It's all about confidence and belief for Kildare insist McKenna and Guerin

Talking to manager Brian Dowling and members of the panel, experienced and those relatively new to the panel, certainly to this level of hurling a few things come to mind.

Confidence.
Belief.
Fitness.
Skill.

These are the what comes up in conversation over and over again.

When Brian Dowling arrived in Kildare two seasons ago his no. 1 mantra to the players was all about belief and all about confidence.

And he maintains that to this day adding in the skill factor and the vital ingrediant of fitness or as it is described these days — strength and conditioning.

Paddy McKenna is one of the most experienced players in the squad, a player whose skills have been rewarded on a national level who retains his ambition, his enthusiasm and his hunger since he took charge of the no. 1 shirt.

“Brian (Dowling) says Paddy “last year gave the Christy Ring Cup the respect it deserved but his goal, nis no. 1 ambition was to get into the Joe McDonagh Cup this year and this we achieved and after four wins we have made it to the decider, it is a place that Brian always said we belonged and he has given us the belief and we can now look forward.”

Looking back on previous seasons in the McDonagh Cup, Paddy said they were not successful, but came ever so close on a few occasions.

“We played Carlow in Newbridge, lost by four; played Westmeath and lost by a point, lost to Meath in the play-off, a day we fell apart.

“This year lads have grown into it and I feel it is the belief that is in the team this time that is the difference. A lot of young lads, they have no fear, that is it really; which is great, there is a great balance of youth and experience; lads have been here before; a lot of the young lads have grown up winning, winning against the likes of Carlow and Laois at underage, they have become accustomed to winning games and have brought that confidence into the senior set-up.”

These lads have challenged themselves, they beat Wexford at U20 here in Newbridge, the likes of Darragh Melville, Cathal McCabe, Paul Dolan and a few more too, but these are the lads have played the likes of those teams and have experienced wins and that is what is now coming through to this present team; it is not myself or Gerry (Keegan) or Sean (Christensen) that came through five or six years before that at underage level and weren't getting near those teams; playing against the likes of Wicklow and Meath; the experience that those lads have gotten is what is driving the rest of us on now.”

Paddy says that when Brian Dowling came in he said he believed “we had the capabilities of competing and getting into the top two in the Joe McDonagh and so far he has been right, but it is really the belief and making everything so competitive; there are lads fighting for the first fifteen places; fighting to make the match day squad, great competition in every sector and this is huge in this bunch.”

On that defeat by Kerry the Clane man said “we beat them in the league and possibly we felt it was just going to happen for us, but I believe now that if we won that day, we may not be where we are today; it was a wake-up call and we got it early, thankfully it came in the first round and not half-way through, but it certainly taught us that every day you have to turn up, it has been the achilles heel of Kildare hurling down the years, that is if Kildare hurlers don't turn up we don't get wins; hard work underpins everything we do and without that we just don't win games.”

McKenna heaps praise on Mick Gillick who came in this year as the S&C coach, the work that he has put in is phenomenal; everyone wears the GPS, every session, match but the work he gave us long before we met up in Hawkfield at the start of the season, that has all come to fruition now; we know we have the fitness; we know we have the hurling done through Richie Ruth, Richie Hoban and Conor O'Shea.

“Laois” insists Paddy McKenna “will come fully armed, they have some great players, a very good coaching set-up, we will give them the full respect they deserve but we will have our home work done and we can look forward to on the day and we will give it absolutely everything and hopefully we can come through it.”

Huge step-up
Meanwhile at the other end of the experience spectrum is Naas player Daire Guerin who is only his second year at this level of hurling.

The midfielder is one of those lads who has come through the underage system but admits that the step-up to senior level was immense.

“A huge step-up, a massive step up; Christy Ring hurling is a huge step-up and you are trying to find your feet while at the same time trying to impress, but yes a huge step-up from the 20s but the team here are brilliant, the management and the players are all brilliant.”

And you feel comfortable now at this stage in this your second year with the squad?

“I feel comfortable in myself yes definitely but it is all down to the lads around me; it is easy to settle into the squad when everyone is so helpful; lads help one another, it is the same for everyone and everyone gets a chance, you get a chance and when you do you just have to ensure you take it.”

Belief and fitness?

Like any of the Kildare players you talk to the word 'belief' comes into the conversation and it does so again with Daire Guerin.

“Belief is one of Brian's big things; every week he says he knows how good we are and it is just about us believing in ourselves.”

Looking forward to the final Daire says “we are where we want to be, the big stage, the big occasion, Croke Park, couldn't be better.”

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