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Stay focussed on the prize - Martin Fogarty
KILKENNY may have a record that no other county can match, but you won't find the Cats resting on past glories.
"We don't think too much about what we have done over the years - we go from game to game," was the simple message from selector Martin Fogarty.
"When you go Croke Park on the day of the AI there is a lot of drama and side attractions, but you can't even look at it. You just go into the zone, focus on the game. Later on you'll watch on the game on television, but you can't allow yourself to drift away. If you get distracted you're not able to do your job. That's when you get caught."
Concentration is key, the Erin's Own (Castlecomer) man reckoned.
"You shut everything out. You just have to," he said. "I remember saying to my wife after last year's final that it seemed to be a great occasion.
Drumbeats
"I had something at the side of my head where I thought I could hear drumbeats and see these sliotars floating about (the spectacle was part of the pre-game entertainment which whipped the crowd into a frenzy as the teams came out onto the field).
"You don't really see that stuff when you're out there, believe it or not. You don't see any of it, not even the crowd. All you're focused on is the pitch, the goalposts and the few flags around it. If you took everything in you'd get lost in the occasion - if you do that, well you're not going to do your job right."
Getting that focus and keeping it has been made all the more easier by the players, who Fogarty believes are as hungry as ever.
"The players are a tremendous bunch," he said. "It starts with the older players. They are an example, and their frame of mind passes on to the younger players.
"A lot of those older lads have had painful days, they have been beaten in finals and semi-finals; they know what it's like to lose. When you feel the pain of losing you'll relish the victories - you want them to go on forever."
Bred on success
The team has been bred on success, something Fogarty knows all too well. Many of the squad were in his care when he secured back-to-back All-Irelands as under-21 manager.
"We had a great spirit with the under-21s and had won two All-Irelands," he recalled. "The challenge to maybe win a third pulled very hard, which made it difficult to leave (and become a senior selector), but not too many people get the chance to get involved with the senior team in any capacity. And, if you get that opportunity you'd be stupid not to take it – it doesn't come around twice."
And proof that he made the right decision will be backed when Sunday comes around, bringing just what Fogarty relishes.
"I love the challenge of the match," he said. "This year the challenge is to take on Tipp, to try and beat them and be the best. You're watching the players there, who have seen their year's training come to fruition. It's like watching a greyhound before a race - you're waiting for that trap to spring.
"That's the buzz – bring it on, I say."
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Weather for Kilkenny
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South east
