Ger Loughnane is adamant that the current Kilkenny team won't be remembered as one of the greatest the game has seen.

The former Clare All-Ireland winning manager defended his description of the three-in-a-row chasing Cats as "functional beyond belief" when speaking on RTÉ2's League Sunday programme last night.

"I think functional is a great compliment to pay to any team," Loughnane said.

"You know what you get from Kilkenny. You get relentless work-rate right from the start. You get this attitude that, 'no one will outmuscle us, no one will out work us'.

"They'll set themselves up, they'll deny the other team space and then everyone will work in a totally honest way. Then they have a few players, the likes of TJ Reid and Richie Hogan, who can get the scores.

"In no way, personnel wise, charisma wise, would you compare them the Kilkenny team of 2006 or 2012. I've seen two-in-a-row done eight times.  

"I've seen the three-in-a-row done only twice, and it was done by two absolutely iconic teams. One was the Cork team from '76 to '78... the other one was [Kilkenny 2006 to '08], probably the greatest team ever seen. In a historical context I would love to see a team join those who are of equal status to them talent wise."

Speaking on the same programme, Henry Shefflin said no-one could dispute the present Kilkenny team's greatness if they completed the three-in-a-row in September.

"I don't think we're being fair to those players," he commented.

"It's easy for us to sit down and talk about the last three-in-a-row team because we've time and reflection. 

"The lads last year, there was four competitions they played in, they won every one of them. If they win the All-Ireland this year they deserve to be up there with those teams."

Tweet

Most Read Stories