JOEY HOLDEN’S CLUB manager Colm Bonnar believes that Kilkenny’s captain and full-back will only get stronger in the position.
Tipperary’s two-time All-Ireland senior medallist Bonnar is a huge admirer of Holden – and rates his Ballyhale Shamrocks clubmate TJ Reid as the best hurler in the country.
Bonnar has managed Reid at Fitzgibbon Cup level with Waterford IT and he’s currently joint-manager of Ballyhale alongside Andy Moloney.
Reid has enhanced his status as one of the top players in the game over the last two seasons but Holden, in relative terms, is still finding his feet as an intercounty player.
Mark Aylward, TJ Reid and Joey Holden celebrate Leinster club glory last December. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Holden was asked to fill the championship shoes vacated by JJ Delaney following his retirement last year and so far, he’s answered every question thrown at him.
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Bonnar reflected: “To be fair to Joey, he played last year in the All-Ireland final at wing-back and reminds me a bit of JJ in terms of starting off as a very good corner back and wing back.
“JJ stepped into that full-back role and it’s the same with Joey now.
“He maybe would have liked another year or two in the half-back line because he’s a natural ball winner and does like to attack and that does confine him a bit at full-back.
“But when we put him full-back and Michael Fennelly centre back, it gave us the structure to win a club All-Ireland.
“His performances for Kilkenny have been very good all through and that was never in any doubt because he’s such a competitor, very good in the air and only going to get stronger in that position.”
Joey Holden has settled into the Kilkenny full-back position. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Bonnar will have more than a passing interest in Kilkenny’s All-Ireland final against Galway as four Ballyhale players – Holden, Reid and the Fennelly brothers Colin and Michael – will line out for the Noresiders.
In 2007, Bonnar was coach of the Waterford IT side featuring Reid that saw off a Limerick IT outfit with current Galway stars Joe Canning, Cyril Donnellan and Niall Healy in their starting line-up.
And Bonnar insisted: “TJ, to me, was head and shoulders above them all.
“I couldn’t understand how he couldn’t get on the Kilkenny team at the time.
“In any other county in the country, he would have been a household name but it just goes to show the quality of that Kilkenny team that they were able to keep out the likes of TJ.
“He did manage to get in and gain a foothold but he’s 27 now and if he had been on it even earlier, we would have seen his brilliance.
Colm Bonnar rates TJ Reid as the best hurler in the country. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“For the last two years, he’s shown that he’s the best hurler in the country, without a doubt the best I’ve seen.
“I’ve seen Richie Hogan up close in the Kilkenny championship as well and he has unbelievable toughness and ability to win ball and strike under pressure. These fellas are very rare – they have the whole package.”
'He’s the best hurler in the country, without a doubt the best I’ve seen'
JOEY HOLDEN’S CLUB manager Colm Bonnar believes that Kilkenny’s captain and full-back will only get stronger in the position.
Tipperary’s two-time All-Ireland senior medallist Bonnar is a huge admirer of Holden – and rates his Ballyhale Shamrocks clubmate TJ Reid as the best hurler in the country.
Bonnar has managed Reid at Fitzgibbon Cup level with Waterford IT and he’s currently joint-manager of Ballyhale alongside Andy Moloney.
Reid has enhanced his status as one of the top players in the game over the last two seasons but Holden, in relative terms, is still finding his feet as an intercounty player.
Holden was asked to fill the championship shoes vacated by JJ Delaney following his retirement last year and so far, he’s answered every question thrown at him.
Bonnar reflected: “To be fair to Joey, he played last year in the All-Ireland final at wing-back and reminds me a bit of JJ in terms of starting off as a very good corner back and wing back.
“JJ stepped into that full-back role and it’s the same with Joey now.
“But when we put him full-back and Michael Fennelly centre back, it gave us the structure to win a club All-Ireland.
“His performances for Kilkenny have been very good all through and that was never in any doubt because he’s such a competitor, very good in the air and only going to get stronger in that position.”
Bonnar will have more than a passing interest in Kilkenny’s All-Ireland final against Galway as four Ballyhale players – Holden, Reid and the Fennelly brothers Colin and Michael – will line out for the Noresiders.
In 2007, Bonnar was coach of the Waterford IT side featuring Reid that saw off a Limerick IT outfit with current Galway stars Joe Canning, Cyril Donnellan and Niall Healy in their starting line-up.
And Bonnar insisted: “TJ, to me, was head and shoulders above them all.
“In any other county in the country, he would have been a household name but it just goes to show the quality of that Kilkenny team that they were able to keep out the likes of TJ.
“He did manage to get in and gain a foothold but he’s 27 now and if he had been on it even earlier, we would have seen his brilliance.
“For the last two years, he’s shown that he’s the best hurler in the country, without a doubt the best I’ve seen.
“I’ve seen Richie Hogan up close in the Kilkenny championship as well and he has unbelievable toughness and ability to win ball and strike under pressure. These fellas are very rare – they have the whole package.”
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All-Ireland SHC Colm Bonnar GAA Galway High praise Hurling Joey Holden Kilkenny KilkvGal TJ Reid