Competiton for places keeping Kilkenny stars sharp
According to Allstar corner-forward Eddie Brennan, the training sessions in the weeks leading to this Sunday's Leinster SHC semi-final have also been pretty hot, no-one sparing the Noreside ash.
"Competition for places is hectic in there. The matches we're playing among ourselves are fairly intense. At this stage it's a case that any of the 30 lads that are in there training are capable of starting on Sunday."
Eddie is among the fortunate 15 named by manager Brian Cody and his co-selectors, as Kilkenny begin the defence of their Leinster and All-Ireland titles. Testament to the competition of which the Graigue-Ballycallan star speaks however is the fact that on this occasion, DJ Carey, one of hurling's immortals, finds himself on the subs bench. But that is cat country as they go in search of the elusive three-in-a-row.
That's the story this year of course, in hurling Kilkenny's quest. Kilkenny have achieved the three-in-a-row only once before, 1911/12/13. Cork have done it four times, Tipperary have done it twice. Can this Kilkenny side do what some of the great sides of previous generations have failed to do? It could also prove a distraction of course, a fact of which Brennan, a garda in Dublin, is very aware.
"We had something the same last year, trying to repeat the win of 2002, everyone was talking about that then, saying it couldn't be done in the modern era. Now the hype is about the chance of doing the three-in-a-row, and you can't hide from that, it's hard to avoid it.
"It's a huge achievement for any county, but we won't be distracted by it. Like every other team, our aim is to be in the All-Ireland final in September, and win that, please God."
Despite their well-documented injury problems, their retirements, Wexford have still named a very strong starting 15 for this derby clash. The county has already had the boost of seeing the senior footballers defeat Kildare yet the country is expecting an easy ride for the champions. Brennan knows otherwise.
"Definitely not. We are definitely, definitely, not taking Wexford for granted."
Injuries, and not the match itself, appears to be the central theme running through hurling conversation down Wexford way.
"We've been decimated with injuries all year, it's been incredible," manager John Conran agrees. "There hasn't been any particular pattern to it
"It's a whole variety of different things nothing you can address, as if you were doing anything wrong in training. We thought it might be over after the League, we thought it might clear up after we got a bit of a rest from competitive games, but it hasn't.
"We're being hit bad, but what can you do except pick up the pieces and go on?"
Another factor working against Wexford is that they face the might of the Cats gunning for history in both the province and nationally. Or is it? Most pundits will be hoping that Wexford prove them wrong, a fact Conran readily accepts.
"I'd say so, but who wouldn't want to see Kilkenny beaten at some stage this year?" he said.
Conran will be buoyed by the memory of the last time an Allstar Kilkenny team was going for the elusive All-Ireland three-in-a-row. "That was 1976. I was a sub on that team; we beat them by 17 points that day. I'd settle for a lot less than that on Sunday, as long as it's the same result."
All neutrals will be hoping for a Croke Park repeat of the two shocks in the football last Sunday.
