Only the names change in Kilkenny

After Kilkenny’s destruction of Dublin in the Leinster senior hurling semi-final, a very pertinent question — have they discovered the secret of cloning hurlers in Kilkenny?

At full-back for the Cats was the outstanding JJ Delaney, the familiar black helmet, right-below-left grip, ultra-tidy on the ground and defying the height difference to thoroughly outplay the giant Liam Rushe in the air.

At left half-back for Kilkenny, JJ’s more usual position, in a black helmet, right-below-left grip, outstanding in the air, ultra-tidy on the ground, was JJ Delaney mark two, 20-year-old Richie Doyle.

Even centre-back Brian Hogan can’t help but remark on the similarity. “I’d be lost without the two boys at this stage (JJ and Tommy Walsh, on the other wing) but even though he was back at full-back the last day, it does look like JJ is still hurling beside me. Richie had a great underage reputation and we were hoping that he’d continue that progress. He does look like JJ and though he has also done well in midfield, half-back is his natural position. He has settled in there now but he has a major act to follow in JJ, probably the best left half-back of the last 15 years, maybe one of the best of all time. For a young lad of 20 to be having comparisons made already, he must be doing something right.”

It’s not just Richie Doyle either; where once there was King Henry, Kilkenny now also have Henry The Second, another tall, athletic and lethal redhead, Richie Power is now doing what Shefflin did for so long and leading the attack with deadly effect. But no, it’s not cloning, says Brian, just the hurling gods blessing Kilkenny.

“That’s just the nature of things. Times change and if you stand still, you’re going backwards. Henry has been out injured on three occasions in the last few years and the likes of Larky (Eoin Larkin) and Power have stepped forward — Colin Fennelly, Richie Hogan and TJ Reid also. That way when Henry does come back, it’s just a bonus, rather than everything falling on him again. Richie Power has definitely taken up a lot more responsibility, you can see his development as a player in the last few years, he relishes being the focal point of the attack. No team should expect one guy to do it all for you, no matter who he is.”

Over-reliance on one player — there are many who see Dublin’s demise against Kilkenny starting with the early injury suffered by Conal Keaney, at which stage the teams were still tied at 0-3 apiece. Dublin subsequently collapsed, lost by 18 points (2-21 to 0-9) but, says Brian, that can’t be put down to an injury to one player.

“Keaney was obviously a huge loss but if one player leaving the field causes a team to fall asunder to that degree, then that’s a very poor reflection on that team. Good a player as he is, it’s still 15 against 15 and that’s no excuse for that performance from the rest of the team for the rest of the match, that just doesn’t wash. The game was pretty even early on but once it settled down and we got into a rhythm, they looked like a team stuck to the ground. Their touch was poor, they didn’t have the same aggression they normally bring. It was disappointing from their perspective but it was even disappointing for us. The greatest satisfaction you get from winning is when it’s a tough match and for the last few years we’ve had some great battles with them. I don’t know what went wrong for them, they’re the only ones can answer that.”

It’s a different challenge for Kilkenny this Sunday, however. Galway themselves have overcome a problem they had with over-reliance on Joe Canning to come up with their scores.

“You look now at their scoring potential,’’ says Hogan. “In the two Burkes and Cyril Donnellan they have a major physical presence in the half-forward line but with the hurling to go with it. Then you have the inside forward line — Joe is one of the best in the game, Damien (Hayes) takes watching for the full 70 minutes, and the young lad in the other corner, Conor Cooney, is doing his bit also, got a couple of goals against Offaly. There’s danger all over, you can’t just look at one or two guys and say ‘right, if we can keep these quiet we’ll win’ — the scores can come from anywhere with Galway this year. That’s a great way to have it, that’s what you want, all six of your forwards offering something. That’s our challenge, to deal with that — our backs are going to have to be really keyed in.”