Noel Doherty opts out with big names linked to Kilkenny roles
James Gittens has also left his role with the Kilkenny hurlers
As has been the case in many of the last few years, there will be a degree of change in the Kilkenny senior hurling management team for the upcoming season with news that Noel Doherty is stepping away from his role as selector.
The current Thomastown manager had a very stop-start time in his role with the Cats as a six month sideline suspension around this time last year for an incident in a club game restricted his influence and he was forced to watch on the entirety of Kilkenny’s Allianz League campaign from afar.
Doherty’s first game on the sideline was the Leinster Championship opener with Galway in UPMC Nowlan Park on Easter Saturday and in such a congested period of games, just how much of an impact the Galmoy man may have made is unknown.
Derek Lyng is expected to stay on as the Kilkenny manager into a fourth season but, as well as Doherty and Gittens, there could be further changes to the backroom team over the course of the winter months.
Doherty served alongside Peter O’Donovan, Michael Rice and Declan Wall during his spell but has now opted to give his full attention to Thomastown as they look to defend their Kilkenny senior hurling title in the coming weeks. With Niall Bergin (minor) and Mark Dowling (under-20) also stepping away in recent weeks, there has been much speculation with big names like Henry Shefflin, Tommy Walsh and Eddie Brennan amongst others linked to some of these roles and all will be revealed in due course.