JJ Delaney was a Kilkenny legend. The Fenians club man is a Kilkenny legend.
The seven-time All-Star carved out a reputation for himself as one of the finest defenders of his generation during his 14-year career with the Cats.
Delaney was one of the tightest and toughest-tackling defenders in the game. The nine-time Liam MacCarthy winner with Kilkenny was famed for his fighting spirit, his doggedness, his utter refusal to be beaten.
This never-say-die attitude was never better encapsulated than his scarcely believable hook on Seamus Callanan in the 2014 All-Ireland senior hurling final against Tipperary. Delaney made a last ditch stretching dive and somehow prevented the Drom and Inch attacker from scoring.
Classic, classic JJ.
Remember this? Re-live former @KilkennyCLG star JJ Delaney's famous 'Hook' v @TipperaryGAA in 2014! https://t.co/4ewilOY5BD #FlashbackFriday
— The GAA (@officialgaa) September 2, 2016
This doggedness, this sheer refusal to be beaten inevitably lead to clashes on the hurling pitch.
The lads were discussing the break-out of fights on a hurling pitch on The GAA Hour Hurling Show on Monday when Delaney revealed a piece of advice that was given to him when he was a youngster.
“I was told when I was younger you can kill a lad with half a hurl.”
JJ’s revelation came on the back of host Colm Parkinson’s suggestion that a hurler would drop their hurl if a fight broke out.
“Usually you want to pull the faceguard off when you want to go boxing a fella so you don’t hurt your fists. The honourable thing when a fight happens in hurling is to drop your hurl, take off your faceguard and go at it,” asked Parkinson.
JJ was having absolutely none of it.
“You’re a sitting duck then aren’t you,” remarked Delaney
“You don’t want to be the eejit that drops your hurl first,” agreed Parkinson.
It’s a true resemblance of the fighting spirit that was shared by all of Brian Cody’s warriors. They were trained to ruthlessly dispatch of their opponents. They were cold-blooded and they sure as hell weren’t going to sacrifice any advantage that they had, and in the case of a fight breaking out, their hurls were key.
Listen to the lads’ GAA fighting technique’s discussion here from 11’00”.
