GOOD NEWS FOR ALL you on-edge hurling defenders; Richie Hogan isn’t coming back to take a lead role in your nightmares.
Asked if he was missing playing in his first year as a retired intercounty hurler, he made an obvious but nonetheless surprising point while taking part in a zoom interview as part of the launch of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor hurling Championships.
“It’s only May and I haven’t played in May for Kilkenny for about five years. So it’s not too different yet,” said the Danesfort man
“I’d love to be playing. Jeez, I’d love to be playing. But when I think about playing, I am looking backwards, I am not looking at what is going on now.
“I had a couple of years where I was doing absolutely everything to play. Absolutely everything I possibly could. And I ran out of juice a couple of years ago and still tried to get as much as I possibly could, out of it.”
He continued, “In that sense, I think if I had packed it in at 32, and the body was breaking down, I would have missed it a hell of a lot more. But for now, I am fairly content that I couldn’t play intercounty hurling now.
“Even at club level when I train, it’s enough for me. But the level these guys are at, it’s a million miles away from me. So that’s where I am at.
“We would all love to be out playing on the pitch, Jesus, everyone would. But I am mature enough to know what it takes and I don’t have it, that’s for sure.”
One thing that sticks out in Hogan’s career is how he spent so long towards the end battling against injury, with just five championship appearance across his seasons in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
“Towards the end of my career, I didn’t even think about leagues,” he says.
“I would have liked to have played a little bit more of the Leinster championship when I was really focussed on those four games; the Leinster final, the quarter-final, semi-final and potential final, that kind of area.
“If I had played a part in some of the leagues in 2021 and 2022 and ’23, I probably wouldn’t have lasted the whole year.”
He added, “I don’t know. You just keep turning up and doing what you have done, day-in and day-out, training as hard as you possibly could.
“It was the patience thing with me, that I wanted to play.
“I did know that when I was fully right, that I would be playing. That kept me going. And I knew that when I was fully right, I could play to a really high standard. Maybe I wasn’t able to reach the levels I was able to reach in the late 2010’s, but I was at least able to contribute.
“And that was enough for me.”
