HURL NEW BALL GAME NOW
Football only for Kilkenny
CIARAN KILKENNY has effectively ruled out the prospect of playing hurling for Dublin in the future.
A talented underage dual player, Kilkenny played in both the All-ireland minor football and hurling finals in 2011 but despite overtures from the senior hurling management over the years, the 24-year-old has opted for football only at senior level.
In the past he hadn’t ruled out the possibility of playing for the county hurlers but, speaking at the launch of the Leinster
GAA Beko Club Bua
Awards yesterday, he indicated that ship has sailed.
He explained: “This is my seventh year with the football, I’m completely immersed with this group now.
“I’d still follow Dublin hurlers, but if there’s any way I can help out with the local club hurlers, I’ll do that and I still love togging out with the club because it’s something new and something fresh.
“But I’m firmly focussed on football now at this stage.
“A good chunk of the guys there now would have been [born in] 1993 and 1994, who I played at minor level with and would have played against them all the way up, under-8, under-9, under-10.
“It’s that special bond that you create with lads you play against at that age group. The bond you make having marked them – I marked Jack Mccaffrey, John Small, Brian Fenton. So to have that bond where we’re now representing Dublin and fortunate enough to be playing in All-ireland finals together is something that I’ll hold dear for the rest of my life, it’s really, really special for us.”
Another highly rated dual player, Diarmuid Connolly, is currently not part of the Dublin football squad and Kilkenny didn’t give any indication that he’ll be back for the Championship.
“I’m not too sure on that one now. I know he’s just taking a rest now at the moment,” said Kilkenny.
“But obviously Diarmuid is a serious talent and has been a serious footballer for Dublin over the last number of years, and he’d be a serious addition for the team.
“All we can really do now at the moment, as a group, is just do the best we can with the players that we have available to us.”
Given his Galway connections – both his grandfathers hail from Caherlistrane and Galway great Sean Purcell was a cousin of his father – Kilkenny relished the opportunity to play against the Tribesmen twice at the latter end of the League for the first time.
“I would have looked a lot at the 1998 and 2001 Galway teams when I was younger. It was a great opportunity for me to go and play against Galway. The atmosphere in Pearse Stadium was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.”