TJ Reid on Scoregate: 'You deserve to be a little bit pissed off over what happened'

Kilkenny hurler TJ Reid during a promotional event at UPMC Nowlan Park Kilkenny as Avonmore owner Tirlán reaffirm sponsorship commitments to Kilkenny GAA for the 2026 season. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

As TJ Reid stands up to leave, the thought dawns on you that he joined the Kilkenny senior panel the year his newest team-mate David Barcoe was born.

Many moons have come and gone since 2007, but 38-year-old Reid endures. Still leading. Still scoring. A quicker reader of the game now than a runner but still TJ. Captain for a third time and hoping to go one further than 2010 and ’19.

The end goal is a seventh All-Ireland medal but it’s these wicked nights in the likes of Dunmore and Danesfort that he cherishes most. It’s the duty of black and amber he values.

“You're a Kilkenny player until the day you're dropped or until the day you retire and that leadership goes 12 months of the year,” he says. “Even with Kilkenny, even with Ballyhale Shamrocks, you're still representing Kilkenny. You wear that badge of honour until you retire or you get dropped.

“So, my desire this year is to win. I'm still motivated to win for the team. But look, I get great enjoyment going training, more so than the big matches and what that brings. Doing more on a cold night and getting a good hard session – there’s more fulfilment from that because probably millions of people are sitting home in front of a fire and we're outside doing something for a greater cause.

“And that's what I love. Obviously, the weather the last two weeks has been miserable, but that's what I love. I love going and challenging myself on those nights because that's what you have to do.

“And then, for me, the games are easy because you have all the work done, you have all the boxes ticked. The games will come but if you don't have the inner work done, well then, that's when you have those question marks over you.

“It’s about making sure that you have those boxes ticked because now you'll be found out pretty lively because now every team, every youngster has probably three or four years of conditioning under him at the moment.” 

Reid aims to be available for action before the clocks go forward next month – “There's been a bit of greasing up to do over the last couple of weeks.” 

He should be back well in time for the final round game against Tipperary, a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. Reid thought he experienced almost everything in his career but then Scoregate came along last July. A point wrongly attributed to Noel McGrath and Tipperary that affected Kilkenny’s approach to the conclusion of the game.

“I'm playing a long time now and that's the first time I've witnessed something like that, so look, please God it doesn't happen again in sport. You just have to wipe it clean. You sacrifice an awful lot, so you deserve to be a little bit pissed off over what happened, but it happened and we moved on and Tipp won the All-Ireland final.” 

Still, their proximity to Tipperary offers optimism. As Reid points out, Kilkenny have exited the championship at the hands of the last four winners. “It does give you a bit of confidence,” he remarks of last season. “There's no 100% improvements, if we can improve by 5% this year, that's all – it's very little – that's all we have to do is find an extra 1% or 2% or 5%, it can be a good year, but I'm sure Cork are saying the exact same down there again this year.” 

This season also provides Reid with the prospect of overtaking Patrick Horgan at the top of the championship scoring tree. At 39-641 (758), he is currently 21 points shy of the recently-retired Corkman’s haul of 32-683 (779).

“Twenty-one, is it?” he offers with a wry smile before he frowns. “I'm not coming back just to hit 21 points. I'm coming back to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup and to help the players do that. If I pick up bonuses along the way, great.” 

Since Horgan stepped away in September, Reid has been in touch with the Glen Rovers man but what he conveyed to him will remain private as it’s “very personal”. He remembers training with Ballyhale when a selector told him that Horgan had retired.

“He's a great player. I've met him on numerous occasions, a gentleman, a role model, the most stylish corner forward over the last 18, 19 years. Vision, accuracy rate – he was top class, you know.” 

Reid became a father for a second time in December when wife Niamh gave birth to Seán Óg. A couple of weeks later, he wet his son’s head at a 10-year reunion of Kilkenny’s last All-Ireland senior winning team. “Time flies,” he says wistfully.

He is of course at the age now where he gives more consideration to his inter-county mortality. Playing for Kilkenny until he is 40 is not beyond his radar but he doesn’t “want to put a cap on it.” And he sees himself lining out in 2027 – “Even if I don't win this year, I'll still try and come back next year.”

Nominated Kilkenny captains haven’t made the team before – Mark Bergin 2017, Lester Ryan ’14 and Michael Fennelly ’09 to name three – but this is Reid we’re talking about. And yet he ponders the possibility.

“I earned my spot a number of years ago – I was a sub starting off – and then got consistent plays and then been playing for the last number of years and I still hope that I'll be playing. And if I'm not playing, grand. I'm not a young teenager anymore that I'll be going home sulking. I'll be pissed off, alright, but where I am now is about leading the team on and driving the young lads on and being around.” 

Before Reid gets up, he summons the sentiment of another great David Clifford and issues a message to his county’s supporters. Get behind us.

“Look, we won Leinsters, but I think everyone in Kilkenny wants (an All-Ireland)… there’s a little bit of impatience at the moment. This year we need the Kilkenny fans to really get behind us. I know everyone's talking about a little bit of negativity and a bit of impatience at the moment, so we need our supporters out in droves this year to drive us on.” 

As Reid has done all these years.