A nine-point loss to Clare in the league semi-final may be the catalyst for Kilkenny to retain their All-Ireland crown, according to Henry Shefflin.
Brian Cody’s men suffered a rare defeat to the Banner County, who went on the claim the Allianz League title, going down 4-22 to 2-19 at Semple Stadium last month.
But Kilkenny great Shefflin dismisses any talk that this could be the end of an era for the back-to-back Liam MacCarthy winners.
The Ballyhale clubman actually believes that, in the long run, the loss will bring on the team.
“In a peculiar kind of a way I don’t think it’s the worst thing that could happen to Kilkenny,” Shefflin told RTÉ Sport.
“Kilkenny have been very successful the last two years, they are going for three in-a-row.
“You kind of get on to a track where you just think everything is going to happen and we know in sport, it doesn’t work out like that.
“So in Brian Cody’s [way of thinking] it’s good it happened so early in the year and it will be able to focus their minds.
“There’s nothing like playing a team and getting experience of the Clare system.
“And if they meet later on in the year I’m sure Brian and his management team would have learned a lot from that day in Thurles.”
While the margin of defeat surprised many, the 10-time All-Ireland champion wasn’t shocked by Davy’s Fitzgerald’s side, who beat Waterford in a replay last Sunday to claim their first league title since 1978.
“Clare have had a bad couple of years so I expected a big performance from them but their touch, their sharpness was a lot better than Kilkenny’s and that’s what led to the result,” he said.
“There was a little bit of concern with four big players missing – Conor Fogarty, Paul Murphy, Michael Fennelly and Eoin Larkin weren’t there.
“I knew there was concern because success underage with Kilkenny hasn’t been prevalent the last few years and the panel, obviously there has been a lot of retirements, has been tested.
“So when they have injuries it’s going to test it even more.”
Kilkenny begin their campaign against either Dublin or Wexford in the semi-finals of the Leinster Championship on 11 June.
