Mossy Keoghan knows Kilkenny need to be more consistent

By John Harrington

Leinster champions for the last six years in a row, Kilkenny have never failed to qualify from their provincial championship during the Round Robin era.

That will change on Sunday though if they are beaten by Dublin in Parnell Park and Offaly beat Kildare in the final round of this year’s Leinster SHC campaign.

In that scenario Dublin, Galway, and Offaly would progress to the All-Ireland series and Kilkenny’s year would end much earlier than they are accustomed to.

The stakes couldn’t be higher so for the Cats coming into what will surely be a very tough match against an in-form Dublin side fresh from victory away to Galway last weekend, but Kilkenny forward Mossy Keoghan has a glass half full perspective on the situation.

“I suppose the main thing to think of is that it's all in our hands,” he says. “If we win, we're in the Leinster final. That's all we need to worry about.

“We're not going to worry about all the different options or what can happen if this or that happens. All we need to know is that if we win, we're in the Leinster final. So it is a Leinster final for us and we're very determined to go up to Dublin and get a result.

“It's basically been a knockout championship for us there since last weekend, so it's exciting at the same time.

“It's great to be a part of the excitement of playing in the summer here, good weather now coming in and knockout championship. It's a great feel to it and it's nice to enjoy the build-up to it with so much on the line as well.”

Given what we’ve seen from Kilkenny so far in this year’s championship it’s hard to know what to expect from them.

The were poor against Galway, good against Wexford, average against Offaly, and then put two very contrasting halves of hurling together last time out against Kildare.

“It's definitely been up and down,” admits Keoghan. “I think last weekend against Kildare summed it all up perfectly.

“That first half showed if we're not at our level, we can be very, very beatable and a very ordinary team.

“But the second half then showed what we're capable of if we are at it, hurling well together, racking up good scores and stuff.

“I suppose it's about trying to find a consistency and when matches are coming thick and fast it's hard to be up at it for five full games in the championship.

“We just need to make sure that we are at that proper, good level or else we won't get anything from the weekend against Dublin."

Kilkenny’s biggest issue so far this year has been scoring. In their first five League games this year they averaged just 20 points per game, which is way below what is needed to win matches in the modern game.

In their last two championship matches they’ve hit an incredible 40 wides. That suggests they’re at least creating more scoring opportunities now, but they need to be more clinical.

Keoghan has been one of their few forwards who has consistently delivered this year and has hit 2-11 from play so far in the Leinster Championship.

An All-Star in 2025, he’s raised his game to a new level in the past two years. Is that down to the maturity that comes in your late twenties or has he worked hard to develop specific areas of his game?

“Probably a bit of both I'd say,” he says. “You do work on things. I suppose when I was younger I probably wasn't scoring as much so it was something I really worked on, particularly in the club season.

“That's where I kind of developed it by working on it with the club and trying to up the scores and have an influence on the game.

“It’s also learning from the players that have gone before me that were in the panel the last few years. You look at Walter Walsh, TJ, Richie Hogan, that have been around the last few years, I’ve learned an awful lot from them just from being around training and stuff.

“How they apply themselves to training and even what they do in terms of getting into scoring positions.

“I suppose it's about the confidence as well, it's down to very split-second decisions, there's always going to be someone else, and you're playing with such high-quality players around you they all want to score as well.

“You can always pop the pass off, but it's about believing in yourself and trying not to pass the buck too much. It’s about taking the responsibility and putting the ball over the bar.

“But it's definitely a confidence piece. It’s about believing in yourself and wanting to take the responsibility for the team to put the scores on the board.”

Kilkenny have a great record against Dublin in the Leinster Hurling Championship.

They haven’t been beaten by them since 2013, and you have to go back all the way to 1942 for the time before that.

But this game looks like a glorious opportunity for the Dubs to claim a rare win against the most successful team in the province.

Niall Ó Ceallacháin’s team should be full of confidence after a great win on the road away to Galway last weekend, and it would be a real statement if they could eliminate the Cats from this year’s All-Ireland championship.

“Yeah, they're absolutely flying it,” says Keoghan of the Dubs.

“They've always been very good at playing it short but in the last year or two, John Hetherton, Ronan Hayes, these boys can mix it up and they can go long or short.

“So that's the tricky question when you go to play them, do you push up or sit off them? Because they can do it both ways, and we've seen the running they have with Brian Hayes as well, they've lads that can do it either way.

“Especially in Parnell Park, like, they're a hugely physical team, bringing back Liam Rushe now as well, he adds another physical dimension to them, so it's going to be a huge task going up to Parnell.

“They're flying it, crowd behind them, big atmosphere, tight pitch, it's a huge ask, but looking forward to the test as well.”