Kilkenny plays his way into All-Star form as he embodies 'The Good Pro'
Declan Bogue
IS IT TOO early to talk about All-Stars? It’s not too early to talk about All-Stars. Ok, let’s talk about All-Stars.
Ciaran Kilkenny is on an All-Star. Right now. Nailed down, screwed in with a fixer, plastered into the wall, Polyfilla covering the evidence. There’s nothing surer.
Sure, sure, sure. He wasn’t remarkable in Portlaoise when Meath beat them in Leinster. And there were moments when he faded from view against Armagh in Croke Park.
But whenever the safety net has been whipped away from view, he has been magnificent this season. When Dublin went down to Salthill to play for their pride against Galway on the first weekend of the round robin, he gave the impression of a man who would work a minute’s silence.
And here against Derry, he won four of Stephen Cluxton’s kickouts, two of Ben McKinless’ and was on hand to dislodge a ball here and there and act as head chef, chief bottle washer, bouncer, manager and even stock the fridges at the end of the night.
Two instances that any player should be shown about the importance of a lack of ego.
56th minute. A Derry kickout after a Lee Gannon point. The ball bobbles between the all the bodies but it is clawed out to Ciaran McFaul who kicks it ahead.
Ciaran Kilkenny is level with McFaul.
The ball is knocked away and Stephen Cluxton comes from goal to kick it soccer-style to Davy Byrne. He is immediately swallowed up by Shane McGuigan and Lachlan Murray. Referee Brendan Cawley is on the verge of blowing for steps. Just as it squirts out, who is there bending his back, pushing through the challenges to give a relieving kickpass to Brian Howard?
And 64 minutes. Kilkenny is tackled and it looks like Conor Glass has got the better of him. The loose ball goes down the field. Tom Lahiff and Glass dive at it. It pops up and who, who do you think, has followed the play, not given up on the ghost, and profits by chipping up the loose ball?
A reminder of who the 31 year old Ciaran Kilkenny of Castleknock is. He is the holder of eight All-Ireland titles. 12 Leinsters if anyone (we doubt it) is counting.
He has six All-Stars. He’s been in the running for Footballer of the Year twice, only to be pipped by that layabout, Brian Fenton.
And here he was scrapping around for ball that wasn’t just dirty, but rancid and fetid.
Asked about Kilkenny afterwards, Dublin manager Dessie Farrell served us up not quite a compliment sandwich, but more a bookmakers, open sandwich. A complaint as side salad to the compliment.
“He was a real warrior tonight to be fair to him, yeah. I think he might have only one bad game this year so far,” he said.
“He’s definitely been leading the charge and shown great leadership, you know, particularly when so many lads have gone, who had the knowledge and the experience, the game IQ. He’s really stepped up and delighted for him.
“He’s gone so well, but he’ll know it’s fickle this game. You have to keep on it when you’re at it.”
We can’t go by without mentioning Peader ÓCofaigh-Byrne all the same. The towering midfielder was off the charts here.
He caught the throw-in for both halves, and immediately passed to the incoming Con O’Callaghan to score a point each time. That’s some tax to put on an opposition when they are still tonguing the last of the Jaffa Cakes out of the gaps in their teeth.
“I think Peader’s been waiting in the shadows for a long time,” said Farrell.
“The pattern of like CK (Ciaran Kilkenny) and all the fellows that we’re admiring in this conversation will know that you’re only a game away from having a poor game or being kicked out in your ass. So there’s that maturity within the group that that’s really important.
“Like today’s great and needs to be celebrated, but you know, we know that there’s huge room for improvement, huge room for growth.”
A bucket of cold water for the media, so.
We don’t know if Dublin are going to win an All-Ireland this year. None of us do. We are judging teams through the prism of an ancient system whereby teams got two, three and sometimes four weeks to prepare for games.
Nowadays you don’t go at games. Games come at you. The emotional peaks and troughs are unlike anything we have ever seen. So we don’t know how Dublin will go.
But there’s a simply brilliant opening passage in Eamon Dunphy’s ‘Only A Game’ where he describes what he calls ‘The Good Pro’. What he means is not the flash harry who wants the ball handed to them, rather the man who will make a run back in case a team mate is in trouble. And he won’t do it the odd time. He will do it; Every. Single. Time.
In an interview years later, he expanded on the theory, saying ‘The Good Pro’ was someone who embodies both talent and a strong spiritual state, rather than just being a great player.
Ciaran Kilkenny is all this and more. An All-Star already.
An All-Ireland winner for the ninth time? Let’s see.
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