Clever cookie Kilkenny ducks Croker controversy

Brendan O’Brien

First things first. You’re reading the wrong article if you think Ciarán Kilkenny will shed anything by way of illumination on the Donegal objection to Dublin playing twice in Croke Park in the Super 8s.

The Castleknock clubman, 26, has long been a dab hand at deflecting potentially difficult questions. He spent 20 minutes talking to nine journalists yesterday and the inevitable enquiries fell off him like water from a rock.

“I see Croke Park as the centre of kind of our sacred turf,” he offered at one point. “Every boy, no matter if you’re from Dublin or any other part of the country, when you grow up, you dream of playing at Croke Park. When you go home from games, when you’re younger and you’re kicking the ball, you dream of playing at Croke Park.

“The fact that we play our National League games at Croke Park is to facilitate that all the boys and girls can go and see the games.

"The fact that there are 80,000 seats in Croke Park, essentially we rent it out during the National League, and it’s great that we can give those boys and girls the opportunity to go and see their heroes from their local areas and their local clubs.”

That was as interesting as that got. If Kilkenny’s offerings with the media have more often than not lapsed into the realm of boring, then his experiences on the pitch with Dublin have more than made up for it given he has excelled in a number of different roles since his debut in 2012.

Jim Gavin has used him in the half-forward and half-back lines this last two seasons, the player’s metronomic part in regurgitating possession earning him comparisons with a gridiron quarterback by some and complaints of a talent wasted by others.

No-one is making that pitch now. Kilkenny played in six of Dublin’s seven league games. He was top scorer in three and emerged from the spring with 2-18 to his credit, all of it from play. Another 2-15 has been banked in the provincial defeats of Wicklow, Longford and Laois. That’s 4-33 across nine games. Footballer of the year territory.

“It’s exciting that every different year I’ve played in a different position, so it’s a new challenge. I’m playing closer to goal, but still playing a little bit out the field sometimes.

"If I can contribute to the team that way and get a few scores, then that’s great, but we don’t know how the year is going to progress. I might be pushed out or needed somewhere else the next day, so you have to appreciate that as well, but I’m really enjoying my football at the moment.”

Next up is THAT Super 8s game in two weekends’ time. Donegal remain the last side to take Dublin down in the championship, but Kilkenny watched that 2014 All-Ireland semi-final loss from his home after his season had been wrecked by a cruciate ligament injury.

It was a setback that saw the then 20-year-old appreciate how fortunate he is to be playing the game at the level he is and with the people around and behind him.

That appreciation has only grown this year.

“My mindset towards this year was just to approach the game as if I was eight or nine years old again, just going out to play a game of football and just go out and enjoy it.

"To just go out as if I was a child and enjoy it. I’m really enjoying my football at the moment.”

And well he should be.