Fennelly delighted to learn from the best

HIS hurling education at underage and club level has been of the highest quality, yet Colin Fennelly has still found himself absorbing new information since being introduced to the world of senior intercounty hurling.

Fennelly is the latest product to roll off the Ballyhale Shamrocks attacking production line and after being immersed in All-Ireland club campaigns and involved with Kilkenny underage teams, he is now aiming to climb to the next level.

Last Saturday week he was pitched in against the All-Ireland champions in Semple Stadium for his league debut and on Sunday it was in Nowlan Park in a deluge against Cork.

“It’s my first time experiencing all this. The step up has been unbelievable but to be honest, it’s the step up that I needed if I was to push on my game. I got the phone call off Brian in December and since then I’ve been training. I’d never done any training like it before. We did a couple of fitness tests in December and then once January came, it was just 100% into the hurling and fitness.

“At the moment, there’s a few of us who have a chance to prove ourselves. But if we don’t do it now, the senior players will all be back soon enough. So you have to try to nail down your claim now and try to be in a position to start or come on as the year progresses. Pat Hartley got a start on Sunday and he hasn’t started a league game in a long time. Paddy Hogan would be in the same position, lads like that have been on the fringes over the last few years and they really want to drive on.

“It was very tough on Sunday. The weather was grand at the start of the game, but then the rain came down and it became very difficult. We dominated the first half, Cork came out on top in the second half and it was a real battle. But these are the type of games that we want to get used to senior level.”

Fennelly has plenty people around him to probe for information. His older brother Michael is an established midfield lynchpin in the Kilkenny line-up and he has a bunch of informed club-mates to talk to as well.

“I’d learn a few tricks watching Michael at home alright,” he laughs. “He’s been a great help, in terms of how to go about training and getting right beforehand with your water and protein. Having the other Ballyhale lads has helped as well. Myself and TJ Reid usually go into the training and matches together, as Michael lives in town. He talks me through stuff as well which helps. But the other lads are great as well. Eddie Brennan has come up to me before the start of the games and talked about playing in attack together. There was a lot of talk going around about lads like Eddie deciding to retire. But I was talking to him and there wasn’t a hope of them coming off. He’s a big help to me.”

There is also another established Kilkenny attacker that Fennelly has been able to learn from. Having Henry Shefflin as your neighbour is bound to be beneficial to any young aspiring hurler.

“Henry just lives up the road from me and he gives me good hints on what to work on. You get an idea from chatting to him where in your game you’re falling behind and what you’re lacking. He’ll be back soon enough. So I’d want to start hurling good if I’m going to stick around!”