Brian’s plan to bring through the new school is going nicely
THOSE conscientious Tipperary supporters that arrived early to Semple Stadium last Saturday evening, probably wished they had taken their time. What they saw in the curtain-raiser was a source of despair as it was evidence that not only have Kilkenny not gone away, but they are likely to never go away.
St Kieran’s did need extra-time to get the better of a spirited Presentation College, Athenry but this was the fourth time in five years that the Marble City’s famous hurling nursery had been crowned champions of Ireland. The conveyor belt doesn’t stop in Kilkenny. It barely even slows down.
As Brian Cody reinvents Kilkenny for the umpteenth time in his remarkable reign, the influence of Kieran’s is clear for all to see. Richie Leahy, Liam Blanchfield, James Maher and Martin Keoghan are just a few of those whose talent has been nurtured on College Road in the Marble City.
Keoghan is an interesting example, as his elevation to the senior ranks illustrates that it’s not just playing tactics which Cody has altered this spring. The talented forward, singled out for praise by Anthony Daly in last Sunday’s Allianz League Sunday, was on the Kieran’s side that lost to Our Lady’s Templemore in last year’s Croke Cup final, having won two All-Ireland medals in 2015 and 2016.
Within a year of appearing in an AllIreland Colleges final, Keoghan was man of the match for Kilkenny in a league game against Waterford in Walsh Park, scoring five points in a wonderful display. He has been fast-tracked into the senior team, which has never been Cody’s way. But circumstances have forced him to alter his thinking. And while he obviously has an eye for goal, Keoghan’s performance against Wexford last week was more in keeping with what Cody expects from young players trying to impress as it was based around a tireless workrate.
The morning after Tipperary claimed the All-Ireland title at Kilkenny’s expense back in 2016, Cody (below) was cornered by a few journalists in the team hotel. The dreaded transition word was mentioned in one question which the Cats boss seized on.
‘We haven’t done as well as we’d like to be doing at under-age level the few years, that’s the truth. Does that mean there are no hurlers coming through? It doesn’t mean that at all, there are some very good hurlers coming through.
‘There are players on our panel who haven’t been seen yet but who will become top players, and quickly. You can rest assured of that,’ Cody said at the time. He was clearly thinking of Keoghan and Maher and Leahy.
And of course, everything is relative. Kilkenny mightn’t have been doing as well as they should be at underage level, but they still won an All-Ireland minor title in 2014 and reached last year’s Under 21 AllIreland final. In any other county, those results might suggest a golden generation coming down the tracks.
This spring, Cody has cast his eye over 35 players, more than any other team. He has drafted most of last year’s Under-21 panel to train with the seniors. This is a serious rebuilding project.
There was always going to come a time when Cody would have to build Kilkenny from the ground up yet again. Over the past few years, some of the greatest hurlers that ever lived have slipped off the stage and it is impossible to replace Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney and Henry Shefflin.
Cody has made it a gradual process. It is just the change has been more noticeable this spring, not only because Cody and Mick Dempsey have developed a team playing around different strengths.
TJ Reid’s scoring exploits and Walter Walsh’s fine form at fullforward has allowed the likes of Keoghan, John Donnelly and Leahy to flourish alongside them. Colin Fennelly will be returning from peacekeeping duty soon, the hope is Richie Hogan will be over his back injury by the Championship while Kevin Kelly, so impressive for Ballyragget in the club Championship, should be back from his knee injury by late June.
This is transition Kilkenny-style. Give young players a chance and watch them grow on the field and end up in a National League final. It is what they do.
As anyone in Semple Stadium at half-six last Saturday evening, their future is in safe hands, too. Kilkenny haven’t gone away. They will never go away.