Shane Kingston: Extra-time gave me extra opportunity to express myself

Irish Examiner

a day ago

It's bordering on trite to ask what it means to Shane Kingston to be a super-sub.
But seeing as he revived the role in the Munster final, it's difficult to avoid. Like the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final win over Kilkenny, when he scored seven points, extra-time against Limerick in TUS Gaelic Grounds afforded him the chance to open his shoulders and deliver.
'Obviously, you want to win any game in the 70 minutes but I was probably nearly lucky that the game went to extra-time. It gave me that extra opportunity to express myself, I suppose.
'The same for the likes of Lehane, Tommy (O'Connell), Robbie (O'Flynn), when you're coming on for seven, eight, 10 minutes, it's hard to get that opportunity. But when we had the extra 20, 25 minutes, fellas got that chance to show themselves."
Only for a groin injury early in the league, the Douglas man could have been a starter in the provincial championship but he's kept a sunny exterior at least.
"It's probably the way I am as a person. I suppose there's no point getting too down over it because it's the reality. You are where you are so you might as well get on with it, really.
'I look at it in a way that it's just part of being an inter-county player or being an elite athlete. Injuries do happen. Everyone gets injured. It's just trying to maybe time the injuries a bit better.'
eir has reached a major milestone in its network transformation, securing Ireland's No.1 5G Network Availability award for the fifth year in a row. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Kingston adds: "I suppose one thing I'd always try to be conscious of is not making it about me. The team is a lot bigger than any one individual, so I'd always try to stay focused and have a good attitude and being right for the team, whether I'm playing or not. I suppose it's just waiting for your opportunity and when you get that chance you try and take it."
Kingston speaks of the singlemindedness required to be ready for such an eventuality.
'It's just about being that bit selfish and prioritising yourself. Obviously, you have your work and your training, but outside of that, what are you doing? We're training three or four nights a week but there are 168 hours in a week. It's what you're doing for those other 150 hours that you need to take into account.
'Getting your sleep right, your hydration right, your activation, your prehab, all those kinds of things feed into your training then. It's just about getting yourself right to maximise your performance when you're on the pitch."
Kingston replaced Harnedy 14 minutes into the second half of last year's All-Ireland quarter-final win over Dublin, a day when a number of the Cork panel were suffering from a stomach bug.
The game and result, he believes, won't have much impact this weekend although it gave Cork an insight into Dublin's capabilities.
'Last year in Thurles, we were nearly under pressure coming down the home stretch. We know they have that calibre of player and they're able to put in those performances, the same as any other team. They got a great result against Limerick."
A statistic worth mentioning is Dublin were the only side not to cough up a goal to Cork in their eight championship outings in 2024.
'I actually didn't know that, to be honest. I suppose it's just coincidental that against some teams you might get lucky and get a couple of goals, whereas against other teams you mightn't.
'It's something we'd address in training constantly anyway, that goal creation, no different to the last couple of weeks. But once you win the game and get the result, whether it's goals or points that get you over the line, it doesn't really matter."
* eir hurling ambassador Shane Kingston was on hand as eir announced a major milestone in its network transformation – Ireland's No1 5G Network Availability award for the fifth year in a row.