McGrath: Lyng should let Drennan wear TJ's crown

RTÉ Sport analyst Shane McGrath believes that Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng should seriously consider handing free-taking duties to Billy Drennan for this year's All-Ireland Hurling Championship.

TJ Reid – top scorer in two of the last four championship seasons – is regarded as one of the greatest dead-ball specialists to ever play the game, but has yet to feature for the Cats this season as he took time off to overcome a few niggles after Ballyhale claimed the All-Ireland club title at the end of January.

That has opened the door for Drennan and he has kicked it off the hinges coming through it.

His return of 1-13 from 14 dead-ball situations in Sunday’s semi-final win over Cork brings his overall league tally to 2-65 with 1-52 coming from frees, 65s and a penalty.

Eoin Cody and Aidan Tallis also pointed frees during the run to the final, but it’s Drennan who provides Lyng with real food for thought.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, McGrath said that handing Drennan the duties is not an admission that Reid is no longer capable but, using Tipperary 2019 as an example, he said that it could lead to a better outcome all round.

"I might use Séamie [Callanan] as an example. In 2019, Jason [Forde] was taking a lot of frees and sometimes that maybe takes the pressure away and Séamie was Hurler of the Year then.

"Sometimes if that pressure is taken away from you a small bit, of being the free-taker, it can go one way or another.

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"Some players need to be on the ball but for me personally, I