Cats have come of age

KILKENNY’S reputation as one of hurling’s continuing dominant forces would have been dented had they not managed to beat holders Tipperary in the Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final three weeks ago.

Pat Henderson, who shared the distinction with younger brother Ger of being one of the outstanding centre-backs of the modern game before becoming a successful manager, wholeheartedly agrees that the public perception of the team changed for the better after this win.

"Until they won against Offaly two years ago they had certainly under- achieved.

And, I think a slight doubt was cast on them last year in the sense that Galway creamed them in the semi-final," he says.

"People were also saying they hadn't beaten a Munster team in the championship, although to be fair to them, they beat Clare in the 1999 semi-final. I would say this team has probably come of age by beating Tipperary. They proved they are a good team."

The late Ollie Walsh was the last manager to celebrate an All-Ireland double with Kilkenny in 1992/93. Ten years earlier Henderson was at the helm when the county achieved a notable double- double, winning the league and championship in 1982 and 1983.

Next Sunday, Kilkenny contest their fourth final in five years, with only one win from three appearances.

Because of the huge commitment demanded of players nowadays, he agrees it's becoming more and more difficult if not impossible to achieve back-to-back wins. The same applies to the league and championship double, except Tipperary managed it last year and Kilkenny are half way there.

"Kilkenny won the Leinster title this year for the fifth time, equalling the record we set up in the 70s. Some people would ask what does this say about Leinster hurling.

"You could have said that up until you got the back door system. I think there is a reasonable conveyor belt of players coming along all the time in Kilkenny. With a lot of the more prominent counties, like Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny, you can go outside the main panel and you'll find 20 more players there or thereabouts. The replacements are there in predominantly hurling counties. You tend to find that. It's probably part of the reason for their success."

At a more general level, however, he has concerns about the impact of the qualifier system on club games. So does association president Sean McCague and many other leading administrators. He says while he is in favour of the system, he has reservations. "The game needs the promotion the additional games are giving it. There's absolutely no doubt about that. But I would be very concerned that we would create a two tier system. I'm involved with a club at the moment (the Fenians) who won't have played a competitive game for nine weeks. And that's not right either.

"And we are just one team of many. We have four players involved with inter- county, three in the senior panel and one with the minors and that's difficult. We have games, but they are meaningless. If we have more games in the inter-county championship and depending on the run that Kilkenny may or may not get, we could be going longer periods without games.

"We had a route this year which gave us a free period after winning the Leinster final to play our local championships. But we still have this big gap between the knock-out stages and the finals of our competitions. I dread to think what would have happened if we had extra games. We'd have no competitive games for our local teams until the winter and that's where I see the problem ending up."

Henderson accepts that Kilkenny's form going into the semi-final hadn't been very impressive, believing in advance of the game that if Tipperary played well they would triumph. "They did play well, but we still won," he comments.

"The team performed better than I expected on the day. The backs played very solidly and three of the forwards played exceptionally well in the first half, while the others got into it more in the second half. That was the secret of their success. Midfield was quite good, whereas it had been shaky in earlier rounds.

"The team came together as a team. Probably 13 of the starting 15 performed well on the day which was quite good.

"You'd have to say DJ Carey was the creator on the day. He needed watching. Tipp were probably afraid of him and it gave scope to some of the other players. And he made the goal which, at the end of the day, was the difference."

On the Kilkenny team, Peter Barry has been one of the stars of the campaign at centre-back. Henderson says his form has surprised a lot of people in Kilkenny. "I thought he would have difficulties against Tipperary, but the game suited him and he played exceptionally well. He was man of the match, obviously.

"Sean McMahon would be in a different mode. He probably has all the attributes of a centre-back. He has been playing there consistently for Clare, whereas Peter Barry has played in a number of different positions.

Sean McMahon has been the pillar of the Clare defence along with Brian Lohan one of the great centre-backs of all time."

Based on his vast experience as a player and coach, Henderson offers an interesting view on how the game may be won and lost.

"If the Kilkenny forwards allow Clare to do to them what they did to Galway, I don't think we will win the match. They sucked Galway in and it seemed to make the pitch smaller for the Clare backs. And they were in their element.

"If Kilkenny do the same and start to crowd the puck out, I think we won't win. We'll need to keep it wide and free flowing and keep the ball moving the ball quickly.

"The Galway lads were shrewd enough for 20 minutes when they played like that. I know from playing myself, you can sucker a team into pulling them into the middle, and they fall for it. Doubts creep in and things start going wrong. When that happens fellows get over anxious and they end up in a heap.

"It does happen and no matter what you say the week before, the day before or even the hour before the game, it just happens. Clare seem to have done it with all the teams they played this year. They did it to Waterford. They started all over the place and had Clare in fierce trouble. The next thing, Waterford had no room to play any more. They have consistently done it this year."

Ultimately, Kilkenny must be as focused as they were for the Tipperary game and be able to deliver on the big day.

"If that happens I think we'll win. But, it will need that," Henderson claims.