Hurlers to go all way for Dublin — Keaney
DUBLIN hurling’s prodigal son, Conal Keaney, said he ended his two-year exile with the intention of winning All-Ireland honours. Recalled by Pat Gilroy, who managed him during his former time as a senior footballer with Dublin, Keaney was bullish about the hurlers’ prospects ahead of their clash with Allianz League winners Kilkenny on May 13 at Parnell Park in the first round of the new roundrobin Leinster Championship. Asked if he feels Championship silverware is within Dublin’s reach, he replied: ‘Definitely, yeah. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. ‘I didn’t come back not to win, so we’re going to win the Leinster and we’re going to win an All-Ireland, that’s the bottom line.’ He has always aimed high and was part of a Dublin senior football team that was knocking on the door of All-Ireland success for years. Ironically, given his recall, he missed out on the 2011 breakthrough football success under Gilroy after switching codes and helping the hurlers to a first National League since 1939 that same year as well as a first Leinster
since 1961 two years later. ‘I think the attitude of the lads is really good, they are really eager, they do want to win, they do train really hard. I’d like to be there when we get a bit of success with them, before I leave it again. ‘It is tough but it’s enjoyable. I do want to do it. It’s not going to last forever. I just love the challenge of trying to get back to that level that I hope I can get to.’ Now 35, no other player in this year’s Liam MacCarthy Cup can match his longevity in terms of the Championship. When he made his debut in the summer of 2001 — the same summer as the player with the record of football Championship appearances, Stephen Cluxton — he was already billed for big things, coming on as a substitute against Laois a matter of weeks before sitting his Leaving Certificate. The following winter, he starred on the Dublin team that turned over reigning AllIreland champions Kilkenny in the 2003 Walsh Cup final. It’s a game he has vivid memories of. ‘Obviously they were AllIreland champions coming in, they had all the names. Usually for a Walsh Cup they wouldn’t have all the names, but DJ [Carey] was playing – so we all wanted to have a right go at them. I remember that day it kind of set the tone, the first ball came in and I think it was DJ that put me on my [backside] with a shoulder! “This lad is not doing it to me!” I think we all kind of stepped up, and a lot of the younger lads, we just got very physical with them. And obviously we hurled really well, and I think [Johnny] McGuirk got the point in the last minute to win it. ‘I thought “This is it, we can compete with all of these, so now we just need to push on.” But it just didn’t develop like that.’ Never did he imagine that he would still be here 15 years later — or that Brian Cody would still be in charge of Kilkenny. ‘I think Cody is like Alex Ferguson — he’s setting a new team out and he’s changing his tactics. He’s definitely getting lads all over the field to work really hard. I think it could be a really good year for them but it may not be either too. ‘Like, if you were picking the draw, you’d want to have Kilkenny in your first game and you’d want them at home.’