“You have to remember they all want to get up on the wall,” Tom Hogan says.

Injured Kilkenny star Michael Rice has echoed his manager’s assertion that Henry Shefflin is capable of starting the All-Ireland final and lasting the 70 minutes against Tipperary next Sunday.

ANTHONY STOKES was on fire as he gave Noel King a debut to remember as new Republic of Ireland under-21 boss.

BRIAN HOGAN saw a few minutes action at the start of this year’s NHL final. The rest he absorbed in hospital, having broken a collarbone.