Kilkenny up first as Offaly hurlers face into uncharted waters

By Kevin Egan

Reviewing the Offaly hurlers' Walsh Cup hurling “campaign” after just one game is the type of behaviour that would make statisticians all over the world wince in pain at the idea that conclusions of any sort would be drawn from such a scant base of evidence. In mitigation, our very succinct review can be made because most of the findings were in keeping with what was already known.

In Division One company, Offaly is going to have to find a way to keep pace when the opposition empties the bench and still keeps going at the same pace.

Other teams will, as Galway did in the recent Walsh Cup game, look to move the ball through the lines against Offaly. For all the team’s undeniably young age profile, this Offaly group isn’t physically bereft, and while it’s hard to be ‘up’ for every game in what will likely be a ten-game season, statistically there will be a handful of those games where Offaly will be at their best and fired up to go, and no opponent will want to have a strategy in place that involves offering up contested possessions when that happens.

The question marks around this team centre around their all-round athletic ability without the ball, and their ability to maintain a tempo for 75 minutes. It was only one Walsh Cup game, but Galway’s powerful finish in their 2-22 to 0-16 victory will have been noted by other teams around Ireland.

One downside of the round robin provincial championship system in hurling is that the leading teams have become much more cautious in their approach to the National League, certainly relative to the cut-throat fare that it would have been prior to about a decade ago.

Even still, the quality of the leading powers is such that they could well give Offaly some harrowing experiences this spring. But odd though it might sound when you say it out loud, hurling Kilkenny in Nowlan Park - which is Offaly's opening fixture on Sunday (2pm) - could be one of the better days.

The Cats are still the Leinster champions and they still were a very good match for Tipperary in last year’s semi-final, but Huw Lawlor’s absence is massive – one could argue that no single player is more important to any of the All-Ireland contenders, with the possible exception of Cathal Mannion in Galway.

The decision to hand TJ Reid the captain’s armband at 38 is an interesting one and if there are any freescoring forwards that Derek Lyng has managed to unearth, they haven’t shown their hands yet. Unlike the footballers, this isn’t a ‘must win’ game or anything like it, but in a gruelling campaign, it could be one of the matches where there is less likelihood than most for the contest to really run away from Offaly at any stage.

Limerick could hardly be described as “in transition” but they do need to find two or three new players and there is a long queue of incredibly talented young hurlers chomping at the bit to try and fill those berths.

Offaly supporters don’t need to be told about Ben O’Connor’s cut-throat approach to the game and his players will know that the focus in Cork will be all about finding that keener edge to their play in 2026, while teams like Waterford, Kilkenny and Galway – the sides with one eye on avoiding the relegation trapdoor – will all see the Offaly game as a must-win fixture.

Tipperary, for their part, should be that bit further back in their preparations, as is always the case for the reigning All-Ireland champions at this time of year, but the Premier County are hardly known for their merciful approach if they have the chance to run up a score either.

Of the younger cohort in Offaly, there are some whose progress in the last 12 months has been undeniable. James Mahon’s injury is a blow to the player and the county while Killian Sampson also looks like he needs rest and time, which deprives Johnny Kelly of arguably the team's most consistently effective hurler from 2025.

Nonetheless, switching Dan Ravenhill back to the half-back line is an interesting one. Looking at Ravenhill as an individual hurler, the decision to move him half there is a logical step in the evolution of the former county minor captain. But looking at the needs of the team as a whole, one wonders if the need for his talent isn’t that little bit greater in the forward line.

Daniel Bourke and Charlie Mitchell have been in fine form for the University of Galway in good company there, while Adam Screeney getting selected for what is a ludicrously talented UL team shows that he has to be coming back to something close to his best after a disappointing 12 months when he never looked fully fit.

It's a peculiar situation for the group in that they could lose all six games and still have a good, progressive campaign, but there is also the risk that if more than one or two games turn into routs, then suddenly confidence is battered going into the first round of the Leinster Championship and a home game with Dublin that could be as important a game as the team plays all year.