Kilkenny v Tipperary: Huw Lawlor relishing semi-final shot at the Premier men

Irish Daily Mirror

02-07-2025

Sunday will only be the second time in his Kilkenny career that Huw Lawlor will face Tipperary in the championship.
The first? The 2019 All-Ireland final. He marked Seamus Callanan, who scored 1-2, and the Cats were left way behind on the scoreboard, the first half red card for Richie Hogan helping Tipp to a 3-25 to 0-20 triumph.
Quite the baptism. "Yeah, look, obviously it was a tough first year," said Lawlor. "You go in as a defender in your first year, you're going to be challenged in different ways. I took huge learning from that match and every championship match that year."
He's asked if Hogan's sending off just before half-time, for a high challenge on Cathal Barrett, was the turning point. Kilkenny had led by five points earlier in the half but Tipp were ahead by the break.
"Ah look, it's a long time ago now," sighed Lawlor. "It's hard to process it at the time. It was close enough to half-time, you were just trying to readjust and get ready for the second half but I don't think you have too much time to be over-thinking it, really."
The full-back has been a rock for Kilkenny, particularly since the Cody dynasty ended and the Lyng era began. He played soccer as a kid and a bit of Gaelic Football, but his first love won out in the end. "It came with time, you have to give up on them, hurling was the easy winner there," he smiled.
And the full-back line was almost always home. "I would have started as a corner-back," said Lawlor. "I was fairly small when I was younger so I was kind of always a corner-back.
"Did a bit of experimenting around the half-forward line when I was in sixth year of school I think. But no, I had a defensive mindset, really. It's the same with the club and the county, you're trying to approach it the same way. The jeopardy is still there.
"Your focus has to be on the team the whole time, I don't think you're going to get any plaudits in terms of scoring or anything as a full-back...well, some lads are, maybe not me! But it's just trying to help the team the best way, but it's the same approach no matter what level you're playing, I think."
The 29-year-old has four Leinster titles under his belt and has won two All Stars. Kilkenny have come close to lifting the MacCarthy Cup. That 2019 defeat was the first of three final appearances in the last six years, and they were losing finalists to the Limerick machine in 2023 and '23.
That it's old rivals Tipp in their way of another final appearance adds more spice as Kilkenny try to bring a 10-year wait to an end. "Obviously there were huge battles there in the late 2000s and two great teams went at it, and those Kilkenny players are heroes of ours so just trying to replicate that," Lawlor said.
"There's huge history there and there's obviously been massive local excitement there naturally. But look, it's a semi-final there. We want to go and win the game, so nothing's changed there."
Last year it was Clare who out-lasted the Cats, who had twice put themselves in a commanding position. "Obviously it was hugely disappointing to lose that game," Lawlor recalled. "We put ourselves in a good position and we didn't finish it off.
"It's not easy to watch a team go on and win the All-Ireland when they've beaten you, but we could have no complaints. We didn't finish the job and they won it out.
"Every time you lose, it's feeding into something inside you that's driving you on. Probably losing would drive you on a lot more than winning would and we're just trying to put that right."
Lawlor has been a clinical dietician in St Luke's Hospital for almost four years, having done a masters in nutrition and dietetics in UCD in 2019.
He leaves the sports nutrition end of it to Kilkenny's own dieticians, Marie Power and Eimear Nolan. "If there are any questions from the lads I just tell them they're asking the wrong person, go ask the dietitian, you know," he grinned.
"I work on the clinical side in the hospital, sports nutrition would be a separate thing really, and the two girls are experts there, so they're brilliant. There's probably been more of a focus on it now, for sure."
He smiles at the mention of Kilkenny great Tommy Walsh eating heavily buttered white bread on the day of games. "It didn't do him any harm, I wouldn't be going against Tommy Walsh, that's for sure," laughed Lawlor.
"Obviously you hear stories of what lads were doing back in the day, but it's an important thing - you might be talking about that one percent in terms of making an improvement.
"But look, nutrition is a big part of it now and you're just trying to nail it and not leave yourself short on game day. Coming up to a match especially, there's a few things you're wanting to get right just so you can trust your body that it's going to be right on the day to go for 70 plus minutes.
"It's definitely a crucial factor and something that we're reminded of all the time. Same with anything, you could say it about your training and your sleep and your nutrition, if you leave one short, you're going to suffer down the line. So it's just something you have to nail all the time."
Huw Lawlor was speaking at the launch of the 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in aid of GAA-related charities at Michael Lyng Motors (Ford) in Kilkenny.