Derek Lyng says he understands the unease of some Kilkenny people in potentially seeing a Kerry man lining out for the county.
Kerry's Fionan Mackessy has been training with Kilkenny over the last number of weeks having moved from his native Kingdom to Kilkenny for work last year.
The Poc Fada champion played a key role in O'Loughlin Gaels' march to the county senior hurling final, where they were eventually beaten by Thomastown, earning a call-up to the county senior training panel in the aftermath.
KCLR reporter Oisín Langan asked Lyng about Mackessy's move to the Cats recently, adding that some Kilkenny people may not be comfortable with the idea of an 'outsider' hurling in the black and amber.
Fionán Mackessy of O’Loughlin Gaels during the Kilkenny County Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between O’Loughlin Gaels and Thomastown at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Lyng says he understands this point of view, but none-the-less called Mackessy into the training panel in the hope that he's a player who 'could add something' to the Kilkenny fold.
"I can understand, where people could see that," Kilkenny manager Lyng told the KCLR Hurling Podcast.
"The first time I spoke to Fionán was late November, early December, just gone," he added.
“This is somebody who has played with Kerry for the last couple of years.
"He moved up to Kilkenny, got a job in Kilkenny and played with O'Loughlins this year. He's not hurling with Kerry this year and had already made that known.
"You're looking at it, and you have to be conscious of all those things, but you're looking at the club campaign and thinking is he somebody that could add something?"
"Right now, he's one of 43, 44 players that we'll be looking at," Lyng continued.
"He's made that commitment to do all that without knowing that there was any sort of commitment from Kilkenny or anybody else.
"I can understand it, but we take it that he's playing for O'Loughlin Gaels.
"He's eligible to play for Kilkenny. He had a very strong club campaign. Look, we'll see what that takes us."
In positive news, the manager confirmed that TJ Reid, at 37, is back for another year, 'back training away like everybody else.'
"TJ is still around. TJ is training very hard since November.
"He's somebody who has obviously kept himself in serious shape.
"Players see the amount of work he does away from training sessions as well, the way he carries himself, so he sets a very high bar. He's back training away like everybody else, he's part of the panel."
