Doubts dispelled, are Kilkenny now more vulnerable?

Sixteen months ago, Ger Cunningham was only a handful of wet weekends into the Dublin job when he decided to poke the bear. Or, should that be, Cat.

“They’re losing top players,” he said of Kilkenny’s glut of retirements including JJ Delaney, Henry Shefflin and Tommy Walsh.

“From that point of view, it’s probably less intimidating but they still have an awful lot of very good players. Hopefully, some more of them might go!”