It was another vintage season for the ancient game and a familiar question returns: who can topple the Kilkenny giants?
IT was just after nine o’clock when Ger Loughnane arrived on stage with a microphone in his hand and mischief in his eyes.
He had the audience won over before he even spoke, a legacy of what he achieved in 1995 and 1997 with a group of Clare hurlers who he bullied into champions.
And here he was addressing a new set of winners.
The Banner’s Under 21 side have been the standard-bearers at that age-range for three years now and in a county with a long history of near misses, their success was justifiably marked.
Yet so too was Loughnane’s warning.
“There is a gap in the market again men and we are ideally positioned to exploit that,” said Loughnane. “We are the dominant underage team in the country and I am certain, with the quality of player, the quality of leadership and management that we have, that very soon, we can progress.
“But the question I have to ask you is: will you choose the path taken by the Limerick Under 21s, who won three in a row, and numerous Galway teams who won several underage All-Irelands?
“Because if you do, as you go along that road, you will have plenty of people slapping you on the back, saying well done. That will lead to a place called Easyville and eventually a place called Oblivion where no one will remember you.
“It could be different. The big ogre – Kilkenny – is beginning to lose his sense of danger. We can exploit the gap that is there.”
It does appear that way. As 2014 draws to a close and thoughts turn to another thrilling Championship in the ancient game, the prospect of a baton being passed from the establishment to the new arrivals is uppermost in many hurling men’s thoughts.
Even if though the Cats took their 35th title in the summer, there seems to be logic to this idea.
Kilkenny, having lost five of the greatest players the game has ever known to retirement, appear to be on the way down.
Clare, courtesy of the 2013 senior All-Ireland, and four of the last six Under 21 All-Irelands, are definitely on the way up.
And the ogre no longer strikes fear.
Or does it?
At times like this, it is worth remembering that Kilkenny swept the board in 2014, claiming not just the All-Ireland but the League and the Leinster title as well. They were the year’s best side, despite the fact they were a team in transition.
Since beating Tipp in the replay, five of their key men have said farewell to Championship hurling and Henry Shefflin may join them.
Yet even though we are talking about some of the greatest players of the modern era, the reality is that Shefflin, Tommy Walsh and Aidan Fogarty were already in semi-retirement this year, Fogarty getting just 121 minutes of Championship action, Walsh 110 minutes, Shefflin 65 minutes.
Of the five retirees, JJ Delaney was the only player to start the replay.
“And Cody won’t be happy to see him leave,” wrote Loughnane in his column for The Star. “He is a huge loss because there is no replacement lined up.”
Or so it seems on the outside. On the inside, however, if one thing has become clear about Cody’s practices over the course of his illustrious managerial career, it is his ability to plan ahead and introduce change before players have even realised they are in the middle of a transition.
Take last season. Twenty seven players saw action in Kilkenny’s first five Championship matches. He knew Walsh’s time was up long before Walsh made his departure official.
And that is the way he has always operated. Remember DJ Carey’s inter-county exit? Eamon Kennedy’s? Charlie Carter’s? John Power’s?
No player – regardless of their status – has ever been safe under Cody to the extent that he has named the same side for two successive Championship matches on just two occasions since getting the job in the winter of 1998-99.
The impact has been stunning. The ‘ogre’ has been so dominant because the biggest challenge to any Kilkenny player has been to firstly get into the team, and secondly, to stay in it.
And when you think of the drive they showed in the key games of last summer – against Limerick and Tipp twice, it is clear they are far from finished.
But can other teams learn lessons from a potential demise? Statistically, there does seem hope that they are on some sort of descent.
From 2006 to 2011, the Cats played 26 Championship games, winning 25 and losing just one. But from 2012 to 2014, they’ve played 19, won 11, drawn five and lost three.
So a gap may soon be opening up. But can anyone exploit it?
Tipperary seem the likeliest candidates given how they came within a puck of a ball from beating them in the All-Ireland and the decision of their manager, Eamon O’Shea, to stay on for another term is key to their hopes.
Yet how strong is their mentality? In four games with Kilkenny this year, they didn’t win once.
“Why are they not able to get across the line when they come up against Kilkenny?” asks Loughnane.
“Can they come back from the crushing setback of losing an All-Ireland final?
“Are they capable of being a force in 2015?”
If questions surround Tipp, what of the rest? Limerick have contributed so much to the last two hurling summers yet twice they have fallen at the second-last hurdle.
Galway, so close to glory in 2012, haven’t shown any consistency since.
Rightly or wrongly, Wexford, Dublin and Waterford are regarded as second-tier even though they have all delivered big results in the last two seasons.
Wexford’s defeat of Clare and their underage progress suggesting they could yet become a force.
But can they fill the gap in the market that Loughnane talks about?
It’s doubtful. Which leaves Cork, who came perilously close to winning in 2013.
But when they got to Croke Park this summer, their performance lacked zip. Tactically, Jimmy Barry-Murphy got his match-ups completely wrong and questions remain about whether he is as good a reader of the game as Cody, O’Shea or Davy Fitzgerald.
“Clare can have a great year in 2015,” opined Loughnane. Yet for this to happen, they need Shane O’Donnell back at his best. And they probably could do with just having Podge Collins back, although Loughnane doesn’t agree.
“It was always going to be a challenge for him to find a new role within the team and Davy Fitz is completely right in insisting on total commitment from his players.
“It is simply not possible to combine hurling and football at the highest level anymore.
“Look at the incredible standard of hurling on show from Kilkenny and Tipperary in the All-Ireland. You can’t reach that level without showing total commitment.”
You can expect commitment from Clare in 2015. And from Kilkenny. Tipperary won’t go away.
Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Galway, Waterford and Cork are all capable of snatching a League or a provincial title but are they equipped to go all the way?
The safest bet is to back Kilkenny to add title number 11 to Cody’s record.
