Cats hurler Delaney out for the season

Kilkenny hurler PJ Delaney has been ruled out of the Cats' plans for the rest of the Championship, following an operation on a troublesome hip injury.

It is the third successive season that Delaney has failed to finish. In a cruel run of luck, he has had to cope with a broken ankle and broken leg in recent campaigns, while ongoing groin and hamstring problems have also dogged him.

"The season is over for me. I just have to accept the situation and get on with it," admitted the 27-year-old, in an interview with the Kilkenny People.

“I have plenty of experience of being injured and I am up for the fight to recover. The battle to recover is not daunting.

"The effort that will be required doesn't scare me or anything like that. But it is another season gone, wiped.

"That is three years in-a-row. That is hard to take. During the last three years I haven't been able to play all the local league matches with my club, and I won't be doing it this time either.

"It is frustrating, but I won't let it beat me."

The talented half-back played well during this year's Allianz Hurling League, boosting his chances of featuring in the Championship for the first time since 2008.

But, before the start of the Leinster Championship, a painful injury was traced to his left hip where his movement was affected by excess bone in the socket joint.

Specialist Pat Carton recently performed surgery on Delaney's hip at the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford. A second 'like' operation will be needed on his right hip, in a few months' time.

"Hopefully this will cure all my long-standing injury problems. I often ran out in pain for training. It is what you do because you want to play," added the Fenians clubman.

"The main pain was in the left side, but Mr Carton told me the right hip was deteriorating almost as quickly as the left.

"I have had more than my share of bad injuries, but hopefully after the next surgery I will be able to get back playing."

A recovery period of four months is advised after both operations, so the player, who is a cousin of fellow Kilkenny defender JJ Delaney, is facing up to another long spell on the sidelines.

"It would be great if this works. The body can only take so much, and I have put it through a fair bit of punishment over the past few years.

"But I would love one injury-free season just to see what I could really do."