THE ULTIMATE SHOOTOUT
Reid and Horgan are driving each other on in riveting battle for scoring record — 2024 could be something special
BACK at the tail-end of July, with the dust just about settled on what was a fourth final defeat for Kilkenny since the county’s last All-Ireland senior hurling success in 2015, the RTÉ GAA podcast got to talking about the past, present and future of TJ Reid. Host Jacqui Hurley paid tribute to the 35-year-old six-time All-Star while wondering out loud how much longer Kilkenny supporters will get to see him on the county stage. ‘At some point he has to say enough. His performances this year showed he is still able to do it. We had the same conversation around Conor McManus in football. If his body is able, his mind is able… it seems he lives and breathes hurling. If you were Derek Lyng, you’d be saying, “Don’t make any rash decisions — we’re so, so close”.’
Tipperary’s Shane McGrath was on the team that deprived Kilkenny a record-breaking five-ina-row in 2010 — a Kilkenny side captained by Reid. The RTÉ analyst mentioned how being a father now or having family commitments can often influence a player’s decision and suggested the attacker had little left to prove on the field. ‘If I was TJ Reid personally, and you were doing up my achievements and you run out of room on the page with all the achievements, I’d probably be happy now to be walking away. But that’s me. If he is feeling good and the body is good and he avoids injury, I think he’ll want to go back.
‘He’s after losing four All-Irelands now. It’s a big call to make…
‘But I don’t think any conversation will be had until Ballyhale are finished.’
There is a chance that Ballyhale Shamrocks’ campaign will end this afternoon at Nowlan Park against O’Loughlin Gaels and that decision will crystallise — though the nature of their demolition job of James Stephens in the semifinal means that they are heavily fancied to make further history by becoming the first club to win a six-in-a-row of Kilkenny titles. And yet the final scoreline of the 5-19 to 0-14 victory against James Stephens doesn’t tell the full tale. In injury time of the first half, the score was 0-7 to 0-6 to the holders. A high, hopeful ball from Paddy Mullen that dropped around the centre-forward position didn’t exactly suggest much danger, not 45 metres from goal. From the moment Reid jumped and plucked it from the sky, there was a rush of anticipation that swept through the stand, one picked up on the live Clubber commentary. Especially when he wheeled away towards the right sideline, had a look up and, instead of trying to pick off a point, took out four defenders with an angled crossfield pass. Pinged it straight to Adrian Mullen, who James Stephens hadn’t even envisaged collecting a pass. The buried finish to the net prompted the goal rush from there to the finish as the All-Ireland champions ran riot.
Reid grabbed one of those in a man-of-the-match performance that showcased the full range of his talent: his 1-6 included a glorious long-range sideline that spoke to his remarkable ability from placed balls, the Mullen set-up spoke to his aerial ability and vision — it was just one of a string of high catches he made during the game.
If that pass was off his right on the move for his own goal, his team’s second arrived when he planted his feet and buried the sliotar to the net off his left. Shamrocks’ fourth goal involved another big catch and inside pass, this time to Colin Fennelly.
So, what is still driving a player who turns 36 in the middle of next month to such heights?
The summer just gone left a few clues as to the question of whether he’ll recommit to Kilkenny for 2024. Chasing history has always been a rich source of motivation. Reid and his teammates made no bones about how becoming the first club in Kilkenny to win fivein-a-row last year was a huge motivation.
There was the backdrop then on a personal level to the All-Ireland final against Limerick in July. Currently on 13 All-Irelands — seven with Kilkenny and six with his club Ballyhale Shamrocks — a win there would have seen him surpass the joint-record he held
So, what is driving player who turns 36 next month to such heights?
along with his former club and county teammates, Henry Shefflin and Michael Fennelly.
And the running duel with Cork’s Patrick Horgan for the status of hurling’s all-time championship scorer is another element.
It was the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare that left a significant clue.
Going into that game, he just needed six points to overtake Horgan, who himself has long overtaken Christy Ring as his county’s all-time scorer. When he tapped over a 20-metre free in the 22nd minute, Reid had the record on his own.
That afternoon, he finished with another exhibition of deadball striking, his dozen points made up of 10 frees, a 65 and a sideline.
Guess who was foremost in his thoughts when he claimed to be surprised by the news that he had achieved another personal milestone?
‘Did I?’ he replied with a footnote that suggested it wasn’t much of a surprise at all. ‘Ah, I see Hoggie is coming back next year! Obviously on a personal level, it’s great but it’s not about me. It’s about getting the victory for the team. It’s a nice achievement to have.’
Another seven placed balls in the final against Limerick brought his overall career championship tally to 30-551 (641 points). That’s 14 points ahead of Horgan, who has his own stunning haul of 24-555 (627) to his name. Given Horgan’s match average is over eight points, that’s a couple of games in Munster next year.
It says a lot about Horgan’s individual brilliance that he has put that together during his county’s greatest All-Ireland famine. There is no other player in the game with a body of work to rival Horgan, who hasn’t an
All-Ireland triumph on their CV.
The tag of being the best player in the game not to hold a Celtic Cross would only irk the famously dedicated Horgan — that he has yet to win a Celtic Cross tells you all you need to know about what drives the Glen Rovers star year-on-year.
He’s had his own challenges with Cork in recent years — dropped from the starting 15 as questions were raised about whether a player just over six months younger than Reid has the legs or the necessary movement and ability to cover the ground that the modern game can demand.
And then Horgan goes out against Limerick in the do-or-die thriller that was the final round game in the Munster round-robin and rolls back the years with a virtuoso display that defied convention. In that respect, he’s a kindred spirit to Reid.
Between the gilded wristwork, the confidence to back himself, and a purity of ball-striking that has few equals in the game, his personal haul of 1-14 was a momentous contribution.
A single white flag more and Cork were in the Munster final instead of Limerick. Indeed, Limerick teetered on the brink of going out of the championship in a matter of minutes. The stakes couldn’t have been higher — and Horgan again delivered.
It wasn’t long before he said he was going again for 2024.
‘If I’m lucky enough to fight for a position by the end of this year, I’d love to. I feel great. I feel fitter than I ever felt. I feel fast, I feel sharp. In the GAA, when players go into their 30s, there is a whole different change towards them. If you blink wrong on the pitch, it’s, “Oh no, he’s gone”. It’s so wrong. If fellas want to play — and I want to play — age doesn’t matter.’
Horgan, like Reid, made his senior championship debut all the way back in 2008. By the summer of 2022, he had done enough to surpass Joe Canning in the all-time championship scoring standings. Former Cork manager Kieran Kingston paid tribute to him after his four points against Waterford at Walsh Park in the Munster championship.
‘It’s unbelievable. To have done what he has done, for hurling, and not just in Cork. And what he continues to do. And nationally, a player who has only played in two All-Ireland finals throughout his career, but still has that record of scoring — it’s an incredible achievement. An incredible achievement. We all express our congratulations and thanks, for what he has done and continues to do.’
Another Cork manager, John Meyler, during his time in charge described ‘Hoggie’ as an ‘artist’ and namechecked Lionel Messi after describing a solo goal he scored against Limerick.
Horgan himself, was a bit taken aback by passing out a Cork icon in Christy Ring in the scoring stakes. ‘Passing Ring was huge, obviously in Cork, because going into first spot in scoring is nearly mad to think it. It’ll be big obviously when I’ve stopped playing, I don’t know when that will be, but when I do, it’s something that will be nice to look back to and say, “Jeez, I have that record”, or whatever.’
Since Ring, only five different players have held the record — Kilkenny’s Eddie Keher, his fellow county man Henry Shefflin, Galway’s Joe Canning, Horgan, and now Reid.
While Reid became the first player to pass the 600-point mark (goals and points combined) during this year’s championship, with Horgan quickly following suit the same weekend, it says a lot about the scale of their achievement that the closest current player to them was Seamus Callanan roughly 300 points behind, a player who has since retired.
Even allowing for modern modifications to the sliotar and hurley and the advances in sports science and player preparation, Reid and Horgan are not just pushing the boundaries of the sport but pushing each other on to greater heights.
Fans of the game will hope to see both return and reprise their all-time scorer battle over the course of championship 2024.
John Meyler described him as an ‘artist’ and namechecked Lionel Messi