RTÉ Sport has chosen 6 players to follow through the 2018 Championship. We will look at their careers to date, their aims for 2018 and what success looks like for them and their counties. This time the spotlight on Dublin's Ciarán Kilkenny.
We look at how the Castleknock man followed through on his early potential to become one of the most influential players in the modern game.
His former teacher tells us what he was like as a child, Alan Brogan gives his view won hat he brings to the Dublin team and Emmet Bolton explains what it's like to play against him.
The mentor - Antoin O Cléirigh, Principal Scoil Oilibheir
Scoil Oilibheir school principal Antoin O’Cléirigh first encountered Ciarán Kilkenny when he was a student teacher and the Dublin star was seven. Back then the Castleknock man was a quiet, studious kid who was sports mad.
In the classroom he was unassuming but as soon as he had a ball in his hand he would light up the pitch.
By the time he reached third class Kilkenny had blossomed into an outstanding footballer and hurler. He was dominating primary schools games even though he was a few years younger than most of his opponents.
"You could see how athletic he was right from the outset," O’Cléirigh told RTÉ Sport.
"He was powerful on the ball and had unbelievable natural strength, he was able to play too. Everything he did was controlled on the ball, he was never in hurry, he was never dispossessed or gave the ball away.
"Connchubhar Ó Brosnacháin was the vice principal at that time, he was the main football man. He put restraints on Ciarán, things like he can only kick off his left today, or his team can only get a point if he had picked out a 30-yard pass or he could only fist off his left hands.
"Connchubhar could have let him do what he wanted and he would have dominated but he wouldn’t have improved as a player. He had lots of natural gifts and talent but he worked hard on them."
Throughout his formative years Kilkenny carried a football or a hurley with him always. He loved all sports and was a fantastic tennis player too. When it came to practicing the dual player was like most kids his age but what set him apart were the challenges and targets he set for himself.
"When he was practicing he would set little goals for himself. Things like kicking 20 points off his left or hitting a tree with a sliotar, he was always testing himself," added O'Cléirigh.
"He is ferociously competitive, everything has to be a game, there has to be a winner or a loser. The two of us can’t be just out kicking a ball, it has to be a competition.
"But he wasn't ruthless when it came to other kids. When he was younger he had an intrinsic understanding that everyone was not at his level so he’d never go out and try and dominate a training session or try to hammer another young fellah.
"He wasn’t competitive in the ruthless sense it was more to test himself and I think he thrives on the competition."
Away from the on-field action Kilkenny has a deep connection with Gaelic games. In 2012 he looked set to have an AFL career with Hawthorn after signing a contract but did a dramatic u-turn a couple of months in, committing his future to Dublin GAA instead.
"He's always been really hungry for anything GAA-related and that came from his family upbringing. He was fascinated by the history of the GAA and the great teams like Galway. His favourite footballer was Michael Donnellan, Ciarán loved his style of football.
"He has a big appreciation for football and hurling. He’ll talk GAA with anybody, he loves discussing matches whether it’s one that happened in Ulster last week or ten years ago, he just have a big interest in it."
His decision to stay was a huge boost to Dublin but also to his club Castleknock too. It was founded in 1998, five years after Kilkenny was born.
The club is now thriving, especially the nursery; he was once part of it and is often on hand to see the next generation being put through their paces on the local pitch.
"The kids love him, they get such a buzz when he comes down. He’s training to be a teacher now and he has a lovely way with people.
"He would remember a young fellah or girl too and he would be good for a bit of banter with them, he might have a crossbar competition with them."
Kilkenny's talents aren't just reserved for football, he plays hurling with Castleknock too and he also lined out for Dublin at underage level, playing in the 2011 All-Ireland minor final defeat to Galway.
"He is a fabulous hurler, I think centre forward is probably his best position, he is a fantastic fielder, he has real hang-time and he is a great striker too.
"Obviously hurling isn’t something you can spend too much time away from but I’ve no doubt about it that if he put time into it he would be of inter county standard."
The team-mate - Alan Brogan, former Dublin footballer
The inter-county career of former Dublin footballer Alan Brogan was coming to an end when Kilkenny's was beginning.
In the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo, Brogan came on a substitute and played alongside the up-and-coming star, who didn't disappoint as he scored three points from play in a thrilling game that ended in a Mayo win.
That performance came not long after Kerry legend Jack O'Shea passed comments that he quickly retracted and has since had time to regret, saying that he thought Kikenny was a 'junior footballer', who was too static to reach the top. He couldn't have been more wrong.
"The first thing about him is that all through the underage ranks he was always marked as a future senior footballer in Dublin and he followed through on that," Brogan told RTÉ Sport.
"I got to know him quite well, he lives in Castleknock in the same area as myself and we are quite close. From an early age he always had a willingness to learn and he was always asking questions.
"He was obviously a very special minor footballer but he never got too big for his boots, he’s still like that he’s still willing to learn and willing to change the way he plays.
"If I was to pick two guys out of the Dublin who were willing to learn and ask questions and sometimes it’s not easy to ask questions of older guys, but it would be Ciarán and Dean Rock, right from the off you could tell they constantly wanted to learn and they were only trying to better themselves. They were a breath of fresh air."
Brogan has watched the Castleknock man develop into one of the best footballers in the country and he feels it's no surprise considering his mindset and work ethic.
"With the blanket defence you need to be more patient and that is one thing he definitely is, he’s not afraid to go back and forward and look for the holes.
"When I was playing I wanted to get it into Bernard or into whoever was in the full forward line as quickly as I could.
"Ciarán has that balance right between showing patience and moving the ball quickly into the forwards if he is he'll move it if it’s not on he’s not afraid to go back and forward with it, to slow the game down.
"Sometimes it can look like it’s boring or negative but Ciarán is confident enough in himself to make that call."
In April, Dublin won the Allianz League, Kilkenny scored two points in the final, he was very influential throughout their campaign and Brogan feels his game has evolved further in the last few months.
"This year we have seen him move into the full forward line and he is a goal threat which we haven’t seen him be over the last few years.
"The one criticism there has been of him, if there is one over the last few years, has been the lack of goal-scoring opportunities that he creates himself.
"He seems to be aware of that now and he seems to be homing in on it. We saw that in the League this year and I expect that to go into the summer."
The opponent - Emmet Bolton, former Kildare footballer
Former Kildare footballer Emmet Bolton spent many seasons preparing to take on Dublin in the Leinster championship.
His prime coincided with a period of Dublin dominance and also with the arrival of Ciarán Kilkenny into their squad.
"When he came on the scene first he played the typical wing-forward role like Paul Flynn, working back, tracking hard," Bolton told RTÉ Sport.
"Then in the last three or four years his game has developed and now he has one of the best link players in the country if not the best. I don’t feel like he got on the ball as much when he came on the scene as he does now.
"I think he has changed his game anyway and whether that happened naturally or Jim Gavin told him 'this is the role I want you to play' I’m not sure."
When Bolton and his team-mates were getting a game plan ready to try and defeat Dublin, solving the Kilkenny conundrum was always part of the plan.
The 24-year-old has several elements to his game so it's much easier said than done as Bolton well knows.
"He’s a key player for Dublin, you are going out to play them you are stopping Ciarán Kilkenny first and foremost," explained Bolton.
"You are looking to take him out of a game straight away because he is a player who would have anything between 20 and 40 possessions a game if not more.
"If you look at the main link player in a game, an 11 or 12, a lot of them kick the ball a lot but Ciarán will receive the ball in the middle of the pitch and give a deft little handpass to someone running off the shoulder.
"He is a different type of link player than you are used to seeing and on the basis of that he is extremely hard to mark. We always had the likes of Eoin Doyle or someone like to man mark him but you could find yourself marking him for five or ten minutes at a time," added Bolton.
"He is constantly moving, there is never a period in a game when he is not moving, he could be helping out in the defence or hovering around the middle to get on a handpass to make room for someone else, he’s constantly working. He’s probably one of the hardest working players in the country.
"He’s big, strong, he’s quick over ten yards. Most people wouldn’t see this but he is very aggressive in the tackle. I found that any time he tackled me he is tackling on the borderline for giving away a free so he is testing the referee every time.
"He is very intelligent in terms of game management, he slows the game down when it needs to be slowed down, he can take five or six solos in around the middle if the game needed to slowed down or if the tempo needed to be upped again you see him receiving the ball or giving a kick pass straight away or eating up 10-15 yards in front of him.
"He’s very hard to mark for kick-outs, he makes hard definite runs or runs straight down the line, he’s great in the air, can receive the ball in the chest or over the head. He’s really good at coming off the shoulder.
"I found that he could be in around the middle or back on his own 45 and he just has an extremely good burst of pace to come off the shoulder at the right times a lot of players come off the shoulder and run into two or three tackles.
"I know he has done a lot of work in basketball coaching, he seems to pick a good line and come off the shoulder on a loop or a straight line. He’s really hard to mark."
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