Kilkenny's Noel Hickey Announces Retirement

Shefflin Pays Tribute To "Brilliant Leader"

Kilkenny's Noel Hickey has announced his retirement from inter-county hurling. The Dunnamaggin man joined the Kilkenny panel in 2000, and played at full-back on the team that defeated Offaly in the All-Ireland final that year.

He went on to win a remarkable total of nine All-Ireland senior medals in his career, one of only three men in the history of the GAA to do so. The other two are long-time teammate Henry Shefflin and former Kilkenny goalkeeper Noel Skehan.

"I know now is the time for me to go," he said.

"I leave with no regrets. I got much more out of the game than I could ever have imagined. I have played with and against some of the best, and now is a good time for me to go."

The 32-year-old, who works as a farmer, started in all but two of those finals at full-back, and was an unused substitute in the 2009 victory. He came on as a substitute in his side's replay win over Galway last September.

Hickey's retirement means Shefflin is the only man left from Brian Cody's first All-Ireland winning Kilkenny panel.

Shefflin paid a glowing tribute to his long-time Kilkenny team-mate Noel Hickey, lauding the Dunnamaggin legend's leadership qualities while admitting that he will be sorely missed from the Cats' dressing room.

Shefflin, who along with former Kilkenny goalkeeper Noel Skehan is one of only three men in the history of the GAA to win nine All-Ireland medals, played together with the 32-year-old farmer throughout most of his career.

Both came to prominence on the Kilkenny U21 team that won the All-Ireland title in 1999, and they would go on to play crucial roles in Brian Cody's senior team that has dominated the game ever since.

Speaking to local radio station KCLR on Monday morning, Shefflin said Hickey, who had a reputation for being shy, was in fact an influential force behind the scenes.

"I know people might think that Noel was quiet, but off the field he wasn't the quietest," Shefflin said.

"Everyone totally respected him in Kilkenny hurling and he will be sadly missed by us all inside (the dressing room).

"He had a lot of stuff to say in the dressing room. I think when he spoke everyone listened. He was highly respected.

"Even up to this year (2012), when he wasn't starting that final (the All-Ireland final replay against Galway), that didn't matter to Noel. It was all about the team. He was one of the lads speaking and informing us of what to do.

"He will be sadly missed in the dressing room because he was brilliant and a leader from the word go."

Asked to select a performance that epitomized his former team-mate, Shefflin recalled the 1999 All-Ireland U21 final against Galway, when Hickey led the Cats to victory with a typically brilliant performance at full-back.

"Noel was just 18 or 19 but he was marking Eugene Cloonan, who was the star man at that stage," Shefflin continued. "Noel led us to victory that day and that was a critical All-Ireland because we had lost two senior All-Irelands the previous two years with Kilkenny.

"That match was a big one for us and six or seven of us came off that team to land the senior All-Ireland the following year. From the word go, and he was a leader, and he was a leader right up to the end."

Speaking on the same program, Hickey, who has just returned from a team holiday in Jamaica and New York, explained the timing of his decision.

"It was in the back of my head for a while, but I said I'd wait until I came back from the holiday just to see if I had any real desire to give it another go for the year," he said.

"To be honest I didn't feel the same burning desire to go back in for another year so I just made my mind up that I would call it a day because you have to be 100 per cent committed if you are going back. That was one of the reasons.

"My own club too had a bad year last year, and I felt if I could help them out, give a 100 per cent commitment given numbers are so tight. I felt if I went back to Kilkenny for another year I would be letting down my club a bit."

When pressed on the stand-out moments of his Kilkenny career, Hickey said captaining the U21 team to the All-Ireland in 1999 was a highlight, while the All-Ireland victories of 2006 and 2011 were also special, he said.