Cody hopeful of a summer return for Hogan
There is no stress, just our will to win
RICHIE HOGAN returned to light training with Kilkenny earlier this week and Brian Cody remains hopeful the former Hurler of the Year will play some part in the revamped Leinster Hurling Championship. Hogan has been struggling with a long-standing back problem for the past two years and Cody praised his determination and resilience to play through the pain in the cause of the Cats. ‘Richie has had this for a couple of years and played through it,’ the Kilkenny boss explained. ‘He is that kind of player who doesn’t give into injuries and is a really determined fella who is prepared to put up with a lot of pain, but he has probably went too far doing that. ‘He’s working away as much as he has been able to. Physically, he is in good shape but he still hasn’t shaken off the injury. There are signs that maybe he can hopefully get to a stage where he can get back playing. It is early stages but we are hopeful.’ Cody insists that despite all Hogan’s problems with his back issues, retirement was never mentioned. ‘It was something we didn’t talk about. He certainly didn’t countenance that, anyway. He’s absolutely driven and an ambitious guy,’ said Cody, who confirmed that Paul Murphy and Colin Fennelly have both returned to training following their six-month tour with the UN peacekeeping forces.
THE conversation turns to tactics and a small smile appears on Brian Cody’s face. The myth that the greatest hurling manager ever doesn’t bother with such trifling matters was shattered over the spring as Kilkenny utilised a more short-passing style on their march to yet another National League title; their ninth on Cody’s watch.
But Cody insists that there has been no masterplan implemented by himself and Mick Dempsey, his trusted assistant, to dominate hurling once more as the game evolves a certain way. Indeed, he’s wondering what all the fuss is about.
‘It’s like we weren’t able to play hurling before, that we were playing a game that was different altogether,’ Cody (below) observed when asked about the reaction to his team’s change in style.
‘We’ve had very good players over the years and our players have never been sent out to stick rigidly to one way of playing the game. You prepare and talk about it, look at opposition and everything else. And when you send the players out, you trust them to play the game taking place in front of them.’
Cody insists that it’s nothing new. Eoin Murphy might be tapping his puck-out to his full-back line, but that is simply Kilkenny adjusting to how hurling has evolved. And that is exactly what the Cats have done for 20 seasons under Cody.
‘The game has become more tactical and there are more teams presenting different challenges compared to a few years ago. But again, there’s no masterplan coming through from team management.
‘You go out one day and play a team who are using what is considered an orthodox gameplan and the next day you are against a team employing different tactics. ‘The players understand that and I have always had great trust in the understanding my players have of the game and how it should be played, and their ability to think on their feet and adapt as the game goes on.’ No matter how many teams use a sweeper or how many bring their half-forwards back behind their midfield to suffocate their opponents — a tactic perfected by Cody’s earlier sides — hurling will remain the same.
‘The essentials of the game can’t change because it’s a game of absolute skill, speed, physicality, power and pace. All those things are there and the skill can never be taken out of it. It is challenging because different management teams bring different tactics. Does that mean the game is better or worse?
‘It’s still hurling, There’s no prescribed rule that you have to play the game in a particular way. It is 15 players taking on 15 players and how the different people employ those players is up to themselves. It’s up to whatever team you’re playing to take on that challenge.’
Even in a 20-minute conversation with journalists in McKee Barracks yesterday, where the revamped Leinster hurling championship was launched, it was clear that Cody remains deeply passionate about the game. And has opinions on its evolution.
‘I think people might think I am a bit stale as a coach for some reason because of the way the game is going,’ he said with a smile. ‘Look, I don’t think too much about those things. The only reason I’m doing this is because I enjoy doing it and like the challenge of doing it. I’m working with a terrific management team and players who are completely committed. It is something very enjoyable from that point of view.’
The buzz and passion for his game is as powerful now as when he first took the Kilkenny helm, and he knows what will be the cue to think of his future.
‘When that question mark comes into my head, when that day comes, I will tell myself that “it is time to get out of here”. It hasn’t arrived. People make a lot of it sometimes and wonder why you’re doing this and talk about the stresses and strains and all the other things that are supposed to be involved in it and I don’t see it like that at all. I don’t feel the stress of this thing.
‘The challenge is great, you’re exercising and you’re preparing but it’s not stress, it’s enjoyment and if it ever ceases to be enjoyment then you’re better off getting out of it.’
Given that the fourth team that Cody has constructed has claimed a national title well ahead of schedule, is it any wonder that he is still savouring every moment of being Kilkenny manager. No matter the styles or fads, Brian Cody remains the one constant.