JJ says final good distraction after job anguish

WATCHING him in full flowin Sunday’s second-half, you might have assumed JJ Delaney didn’t have a care in the world.

Certainly nothing like a man who had lost his job on Friday, finishing five years as a sales representative with Tegral. But the disappointment of being unemployed was never going to upset the Fenians man’s hurling.

“Ah sure look it’s happening to everyone. I’m not the only one after losing a job in the current circumstances, I’m lucky enough to have the hurling to concentrate on.

“It’s a great thing for me to concentrate on, I was concentrating on this for the last week. It’s a great thing to have the hurling in the background.”

It might be assumed prospective employers would easily recognise Delaney’s high profile and his excellence as an individual, a leader and a team player.

But it doesn’t always work out that way.

“I had five years experience with the company I was with.

“I’m hopeful I will pick up something but there are no guarantees out there anymore.

“I mean, it’s just the situation at the moment in the jobs market, there’s not a huge amount out there.

“We’ll just have to keep the head down and send out the CVs and hopefully something will come of it.”

Delaney’s glittering resumé is in the hands of a few recruitment agencies right now but all he can do, he says, “is wait and see if anything comes out of it.”

When it was put to him that there’s no better time to be out of work than before an All-Ireland final so he can prepare for it religiously, he shrugged: “If something comes up I’m not going to pass it up just because the final is coming up.

“In an ideal world I could just prepare for the final.

“But if something comes up in the meantime I’ll take it with both hands.”

He added: “But you can be a professional hurler there for three or four weeks.”

Delaney knows Kilkenny have plenty to work on as a group after a not so convincing win over Waterford, a display pockmarked by 17 wides and some poor first touches.

“Going into the next few weeks, certain players have to look at themselves and how they played.

“Everyone will look at their own game in the next couple of days and say, ‘right, I have to work on such and such a thing’.

“That’s a good thing too, rather than having the perfect performance. The semi-final is all about just getting into the final. There’s no silverware at the end of the day.

“We are where we want to be.”

He continued: “We definitely have to work on our shooting, it was well off (Sunday).

“So we have things to work on, there’s no doubt about it, we have the club matches next week as well, we have to get through that as well.

“So our minds are focused on the club for a week and then we’re back into getting ready for the final again.”

After beating Wexford in the Leinster semi-final, the usually careful Henry Shefflin tripped himself up a little when asked if they would like to get Dublin in the provincial final after their Division One decider defeat to them.

“I think you know the answer to that,” said the Ballyhale man before he corrected himself, “I wouldn’t say so, no.”

Delaney almost repeats the hiccup — but this time Dublin don’t factor in the equation. It’s all about Tipperary for the Cats now even though the All-Ireland champions have to overcome Anthony Daly’s side on Sunday to confirm a repeat of last year’s final.

Quizzed about the importance of getting back to the first Sunday in September, Delaney said: “Ah sure, I suppose, you have to get back to the final anyway if you want to win it. And Tipperary are the champions so, if you want to win it, if you want to win the All-Ireland, you’re going to have to beat Tipperary along the way at some point.

“We’ll see now who’s going to come through the other semi-final.

“We are where we want to be and we’ll just have to take it on.”

Yet Delaney reckons Dublin are well placed to upset the odds against Declan Ryan’s side.

“Ah, I give Dublin a massive chance,” said the 29-year-old. “It’s only a few months ago (since) they hammered us up here.

“They’re a very, very good team and they’re progressing nicely over the last few years.

“I wouldn’t write them off.”