John Horgan on hurling: Kilkenny will lead Leinster fightback this season

Here in the province of Munster, we get caught up so much with the happenings in the round-robin stage of the hurling championship that we forget there’s plenty going on at the same time in Leinster.

Maybe the campaign in that province does not capture the imagination to the same extent as it does in the five Munster counties, but we should be very mindful that at some stage later in the season. three of five from Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Clare and Waterford will encounter the three that emerge up there.

There’s an ongoing debate about the state of affairs in both provinces and which of the two holds the stronger hand.

Kilkenny’s dominance in the years 2006 to 2009 had the Leinster lights shining more brightly but, in the more recent past, the pendulum has swung very much back in Munster’s favour.

Galway were the last Leinster representatives to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup back in 2017, but thereafter it’s been a full deck from the Munster counties.

Limerick with five successes, Tipperary with two, and Clare with one have lifted the old trophy on the last eight occasions, and that rate of securing the biggest prize of all surely puts to bed any argument about the strength of the game in both provinces.

Cork have been unable to contribute to that Munster success story, neither have Waterford, but the Rebel County have contested three finals since a Leinster county last tasted success.

The country’s two most successful counties, Kilkenny with 36 titles and Cork with 30, are enduring lengthy famines at this juncture in time.

Cork’s now 21 years without the trophy and the Cats not being on the podium since 2015. No county has a divine right to anything but, at the same time, those Cork and Kilkenny stats are quite staggering.

The Noresiders, of course, have continued to rule the roost in Leinster and there’s every likelihood that will continue this season. But for all the leading contenders in both provinces, it’s all about the ultimate accolade in July.

Provincial titles and national league titles are viewed by supporters as consolation prizes.

The Leinster round-robin campaign might not be as fiercely contested as its Munster counterpart, and it’s almost an accepted fact that Kilkenny will be one of the three to emerge into the All-Ireland series each year.

The same could not be said of any of the five Munster contenders.

There was a time when it was suggested that if Kilkenny had two teams competing in Leinster, they’d meet in the final such was the depth of their squad under Brian Cody. Their success rate at U21 and minor was equally admirable but in both those grades in recent times the big trophies have not been as plentiful.

So, what lies ahead for supporters of the six Leinster counties this summer?

Kildare enter the waters this time after their success in last season’s Joe McDonagh Cup, and that in itself was a notable achievement for a county much more associated with the big ball.

There’s a debate too about the merits of allowing the McDonagh Cup winners into the provincial series, the thinking being that the gap between both competitions is vast.

That gap was very apparent last season when Dublin hammered Kildare in a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final to the tune of 21 points.

BRIDGE TOO FAR

Kildare will be competitive, the game in the county is making fine progress, good work is going on, but this Leinster championship this summer will surely be a bridge far too far.

Offaly are another county to keep an eye on and will their successes at minor and U20 level transition into senior consideration. We’ll get first-hand information here on Leeside on them when the counties collide in Division 1A of the national league.

There are some wonderful young hurlers plying their trade now at senior level, and the support base for them in the Faithful County is very strong.

We all remember the glory days of 1994 and 1998 and superb hurlers like the Dooleys, Michael Duignan, Johnny Pilkington, and the great Brian Whelehan, and it’s only good for the game in general that they becoming more competitive again.

Their progress in the league and, in Leinster, will be monitored closely.

The success of St Martin’s in the Leinster club series provided Wexford hurling with a huge and much-needed boost. However, the thinking has to be that emerging from Leinster again will be very difficult again.

Lee Chin, Jack, and Rory O’Connor are players of very high quality, but they have to defeat one from Kilkenny, Galway, or Dublin to have a realistic chance of progress into June and July.

It’s not beyond them and, against Kilkenny in recent times, they have more than been a match for their much more vaunted rivals.

Things certainly did not work out too well for Henry Shefflin in Galway during his stint up there, and the torch that he carried is now held again by Miceal O’Donoghue — the 2017 All-Ireland winning manager. That happening will certainly reinvigorate things in the county, and their league form will certainly be interesting.

Cork will be travelling to Salthill in that campaign. Getting anything from that venue is never an easy task.

In the list of All-Ireland contenders, they are down the pecking order, but first and foremost will be getting into the top three in Leinster.

SHORT-LIVED

To the Dubs. In many ways, they were one of the biggest stories of last season, and their shock defeat of Limerick had the entire hurling world sitting up and taking notice.

The joy of that victory was all too short-lived, however, and they crashed back down to Earth with a right walloping from Cork.

Dublin are one of those counties that have the capabilities of producing one big result from one year to the next. But they lack that consistent streak that is required to become a more forceful unit.

That win over Limerick with 14 players for a lengthy period illustrated that they should never be taken lightly, but it’s back to square one now in trying to get out of the province.

They will be fancied to defeat Kildare, Offaly, and to a lesser extent Wexford. And if those three victories are forthcoming, that will be enough to be in the top three.

Leinster is still nowhere near Munster as far as competitiveness goes. Intensity too. At this point in time, the probability is that the McCarthy Cup will again be lifted by a Munster captain.

One cannot state that, of course, with wholehearted conviction with Kilkenny around and despite being on the outside looking in on All-Ireland final day in recent years, they have not been too far away either.

Maybe if they got a more searching examination in their own province they would be more battle-hardened for Croke Park on the bigger days.

But, one thing, Kilkenny are Kilkenny, always beware of what the county is capable of and Derek Lyng wants to desperately end that All-Ireland famine.