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Larkin still craves that winning feeling
PEOPLE may feel it's deja vu with Kilkenny meeting Tipp in the 2010 All-Ireland hurling final, but as long as the result goes the same way as 2009 Eoin Larkin won't mind.
"I think people got a great game last year, one in which we were lucky to come out on the right side," he said. "We'll be hoping for another cracking final this Sunday – one where hopefully we'll get the result again."
Talk turned to that 2009 final, a classic where the game was in the melting pot for so long. While they may have won it in the end, at times the Kilkenny players felt victory wasn't to be.
"There were a few stages in the game where you think to yourself that it's not going to be your day," the James Stephens man added. "Thankfully we kept plugging away, but we got a few breaks too. I think in all of the big matches over the years you see teams get a couple of breaks on their way to winning. We got them last year, and will be hoping to get them again."
A Kilkenny team talking about luck? It's not something many people would think of, but even the great sides need a rub of the green from time to time.
Big part to play
"Luck, whether good or bad, has a very big part to play in sport – it can change a whole year, nevermind a game," Larkin pointed out. "I think there's no better way to assess that than to look at the situation Henry (Shefflin) and John (Tennyson) find themselves in. Both have been hit by a fierce bit of bad luck in terms of suffering injuries, so hopefully that's all our bad luck out of the way. We'll be looking for a lot of good luck to balance that out in the final."
At times the injury-list has read like a who's who of Kilkenny hurling. However, the notion that the long road of five successive All-Ireland appearances has simply caught up with the team doesn't wash with Larkin.
"Other teams have had injuries over the years, whereas we've just been lucky," he said. "We didn't have too many bad ones, just some knocks and bruises. Maybe this year it's just been our turn – looking at what other teams have gone through perhaps we were due a few! However, that's sport – you get the knocks and you just get on with it."
One thing Larkin did agree with was the belief spread by manager Brian Cody that injuries, although bad, back up the idea that hurling is a squad game.
"This year has been the acid test of that idea," he agreed. "One man's loss is another man's gain, and the lads will giving everything to try and gain a place on the team."
Even the established players are looking over their shoulders when it comes to who gets the starting jerseys, he reckoned.
"Brian has always said that the team isn't picked until a few nights before the game," he commented. "Anyone could play in the game, as the team is picked on form in training and that alone, but that's the way it has to be to keep everything honest."
And it's not just the new panellists who want to win. Even the 'old reliables' want to hang on to that winning feeling for as long as possible.
Grab opportunity
"Everyone knows that you'll hurl for a certain amount of time with Kilkenny," he said. "If you don't grab that opportunity with both hands it'll be gone before you know it. I think everyone in the panel is tuned into that way of thinking.
"There's a brilliant feeling around when it comes to the build-up before big games," he said. "There is a huge buzz around the city, and the same again when you're travelling up on the morning of the game – but the real big feeling comes after the match if you win. What hits you when you realise that you've won the All-Ireland is indescribable. I think it's something every inter-county hurler plays for."
There is also one other thing looming large for All-Ireland final day – the new fence on Hill 16. The GAA are all for not, but not so all their players.
"I don't think anyone has ever been seriously injured by the crowd coming onto the field after the match," Larkin said. "As for last year it seemed people didn't really know what was going on – were they keeping the crowd off or letting them on.
"I think if they just open the gates and let the people onto the field it would be the better option," he added. "All people want to see is their team. It probably would have been the same had Tipp won the game last year – if they won this Sunday there's no way you'd keep them off this time either!"
So, what about the game – will there be another cracker in the making?
"I think it will be an exciting game to watch," he said. "I think there'll be some big hits and great hurling – but at the end of the day I'd rather win a bad match than lose a good one!"
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
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