TJ Reid ready to return for Kilkenny in 2026

TJ Reid of Ballyhale Shamrocks lifts the cup. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho

TJ Reid, less than two weeks shy of his 38th birthday, has declared himself ready and willing to return to the Kilkenny fold in 2026 should county manager Derek Lyng be interested in extending his long service.

It's hard to imagine Lyng saying no.

“Look, at the moment, I'm still a Kilkenny player,” said the seven-time All Star and 2015 hurler of the year. “No decision has been made yet, so I'm still part of the panel today, and at the moment, my journey's with Ballyhale Shamrocks. If I'm picked for next year, I'm back in.” Reid’s commitment and enduring impact is almost as staggering as his CV.

His county duties have produced five league titles, 14 Leinsters and half-a-dozen All-Irelands at senior level. There’s two Railway Cups, a Fitzgibbon as well as a Leinster and an All-Ireland Colleges with St Kieran’s in there too.

The haul with Ballyhale isn’t any less impressive. Sunday’s final defeat of O’Loughlin Gaels in Nowlan Park took his county title collection to 12. There are eight provincials and six All-Irelands packed in there with the Shamrocks too.

Last weekend’s nine-point win had a lovely touch of symmetry about it given his first, back in 2006, was claimed against the same opponent and by an eight-point margin. And it was Reid, who hit eleven points this time, who lifted the cup as captain.

“They're special because you're moving on in your own career and you don't take it for granted anymore because these bunch of players, you're not around forever. This is a special one. It was just ‘win the game’, then titles and awards will take care of itself after that.” Ballyhale’s ability to churn out these titles is extraordinary. Their first didn’t come until 1978 and they followed that up with another across the next 13 seasons before a 15-year hiatus that was broken by that second breakthrough in 2006.

Shamrocks now have a 55% success rate in terms of Kilkenny titles in the last 19 years. That would be ridiculous in any county and either code but it’s all the more given this is Kilkenny and standard of hurling it offers.

Reid elated after the final whistle. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho

“Ah, it is, yeah, it is,” said Reid. “Ballyhale, Shamrocks, yeah, what can I say about them? Great families make great people, and great people make great teams. We had that over the last number of years.

“The team that started [Sunday], go back probably to the first one that we won [in 2006], it's the same family names that are there: the Masons, the Holdens, Mullins or Fennellys, Codys or the Shefflins. The Reids were there, the Aylwards were there.

“It's the same family-tree line again, and we know the standards. It's all about winning, and in Ballyhale we're brought back down to earth fairly lively as well, which is a great thing. We never get carried away, we're always focused, we're always respectful.

“Our job now is to go on and represent Kilkenny in Leinster.” The numbers don’t even tell the whole story. Not this latest one.

It’s only two years since the club’s bid to win a Kilkenny six-in-a-row was stopped in the final by an O’Loughlin Gaels that just one point to spare in the end, and the dip in their fortunes after that was nothing short of astonishing.

Their bid was ended by eventual champions Thomastown at the quarter-final stage last year and that brought to a close a dreadful year in which they won only 12% of their games played. It was unthinkable for a club with their pedigree.

The rebound has been spectacular with Henry Shefflin coming back to his roots after his spell over Galway to take charge for a second stint, and supported by a stellar supporting cast in the backroom and a team eager to rediscover itself.

“It probably took two years,” said Reid. “We were here two years ago going for six-in-a-row and then automatically you think you get back, you get back in the final, and you win.

“That didn't happen last year and probably that hurt reflected from two years ago. Then last year it wasn't good enough, the attitude wasn't good enough, our values and our standards weren't met last year. But look, the fire was back this year.

“I'm talking on reflection here. To beat Castlecomer, beat Thomastown, beat Dicksboro with 14 men for probably 45 minutes, and then to beat O’Loughlin’s: that's an unbelievable rollercoaster. The team that we have there, to come back again, it's exceptional.”