Fennelly hopeful Fitzpatrick and Dalton will return

Kilkenny midfielder Michael Fennelly suspects retired stars James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick and John Dalton will return to inter-county hurling in the future.

Fitzpatrick, 27, and Dalton, 26, have called time on their careers in black and amber, with Fitzpatrick citing frustration at a lack of game time for his decision, while Dalton opted out due to work commitments.

2011 Hurler of the Year Fennelly believes both players will be massive losses to the reigning All-Ireland champions and admitted Dalton’s decision to quit last week came as a major shock to the rest of the panel members.

“There’s a rule there not to train in November and December but I don’t know if there’s any county adhering to that properly,” he said.

“We didn’t have any collective sessions but players are still working away doing bits and pieces in the gym.

“And there are rumours of other counties holding collective sessions in November and December. It’s hard for a manager with a team in transition who wants to get a look at players but the commitment involved is huge at the moment and job security is a big thing for a lot of people with families and bills to pay.

“From John’s side of things, it was a surprise but we have to respect his decision and he has the farm at home with his father. It’s a personal decision and it was a shock to the lads but hopefully we could see him wearing the county colours again.”

Michael Kavanagh, Eddie Brennan and PJ Ryan are the other Cats heroes who retired from inter-county hurling following last year’s All-Ireland success.

Ryan was 34, Brennan 33 and Kavanagh 32 when they called time on their glittering careers. But like Dalton, Fennelly suspects Fitzpatrick may yet return to the squad.

Fennelly, who will be 27 at the end of this month, reflected: “It’s a pity the boys had to retire but life goes on and the lads know that. In 2009, when I was captain, Eddie was great to fall back on and talk to.

“But the lads retired on a high, having beaten Tipp in an All-Ireland final. Now we’re breeding new players but there’s still great experience within the team, with the likes of Noel Hickey, Brian Hogan, Michael Rice and myself.

“With Cha, again it was a personal choice. He went from being on such a high, three All Stars and captain to being on the bench. I was the opposite – I was on the bench at the start before finding a place on the team.

“I was on an upward curve while Cha was going in the opposite direction. But people don’t realise too that Cha was there for eight years because he came in from minor. And after playing and winning All Stars, finding himself on the bench was very tough. He felt he had to go but two years down the line, you could see him wearing the jersey again, you just don’t know. Maybe it could be the case that he’s just taking a year or two out.”

Meanwhile, Fennelly is relishing next Sunday’s Railway Cup semi-final showdown with Munster at Nowlan Park.

Remarkably, it’s the first time that the Ballyhale Shamrocks clubman will represent his province and he insists that the M Donnelly inter-provincial competition should be kept alive.

“It’s my first time playing in the Railway Cup,” Fennelly said.

“We were training last night [Wednesday] with Leinster and it was great to meet players from the other counties, who you’d normally never get the chance to talk to. I really hope this tournament will stay on and I don’t see why not.

“Maybe it needs a revamp and the GAA should come up with better ideas and a better time to play it. It’s a nice privilege to be picked to play for your province.”