As we end the year and prepare for 2025 its worth remembering for the first time in history, there was no Leinster representation on the 2024 PwC Hurling All-Star team, and while Kilkenny had four nominees—Huw Lawlor, David Blanchfield, Cian Kenny, and John Donnelly—none made the final cut.
Speaking to KCLR Sport at the launch of the new Kilkenny GAA Yearbook, David Blanchfield reflected on both the honor of being nominated and his personal disappointment with aspects of his performance last season.
“It was nice to be nominated, but at the same time, you’d be disappointed in parts of your game—especially in the semi-final, maybe the second half,” said the Bennettsbridge man, referencing Kilkenny’s narrow loss to Clare in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final, where the Cats fell short by two points on a scoreline of 0-24 to 2-16.
Blanchfield was quick to shift the focus from individual accolades to the ultimate team goal: “The nomination was great, but you’d like to see more Kilkenny players up there, and maybe a few of us win it would be great as well. But it’s not about the individual awards; it’s about getting over that line and getting the Liam MacCarthy back to Kilkenny. That’s what we’re all aiming for—not an individual award, but a team effort.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Blanchfield emphasized the importance of learning from last year’s heartbreak to fuel future success.
“We obviously didn’t get to where we wanted to be, in another final. We’re always still knocking at the door and we’re always still there or thereabouts. Now, hopefully in 2025, we’ll give it another rattle and make sure our name is still being spoken about at the end of the year.”
“The top four is not bad, but obviously the top two is where you want to be—and you want to be that top one at the end. We’ll be looking at the likes of Clare, Cork, and Limerick, and we need to go a step further. Carry that hurt from last year in the Clare game, carry that into this year, and hope that we don’t have that feeling again at the end of 2025.”
For the full interview, tune in to the latest episode of the KCLR Hurling Podcast.
