Leinster SHC Preview- Donnelly taking Kilkenny leadership in his stride

It has been something of a rollercoaster few months for John Donnelly.

The Graignamanagh school teacher lit it up throughout Kilkenny’s run to the All-Ireland semi-final and was given a nomination for an All-Star - but that was only the start of it.

The 27 year-old fought off a hand injury to lead his club Thomastown to a sensational senior championship success and his reward was being named Kilkenny skipper earlier this year.

In his own words, it’s not something he ever thought was realistic given the senior winners have the call on the captain of the team.

“Being up at senior last year was the first time I can remember the club at that level as it was 1988 or 1989 around that time since they were in the senior championship, so being captain of Kilkenny would have never been on my radar and I would have never even thought of it being possible,” he said when speaking at the launch of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship last week.

“The way it worked with myself for this year I nearly just assumed that I’d be the captain as I was the first lad in with the squad from the club and then Derek (Lyng) rang me too and Peter McDonald is then the vice-captain. It’s a brilliant time for the club and I’m living it right now but I won’t realise how special it was till I retire really as it’s so intense when you live in Kilkenny and you just have to roll with it.”

The all-action forward knows there are many leaders in the Kilkenny dressing room but he still feels his influence is important when it comes to the standards among the group.

“In terms of training and matchday my role doesn’t change too much but the biggest thing as a captain is that you have to lead properly and I feel like I’m a fairly decent leader in with the group so in that sense it won’t change a whole lot.

“You will still always ask yourself if you can get better and become a better leader and you’ll be encouraging the younger players to constantly aim to improve,” Donnelly added.

The retirement of All-Ireland winners in the shape of Walter Walsh, Cillian Buckley and Conor Fogarty back in the winter as well as changes in the backroom team has meant there is a new-look with Kilkenny heading into this year’s championship but Donnelly is full of praise for Derek Lyng’s impact on his career.

“When you look at it now, we lost Brian Cody after the All-Ireland final in 2022 and he was a huge influence on my career so there was always going to be a change after that but Derek has brought a lot of energy in too and brought in lads that won the Under-20 title against Limerick.

“Fresh faces bring a new dynamic and plenty of energy which is a big positive as well.

“The backroom team have brought new ideas to the table and I think it’s fair to say that myself and a couple of other lads have played our best hurling in a Kilkenny jersey under him in the last few years.”

Last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Clare is still a sore point for many but none more so than the Thomastown man who found the subsequent final tough to watch.

“I actually went up to the All-Ireland final last year with a few lads from the club,” he said. “It was a great day, but I found it tough watching on.

“I went back in 2018 as a fan before I joined the Kilkenny squad and I really enjoyed that but I doubt I’d go to another All-Ireland if we aren’t involved for another few years anyway.

“We don’t think we are too far away from getting there either so all our energy will go into that in the next few weeks.”

Donnelly’s form at the back end of last year with both club and county is all the more significant seen as he was carrying a thumb injury that required surgery a few months ago. He managed to play through the pain barrier and is now back to full fitness.

“I picked up the injury in the Leinster championship against Wexford last year. I did all the ligaments in my thumb trying to execute a block and it was touch and go what would happen with it for like a week or 10 days.

“I done the scans and everything and the medical team didn’t really know what the injury was and thankfully it was just the ligaments and they weren’t too bad so I just put a strap on it and played away for the whole year with Kilkenny and Thomastown.

“I always knew I’d need the operation at the end of the year and I was always going to play on as I knew when I got it that I was going to be out for three months so once I could play at all I went with it.

“I was back late this year as a result and I was a bit anxious coming in for the Tipperary game but I got through it and it’s perfect again.”

All eyes are now fixed on the championship and leading the team out for the Galway game on Saturday and Donnelly and his teammates know they will have to perform.

“We know that Galway are a very good team and we can only focus on them for the moment but there is still four more games afterwards so whatever the result we can’t get too bogged down either way as how we fare in Leinster will be determined by all the games we play.

“Training seems to be going well but we still won’t know where we stand fully till we play our first few games and we are getting lads back so hopefully we’ll be ready when the Galway game comes around.”