New year ahead but the same expectation remains for Derek Lyng and Kilkenny

The Kilkenny senior hurlers will return to action this weekend for the first time since last July’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Clare in what is a very different landscape.

No official preseason competition and changed Allianz League structure will certainly be challenging to Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng but, as he heads into a third year at the helm of the Cats, it’s a role he’s still enjoying immensely.

“The job is all go but it’s a massive honour,” he said. “It’s not without its challenges, but nothing worthwhile is.

“There’s a huge tradition in Kilkenny and I’m very conscious of that and what I’m doing at the moment is working on what we can do right now.

“There’s no point in looking at the past on what we’ve done previously, but we can still learn from it. We are only looking ahead and concentrating on how we can evolve and become a better team.

“That can only strengthen us as a collective and that’s what it’s about as well,” he added. “We know we’ve a strong group of players with a very good backroom team, so we are very excited for the year ahead.”

This season marks the 10th anniversary since the Cats last won the All-Ireland hurling title and while there is always big pressure and a degree of expectation among followers on Noreside, Lyng knows that the sport has a huge part in people’s lives.

“In Kilkenny, the tradition and heritage is there; people expect and rightly so.

“They demand the best and want to be challenging for All-Irelands and we are no different.

“Our daily lives are consumed by hurling and that is something that affects everybody. I hope the supporters see something in the next few months where they see a hunger, drive and enthusiasm from everyone involved and that they can enjoy especially with plenty of big games coming to Nowlan Park this year,” the Emeralds man said.

With the standard of hurling improving by the season, just competing with the top teams is a high watermark. For the manager and this Kilkenny side, it’s just about improving on the field every day they go out.

“The bar of hurling has been set very high and there is an awful lot of things that you need to get right now to win and be the best,” he said.

“There are elements of that we are looking at and where we can improve and that’s all we are focussing on.

“The competition is there so for me it’s about getting our heads down and be very clear on what we want to improve on.

“We have to be very focussed on where we want to go as the fundamentals don’t change and that’s something we have to remember. That’s what makes the whole thing challenging with players that have been with us a long time and lads that are only there a couple of years, but you can see the collective drive and hope for an improvement. It’s an enjoyable place at the minute as everyone is working hard.”

Kilkenny go into the new intercounty season without Walter Walsh, Cillian Buckley and Conor Fogarty who all announced their retirements over the winter months.

The former All-Ireland winning player and selector is hopeful of keeping the rest of his experienced stars on board although he does have to speak to Eoin Murphy who only recently got married.

“At the minute we hope to have everyone available. Eoin Murphy got married around Christmas time so he’s on his honeymoon, so and we’ll have a chat with him when he gets back.

“We also have lads coming back from a couple of injuries but, touch wood, we aren’t in a bad place with everyone there and working away.”

A name very much on Kilkenny lips is Fionán Mackessy with the 27 year-old Ardfert native swapping Kerry colours to line out with the Cats and Lyng is looking forward to seeing what he can offer the team.

“Fionán is one of 43 players that we have with us and like everyone else he has done well in the club championship. We’ll see how he progresses over the next few months.”

While Mackessy will be in his first year with the team, TJ Reid is at the other end of the spectrum as he returns for a 19th season in the black and amber.

“TJ is training away with us at the minute and sometimes games can be good in terms of match fitness as there’s only so much running and stuff we can do,” the manager said.

“We’ll obviously be monitoring him from week to week like everyone else but we’ve no specific game in mind that he will be back for but we’ll see more of him as the season goes on.”

Lyng and his Kilkenny management will finalise their league squad in the next few weeks with the door remaining open throughout the season.

“This time of year is difficult as you never like telling a lad that he’s not involved, but the commitment from everyone has been excellent,” he said. “We are always operating on an open panel and it’s never a closed shop.

“We will have lads come in over the next few months that might not be with us now and we are keeping an eye on if we need something different and that’s how the dynamic works. We also have Fitzgibbon Cup coming up and one or two lads might do well in that while our under-20 squad could do something similar and it is a very competitive environment.

“I would never write anybody off either as we have an open mind and lads develop later than others and we just have to be conscious of that. We can only judge on what we see in front of us.”

Listen to the latest episode of the Kilkenny People Sport Podcast here or below: