Hogan biding his time to be a hero

IT’S tough, trying to break into the elite in Kilkenny hurling, the championship starting 15.

Take Richie Hogan, for instance. You’re top scorer in the league final, with 1-10, 100% accuracy from play and placed balls – having been handed that duty after Henry Shefflin is sent to the GAA version of the sin-bin; you are man-of-the-match after a rip-roaring contest that had hurling fans purring; the next competitive match for Kilkenny is the Leinster semi-final against Galway and your hopes have got to be high; you tog out, and you’re handed the number 25 shirt. What gives?

“Everyone wants to play but I’m realistic enough to know that you earn your championship spot, and obviously I didn’t,” he said. “That gives a great confidence in a way, that you know there’s no favouritism, no-one guaranteed places. The boys who started against Galway aren’t guaranteed places for the Leinster final either, it’s the best 15 every day and the next 15 offers full support, and if they do get a few minutes they hope they won’t let anyone down, that they’ll play at the required level of intensity.”