'There's a buzz around the county' - Joe McDonagh success and Kildare's hurling rise
THE MUNSTER AND Leinster senior finals took centre stage last weekend, but another hurling story also captured the imagination.
Kildare won the Joe McDonagh Cup for the first time in their history after stunning Laois in Croke Park.
Having landed the Christie Ring Cup 12 months ago, the early aim for Brian Dowling's side would have been retaining their second-tier status. That certainly seemed the case after losing their opener to Kerry, yielding a ninth defeat in nine games in the competition.
But the Lilywhites went on a remarkable run, which culminated in Croke Park glory last weekend.
Former Naas hurling chairman and Laois native Austin Bergin may have watched his home county fall short, but he saw a host of players from his adopted club climb the steps of the Hogan Stand.
Rian Boran lifted the silverware as captain, one of nine Naas players to feature on the day.
'Personally, I would have been happy for the Naas lads,' Bergin tells The 42. 'Not that I wouldn't have been happy for Kildare, but I'd know all the Naas lads.
'I've seen them growing up, I've been with them at different team levels, be it at minor, U14, U16, I've been involved with them. There's great personal pleasure to see young fellas turning into men and becoming fantastic hurlers. To win something at that level and not expect it, it's fantastic. It gives opportunities in life that you'd never expect.'
The Leinster senior hurling championship awaits for the first time since 2004 next year, as well as Division 1B of the league, but a home All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final is the immediate focus.
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The Naas story is a huge part of Kildare's hurling rise. Bergin was chairman of the club from 2017 to 2022: after a period of underage success, their senior hurling breakthrough arrived in 2019 with a first county title in 17 years. They have reigned supreme every year since, and enjoyed national glory in '22 as All-Ireland intermediate champions.
Bergin grew up hurling for Clough-Ballacolla in Laois, but life eventually brought him to Naas. An urban centre off the M7 motorway, its population is 26,180, as per the April 2022 census. The GAA club has almost 3,000 members and fields up to 100 teams in hurling, football, camogie and ladies football.
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The Naas senior hurling team pictured in 2022. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
But that hasn't always been the case. 'What the hell is going on in Naas?' was a question at one county board meeting years back as they struggled for numbers.
Hurling would be viewed as the fourth sport in in the town behind Gaelic football, rugby and soccer, with the football/hurling split broadly 70/30 to this day. Similar to Kildare in its entirety.
'Blow ins' from hurling strongholds getting involved helped through Naas' hurling resurgence, while the nursery and juvenile section of the club came into sharp focus. Competing in Kilkenny and Dublin was huge too amidst a myriad of other factors.
'There's no magic solution to what Naas got to,' says Bergin. 'It was just work for 30 years, and it continues to be work.
'It's all pieces of a jigsaw; good people, the commitment of parents, the training, the coaching.
'I often use the example, Kilkenny set the bar so high, people had to come to the level of Kilkenny to compete. Naas have set a bar in Kildare. There's fantastic work being done in other clubs, shoots of life coming in, certain underage teams that are going to springboard up the line in due course, because they know the work needs to go in.'
Bergin identifies the 'different type of hurling' in Kilkenny as instrumental in player development.
Kildare starters Rian Boran, James Burke and Richy Hogan were all on the first Naas team that played on Noreside 10 years ago, with Sunday's player of the match Cian Boran, Daire Guerin and Liam O'Reilly among those following suit.
James Burke (centre) in action for Kildare last weekend. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Reeling off names reminds Bergin of another interesting point.
'For the last couple of years, players have played for Kildare senior hurling before they played for Naas senior hurling,' he says, listing Burke, Boran and Guerin as some examples.
'The Naas senior team is so strong, they're blooding them in the second team and they don't get a chance because they're not needed. It's a very unusual dynamic, but that's part of the work that it has built into in Naas.'
And fed into Kildare.
Brilliant rises on both accounts, intertwined along the way.
These are heady days for the small hurling fraternity in the county, with the excitement palpable. Young fellas are out pucking around on greens in Naas, something rarely seen. The profile is rising, promotion increasing. Every little helps.
After Croke Park last weekend, another huge occasion awaits in Newbridge on Saturday.
Dublin are the opposition in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final, as part of a blockbuster double-header at the redeveloped Cedral St Conleth's Park.
'There certainly is a buzz,' says Bergin. 'I know the football is on after it [Tailteann Cup quarter-final versus Offaly] but I think the hurling on it's own would bring a huge crowd.
KIldare celebrate with the Joe McDonagh Cup. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
'The anticipation of playing Kilkenny, Galway, Wexford, Dublin and Offaly next year. The likes of TJ Reid coming to a hurling championship match in Newbridge, that's kind of fairytale stuff.
'Look, they've earned the right to be there. It's the structure, I know it's being looked at, but trying to keep the teams up at that level, that's the key. Letting them up for one year doesn't work. You need to change the structure, hopefully they come up with solutions.
'Kildare go up, but it could be a yo-yo effect by coming down. The key was to compete at Joe McDonagh. Now they've competed and kind of surpassed that drive — going up to hurl at the next level, it's to sustain it, the buzz around the county.'
That's the challenge, but the immediate one is Dublin after a six-day turnaround.
'Not only did Kildare perform last Sunday, they hurled,' Bergin concludes. 'They showed that they can hurl and hurl at a level.
'You'd hope on Saturday evening, that they can bring intensity to it. It's certainly not the perfect preparation, but hopefully they can perform to some level.'
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