It says a lot that so little is said about the Kilkenny full-back position these days.
Following in the footsteps of Noel Hickey and JJ Delaney, Huw Lawlor has made the edge of the black and amber square his domain, doing so in the most Kilkenny way possible – with maximum authority and minimum fuss.
The number three jersey is one of thosetalked about with reverence in GAA folklore, but while that practice of romanticising positions has abated somewhat due to the evolution of hurling and football, in Kilkenny there remains a steadfast pride in sending out a team with a lordly and commanding full back.
Brian Cody captained Kilkenny to the 1982 All-Ireland title from full back and during his time as manager he viewed the position as the foundation block upon which to construct the rest of the team.
Hickey was Cody’s monolith – effectively holding down the number three berth from 2000-2011 (he was sidelined with a viral infection of the heart midway through the 2005 championship). Canice Brennan was full back in Cody’s inaugural season of 1999, but Hickey took hold of the jersey the following year and would keep it for over a decade. Delaney then switched seamlessly from wing back to manning the edge of the square from 2012 to 2014, when he retired.
Between 2015-2018, first Joey Holden and then Pádraig Walsh had stints at full back. The 2016 All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary marked the end of Holden’s spell at three, while there was always a feeling that the pay-off in moving Walsh from his more natural half-back line habitat to full back left the Cats shortchanged.
It was a period of flux, so the emergence of Lawlor in 2019 came at just the right time for Cody and Kilkenny. During Cody’s 24 seasons at the helm, only five players started All-Ireland finals at full back – Brennan, Hickey, Delaney, Holden and Lawlor.
Michael Kavanagh, an eight-time All-Ireland winner, is one of hurling’s greatest corner backs and during his career the four-time All Star featured in Kilkenny’s last line of defence alongside both Hickey and Delaney.
“I was fortunate to play alongside two of the best in Noel and JJ,” says Kavanagh, who also accumulated 13 Leinster senior titles.
“Kilkenny have been blessed with some incredible full backs over the years and it seems to have been a position we’ve been able to fill generally with long-term replacements.
“There have been some great players, you are going back as far as Pa Dillon, Pat Dwyer, Noel, JJ, and it is such a pivotal position because it gives solidity to the defence. Huw is nearly a kind of a mix between Pat Dwyer and Noel Hickey
“He has stepped in and really made it his own in the last few years. He’s very forceful, very strong, athletic. He’s great at attacking the ball, he has all the attributes of a fantastic modern-day full back.”
Such is the lore around the position on Noreside, a book was written by Dermot Kavanagh chronicling the 14 players (it was published in 2012) who played full back in Kilkenny’s 34 All-Ireland final victories until that point. It was titled Kilkenny No 3: 1 Jersey, 14 Men, 34 All-Ireland Titles.
Lawlor wasn’t always a number three, though. He played further out the field when Kilkenny contested an All-Ireland Under-21 final in 2017. He even popped over a point while wearing the number nine jersey in their semi-final win over Derry in that campaign.
He was invited to join the county senior panel in 2018 and caught the eye during the Wild Geese Trophy match against Galway in Australia that November.
The O’Loughlin Gaels clubman, who recently turned 27, made his competitive debut the following season, though for the first round of that 2019 Leinster SHC he started at centre back against Dublin, with his club colleague Paddy Deegan named at three.
However, as Kilkenny started to take on water that day against the Dubs, Cody moved Lawlor back and he has pretty much remained there ever since. He started at full back in the All-Ireland final that August and was nominated for an All Star. In 2022, Lawlor was named as the All-Star full back.
“He is able to hold the square but also well able to man the full-back line, whether it’s a two-man or one-man full-back line. He has pace and power and he’s also a very good spoiler,” says Kavanagh.
“He has really applied himself, he’s certainly one of the best full backs in the game at the minute, if not the best.
“When he gets the ball, he always seems to do the right thing, he gets out the field and sets up attacks but he knows his position too, he is aware when to lay that ball off and get back to cover.”
Derek Lyng hopes Lawlor can be the glue that holds the Kilkenny defence together on Sunday against Clare, who are managed by one of the greatest full backs of all time in Brian Lohan.
Lawlor stands at 6ft 2in and is a powerful, dynamic player, strong in the air and confident going up to contest possession in one-v-one situations.
He also exudes an air of calmness standing in front of the ever-serene Eoin Murphy in goal, providing Kilkenny with two extremely solid central defensive pillars.
“He is one of the leaders in the team now,” continues Kavanagh. “He has settled down that number three position for Kilkenny again.
“Huw is continuing that fine tradition of Kilkenny full backs.,He is thriving in it, and hopefully that continues for many years to come.”
