In just a few weeks, TJ Reid will begin his eighteenth year in intercounty hurling. He just trails Cork's Patrick Horgan atop the all-time Championship scoring leaderboard. Whether or not he finishes his career at the head of that list, or with an eighth All-Ireland to his credit, Reid's status as one of the greatest to ever play hurling is secure.
Richie Hogan's autobiography 'Whatever It Takes' was released this year and it provides great insight into life with one of Ireland's greatest ever teams. There's also some brilliant material on the bonds between those Kilkenny players who made winning such a habit under Brian Cody.
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In particular, Hogan is revealing on the superstitions that drive TJ on. The two were teammates at St Kieran's in Kilkenny and experienced pretty much everything together on a pitch. Few outside the Kilkenny circle would be aware of Reid's commitment to routine, and in particular his music choices before a game.
In the book, Hogan sheds some light on TJ's pre-match mentality, just as the Kilkenny team bus nears Jones's Road.
When he was younger, he would get physio treatment on a Saturday before a game and head to Mass that evening. Some things fizzled out, others stuck. By the time of the 2019 final, he had to sit right next to me at the back of the bus; even if there was just the two of us in a five-seater, he'd sit in the one next to me. He also had these little hydration shakes, a mix of glucose and water, that he downed. He has a particular pair of socks, particular colour grips for games and he also insists on missing the first half of the matchday parade to go to the bathroom before big games.
He is particular about his music. There is a unique pre-match playlist that gets flicked on when the bus is approaching Croke Park. 'All The Things She Said' by Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. Then '8 Mile', by Eminem. And it's capped off as we drive under the stand of the stadium by Survivor belting out 'Eye of the Tiger'.
The volume is cranked up to the last in his cheap set of earphones and so the whole bus is forced to listen; new fellas to the panel often look around curiously for the source of this random concoction of tunes. Chaos ensued at the back of the bus before one game when his earphones were not pairing up to his phone via Bluetooth. No one else had his playlist, so there was this search for earphones that worked. Michael Rice saved the day.
8 Mile and Eye of the Tiger are standard sports anthems, but we had not expected Russia's entry in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest to play a role in TJ Reid's pre-match preparation, but that particular t.a.T.u song is banger so all respect to the Ballyhale man.
We're eagerly anticipating seeing him hurl again in black and amber.
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