Ruthless efficiency required if Kilkenny are to hunt down MacCarthy Cup

Four-time All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, Kieran Joyce, believes additional firepower in the forwards is essential if the Cats are to return as championship contenders in 2025.

“I think getting back to minimium semi-finals will be important for Kilkenny,” the Rower-Inistioge clubman stated.

“There’ll be a lot of uncharted territory for Derek Lyng (in the Leinster Championship) so I think to navigate Leinster and to find one or two forwards again to take the pressure of the main stakeholders, will be key,” the former county man asserted, adding that the discovery of match-winning subs will be pivotal in making or breaking Kilkenny’s season.

“The game against Wexford probably shows it (the lack of consistency) in how good we were in the first half and how we died off in the second half.

“That’s probably a combination of how poor Wexford were in the first half and how much they were hurting at half-time and wanted to come back so it was really a game of two halves,” he added.

“Kilkenny of old would have gone for the goals that were there. We missed a lot of chances in the first half and that ruthlessness our own supporters are probably used to (isn’t there), the Kilkenny of old would put them to the sword and put such a lead ahead that there wouldn’t be any biteback,” he claimed.

“We have died off at times but we are looking at an awful lot of players and Derek is probably using this league campaign to blood some lads and get them used to what it’s like to go to Wexford Park or even Cusack Park.

“Losing to Galway was disappointing, but Galway are at a different stage in terms of their training and preparation,” the former Fitzgibbon Cup winner with UL asserted.

“I think for this league, from a public point of view, they are going to have to run with it,” he added.

“From Derek’s point of view it’s just about building a squad. We know the experience that’s gone in Cillian (Buckley), Conor (Fogarty) and Wally (Walter Walsh), they are three spots that are definitely going to be there for new lads coming in so who’s going to put their hand up and take that position?,” the former UL Fitzgibbon Cup winner commented.

“If I was a player now, you’d probably want to nail down a position and get used to playing in it. The more games you play in that position, the more confidence you get playing there. It’s trying to find that balance and build a strong spine,” the former Kilkenny wing-back claimed.

“Huw Lawlor is a fantastic full-back and he’s set there but I suppose it’s the other lines the whole the way up we’re probably looking at,” Joyce added.

“We all know TJ (Reid) is around but Eoin Cody, Mossy Keoghan have stepped up, they’re starting to show a consistent performance each week. You want your main players getting you two/three points in play,” the former Cat remarked, adding that a greater spread of scores and impact from a wider range of players in the panel will be critical in Kilkenny’s season.