Galway’s case for home fixtures doesn’t convince Cillian Buckley

Cillian Buckley is unconvinced by Galway’s argument that they should have home fixtures in the Leinster championship. Speaking at yesterday’s launch of the Top Oil Leinster Schools Championship, Buckley, one of Kilkenny’s rising generation – three All-Irelands and two All Stars to his name already – was asked about the prospect of having to travel in the provincial championship.

“It would be strange. You’re playing a Leinster championship. The fixtures came out and you’re looking at ‘is it a home and away game for us?’ To be honest, that is a big enough deal, so having to travel to Galway would be a bit of a disadvantage. The fact that they’re in the Leinster championship, they probably should have to play the games in Leinster. Likewise, if they were in a Munster championship, I think that’s fair.”

Galway have been part of the provincial landscape since 2009, covering all of Buckley’s career and he believes the county’s presence has been positive.

Competitive edge

He said: “2012 was my first year. We fell at the hands of Galway in Leinster so they definitely brought a competitive edge. There is talk of them going into the Munster championship . . . there is that divide earlier in the year but in the end we’re all fighting for that one prize, the Liam MacCarthy in September.

“Yeah, I would like to see them stay in Leinster. At the same time, if they were to go to Munster, they’d be one of the teams you’d have to beat to try to win an All-Ireland. It’s obviously a big thing for people in Galway. For us, we just play what’s in front of us. It’s totally out of our control.”

The rites of autumn in Kilkenny annually involve manager Brian Cody pondering his future before consenting to go forward for another season, and so it has been for the 19th year.

Buckley was asked had he really imagined there was any chance of the manager departing.

“It’s hard to know. I think I saw – is it his 19th year coming back? I’m sure he’s weighed up this kind of thing every year. God knows what he makes the decision on. I think, even from talking to us, he takes it year on year.

“So I don’t think whether we won or lost last September would have had a big bearing on it. Going out on top, I’m sure is the way he plans on doing it. Maybe that’s his plan, I’m not sure. It would be great to leave on a high.

Management team

“It would be strange to ever think that there will be a different manager on board but, look, for 2017 anyway, it’s the same management team. That kind of puts it to bed now, anyway.”

Last summer was ultimately disappointing for Kilkenny, who lost out on an All-Ireland three-in-a-row after the resounding defeat by Tipperary in September’s final.

Buckley is looking forward to next year and identified a couple of areas in which he hopes for improvement in Kilkenny.

“First and foremost, you’d hope that the under-21s get it right next year. We have a lot of lads my age who would have got their chance to lay the foundations at under-21. I think it’s important to bridge the gap. Look, I’m definitely confident that there are the players there in Kilkenny. It’s just maybe giving them that chance.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good run in the league. We haven’t even competed for the league since 2014 so I think that will be definitely something that I’d imagine we’ll eye up this year.”