Cody deserves to stay on with Kilkenny, but he won’t win any more All-Irelands
IKNOW I’ve been accused of being pro-Kilkenny in the past but I find the talk of Brian Cody being under pressure, of whether he is still the right man for the job, totally disrespectful. It’s nonsensical. The only different thing to 20 years ago is that he’s 20 years older. Michael Dempsey is there as his trusted lieutenant and it’s a serious set up — just look at the impact Dempsey has had on Carlow IT.
Cody has fallen out with some players over the years because he has kept to his principles but that’s the natural order of things.
There’s various people calling for his head and I would say that he’s thought strongly about it in recent seasons.
What’s driving him on is likely the desire to leave the ship on a steady course. To see if he can bring on another five or six players and keep Kilkenny competitive and ready again to make the next step.
I just don’t see the fairly-tale ending, that he’ll do that and go on and win the All-Ireland.
One of the main reasons Galway didn’t win an All-Ireland for 29 years was a failure to lock down numbers three and six. Waterford go with an extra defender because they don’t fully trust their defence. When Kilkenny started winning under Cody, Noel Hickey was a rock at full-back. Then JJ Delaney. At six you had the likes of Peter Barry and Brian Hogan.
When Tipperary came along in 2016 and won the All-Ireland again, Ronan Maher was a big piece of the jigsaw. Same with Gearóid McInerney last summer for Galway and All Star full-back Daithí Burke.
When Tipperary lost Cathal Barrett from the full-back line and Ronan Maher didn’t hit the same heights, Tipperary’s season unravelled a bit.
Every week Kilkenny are shuffling their deck, particularly at the back. Pádraig Walsh has been outstanding since he took the jersey off his brother Tommy. He will do a very good job in the number three jersey but he is only a stop-gap there — ideally, he should be out in the half-back line which suits him best. Rob Lennon, Shane Prendergast, Joey Holden, Paul Murphy — there has been a long list of players filling in on the edge of the square. Take the Clare game the last time and Lennon was replaced at six early in the second half.
Any team needs to nail down three and six to be capable of winning that All-Ireland. It’s a different sort of test marking Joe Canning at Croke Park in August or September.
Just look at the spine of the Kilkenny team that featured against Clare and the spine of the team when they last won the All-Ireland in 2015. Against Clare it was Walsh, Lennon, James Maher and Ollie Walsh at midfield, Richie Reid at 11 and Walter Walsh at 14. Almost the entire spine had been changed by the finish.
In 2015 it was Holden at three, Kieran Joyce at six, Michael Fennelly and Conor Fogarty at midfield, Richie Hogan at 11 and Colin Fennelly at 14.
My admiration for Cody then would have grown to see him stay on when it would have been easier to walk away. Not that he would admit that. He’ll say they can win this year’s All-Ireland. Managers like Sean Boylan, Mick O’Dwyer, Cody, who have that longevity in the game — it’s so rare. In most counties, even when there’s an element of success, they want the manager to go after a set period.
It’s still only mid-February but Kilkenny have to travel to Walsh Park to play Waterford with the prospect of relegation in the background between the two teams with no points after two games.
Kilkenny will be a different prospect come the summer with a full hand but it’s a big ask for Paul Murphy or Colin Fennelly to return from a six-month army tour and be back at their best. Their form hasn’t been at the same level either more recently. Murphy has been a brilliant back but his form has been affected by playing in a weaker full-back line.
The main problem is that there has been a sharp decline in the quality of player available with so many greats retiring.
Whereas we’ve seen in the past players of TJ Reid’s calibre having to serve an apprenticeship, a number of players are being drafted into the team ahead of schedule, who don’t look physically ready just yet. It’s not that Kilkenny won’t have the desire — look at the spirit shown to come back against Clare — it’s a question of whether they are good enough. Waterford have a lot more players that are blooded already.
After Waterford were narrowly beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland final, in their mindset, only one thing matters: can they win the Liam MacCarthy Cup? So how they approach this one will be important. They got that monkey off their back in beating Kilkenny for the first time since 1959 last summer. That was a big moment psychologically. Another stepping stone.
Kilkenny coming to Walsh Park should focus minds.
Time for Cork too to show a bit more consistency after playing some sublime hurling last summer. I know they have had a lot of lads on Fitzgibbon duty, but they fell away against Wexford the last day. They need to start getting over the line in tight games.
With two wins from two, Clare must be delighted with their start. They are nearly guaranteed already to stay up in Division 1A and are in that bracket of teams capable of lifting the big one.
Galway have eased themselves back into action and Offaly look set to bear the brunt of their ambition in Division 1B, part of a doubleheader in Pearse Stadium for Offaly hurling and camogie which is good to see.
It’s a huge test for Offaly who saw nearly all the good of the Dublin win evaporate in defeat against Limerick. After looking so solid the first day, they looked much smaller in the physical stakes compared to a really imposing Limerick side. That’s the physicality I was talking about earlier with Kilkenny and which Galway have in abundance, to go with everything else.