Still plenty of fight left in classy Cats

I can’t understand where this idea is coming from that Kilkenny are almost a spent force.

They lost a Leinster final — that’s the end of the road for the greatest team hurling has ever seen?

It’s not even the end of the road for this year! Three big games Kilkenny have lost now in the last few years, the All-Ireland final of 2010 to Tipperary, the Allianz Hurling League final of 2011 to Dublin, the Leinster final of 2012 to Galway, and in each of those games it’s been pointed out that Kilkenny were missing big players.

An errant conclusion drawn from that then though is that the strength in depth isn’t there and that when the likes of Henry and JJ and Noel and Jackie and Tommy finally hang up their boots, Kilkenny as a hurling force will be done for a while.

It’s true, beyond question, that when they do go, those guys will be a massive loss, not just to Kilkenny but to hurling generally. The fact that they are still there, however, and still hurling as well as ever, overshadows the fact that all around them new leaders are emerging in Kilkenny.

Let’s start at the back — what age is goalkeeper David Herity, and how long has he been on this team? He’s 29, young for a goalkeeper, and this is only his second season as a starter.

Look at Paul Murphy, corner-back. Again, it’s only Paul’s second season as a starter but many of us would now argue that even with JJ and Jackie alongside him, this guy is now the go-to man in the full-back line, the main man-marker, becoming more prominent with every game.

What of Richie Doyle in the half-back line, what of the fine job done by Kieran Joyce alongside Richie in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Limerick, in the absence of Brian Hogan?

And what age do ye think Tommy Walsh is? He’s still only 29 and going to be around for a while yet!

Look to midfield, same question — what age are Michael Fennelly and Michael Rice? Would you believe 27 and 28, respectively?

Then you come to the forwards. As with the guys above, Eoin Larkin won’t be going anywhere anytime soon — he’s only just turned 28.

What of Richie Power, looking more and more the hurler we all knew he would be, already assuming much of the role of Henry; what of Colin Fennelly and Richie Hogan, who have really stepped forward again this year, not just ready for responsibility but hungry for it, hankering after it.

What of TJ Reid, another youngster ‘rearing for road’? All those guys are still years on the ‘right’ side of 30, all will guarantee Kilkenny’s well-being into the future.

Kilkenny could well be beaten this Sunday but if it happens it will be because Tipperary are that good, not because Kilkenny are that bad, nor because Kilkenny are on the way out.

The structure in Kilkenny is now such that no-one who wants to play top-class hurling slips through the cracks. Everyone is seen, everyone is noticed, and after that it will be a judgement call by Brian Cody.

The work is ongoing, always ongoing. It’s barely commented on but a transition has already been taking place, new and very talented players are being gradually introduced.

The very best of the truly exceptional crop of the past decade are still there, still getting games, still playing well; as long as they’re doing so, why wouldn’t Brian Cody hold onto them?

Their day too will come but would anyone seriously tell me that Henry Shefflin (33), JJ Delaney (30), Jackie Tyrrell (30), Aidan Fogarty (30), aren’t still worthy of a place on any team in the country? Noel Hickey is still only 31 — would you fancy an hour on him in an All-Ireland semi-final? Any team or any team supporter counting on Kilkenny weakening so they can then go on to win All-Ireland titles is barking up the wrong tree.