Eoin Larkin looks only to more rewards for Kilkenny

Imagine not knowing how many National Hurling League medals you’ve actually won?

“Four, I think,” says Eoin Larkin, after a brief pause – although we think it’s actually five. Does he even know where he keeps them?

“I do. In a box, up in the attic, with all the rest of them.”

As in the six All-Ireland medals, seven Leinster, three interprovincial, plus one each in minor, under-21 and club All-Irelands. And not forgetting his two All Stars and one Hurler of the Year award.

Larkin is not the first Kilkenny hurler to lose track of his medal tally, although anyone who thinks that might reduce the hunger for more going into Sunday’s league final against Tipperary should think again: if anything, says Larkin, Kilkenny are more intent on winning this title than any of the others he can remember.

It’s hard to keep track of that too, as Sunday marks Kilkenny’s 10th league final appearance in 13 seasons, all under manager Brian Cody, and they’ve actually won seven of those previous nine. For Larkin, who missed the semi-final win over Galway with a wrist injury, there is also an increasing awareness that he has to earn his starting place as much as anyone else, especially with so many younger players breathing down his neck.

“I think Brian puts the same effort into every league final,” says Larkin, “but I think it probably will be more important to win this one, yeah. It would be brilliant to get the confidence up, especially after the way last year ended.

"I think last year too we probably didn't change up the team as much as we probably could have. We had lost the first two games last year too, so we were under a bit of pressure. We won the first two this year, the pressure was off a little, so you needed just one more win to get through to the quarter-final, really."

Kindness of hindsight
Whatever about the way last summer ended up – losing the All-Ireland quarter-final to Cork – Kilkenny did claim a second successive league title in pretty convincing style, beating Tipperary by three points, with Larkin scoring 0-6, all from placed balls. He captained Kilkenny to the league title in 2012, and also won winners medals in 2005, 2006 and 2009.

But now, with the kindness of hindsight, Larkin reckons something wasn’t quite right about Kilkenny’s entry into last year’s championship.

“We still had the couple of injuries, and I think we kind of peaked at the wrong time last year as well, maybe. We were just trying to prolong it as much as we could and hopefully we’d get to Croke Park, but it wasn’t to be.

“Then when you are trying to get lads back from injury you need to get a couple of weeks’ training, and it didn’t happen last year, as we went the back-door route, and had to play week on week. That probably had something to do with our downfall as well.”

There is also the assumption that some Kilkenny players had become too comfortable in their own positions, or at least that Cody hadn't injected enough young blood: again Larkin pauses to think. "Maybe. But when younger lads weren't tried last year, as they were this year, you're not seeing what they can actually do, and you're thinking to yourself maybe they aren't ready for it.

'Certainly ready'
"We've all seen this year that any of the lads that were used are certainly ready for championship hurling. And as Brian has stated before, he doesn't mind who plays as long as there are 15 Kilkenny lads going out."

Although Larkin only has a couple of more months left in his 20s, he’s not quite considered a veteran. That’s not saying he doesn’t look around the Kilkenny dressingroom and wonder about all the youngsters trying on jerseys for the first time.

“It certainly is worrying, but it is good to have competition for places. It can only bring the best out of the older players. It’s not exactly a great time to be injured, either. But players like Joey Holden have been good for Ballyhale the last three or four years so I felt, once he filled out a bit, and he has done that over the course of the league, I felt he would improve.”

Tipperary have not beaten Kilkenny in a hurling final since 1968 and, even with the benefit of home advantage in Semple Stadium time, will also be aware that Kilkenny have now won eight of their last nine meetings between league and championship. Not many Tipperary supporters will need reminding of that.