JJ Delaney: Hype of ‘drive for five’ steered Kilkenny off course in 2010

JJ Delaney admits talk of Kilkenny achieving the five in a row sidetracked them in the build-up to the 2010 All-Ireland final against Tipperary.

Speaking frankly on TG4’s Laochra Gael programme dedicated to him which will televised following their live coverage of the Kilkenny-Tipperary Division 1A game on Sunday, Delaney concedes the hype about becoming the first county to achieve the feat had become a nuisance.

“With all the attention Kilkenny were getting before with ‘the drive for five’, it distracted everyone away from it,” he said.

“It would have been great to say you did the five in a row but, look, four in a row isn’t bad, is it not?”

Delaney and Kilkenny were back on song in the 2011 championship, beating Tipperary by four points in the final. Speculation that the Cats were on the wane and their neighbours were the new force was a motivation for them.

“We heard all the talk about Tipperary were going to take over hurling for the next few years as well and when you’re getting that bit older you’re kind of saying ‘right, I mightn’t have too many more opportunities to stop this in the tracks’.

“It was just getting back on top, getting back what they took off us the year before.”

Hailing from Johnstown on the Tipperary border, Delaney was more conscious of the rivalry than most of his team-mates.

“Five minutes away from the border is all it would be, you know what I mean?

“You’d have a lot of Tipperary lads come over the border, living in Johnstown as well and you don’t see the Tipp lads when you beat them but when they beat Kilkenny they come out with their hats and flags.”

Produced by Nemeton, TG4 begin the 14th season of the celebrated Laochra Gael programme with JJ Delaney this Sunday at 5.55pm.