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Noel Hickey is ready to enjoy the moment
IT'S STRANGE how the sporting year can pan out. Speaking to the Kilkenny People in June, Noel Hickey revealed how happy he was just to savour the taste of championship hurling once more.
Now, the Dunnamaggin man has an All-Ireland final to look forward to.
"The year flies by alright," he said. "At the start of the year, when you're back training, time is slow in going by but when it gets near the end of the League and you're back in training it feels like the year is gone before you know it. However, it's great to be back training in Nowlan Park and getting ready for another All-Ireland."
Making that first game back important – but getting to the final was the main aim.
"The goal is the same at the start of every year – to get to the All-Ireland final and win it," he said. "We have a great chance of that now. I'm looking forward to getting the chance to play Tipp. It was a great game last year, and I'm sure this one will be the same."
There will be one major difference for an injury-free Hickey. This time he won't be stuck in the stands watching on.
Getting stuck in
"You can't beat being out in the middle of the field, getting stuck into the game," he stated. "It was a bit frustrating sitting on the bench, but that was the way the year panned out for me. At the start of the year I had two groin operations, then did the medial ligament in my knee in the Summer and then hurt my shoulder leading up the All-Ireland final last year so it was just one thing after another. It was just a run of bad luck, but that's just the way it goes."
Hickey may have been down, but he was never going to call it quits.
"That thought never entered my mind," he stated. "I was always going to come back."
"I was injury-free at the start of the year, so I was able to do all the training in January and February. I knew that if I could move up a level of fitness and get my hurling going that I would have a good chance of getting into the team."
For a man from a country club, it was no surprise to learn that his sporting heroes came from similarly rural backgrounds.
"Pat Dwyer, Liam Fennelly and John Power were guys I looked up to," he said. "I remember when Kilkenny won the All-Ireland in 1992 and Pat Dwyer came to the school. Pat was from Carrickshock and lived just up the road – he was a full-back too.
"When I came on to the panel in 2000 Willie O'Connor was one of the senior members of the team. He was a great help, as he played corner-back.
"I found that Willie was great for the advice and encouragement, while I used to travel to the games with John (Power) and Denis Byrne. There were the lads I looked up to and listened to when they gave advice – and no better men to listen to too."
And now Hickey finds that as one of the more senior members of the squad he is in the advisory role.
Pass on advice
"You try to pass on the advice," he said. "You might be doing it without realizing it. The senior lads are there to help out the younger members of the team who come in."
Kilkenny's best match of the year may be ahead of them, but Hickey has already provided one of the snapshots of the season. Taken in the semi-final against Cork, the photo shows him walking alongside his marker, Aisake O hAilpin, and looking up – and up, and up – at the 6ft 6in attacker. It was no surprise then to learn that the Rebel was the most awkward opponent Hickey has faced this year.
"He was – Jesus he was," smiled Hickey. "He was the biggest man I ever marked. There wasn't too much ball came his way on the day, but he was a definite handful."
That's the lot of the full-back – they come up against players of all shapes and sizes.
"There is a variety of opponent alright," he said. "One day you could have Aisake, then it's the likes of Galway's Damien Hayes who flies everywhere, so you have to be prepared for anything."
And being prepared for Tipp means the possibility of facing any one of several forwards, from Eoin Kelly to Noel McGrath or Lar Corbett.
"Tipp have some excellent hurlers playing in the forwards," he said. "We'll have to be ready to deal with whatever is thrown at us. I think Tipp are better this year.
"They have the experience of last year's final, which will help them and they have come into form at the right time. They have improved game by game, but they'll be looking to hit their peak in the final. We'll have to be ready for a massive battle against them."
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
