Carey set to make final decision on Cats’ future in the next fortnight

THE next two weekends may well determine whether hurling fans will again see the great DJ Carey featuring in the black and amber of Kilkenny.

Carey hasn’t seen intercounty action since the Cats’ All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway last year. He didn’t feature in any of the league campaign which ended in a 13th title success in Semple Stadium last Sunday, and there are those who believe the time is right for him to bow out of the intercounty scene.

However, Kilkenny manager Brian Cody is adamant that decision will be for Carey alone to make.

“We haven’t heard from him yet, we are waiting to do so,” Cody said after their win over Limerick on Sunday.

Cody is adamant, however, that the team panel remains “open ended’’ and hasn’t been closed off to any players — Carey, very definitely, included.

“This team is in transition, and despite Sunday’s win, it remains in transition,” Cody said.

“The criteria for me is commitment and a desire to play for Kilkenny and every member of the present panel has both. Besides, they are also very fine hurlers, each and every one of them.”

With the Kilkenny county championship getting underway next weekend, Carey is expected to be involved with his club, Young Ireland’s. They will also be out the following weekend, after which the expectation is that Carey will then end the speculation, once and for all, concerning his intercounty future.

He has said that he will first see how things go for him with his club before deciding his future with Kilkenny. That decision is now likely to come in the next fortnight.

The Leinster champions don’t begin the defence of their provincial title until June 11, and with all due respects to Dublin or Westmeath who will provide the semi-final opposition, it looks like a very comfortable passage to the decider for them.

There will be sharp focus then on Young Ireland’s over the next two weekends, and more especially on the man who already enjoys legendary status on Noreside. With Brian Cody making it clear that the door remains open to him to return to the fold, the ball has been put very much in Carey’s own court.