'Idiots': Hogan And Kilkenny Took Dim View Of Davy Fitz's Xmas Survival Training

Clare's 2013 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship victory under the stewardship of Davy Fitzgerland came in an era of Kilkenny dominance and Richie Hogan was a star character in the Cats' success.

Brian Cody had assembled a relentless winning machine in the country, one which dethroned Cork in 2006 and went on to win six of seven Liam MacCarthy Cups from then until 2012.

Kilkenny's philosophy was less about tactical innovation and more about doing the basics better than anyone else, out-fighting the opposition.

To say Clare's emergence from outsiders to champions in 2013 was a surpise is an understatement.

A young team boasting future superstars like Shane O'Donnell and Tony Kelly, two pillars of their 2024 All-Ireland win, emerged.

Teams like Clare and Cork were always looking for new ways to get the upper-hand on the seemingly insurmountable Cats, and Fitzgerald took a hard-nosed to the 2013 camapign before the year had even arrived.

He would put his Clare squad through the ringer in the dark and dreary conditions, taking them to an army training camp in Kilworth in Cork as well as the hills in Cratloe just a couple of days before Christmas.

To be fair to Fitzgerald, his methods work and it would be Clare who lifted the coveted prize after winning their All-Ireland final replay against Cork - who eliminated Kilkenny in the quarter-finals.

Having later learned of Clare's unique training methods via their Beyond The Banner documentary, the Kilkenny panel were far from impressed with what they deemed to be a mere 'gimmick'.

Speaking on the GAA+'s new show Ratified, Hogan reflected on how the deemed the move idiotic despite the dividends it may have paid.

They did brilliant to win it but then they brought out this documentary at the end of that year with this video of Tony Kelly running through some woods on Christmas Day at two in the morning.

"Davy Fitz was behind him with the lights. This was their thing. “We are training on Christmas Day. No one else is. We were seeing that, and thought, ‘Aren’t these lads some idiots. They think, just because you train on Christmas day, you are going to win an All-Ireland.'

"That would motivate us even more. We wouldn’t go near… We know when down time is.

"We know when we started training, we’d do it properly from start to finish. We were never into the gimmicks.

"We saw that as a gimmick. There’s no need to train on Christmas day. You get nothing out of it.”

That ruthless mindset from Hogan and his teammates would continue to reap its rewards, Kilkenny going on to reclaim the All-Ireland in 2014 before retaining it for the final time in the Brian Cody era a year later.