Jackie Tyrell and Paul Flynn pictured at the launch of Vanilla flavoured Avonmore Protein Milk.
By Cian O'Connell
Kilkenny hurlers know all about the importance of staying patient. The great and good have served lengthy apprenticeships in Brian Cody’s panel with Jonjo Farrell the latest to announce his Championship arrival with a healthy 1-5 haul in the Leinster SHC semi-final success against Dublin.
Last year Shane Prendergast and Ger Aylward flared to prominence in the summer. Jackie Tyrrell stresses the emphasis Brian Cody places on training properly for the significant challenges that await in every season.
"Shane Prendergast is probably only on the panel maybe three years, Jonjo maybe three or four, what keeps them going? I suppose they see the likes of Ger Aylward,” Tyrrell said.
“I'm sure he was sitting on the bench last year, looking at Ger Aylward and thinking why couldn't that be me.
“And Brian has given so many examples if lads are going well in training and getting a chance to believe that right, if I still stay going, I will get a chance.
“And when you do see perfect examples of that, there could be someone on the bench looking at Jonjo going, right if I stay going, I could get in there.
“I'd imagine that genuineness that Brian says and shows it in his team selection then. That keeps lads going who are not seen to be featuring in a team and are there for a few years.”
That approach differs from other counties where players become frustrated. “I suppose I can't comment on others, but that's just the way it is in Kilkenny,” Tyrrell replies.
“There's so many examples. I had to sit there for a few years as well. It's just the way Brian runs the ship in Kilkenny.
“They're brought in every year and that. But like that there's guys that have gone by the wayside that have been there for a few years. Lads would never have heard of them again because they might have got a bit disillusioned and mightn't have got their chance and didn't take it.
“For every one or two lads that come through, there could be four or five lads that came in and never made it. There's both sides to it. It's kind of a test to their mentality to how strong they are, stay going and stay pushing themselves.”
Richie Hogan and Jackie Tyrell missed the Leinster SHC semi final through injury.
With Aylward currently sidelined by injury Tyrrell reckons Farrell has the craft to enjoy a productive Championship for the striped team.
“I marked him a few times now and no, you wouldn't really have seen a 1-5 coming. Was he going well? Yeah. But you'd often mark lads and you might get the better of them some days, then they might be man-of-the-match the following week in an All-Ireland semi-final or final.
“It's like on any given day, you go out and do good some days and bad some days. But one thing with Jonjo, he's a huge work rate and he's a huge appetite for work on the ball.
“I suppose he just got the early scores and his confidence was up. It just went on from there. His goal, he took it so instinctively. He has been doing that for a while, he's been kind on the periphery there for a few years now. I suppose he's seen his chance and he took it.”
Can comparisons be drawn with Aylward, who was such a key figure in Kilkenny’s 2015 adventure? “You'd like to think and hope so. They're different players. They would have different strengths. Jonjo would be a pure - he gets great goals.
“Anytime he gets the ball 25 yards out, he'll put the head down and if the goal is on, he'll take it. Which Ger would have also but they're different players.
“You'd be hoping that gives him great confidence now. Scoring 1-5 sets him up nicely now. But you're only as good as your last game now and training is back up. He'll have to show up in training now.”
Valuable lessons were learned during the Allianz Hurling League semi-final defeat against Clare when Kilkenny leaked 4-22 – their biggest concession under Cody’s watch. “Yeah, it was and you could see after 10 minutes that lads were shocked thinking what is going on here?
“I think Clare were at a pitch of Championship, they had a Championship feel to them that day. There was a ruggedness about their physicality around the place. There was a determination and a steel to them that we hadn't got.
“So I'd say that was purely the difference: their attitude. They were laying down a marker that day, they did, and fair play to them.
“We didn't match that physicality and match that pitch they were at. Whether it was the right thing for them to do or for us who knows? Only the summer will tell, but you have to be peaking for the right time of the year too.”
