Loughnane’s comments to spur on Colin Fennelly and Kilkenny

“I was thinking that might come up,” says Colin Fennelly, deftly anticipating our enquiry about what Ger Loughnane said about this Kilkenny team. Fennelly’s answer is politely rehearsed, and doesn’t take very long.

What Loughnane essentially said – in an extensive interview with the GAA website over the weekend – was “there is no way that Kilkenny should be winning the All-Ireland”, that “no way this Kilkenny team should be going for three-in-a-row”.

The former two-time All-Ireland winning manager with Clare then added: “A team with that talent should not be winning an All-Ireland. I have no problem in saying that. They should not be winning an All-Ireland with that team... Totally dependant on TJ Reid, one forward, and maybe Richie Hogan as well.”

Little weird

For Fennelly, who hit 2-1 against Offaly only last Sunday, before retiring early with a hamstring twinge, Loughnane’s words ran like the proverbial water off a duck’s back, although not before ruffling a few feathers.

“I thought it was a little weird,” said Fennelly. “That we shouldn’t have won the last two All-Irelands? It’s funny, because in 2014 there were four competitions to be won, and we won all four. It’s unusual for any team to do that. It’s not pure luck that you win all those trophies.

“Is Ger out of the game too long, that he doesn’t realise all the hard work that you put into winning? Last year we also had a club team that won the All-Ireland, which just shows the strength and depth in the county.”

What Loughnane also implied was that this Kilkenny wasn’t as good as the one which won four All-Irelands in succession, 2006-2009 – again Fennelly doesn’t take long to respond: “I know myself I’ve had to step up my game over the last two years, again. The training I’m doing now is nothing like I was doing five years ago, including stuff on my own. Extra running, more pucking in the ball alley.

“It changes. I remember the subs on the bench on that team, and it was amazing, like a second team. Then in 2014 we used so many subs, so that showed the strength and depth as well.”

Loughnane’s line about Kilkenny being dependent on TJ Reid, “maybe Richie Hogan”, certainly didn’t sit well with Fennelly; indeed neither player featured in their 24-point hammering of Offaly on Sunday.

“That’s just absolutely crazy, and means absolutely nothing. Every team will have a sharp-shooter, and TJ is one of those, no doubt about it. But Conor Fogarty, Eoin Larkin, are total workhorses. Kevin Kelly slotted every free over the bar on Sunday, things that TJ doesn’t always do. Liam Blanchfield as well, like, he scored 1-3. You don’t do that on your debut. I didn’t anyway. It’s just motivation for us.”

“It is annoying, but it’s the way that it is. At the end of the day if we’re in an All-Ireland and we’re winning All-Irelands, then I’m not going to complain. It’s just motivation for us.”

Relishing

For Fennelly, speaking at Croke Park at the launch of the Etihad Airways GAA World Games – which will see 87 teams from 20 countries compete in Dublin this August – the only immediate concern is Kilkenny’s league semi-final date against Clare on Sunday week. He’s confident his hamstring injury will fully healed by then, and is clearly relishing the style of contest Clare will present.

“They will probably be disappointed the last two years, but I haven’t heard too much about them this year, they are quietly coming along. They had a good game against Tipperary. There is not much being said about them and they are probably the team you want to be watching too.”

In the meantime he’s put off a tour of duty of another sort: an army officer based in Kilkenny, Fennelly will probably be called up for an overseas assignment later in the year, most likely to Lebanon. Team-mate Eoin Larkin is just back from a similar tour, and Fennelly will have to answer the call some time.

“I will at some stage. The group I would have trained with are going this May, but I had to put it off because of my hurling commitments . . . at the moment Kilkenny are flying and it would be crazy for me to leave.” Indeed – and going for three-in-a-row All-Irelands, whether Ger Loughnane agrees with that or not.

Ex-captains Shane O’Neill and Patrick Cronin have been released from the Cork senior hurling panel along with other experienced players Paudie O’Sullivan, Cian McCarthy and Stephen Moylan.