Former Kilkenny star Tommy Walsh joined Thursday's OTB AM to give his views on the current state of the main contenders for the All-Ireland title but also discussed the modern-day full-back.
Shane Stapleton put forward the suggestion that full-back is the most important position on the field - a stance with which Walsh agrees: "I agree totally with Shane. I think it's the most difficult position on the field and I always maintained that, even when I was hurling myself.
"While it's the most difficult - it can also be the most inspirational. You go back and look at all the teams that have won All-Ireland finals - they become the crowd favourite quite easily because they're usually these big, iconic-type figures.
"Go back to the great Offaly team, you had Kevin Keenan - the crowd loved him. You had Brian Lohan. Once Brian Lohan hit the ball, the whole crowd were on their feet. You had 'The Rock' from Cork. Kilkenny had Noel Hickey - the team loved him.
"They're inspirational-type figures so while it is the most difficult position on the field - it's probably the most important because if you can get that right, it lays the foundation for your whole team for your whole year.
"I remember in Kilkenny club hurling when my father was hurling back in the '90s - Dicksboro, they won the county final this year, but they had a good young team back then. They had this full-back, Merch Marnell was his name - even the name is inspirational. I'd say he was close to 35/50 at the time - he was a stopper.
"He was in there and nothing got passed him. Your dandy corner-forwards, I mean PJ Delaney was a great forward at the time for Johnstown, JJ Delaney's club, but he wouldn't get passed him because the Merch stopped everyone.
"So I agree with Shane - it's the most difficult position on the field."
The full discussion is available here:
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