Colm Keys

And you have to say the TJ Reid of the past two decades almost.

That wasn't the TJ Reid that we saw this year.

Even when you were looking for a spark or something yesterday, he couldn't really provide it.

And obviously he's at an age now where most players are becoming managers or coaches of teams.

And he's done remarkably well in his career to stay as long as he had, but he just can't carry them anymore.

And they had Adrian Mullen on the bench.

So all of those excuses are there.

I don't think they'll be reaching for any of them.

The fact remains that the conveyor belt in Kilkenny...

has really ground to a halt.

Yes, they have players, but they don't have players of the standard that they once carried through, that just kept coming and coming.

There's not a Hugh Lawler there yet that improved out of Norway.

Hugh Lawler didn't play a minor for Kilkenny, but he became this great full-back.

There's no sign of anyone like that so far.

The 2022 All-Ireland Under-20 team that beat Limerick, a Limerick team without Kyle O'Neill.

hasn't really produced any players of any great consequence maybe Aidan Tallis in goals you know he'd probably be the future Kilkenny goalkeeper after one Murphy now but they haven't produced from that team by comparison to Limerick so it is an issue now you talk to people in Kilkenny and the likes of Tommy Walsh and Richie Power who are involved with academy and underage squads and they say at a certain age these players are coming and they're confident about it and even Derek Ling sounded that note of confidence yesterday

But in the short term, I think Kilkenny are down.

I think to win six Leinster titles in a row is a reflection on their own reputation, but also on the paucity of the Leinster Championship and those in pursuit, particularly Galway and Dublin, that they didn't manage to get in and break that sequence up before now.

But I think in the short term, Kilkenny are in a bit of trouble.

It's actually quite striking that there was crowds were singing and chanting towards the end.