RESTRUCTURE IS A CONCERN

essentially. You’ll play a match, recover and then get ready for the next game. That will happen for five or six weeks. It’s important that between now and Walsh Cup, teams will be looking to get a base for themselves.”

The 11-time All-ireland winning manager would prefer a root and branch review of club and county fixture lists.

“You have to look at the calendar for the whole thing – club, county – and come up with a solution,” said the Cats boss.

“I don’t have a solution but I do think the way club matches were ran in Kilkenny forever, if you like, has been good and has catered for the club well.

“It definitely doesn’t improve things from Kilkenny’s point of view but I think the clubs were happy with it. At the end of the day, you still do your work, you do your training. You have your dates and gear towards those.

Cody (above at yesterday’s Top Oil Leinster School’s Cup draw), who confirmed that Kilkenny won’t pull out of the Walsh Cup, continued: “I think the club has to be looked after, respected.

“If April is going to be the only time that club players are going to get to play, until teams are out of the Championship, it will have to be treated properly. It changes things. From a Kilkenny point of view it changes things a lot.

“It’s more uncertain from our point of view, for club players for the coming year. If it is meant to be decided that April is for the clubs, then it’s for the clubs.

“Obviously the county board will decide what sort of clubs will be fixed for

April – they seem to be considering playing two rounds of the club in April which I’ll not have a problem with.”