These are busy times for Richie Hogan in his Kilkenny jersey – with a Leinster under-21 title already this year and progression to the senior inter-county ranks, where he will be involved in the Cats’ panel to take on Cork in the All-Ireland senior semi-final this weekend at Croke Park.
The Dansfort clubman and St Patrick's College, Drumcondra student has been delighted with Kilkenny's progress to date at under-21 level and at senior level.
He is delighted to see Kilkenny making good progress at underage level once more, after Dublin gained honours at both minor and under-21 level in recent seasons.
"We are delighted and I suppose relieved at the same time. Dublin were dominating Leinster for a few years. Offaly knocked us out of the under-21 championship last year, and Wexford are always strong as well - especially in Leinster," Hogan said.
Having lost to Offaly in the under-21 championship last year, Hogan is delighted that the Cats gained revenge at Tullamore in the Bord Gáis Leinster under-21 final a few weeks ago.
"That was a factor. We didn't want to lose twice in a row to any team, let it be Offaly or Dublin. We didn't want to lose twice in a row to any Leinster team. We were going to do anything to win it."
He added, "We knew Offaly were going to come at us with a storm in the first half, and we knew that if we kept holding them back we were fit and strong enough to pull away and tag on a few points when the going got tough."
The presence of a couple of under-21 players on the Kilkenny senior side this year has certainly helped boost the Cats senior charges. At under-21 level there is a great unity among the players and a winning mentality, and these qualities are undoubtedly a good springboard for senior honours in the coming years.
"Under-21 is definitely a stepping stone for senior level. More people make senior level from under-21 than they do from minor. It's a great chance especially for the people who didn't make it at minor level to impress at under-21. They have three years to impress before having to start concentrating on senior level."
Hogan is happy that there is a good solid team unit from defence through to attack on the under-21 side, which he hopes will help deliver further success, following Leinster glory against Offaly.
"Unlike other years we are not a team of stars. There are none of us starting with the seniors at present and we are all training together. It helps that we are a well balanced team. We don't have the stars of the past that we once had."
All-Ireland champions Galway stand in Kilkenny's way of a place in the All-Ireland under-21 final in a few week’s time. With the senior experience gained by a number of the Tribesmen’s side including goalkeeper James Skehill and the prolific Joe Canning, coupled with an All-Ireland title last year – Hogan knows that nothing will be easy.
"No doubt that senior experience is going to help them," he said.
"You can't beat that, it's invaluable experience and it's going to be really, really tough. Hopefully it will be a good game."
