Cats still dogged but the quality just isn’t there right now
KILKENNY’S defeat against Limerick was a neat microcosm of where they are at the minute.
A heroic effort but ultimately a little short of what’s required to win these type of games against top opposition, which Limerick undoubtedly now are.
Kilkenny could have stolen it but it would have been a case of pulling it out of the fire.
The better team won and I said at an early stage this year just how highly I rate Limerick. They have exceptional talent and they’re going to take some beating.
Expectations will rise on the back of Sunday’s victory. How they manage that will be key.
They may well go in as favourites against Cork in the semi-final. They’ll face a very different style of play compared to Kilkenny’s more direct approach but, based on what we’ve seen to date, I’d fancy them to get to the final.
Even though Kilkenny have clearly slipped down the pecking order, they’re still the barometer for so many teams, as the reaction of the Limerick players and supporters to beating them would attest.
Whether Kilkenny are struggling or not, they fight for every ball to the bitter end. That’s why it’s such a big thing to get over them.
But the route back to the top isn’t straightforward for Kilkenny. That’s coming from someone who’s at the coalface, having managed the under-21s this year.
As a county, we wouldn’t be screaming about lads who are ready to come into the team. Players like Paddy Deegan and Padraig Walsh are being asked to do a job for the team in the full-back line when they are better suited to playing out the field.
We need to find guys for these specialist positions but the solutions aren’t obvious.
A more consistent forward unit is essential. You see Richie Leahy coming in and scoring a few points but then he struggled in other games he started.
With the limitations they have, Kilkenny had a pretty good year. Winning the League was a bonus while they drew with the All-ireland champions and were there or thereabouts with them in the replay. With a couple of breaks they could have reached the last four.
They would have been hard to beat had they got there but while the winning mentality remains intact, the finished product just isn’t there right now. There’s no doubt Brian Cody is the right man to bring this team on.
He would have foreseen what was going to happen a couple of years back and could have taken the easy way out. But if he had stood aside, the team would be a whole lot worse for it now.
Look at Galway. They’re a very fine side now but it took them a few years together before they got to that level. It takes time.
Kilkenny lost a lot of iconic players in a relatively short timespan. Richie Hogan and TJ Reid arrived towards the end of Cody’s greatest team and now they’re the only direct links to that era.
Young players have been given an opportunity in the last year or two and they will improve further.
Whether they’re ultimately good enough to restore Kilkenny to the top is a question that will be asked of them.
If I was a player in that situation, I’d be looking to answer that emphatically.