The poisoned chalice Joyce says creates exiles or poets
THE dominant performances of Dublin pair Liam Rushe and Conal Keaney in Parnell Park last Sunday once more raised the age-old issue of problems at the centre of Kilkenny’s defence. Kieran Joyce knows all about that, he has played at both full-back and centreback for Brian Cody’s side. Indeed, his last outing at full-back, in the Leinster semi-final defeat to Wexford last summer, turned out to be his final game for Kilkenny as things went so badly on that fateful evening. And as Joyce admits, that was a role which came with a hazard warning in their dressing room. ‘We always called it the “poisoned chalice”, playing full-back’ Joyce says with a laugh. ‘It’s a tough position because if the ball is not coming into you at certain times, you could be waiting there for 15 minutes and then one ball comes into you and you have to attack fully. If mistakes are made, it could cause a goal.’ Joyce feels that Cody reinvented Padraig Walsh as a full-back as he was the most versatile defender with an aggressive edge. ‘He is great at attacking the ball, but Dublin went more traditional. They put Liam Rushe in at full-forward and put in route one ball which is going back to days of old. ‘We did struggle to a certain extent. Brian will probably want Cillian Buckley to stay back a bit more and tighten it up a bit.’ Joyce, who retired from inter-county in October, reckons that Cody will tighten up the spine of his defence for Offaly’s visit to Nowlan Park tomorrow. ‘Offaly will probably look at doing something similar to Dublin, put big and physical players down the centre, but I would say we will tighten the backs. ‘We conceded three goals against Dublin and when that happens, your natural instinct, as a back, is to tighten up completely for the next say. ‘It is obviously a concern but I’m sure Padraig is chomping at the bit to come back and prove himself again. I would deem him very naturally strong in the air as well but Liam Rushe is a very different animal. ‘Padraig probably is an unnatural fit for full-back but it is like when JJ [Delaney] went into fullback, it took him a few games to get used to it. He made it his own in the long run. ‘And maybe we don’t have a natural full-back to fall into place there. ‘Over the years, when you look at under-age level, we probably haven’t produced a natural full-back who will slot in there. Maybe Conor Delaney is a player that has played fullback a good bit when he was younger but it was too big a step to ask him to play that position in his first championship match. ‘For the foreseeable future, Padraig will probably be left at the edge of the square, Joyce says. ‘From my point of view, I would love to see him further out the pitch because he is such an exciting player to watch in the half-back line,’ adds Joyce. ‘But he does give us a bit of solidity in the full-back line so he will be there for the foreseeable future.’