National Hurling League: During these laboratory afternoons of the early National Leagues, it's experiments like the one tomorrow afternoon in Portlaoise that keep us all interested.

DJ Carey, the modern game's most enduring presence, leaves behind the iconography of the darting, dodging, dashing forward and lines out in defence, at centre back.

It's not clear how intent Kilkenny are on staying with the idea, but with regular number six Peter Barry club tied with James Stephen's until after next week's All-Ireland final, the county's management haven't been afraid to conceptualise.

Tommy Walsh, by turns a wing forward, centrefielder, corner back and wing back, got a run there in the county's first NHL match against Waterford. In recent challenges against James Stephen's and Tipperary, Carey has been asked to line out in a completely unfamiliar role.

"Even at under-age and club level I've never played in defence," Carey says."You've more freedom. Hurling wise it's a different game. Management are taking it seriously but not necessarily in the sense that they had this big plan to make Carey a centre back. I'll play anywhere outfield and I've told them that. I also said that I didn't want to play in goal."

Which is an irony of sorts because that's where his senior intercounty career started, but

only because he was so small, rather than he had any vocational leanings to mind nets.

The latest move attracts added interest because Carey's game has been very much in transition in recent years. Gone is the blinding pace that created so many opportunities to showcase his finishing prowess and with the emergence of Henry Shefflin the dependence on Carey for scores has also evaporated.

Manager Brian Cody extols his most experienced player's capacity for hard work, grafting and making clearances a hard job for opposition defenders, but everyone knows that's not what the world associates with DJ. But the player's application to these less glamorous tasks has been exemplary and he was arguably Kilkenny's second best forward last year.

Perhaps with Carey (34), the notion of a second career is fanciful. He concedes as much. "Obviously anything is possible, but I don't see it as a new start. My legs are going a bit and centre back is the most important player on the field.

"There's a big gap between there and centre forward and with midfielders often taking up position on the wings, that's a lot of ground to cover. You need to be very fit and very fast.

"Under Brian in the last couple of years he likes to bring me out to the middle of the field. Nowadays, players are used to switching around. Without saying anything against corner backs and wing backs in the 1970s, 1960s and 1950s, I think modern players in all positions have to be as skilful and every bit as fast as each other.

"Players have to be adaptable. In Kilkenny we've 30 players for 15 positions so whatever role you're given you take.

"I've hardly played there so I don't really know what attributes I bring to it," says Carey, "I have noticed that even in a couple of games I've been able to strike a lot. It's very different to being a forward when you're being pulled and dragged around the place. As a centre back you're doing the pulling and dragging - if it's to be done."

For the moment it's one match at a time and he's happy with the opportunity to return to intercounty hurling after injury. He sees more of the ball at centre back and so his game has come back that bit more quickly than he had expected. Even if the role is different.

"Now I have to watch rather than be watched," as he says himself.