Kilkenny's dominance of the hurling landscape has been hard for all Wexford folk to take, Liam Dunne included. But as much as it hurts him to see the Cats sweep all before them, the Model County great cannot hide his admiration for Brian Cody's all-conquering team.

There was a time when Wexford held no fear of Kilkenny, when they relished a crack at their illustrious southeast rivals. But not anymore, it seems.

Since Wexford ambushed the Cats in the 2004 Leinster semi-final courtesy of Michael Jacob's last-gasp winning goal, the counties have been going in opposite directions with Kilkenny winning the last four All-Ireland titles and Wexford looking on from the sidelines, coming nowhere close to halting their neighbours' seemingly unstoppable march towards immortality.

For former Wexford star Liam Dunne, the sight of Kilkenny collecting one trophy after another doesn't compare to the pain he feels when he sees the lowly position the Slaneysiders now find themselves in.

"The hardest thing to take is the fact that Wexford aren't even competing at the moment. We used to be able to beat or least compete with Kilkenny, but now we're way off the pace. We're well down the pecking order and that's hard for any Wexford supporter to accept," he says.

"Back in the 1990s, Wexford could bring 30 or 40,000 supporters to Croke Park for a Leinster final. But nobody talks about hurling down here anymore and that's a sad reflection on what was once a proud hurling county. There's a big interest in the footballers now, and you can't blame people for getting behind them because they've been competing for honours in the last few years.

"We're living in hope and as long as that's the case, it won't happen. It's as simple as that."

Kilkenny's dominance of the hurling landscape has made the Oulart-the-Ballagh stalwart all the more appreciative of the Leinster and All-Ireland medals he won during his own playing career. And he claims the hurling lesson All-Ireland hopefuls Galway received from the Cats in this year's Leinster final has only served to highlight the plight the other Leinster counties have faced over the past decade or more.

"A lot of counties are only now finding out what Wexford and Offaly have been going through over the last 10 years. The media were knocking the Leinster championship, saying it wasn't competitive, but now that Kilkenny are dominating the All-Ireland as well, they are starting to change their tune.

"Galway and Antrim have definitely added to the Leinster championship, but Kilkenny are still winning Leinster without breaking sweat and that is a tribute to their greatness rather than the other teams not being up to much."

He continued: "When I see how good this Kilkenny team is, I treasure the Leinster medals I won in 1996 and '97. They are hard to come by no matter what people say about the Leinster championship."

Dunne has been awestruck by Kilkenny's achievements under Brian Cody and pinpoints their underage structures as the key to their continued success.

"Kilkenny have been awesome these past four or five years - they have taken the game to a different level," he says.
"People have compared them to Kerry in football, but whereas Kerry haven't won an All-Ireland minor title since 1994, Kilkenny have been turning out outstanding minor teams every year. They have a conveyor belt of talent coming and keep bringing through one or two new players into the senior team every year.

"Kilkenny have such a strong senior panel that they don't need to bring minors through straight away. No matter how good you are, you have to bide your time in Kilkenny. They won't bring you through until you are the finished product. Look at Michael Fennelly. It has taken him a few years to establish himself at senior level, but he now looks the complete package.

"John Mulhall would walk on to any other team in the country, but because he's from Kilkenny, he has to bide his time like everyone else. There is no such thing as an unknown quantity in Kilkenny - you see these guys at minor level and then they are held back from the senior team for three or four years until they are the finished article."

The Cemex sales representative believes the gap between Kilkenny and the rest is similar to that which existed between the southern and northern hemisphere teams before rugby turned professional in the mid-1990s.
"To be going for five-in-a-row is unbelievable," he remarks.

"I know from experience how hard it was and the amount of effort that was involved in going for just one. They remind of the southern hemisphere teams before rugby turned professional. They used to hammer the northern hemisphere teams. It's up to everyone else to come up to the mark - just like the English rugby team did when they beat Australia in the 2003 World Cup final.

"Kilkenny are the sort of team that if they win the five-in-a-row, they will be preparing for the six-in-a-row the evening of the All-Ireland final. They are an elite group of players who are driving each other on. (Brian) Cody has a system whereby he will only pick players who will commit 110 per cent to the cause."

The Cats' injury problems have been well documented in the lead-up to the All-Ireland final, with a cruciate knee ligament injury placing a doubt over Henry Shefflin . As the game gets closer Dunne believes that Tipperary are capable of stopping Kilkenny's march.

"Tipp are definitely better equipped to take on Kilkenny than Waterford and they will take hope from Henry's possible absence. Henry has a lot of qualities, but the big thing he brings to Kilkenny is leadership. You saw it in last year's All-Ireland final when he stepped up to bury that late penalty when the game was in the melting pot.

"Kilkenny will miss that, even if there are other leaders in that team who are capable of stepping up to the plate."

Liam Dunne is recognised as one of Wexford's greatest ever hurlers, being an inspirational half back on the team that bridged a 28-year gap by winning the McCarthy Cup in 1996. Surprisingly, he was not even on the panel on the last Wexford minor team to win a Leinster championship in 1985. He made the minor team the following year and played county under 21 for four years.

Dunne was handed his Leinster senior championship debut in 1988, but wasn't involved the following year. However, his return to the team in 1990 culminated in him winning the first of three All-Star awards (he was also honoured in 1993 and '96).

Dunne had to wait until 1996 to win his first Leinster medal and followed it up with his first and only All-Ireland title at Limerick's expense. He collected his second provincial medal in '97 when Wexford defeated Kilkenny, but their hopes of back-to-back All-Ireland wins were dashed by Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Kilkenny's resurgence meant that Dunne didn't win any further silverware with Wexford and he retired in 2003 following the Yellowbellies' All-Ireland semi-final replay defeat by Cork.

Later that year, he won his second inter-provincial medal with Leinster at the age of 35 in Rome. Liam was selected on the best Leinster hurling team of the past 25 years which was part of the 2009 125 GAA Anniversary celebrations.

At club level, Liam played in 11 Wexford SHC finals, winning six of them. He was part of the first Oulart-the-Ballagh team to win a county senior championship in 1994 and added further medals in 1995, '97, 2004, '05 and '07.
He managed Oulart to their seventh Wexford SHC success last year and they subsequently took eventual All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks to extra-time in the Leinster club championship. Now in his second year in charge of Oulart, he previously managed the Wexford minors along with his former county colleague Tom Dempsey.

Liam is married to Eithne and they have three children - Billy, Aoife and Jack. He released his hit autobiography 'I Crossed the Line' in 2004 and has worked in the media for both The Sunday Times and Today FM. Tweet

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