Putting an ‘unmerciful challenge’ in context

YOU would think that given the week that’s in it, Declan Fanning would be utterly consumed by tomorrow’s All-Ireland final, that all that would be on Tipperary right half-back’s mind would be how to contain this Kilkenny attack, how to deal with reigning hurler-of-the-year Eoin Larkin especially.

You would be wrong.

It’s his first All-Ireland senior final, and he’s as aware as anyone of the significance of such an event, but Fanning is no dewy-eyed kid, blinkered to all else that’s going on around him. An employee at the Coolmore Stud operation where he works on machinery maintenance, Declan (30) is also concerned about the recession, and despite his status as an inter-county hurler, even in a county where such people are accorded due honour, he takes nothing for granted. Even Coolmore, he says, top of the pile in a multi-billion euro industry, has been affected.

“It has, definitely. They’re like any other company; there had to be pay cuts, there had to be everything. It’s tough going at the minute there. You’re taking it month by month. You don’t know when you could be asked, or told, ‘you have only a few months left’. It’s no joke.”

Clubmate Pat Kerwick is one of those hit by the downturn.

“Pat is a blocklayer but he’s out of work at the minute and it’s tough going. You’re in hurling and you’re focussing on your hurling, but at the end of the day it’s not going to put bread on the table. You have to go out and try to earn a living. It’s very tough on players, and I know there are a couple of guys on the panel who aren’t working.”

Tomorrow is a big day for the man from Killenaule, a day for which he has been readying himself all his hurling life.

“It’s great for the club, there’s a buzz around. Its nice to see plenty of young lads going around Killenaule with the jerseys on them.

“You mightn’t have seen it before and it’s very healthy for the club, especially at juvenile level.

“We’re finding that we’re getting a lot more young lads down to the field, and that can only be good for Killenaule hurling, and it can only be good for Tipperary.”

With the likes of Eoin Kelly and Paul Curran from divisional rivals Mullinahone also on the starting 15, this is also good news for south Tipp, long seen as the poor relation in Tipperary hurling.

“It is – we’re definitely seen as the lesser side in Tipperary, the south would be looked down upon. The north and mid would be stronger, and it’s nice to have three lads from the one club going in training every night.

“It shows we can play a bit of hurling down in the south as well! Killenaule is a traditional club but we’ve never won a senior county title, and that’s holding us back a bit. A couple of years ago we won two county U-21’s — that was a big, big boost for us at the time. We felt we could push on but it hasn’t happened so far. You never know — there’s a lot more club hurling to be done this year.”

A recent loss in the South Tipp final hasn’t helped matters, Mullinahone ending their three-in-a-row dreams, though Declan did have some personal satisfaction in limiting the influence of Eoin Kelly after being shifted back to curb his rampant county team-mate.

That game was played only the weekend before last, a very positive sign that in Tipperary at least, clubs – and club players – are not being pushed to one side, even as the county goes in search of a much-needed All-Ireland title. It has its upsides for the county players involved too.

“I’d have rathered if it wasn’t on,” Declan admits. “But look, you can get injured in training, it was a good competitive match, so from that perspective it was as good as a training game with Tipperary. It was great to be able to relax a bit after the All-Ireland semi-final, and in that sense the club game was a help, gave you a break, get ready for that game before going back and preparing for the toughest game we’ve had for a good few years.”

Tough it will be of course, and nowhere tougher than in the Tipperary half-back line. This is where Tipperary will have to stand strong if they are to win this All-Ireland, but this is where they will be most severely tested by this multi-talented and multi-pronged Kilkenny attack. Huge responsibility then on Declan and his line-mates, Conor O’Mahony and Brendan Maher? “Yes, but the whole team has a huge responsibility, all their lines are strong. They have six forwards who can play anywhere — any of them could play corner, full, centre, wing, so you don’t know who you’re going to be up against. You could be up against one for 20 minutes, another for ten, so no matter what line you’re on, no matter who you’re on, we have an unmerciful challenge facing us.”