We’re sure Brian Hogan didn’t mean to be dismissive towards Gaelic football.
But the former All-Ireland winning Kilkenny hurler has revealed an interesting approach to how the county see the big ball game down on Noreside in his last column for GAA.ie today.
The county have removed themselves from Division Four of the league for the last number of years, while they now compete in an English championship rather than pit themselves through repeated humiliations on this side of the Irish Sea in the Leinster series.
The county of course is almost exclusively known for it’s hurling tradition but over the years a number of senior players have tried their hand at both codes, most recently David Herity.
However Hogan reveals today the attitude to football in the county as he discussed why the county’s club structure seems to run so smoothly:
“I can never understand the need for managers to refuse to allow players to return to their clubs for the whole championship.
“Also, we don’t have the complication of dual players to contend with. In Kilkenny, football is played off in February and March almost as a pre-season for the hurling.”
We’re sure Hogan isn’t trying to undermine the efforts of dozens of players who train and play in the county’s local championships, but it just goes to show the obsessive hurling culture in the county and why they are almost perennial All-Ireland champions.
