege to wear a Kilkenny jersey whenever you go out. And then to represent those individuals and those teams who represented Kilkenny so well. I think it’s going to make it all the sweeter when we do eventually get over the line.
“The belief is absolutely there. The belief in Kilkenny is always there that we can do that. For us now, it’s not about talking about it. It’s about doing it; it’s about actions. That is where we are now.”
Saturday afternoon with a 4.30pm start. A good place to make a strong statement.
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Eoin Cody GAA Hurling Kilkenny Leinster Leinster Championship