A wait on my mind...

KILKENNY’S sevenyear itch isn’t lost on TJ Reid as he chases that elusive eighth AllIreland medal.

Only twice in his first nine seasons with the Cats did they fail to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup but the recent defeat to

Limerick means they are now entering an eighth year without an AllIreland, their longest drought since 1983-92.

“We did rise above expectations at the start of the year,” said

Reid of Kilkenny’s run to the All-Ireland final.

“We were probably fourth or fifth favourites to win the All-Ireland final and look, we put our heads down, we got to a League semi-final, could have beaten

Cork down in Cork that day.

Massive

“We competed very well in Leinster, we won Leinster and we had four weeks together, we put in a massive performance against Clare and those games gave us great belief and great confidence going into the AllIreland final and unfortunately just a great Limerick team on the day.

“But yeah, look, it’s in my head every year that we haven’t won an All-Ireland since 2015.”

And Reid expects potential title rivals who faltered this year to be better in 2023, while even champions Limerick, who will be looking to win their fourth AllIreland title in a row, should have a stronger hand to pick from too.

“Next year you’re going to have the likes of Waterford back with a new management, Tipperary are going to be back, Wexford are going to be back, Limerick are going to have (Peter) Casey back and Cian Lynch (pictured) back next year so I think next year’s Championship is something to be looking forward to.”