Kilkenny boss would 'love' to see Fitzgibbon Cup played before Christmas

Kilkenny hurling manager Derek Lyng said there would be "huge interest" in the GAA's third level competitions if they were played before Christmas

Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng was speaking at the launch of Avonmore owner Tirlán’s 32nd year as Kilkenny GAA main sponsors. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng is strongly in favour of switching the Fitzgibbon Cup to December to ease the workload on student inter-county players.

Similar to his Offaly counterpart Johnny Kelly, the Emeralds man recognises how difficult this current period of the season is for his younger hurlers as they juggle the college competition with the National Hurling League.

                                                                     

“I'd love to see it go on before Christmas and giving Fitzgibbon, Sigerson, just that time on its own. I think it would be an ideal time. I think there'd be huge interest in it as well.

“I just think there's too much going on at the minute. It's not fair on lads, and you're trying to give lads a chance as well. It is very difficult week to week. Some lads, we've had to not consider it for the weekend because that would be their third game in seven days, and it just wouldn't be fair.

“You're looking at injury breakdown. I see players pulling up on hamstrings and things like that now. That's just disappointing for them because they're after putting in a huge effort pre-season, but you can only do so much.”

As much as Lyng places “great stock” in the Fitzgibbon Cup, he admits players’ commitments in it have on occasions inhibited their inter-county prospects. 

“Sometimes, they might lose out on an opportunity. We're trying to be as fair as possible to those lads as well. We do have internal games as well, but it is a challenge.” 

On the subject of the calendar, Lyng would like to see an extra week allowed before the All-Ireland SHC final and is open to the idea of the hurling decider being played after the football game.

“I think an extra week would help a huge amount in terms of the publicity and everything else because you're a few days after a semi-final, all of a sudden, you're in a really quick run-up to it and it's the pinnacle, it's the game everybody wants to see as well. So, maybe flipping it or extending it by another week could make a big difference.” 

In all three of his years in charge, Kilkenny have exited the championship to the would-be champions and narrowly on the last two occasions. He doesn’t accept that Munster is by far and away the strongest province.

“I think there's probably a narrative about Leinster hurling being the weaker relation – I don't buy into that at all. I think we've had to perform at a really high level the past couple of years to win Leinster championships and I think that's even going to be more competitive this year.” 

At the same time, he knows Kilkenny have fallen short of the greatest desire. 

“The reality of it is the currency in Kilkenny is All-Irelands, and I make no bones about that. That's what supporters demand, that's what we desperately want to see but I think Kilkenny supporters at the same time realise that this team has been competing at a very high level.” 

Returning to the controversy of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Tipperary, Lyng never considered contesting the result despite the scoreboard error impacting their approach to the conclusion of the game.

“To be honest, did it affect decision-making? It did, but it was one of those things that was unfortunate. That (an appeal) was never a realistic option. If I'm honest, in the aftermath of it, I was more disappointed in how we performed maybe for a spell in that game. We just had to take it on the chin and that's it.” 

On the injury front, Cian Kenny should be available for this Sunday’s Division 1A clash with Limerick after recovering from a hamstring injury. Fionán Mackessy is also set to be available for selection.

Adrian Mullen has returned to light training after a groin operation, while Tom Phelan (knee) played a challenge game this past weekend. David Blanchfield is expected to return to training later this month.

Harry Shine (cruciate) could be in contention towards the end of the league although Tommy Walsh (cruciate) is not in line to return until the championship.