“I thought we might be coming on at some stage but I said to Rob [Kelly], ‘I’m going back up to the stand,’ and I never left my seat again.”
Jackie Tyrrell knew as soon as Kevin Kelly’s shot hit the back of the Kilkenny net that his season was over. Two months later and his personal pursuit for 10 Liam MacCarthy triumphs came to an unsatisfactory conclusion. When you’re a Kilkenny hurler, only winning nine can seem like a let-down sometimes.
“JJ Delaney is the ultimate ending,” he reflects, “riding off into the sunset with an All-Ireland, an All Star and that hook he made on Seamus Callanan.”
The James Stephens man is the first to admit he had a less than impressive underage career – although the statistics may argue he did just fine – and he credits Cats boss Brian Cody for showing faith in him as he learned the ropes at the highest level.
Tyrrell’s career may have been a slow-burner, in the early years, but once the flame took hold it consumed record after record. The four-time All Star believes his complete dedication to his craft, and his team got him further than many.
“I can look back and say 100% that I poured my heart and soul into that jersey.”
Indeed, it was that jersey and that No.4 on the back that formed the nub of a pre-match routine that served him well for years. He says:
“I loved putting on the jersey. Every time I put on the number four jersey I would look at it for three or four seconds, and it filled me with immense pride, whether we won or lost.”
Asked a little bit more about the quirks he had before a game, Tyrrell went back to that black and amber jersey.
“I used to always take the No.4 sticker off the front of the jersey and, before I put it on me, just hold it out there,” he says. “Everything about the No.4, I liked being associated with it.”
While it is not quite Jack McCaffrey levels pre-match superstitions and quirks, it is interesting to hear what the legendary corner back used to invoke the strongest feelings of pride for his county.
Players across the land will be staring hard at their jerseys in 2017, we reckon.
Michael Lundy joins Wooly for a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a chat about Ger Loughnane, dodgy transfers and Davy Fitzgerald’s training methods. Subscribe here on iTunes.
