Relaxed Cody is ready for battle

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
(Kilkenny v Galway, Croke Park, Sunday, 3pm)
There’s something different about Brian Cody this year, a more estimable scribe than myself suggested after last Tuesday’s All-Ireland Final press evening at Langton’s. I found myself in total agreement.
The most decorated manager in the history of the game appears a little more relaxed this time around, while clearly having lost none of his legendary focus.
But there’s definitely something about Cody this time around that, perhaps, hasn’t been so prominent a feature in Championships past on his behalf.
Following the Cats’ semi-final win over Waterford in Croke Park, a visiting TV reporter from Stuttgart asked how Cody would explain hurling to “someone who doesn’t know anything about hurling”, to which the man himself replied: “I’d say you’ve plenty of company here!”
The domestic press pack laughed, Cody laughed and he assured us it was “nothing personal”. It certainly didn’t feel that way either, and while one doesn’t expect Cody will take to a Cat Laughs stage any time soon, it was nonetheless a telling, mellow moment from a man who keeps his cards magnetised to his chest.
Planning for the 14th All-Ireland Final of his illustrious reign, perhaps conscious that he’s surely nearer the end of his time as Kilkenny manager than he is from his debut season in charge in 1999, Cody has never cut as relaxed a figure with the media.
And with no more skilled a communicator in the Gaelic Games sphere than he, it’s not as if Cody is about to reveal his grand plan to counter Galway in front of any recording device.
While no-one would doubt that he’s always enjoyed the cut and thrust of preparing a team at this time of year, Cody certainly appears to be revelling in the build-up even more than usual. Familiarity has clearly not bred contempt when it comes to the first Sunday in September.
As for next Sunday’s opponents, to see Galway hurling as they did against Tipperary in an epic semi-final didn’t overly surprise the watching Kilkenny boss.
“I feel there’s always four or five teams that can win it every year – Galway would be one, Tipperary would be one, and I’d always feel we’d be in the running ourselves as well.”
Cody added: “I thought it was a great game. Obviously it could have gone either way because with 30 seconds to go, no-one knew who was going to win it; it looked like it was going to be a draw.
“And the greatest thing Galway showed was their composure and their refusal to be rattled. I said after the Leinster Final that we were rattled by a goal before half-time and a goal after half-time – they were rattled by three goals from the same player and that kind of makes it more difficult to deal with, really…but they dealt with it brilliantly in the sense that they came back each time and responded with a couple of scores…there’s a lot to admire there. So am I surprised that they’re in the Final? No, because they’re a very good team.”
Much of the analysis following the Cats’ win over Waterford focused on the heroics of Richie Hogan, who struck five points from play while the soles of both feet peeled like damp wallpaper, having just returned from a back injury.
“Richie has recovered amazingly well from the back injury – because it was serious – and again, he’s taking it easy at the moment but we’d be hopeful Richie would be fine too.”
Was Cody surprised at the level of excellence Hogan achieved despite his recent impediments? “Well, it was an outstanding thing for him to be able to do. That he did it doesn’t surprise me because he has an ability to be able to do that, and his focus is serious, on top of his fitness levels and abilities – fitness levels are huge and the work he puts in is top class. So no, it didn’t surprise me but not many players could have done it at the same time…he’s an outstanding player and there’s no doubt about that.”
Hogan’s comments on “hating” the current Championship structure during a compelling interview on Newstalk’s ‘Off The Ball’ were put to Cody, who, while not as vociferous as his player, admitted the system is far from perfect.
“I suppose really what he was saying is that he loves playing Championship hurling – he just wants to be playing more of it,” he replied.
“Does he think the way it’s structured at the moment is the best? I think he doesn’t think that. I think lots of people would share that view…but I would have said a few years ago that (the structure) should be looked at, and not just the Championship but the whole hurling season, including the club season very, very much. There’s a definite need to look at all of that but right now, I’m not thinking of anything like that, obviously. I’m thinking about the match that’s coming up shortly.”
Sunday is an occasion Brian Cody has prepared for more than any other senior inter-county manager, but by his own admission, he’d like to think he’s a different man now from the man who led Kilkenny to an All-Ireland Final 16 years ago.
“If I thought that I knew what to do from day one and just kept going from there, I wouldn’t be here for certain. We’re constantly learning, we’re learning still and there’s so much more that we need to know. We learn from each other, we learn from the matches and we learn from all the various aspects of the game and we’re constantly trying to improve.”
He continued: “The fundamentals of the game, to me, remain the fundamentals of the game. Different people and different management teams produce different tactics and everything else – and that’s the way it should be and that’s the interesting thing about it – so whatever challenge is put in front of you, you’ve got to try and adapt to it.
“But am I just the same fella who has done this job for the past number of years? I’m the same fella but I’d like to think that I’m improving as I go along and we certainly need to improve all the time.
“The challenge is there every single day you go out. And how you did the last day? It’s no good to you. There’s a different challenge to be faced every single day and it’s about doing your utmost to cope with that challenge.”
Regarding his players’ appetite for success, Brian Cody stated: “If you have to manufacture hunger, you’re not going to have hunger. There’s a challenge out there to be faced and you’ve got to ask yourself if you’re good enough to take on that challenge and come out the other side of it and that’s what you’re trying to find out…and if there’s a weakness in any aspect of our preparation or in any aspect of our team, we’ll be found out.”
In 17 remarkable seasons under his watch, Kilkenny have been found out less than any other team out there, with 10 All-Ireland crowns on the Nowlan Park sideboard.
Brian Cody’s sides have consistently manifested his will and appetite for success, and this latest vintage appears to be hewn from the same marble as previous incarnations.
“If a team doesn’t show a real spirit on the day, I think the manager has to look at himself.”
With that in mind, one suspects that there are few mirrors in the Cody household. But one also suspects that he won’t have too much introspection to do come full-time on Sunday.