TJ Reid may not feature at all in the Allianz Hurling League as Derek Lyng looks to protect his prized asset.
Reid, 35, has just come off the back of another lengthy season for club and county as Kilkenny went all the way to last year’s All-Ireland final, losing to Limerick, though he went one better with Ballyhale Shamrocks, winning his sixth club title last month.
New boss Lyng says that he will not be calling on Reid “for the next two or three games” and so Kilkenny may have to reach the knockout stages of the competition if their talisman is to feature before the Championship gets underway in April.
Lyng did say that “one or two” of the Ballyhale contingent may be involved against Tipperary on Sunday, however.
“I'd like to have him certainly right come the summer,” said Lyng of Reid. “He's had a long campaign with Kilkenny and Ballyhale but that has been continuous for the last number of years so it's important that we do manage it.
“He's a few niggles, nothing major. We will be looking at bringing him back at some point. He's working away with our S&C team at the minute. And he's eager himself, he's very ambitious and determined to come back in as good shape as possible.
“How he has transformed himself from the player he was when I was finishing up (as a player) has been extraordinary. He has brought his game to another level. And to be honest he's always looking to improve and that's the way, he has the right attitude, like.
“He is ambitious and you can see that through Ballyhale and the last couple of years with Kilkenny as well. So I'm looking forward to having a fit TJ Reid at some point.”
Former Kilkenny star John Power commented last year that Reid could play at inter-county level until he’s 40 and Lyng added: “Well we'd like to try to make it possible, we'll do all that we can. Patrick Horgan is something similar in Cork.
“These guys have shown no signs of slowing down yet so once it's managed well I can see no reason why… with the advances in S&C as well, we're a lot more educated on the training that these fellas should be doing, so we'll see how it goes, hopefully.”
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