Kilkenny struggle with losses? The transition is already complete, warns minor-winning manager Pat Hoban
KILKENNY’S All-Ireland winning minor manager has a message for those counties who see a source of weakness in the retirement of four Kilkenny senior players with a combined total of 29 All-Ireland medals between them: the transition is over.
Pat Hoban dismisses the idea that Kilkenny and Brian Cody will struggle to fill the gaps left by the retirements of Tommy Walsh, David Herity, Brian Hogan and Aidan ‘Taggy’ Fogarty, for all their combined brilliance over the years.
‘Brian would be the last man to use the word transition,’ explains Hoban. ‘Absolutely they are big, big names. But the reality is that by the replay of the All-Ireland, those players didn’t play ultimately.
‘If you use the word transition – it’s already happened.’
For all the superlatives rightly accorded to the gang of four who decided to call time in the past fortnight, Hoban’s words are a harsh reality check to those opposing counties who would love to think that it might signify the end of an era.
At no stage over the past 16 years, in which he has guided Kilkenny to 10 All-Irelands, has Cody ever entertained the notion that he was radically overhauling his squads. Now is no different says Hoban, especially in a year in which Kilkenny pulled off a minor and senior double.
With Kerry doing the same, it was the first time since 1975 that the double-double by hurling and football’s aristocrats had been recorded.
‘The team is constantly evolving,’ says Hoban. ‘If you look at any Kilkenny panel over the last 10 years – say, take the ’02 panel and compare it to ’05, I can guarantee you that 12 to 15 players off that panel will be gone. Now it might well be players at the latter end of the panel but the turnover has been very consistent.
‘At the moment, it’s probably just that they are bigger names, that they were first-team players. That was always going to happen.
‘Brian has managed it well. I don’t see any of the team that started the All-Ireland retiring for a long time.’
Only Jackie Tyrell (32) and JJ Delaney (32) are in the sort of age bracket to have entertained questions about their future and Tyrrell has already nailed his colours firmly to the mast for next year.
Delaney admitted this summer that he did think long and hard about his future at the end of 2013 following Kilkenny’s All-Ireland quarterfinal exit and Clare’s Liam MacCarthy Cup triumph. However, the Irish Mail on Sunday understands that he has already made it known privately that he is on board for 2015.
Henry Shefflin’s future will become clear depending on the extent of Ballyhale Shamrocks’ participation in the club champion- ship. Win Leinster and that carries the 35-year-old – the only player in the history of the game with 10 All-Irelands – into next spring.
Rather than keep retirement thoughts at bay, it’s arguable that a protracted club campaign would hasten the process, especially when a break over Christmas might otherwise allow him to get his body right and refresh his batteries for one more Championship campaign with Kilkenny. The squad listed in the panel attached is based on Ballyhale’s gain being Kilkenny’s loss.
Delaney is key to Kilkenny. After losing firebrand warrior Tommy Walsh and former All-Ireland winning captain Brian Hogan from the half-back line, Cody needs his All Star full-back, especially given there is no natural successor in the squad. At least not yet.
Judging by the county championship, John Dalton is still the next best full-back in Kilkenny and arguably deserves a recall. If Michael Rice’s rehab after a cruciate knee injury goes to plan, he is sure to feature again. Paul Murphy has the all-round class to slot in at centre-back if the needs arises. Hoban plays down the notion that Cody is likely to fill the gaps with the county’s best minors. ‘There are going to be massive gaps in the panel because they are big players who are obviously close to the team. So there is going to be new opportunities there alright. Longer term, there are some very fine players who will come through.
‘I would say looking at the way Brian has managed the team over the years though, I don’t see minors stepping up at the moment. The reality of minor grade is that most of these lads are only heading in to Leaving Cert year. That’s a big thing that people wouldn’t be aware of. Plenty of them aren’t even gone to college. So I’m not saying he wouldn’t. But that’s a factor.’
THREE players from the minor winning team with real potential are midfielder Luke Scanlon, full-forward Liam Blanchfield and corner-forward John Walsh who scored 2-5 in the final. ‘All will be 19 in 2015,’ explains Hoban. ‘Two are in sixth year – Luke and Liam. John has gone on to college.
‘I would like to think those guys would step up to senior level. But I don’t think there is a need or there will be a panic to rush these guys into it.
‘You’d like to see how they’d perform at
Longer term there are some fine players coming through
under-21. There’s the physical development which is essential for senior as well. All those things will feed into it.’
Kilkenny players generally have to serve a serious apprenticeship – just look at how long it took the 2014 Player of the Year Richie Hogan or fellow nominee TJ Reid to establish themselves in the starting 15 – but Cody isn’t averse to infusing the squad with teenage talent, Henry Shefflin, JJ Delaney and Tommy Walsh being good examples. John Walsh’s scoring spree in the minor final suggests he has the big-game mentality.
There isn’t another county in Ireland who could afford to let a player of the calibre of James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick retire without going down on bended knee.
This self-same All-Ireland winning captain who opted out at the age of 26 is still starring for Ballyhale Shamrocks and was one of the key figures in the club’s Kilkenny and Leinster club campaigns.
In his time at the helm, Cody has proved that the team comes first. It must do in the unrelenting pursuit of success. He’s not one to go chasing, nor does he yield to sentiment in his quest to keep the Cats on top.
Players come and players go, it’s the natural order of things. And Kilkenny go on winning.