SHANE Kingston has been a familiar figure in the Cork hurling squad since making his debut back in 2016.
With two Munster championships already to his name, the Rebels sharpshooter is hungry for more, as excitement builds ahead of Cork’s 2024 provincial opener away to Waterford on April 21st.
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ the Douglas man told this week’s Star Sport Podcast.
‘It wasn't long coming around, to be honest. We had a good last couple of league games, some good stuff in those games, and a couple of things we can work on too. So it's about implementing those things in training over the next two weeks and getting things up to speed, coming up to the championship.’
Cork’s 2023 championship campaign came to a grinding halt in May, but only a puck of a ball would have been the difference in them progressing to a Munster final and knocking out the reigning All-Ireland champions Limerick. Kingston knows that his side aren’t far away but the message from Pat Ryan hasn’t changed: to focus on themselves.
‘Just on the Munster championship last year, any of the last three games we played, one point would have put us through. So you could say we're not too far off, but it's just that bit of luck. The message hasn't changed. We're just looking after ourselves and focussing on each session and trying to get the most out of ourselves and then focussing on the next game and taking things one step at a time,’ Kingston explained.
The Rebels’ first outing will see them face Waterford in Walsh Park, on Sunday week. Arguably the Déise are the weakest side in the competition due to their league form and notable absentees. Still, they must be wary of the challenge. So have Cork anything planned for David Fitz’s men?
‘Well, as I said, you're just focusing on yourself and you're doing whatever analysis you can do on them. But look, the majority of our focus in our training is to implement our own game plan rather than concentrating on the opposition,’ explained Kingston.
Kingston, however, won’t be involved in the opening tie.
‘I'll probably be out of action for the first one or two games anyway. I just gave the hamstrung a nick there during the week. It's going to be a different circumstance for me where I'll be looking on rather than involved,’ he added.
