PRIMARY teacher Billy Ryan has closed the book on old-school nostalgia as Kilkenny’s class of 2025 aim to make the grade.
For supporters, this weekend’s clash with Tipperary at Croke Park is sure to evoke memories of when the rivalry was at its most intense during Brian Cody’s reign as Cats manager.
Kilkenny won their 11th All-Ireland SHC title in 16 seasons when Cody guided them to the summit again in 2015.
However, it proved to be the end of a glorious era for the black-and-amber supremacy.
Cody remained in the hotseat until the 2022 Liam MacCarthy final defeat by Limerick but the drawing of parallels was always going to be inevitable for his eventual successor.
But Derek Lyng insisted the comparisons with previous teams ‘have to stop’ in the aftermath of his side’s Leinster SHC win over Dublin in May.
And ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Tipp, Kilkenny forward Ryan agreed: “He’s right. You’re always going to be compared. I feel like it’s just the world we live in that people just love comparing things.
“It’s definitely a thing that we don’t look into. There are 35, 40 lads there and our job is to try to get better every single day and try to better ourselves.
“The goal is to win an All-Ireland. We don’t think much about the teams of the past.
“Being compared to it, we leave that up to the journalists.”
For Ryan, 28, and all but three of his team-mates, the quest to claim hurling’s ultimate prize for the first time is ongoing.
Of the current panel, only goalkeeper Eoin Murphy and Reid brothers TJ and Richie have Celtic Crosses on their CVs.
While the Cody years were undoubtedly a source of inspiration, Ryan is now part of a crop who are determined to forge their own path.
The 2018 debutant said: “You’d definitely be looking at those matches. You might find highlight clips and you’d watch them. They’re incredible.
“I’m a Kilkenny man first and foremost so you have to be proud of where you’re from and you have to take that in as well and be grateful for those teams of the past that went by.
“They’re ultimately the teams that drove that hunger in us in order to pick up a hurl to start with.
“But this team that we’re currently part of, we do have our own identity.
“Next year’s team will be a different team again and they’ll have their own identity.
“It’s definitely a thing that you need to be very, very focused on, the here and now. And that’s what we are.”
MAKING THE GRADE
Ryan teaches second class at St Patrick’s De La Salle, where Cody once served as principal.
If the Liam MacCarthy Cup does not reside in Kilkenny by the end of the month, Mr Ryan can expect to be issued a scathing report card by his students when he returns for the new term.
He laughed: “If you play well on the Sunday, they’ll bring you right back down. They’ll humble you straight away. I love it. I genuinely love it.
“In fairness, the class I have as well, there are a lot of lads that love the hurling. We were playing Antrim up in Belfast this year and a few of them went up to it. The support has been absolutely immense for me and I’m truly grateful for it.
“It’s great because you can get caught up in the hurling thing and you can nearly drive yourself demented with hurling and whatnot.
“I just find teaching is great in the way it resets you and you can divide the man from the player in a way when you’re going back into the working environment.
“You’re trying to be a role model for these children and show them the way of how to go about their day-to-day stuff. I genuinely love it.
“It’s something that when I’m walking to work in the morning, I’m genuinely looking forward to each day.”
“It’s definitely a thing as an athlete and a sportsperson that it’s no secret you have to win the days and all that kind of stuff in order to become a better player.”
Categorising himself as someone with an ‘easy-going nature’, Ryan’s description is validated by his demeanour.
The Graigue-Ballycallan man clearly takes the challenges of life in his stride, which seems like a beneficial approach for an elite sportsperson competing for high stakes.
But speaking as Kilkenny’s representative at the All-Ireland SHC launch alongside, among others, Cork defender Niall O’Leary, he pointed out: “It could be your downfall too. It depends who you ask.
“I would be very laid-back, yeah. My dad is very laid-back too. I didn’t pick it off the floor, I obviously got it from him.
“But didn’t Kobe Bryant have his alter ego as well? For me personally, it’s nearly a thing where you have to flick a switch.
“And you can’t be laid-back on a hurling pitch. You’re going to get eaten up and you have to be ready for the challenge head on.
“I can guarantee you if you’re marking a Niall O’Leary — just because he’s here behind me — he’s going to take you to the cleaners if you’re going to be laid-back. You have to be fully focused.”
AT HIS BEST
Ryan’s form suggests that his eighth season with Kilkenny has been one of his best.
He bagged 2-3 in a man-of-the-match display against Dublin, with the second goal proving crucial as the challenge of the Sky Blues was finally suppressed.
According to Ryan, subtle changes have helped him to make a more significant impact.
He explained: “It’s probably just basics really.
“At the start of the year, you’re looking at what you want to achieve when you’re setting out your goals. Definitely one of them for me was trying to get after consistency.
“You’re just trying to build consistency in little habits daily and trying to be consistent in training.
“It’s definitely a thing as an athlete and a sportsperson that it’s no secret you have to win the days and all that kind of stuff in order to become a better player.
“As a team, that’s the way we’re looking at it as well. We’re trying to build all these tiny little habits that will ultimately end up stacking and try to get us over the line for this year’s Championship.”
Kilkenny did their bit to set up the last-four fixture against Tipperary by winning a sixth straight Leinster SHC title with a win over Galway.
Ryan added: “Every year when you set out your stall with Kilkenny and you’re training, the ultimate goal is to win an All-Ireland. I know every other team are going after that as well.
“If you pick up a Leinster title along the way on that journey, happy days. We’re happy with how the Leinster final went and we’ve got another one under our belt.
“But you nearly feel straight away afterwards that the momentum shifts to an All-Ireland semi-final and trying to get back to a final. And hopefully winning that.”
