Behind every Field Marshall there stands proud combatants. A team manager is nothing without his players. A Rolls Royce, sparkling in all its majesty, is nothing without an engine.
Where would Sitting Bull have been at Little Big Horn without Geronimo and his band of braves? Where would Rommel have been without his desert rats during the North African campaign?
Where would Lester Piggot have been without Roberto in the 1972 Epsom Derby? Where would the mighty Mick O'Dwyer have been without his awesome footballers during the halcyon days of Kerry football in the 'seventies?
If my friend, your answer to all the above is other than "nowhere", then I suggest you investigate the curative properties of your medication and take seriously quick steps to change it.
Every good club has at least one, maybe two core workers who keep things rolling along nicely. There are many workers attached to many clubs, but you know the kind of dedication I refer to.
Heart thumps to the beat
Whenever you visit with a club, his/her face is the first you see. Whenever the club is playing a game, his/her presence is foremost. Whenever a field needs cutting, weeding, lining, he/she are present.
One such operative is a man of not such physical presence, but a man whose heart thumps every beat for the cause of his home place.
Arriving at the cosy dwelling of Ned Gahan in Tinlough on the outskirts of Kilmacow, we were met at the gate. We were visiting to chat about the South championship and other matters.
We spoke at length about the junior, which has all the hallmarks of a very interesting competition, and more…..much more.
Ned Gahan has "coursed" every blade of grass in every playing arena in South Kilkenny. He has seen all the pretenders to Tullogher's throne, and nobody could furnish a more meticulous analysis of the prospects of the competing teams than the Kilmacow man, who never struck a sliotar in anger.
"Up to now," he said, "the South junior championship was down to four teams, and at times, two. But this year, having seen all the teams on more than one occasion, it is a different proposition.
"What has helped the whole process get such a profile is the publicity being given to it by the 'People. The lads can't wait for the paper. That's a fair change to what we were getting down here in the South.
Brought awareness
"People didn't even know we existed. So that has brought a considerable awareness to our games down here," said he.
"We will all have to beat Tullogher if we are to win the South. They have been the team for the past few years, but I think that they are not going as well as Tommy Duggan would like. Pat Hartley went off to America, and that did not help.
"They have some mighty players, but their problem at the moment is their lack of consistency. They still have plenty of quality players available without Hartley. Lads like the Cotterells, the Bookles, the Barrons, Eddie Cullinane, Amby Malone, 'Tinaree' Murphy and Willie Ryan are fair operators. They might not be razor sharp at the moment, but Tommy will have them mustard sharp when it's needed. You can bet on that."
There are no easy touches in the South championship. Some were of the opinion that Slieverue might end up as the whipping boys. We fired these observations at Ned.
"Ah listen," he glistened. "I was over in Piltown at a match and I heard gobshites saying them kind of things. I was watching Slieverue playing John Lockes and they were giving them plenty. I think that before this championship is over, Slieverue will upset the applecart.
"I wouldn't like our lads to be drawn against Slieverue in the first round. They have an improving bunch of players. In Niall Walsh they have a real gem. That guy has the engine of a Rolls Royce.
"There is no end to him, whether it is defending, anchoring midfield or attacking. He is a hugely important and influential player. So no, there are no soft touches."
His own club
Then we got down to talking about his own crew.
"We have had a lot of long-term injuries this year," Ned continued in relation to his own club. "We also have had players working away in Cork, Dublin and Galway. Now if we can get a clean bill of health, and our away players firing on all cylinders, we will not fear anybody.
"But that is a big if. We have hurlers as good as anyone else. Young Richard McNamara was a serious loss to us last year after he ruptured his cruciate ligament, but he has made terrific progress. He is just about back to full fitness, and that's good news. So we are hopeful. If what I have said happens, we will be in with more than a decent shout."
What about Piltown, we asked? Surely it is time they made a gallop.
"I can't understand them lads," he said when he took up the story. "They probably have had the best junior hurlers in the South for the last few years, but they have failed to function. Look at their team. Sure anyone would love to have some of their players.
"Sometimes I feel that they are indulging in too much house politics for their own good. They have a man training them, and nobody in Ireland would know more about winning games than Liam (Fennelly). What wouldn't other teams give to have a man of his stature and calibre, giving them the benefit of his considerable experience?
"Then I suppose, you can bring a horse to water, but trying to make him drink is a proposition of a different hue. Still they have fine young hurlers. They have Norrisses, Kennys, McCarthys and Georgie Culleton's lad at centre-back. He is a fine prospect. They went down badly in the league final to Tullogher (3-11 to 0-11), but they are better than that. I fancy them to make the final at least".
Dumped us out
Further up the hill the men from "The Gap" are readying themselves.
"Now there's a team that will always give a good account of themselves," Ned insisted. "Last year, they dumped us out in the first round. You never know what Windgap team turns up.
"They are a real Jekyl and Hyde outfit. I saw them beating Tullogher in the All County League and before that I went over to Mooncoin and saw them being beaten by Slieverue, a game they were expected to win comfortably. They have a mighty man in the middle of the park.
"He is a great leader, and the rest of them seem to respond to his leadership. Phillip Lonergan was on the county intermediate team, and he was not out of place. They also have young Hawe and Cody, who was on the Kilkenny minor team two years ago. They are good players. So they too will be knocking at the door".
And finally we got to Dunnamaggin, the unknown quantity.
"Imagine you have an All Star on your team. Add in six or seven players with senior experience," Ned said in his summary. "Sure you must have a great chance. Dunnamaggin have a problem.
"They need their senior contingent to make up their forces. But so does the senior team. Now if they can avail of the team they want, they will spoil some team's prospects of advancing.
"But if their team is decimated by the call of the senior team, then I really don't think they will be a force. What worries me is that they could have their entire forces available for a first-round game, knock out a team like ourselves, and then have to give a walk-over of sorts in the semi-final."
Let the best horse jump
So, we asked the enthusiastic Ned to stick his colours on the mast.
"I see Tullogher, Piltown, ourselves and Windgap getting into the semi-finals," he said of the prospects. "I won't go any further than that. Let the best horse jump the ditch then."
We spoke about upcoming events, like All-Irelands, the Waterford demise, and a little reminiscing about fado, fado.
"Waterford were unlucky that they had a few lads who didn't want to know about hardship," was his frank assessment of the Suirsiders defeat against Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final.
"You had the big profile players looking for all the gain without contributing any pain. Limerick hit them hard, and some of the Waterford players didn't like it one little bit. It was a pity in a sense, because I was looking forward to the craic at the All-Ireland."
And what about the final?
"Limerick can do any pulling they like but they won't coward Kilkenny," he said of the September 2 showdown. "They have no chance of getting five goals, and they would need to score twice the number of points they scored against Waterford to give them any chance of winning.
"Kilkenny are tried and trusted. They have met toughness, skill, determination, quality hurlers, and they have survived to win. To my mind, Limerick have nothing to frighten Kilkenny. They have no surprises to pull out of a bag.
"I know the entire country will be agin our lads, but if they are right between the ears, there will be only one result."
He remembered '57
And talking about All-Ireland finals, we got to discussing his memories of his initial visit to Croke Park.
"I remember in '57 we were playing Waterford in the final," Ned said as he cast his mind back. "I went up to stay with an uncle that weekend. I remember being brought and fired in over the style.
"Then I was pushed through a gate to get into the sideline. It cost a tanner (old sixpence piece). They made the film "Rooney" with John Gregson that time. John Sutton was a giant in the middle of the field.
"I was as proud as two turkey cocks to be able to shake the hands of lads like Sean Clohessy, Mickey Kelly, the captain and Mick Kenny. There was great hurling going on all over the place then. The fetes in Dunhill, Slieverue and Carrick brought the cream of hurling to play for suit lengths.
"The whole of Ireland were walking around in the same suits them times. I would say that the great Bennettsbridge team of the time won more suit lengths than they had for sale in the Monster House.
"I remember seeing Christy Ring playing. Then there were all the great Kilkenny men. The 'Bridge had tons of great players. I would have to say that the best pound-for-pound player I ever saw, was one of the smallest players I ever saw. Sammy Carroll from the 'Bridge was truly an amazing hurler, who had all the skills, was as brave as a lion, cute as a fox and knew no fear of any man."
We got to talking about the great players who put the Kilmacow club on the map.
Football outfit
Initially the club was a football outfit which dabbled in hurling. Most of the footballers were on the hurling team. The club won the county junior crown in 1956 – a remarkable achievement for a club so young.
As St Senan's they beat St Finbarrs of Castleinch by 6-9 to 4-6. To really put the gilt on that achievement, didn't they win the county senior football titl the same year. The final was played in 1957.
A remarkable success indeed. Having won the junior title, the club soldiered in the senior arena. Neddy remembered St Senan's giving the famed Bennettsbridge a hell of a game in the county senior semi-final in Nowlan Park in 1959. They were downed in the dying seconds by a sucker-punch, a goal.
"We had great men then," said Ned. "There were great men like Michael O'Neill, Bill Kinsella, Jimmy Dunphy, Harry Matthews, Sean Phelan, Paddy Lalor, Mick, Ned, Sean and Jim Fleming, Paddy Grace, 'Mackey' Hogan and just after them, Dick McNamara and Senan Cooke."
Ned too was delighted that his own sons, Declan, Patrick and Eamonn wore the black and amber with distinction, collecting Leinster and All-Ireland medals along the way.
Hoynes did great work
He will always say that a man by the name of Henry Hoynes did more for under-age hurling in the parish than any three men.
"He was a lecturer in Waterford Institute of Technology who hailed from Inistioge, but resided in Kilmacow.," he explained.
He did trojan work with the youngsters, and the club benefitted enormously from his work.
"His contribution cannot be understated," said Ned.
One of the proudest periods he could remember since first the club was founded back in the mid-fifties was the building of the complex on Church ground in the 'eighties.
"There was an amount of sterling work done by every element of the parish then," he said as he glowed with pride. "John Dunphy was a marvellous benefactor to the club. Farmers drove their tractors, club members picked stones in buckets, builders and carpenters built and hammered and everybody mucked in. It was a huge plus for our parish, and everybody gained," said the ineluctable Kilmacow stalwart.
Every club needs coalface workers like Ned Gahan. Many clubs could do with more such people.
Kilmacow are lucky to have a man like Ned Gahan, who wears his colours and his allegiances on his sleeve.
We could have stayed chatting, but the clock, as ever, was running down.
A finer Christian does not walk on God's pasture.