GAA: Christmas Noel ...

... is a very different animal to the Kilkenny full-back who has prowled his square and wore the famed No 3 jersey with distinction for more than a decade. Michael Moynihan took advantage of Noel Hickey’s downtime.

NOEL HICKEY was the Kilkenny U21 captain in 1999, which put him on the radar of the senior management. No surprises, then, when he got the call-up to the big show.

Thing was, that meant he had to make a call of his own.