It was all about TJ Reid.
Hurling’s deadliest forward’s first half performance in the League final on Sunday was the greatest the majority of the 17,000 crowd in Nowlan Park have ever been lucky enough to witness.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks sniper only got on the ball on six occasions in that opening 35 minutes of play. With those six possessions, TJ hit Tipperary for three points and he set up another for a teammate. He went on to win a free which he subsequently converted.
Kilkenny weren’t fully at the races in that opening period. Tipperary shaded it but when many around him were struggling to influence the game, TJ stood up and was counted.
He was calm and economical in possession. His score-taking was simply sublime, his ball-winning prowess second to none and his ability to bring his teammates into the game something else.
What a point from Kilkenny's TJ Reid! pic.twitter.com/kwFvAJMdHm
— The GAA (@officialgaa) April 8, 2018
Reid is at one with hurling at the moment. The 30-year-old’s game so refined and so flawless that it’d take something special for him to put a foot wrong.
Built like a tank, the farmer/gym instructor glides past tackles and pushes others out of his way and off the ball. His striking is deadly and his pace is deceptive.
JJ Delaney hurled with TJ for years. He’s seen that talent first hand and he told us all about it on Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show.
“TJ can do it all. What I like most about him this year is his leadership ability. He dragged Kilkenny through that first half on his own. He got three brilliant points from play,” began the legendary Kilkenny full back.
“He’s just a talisman there for Kilkenny. He doesn’t just score himself, he makes a lot of other plays as well. He looks like he has so much time on the ball, turns around and looks, he looks like he’s in the school yard playing the game.
“Himself and Walter Walsh are just showing the young guys around them what to do.”
Like many greats of the black and amber jersey, TJ didn’t just slot in seamlessly upon first arrival to the panel. Famously, he nearly quit in 2012 due to frustration at his failure to nail a spot on the team.
Delaney feels that Brian Cody treated TJ slightly harshly in those early days. He saw TJ’s confidence, his ability and he was intent on drawing the very best out of him.
“We knew about TJ before he came into the Kilkenny panel. He was always a brilliant hurler. He’s very confident in his own ability, and I think, Brian saw that early on, and he kind of laid down a marker to TJ.
“He could have been a small bit harder on him than another guy coming in, but that was only because he knew how good he could be.
Being a club mate of Henry Shefflin’s also might have helped him along the way.
“He would have grew up in Ballyhale and he would have seen the work that Henry was doing as well. TJ had all the skills in the world, but he wasn’t the best worker, he’ll admit that himself, but I suppose looking at Henry down through the years, he seen he had to up his game and his work-rate.
“Now, he’s probably the best hurler in Kilkenny and in Ireland, because he’s not just a scorer, he’s not even just a provider, but he’s a worker and his ability to win his own ball is second to none.”
There’s no doubts about that.
You can listen to this chat about TJ and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show right here.
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