3 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Rulers of the square in their pomp, Cody and Lohan know full-back is a crucial role to lock down
‘CODY AND LOHAN WERE SEEN AS THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS’
IF THERE’S a problem position in the modern game of hurling, it’s at No3. As the game has evolved, the old-style warrior on the edge of the square has been slowly filtered out. In this era of two-man inside lines, where the opposition’s full-forward is likely to have a roaming brief – and certainly one that doesn’t involve staying rooted to the edge of the square – any player wearing the No3 shirt needs to be all things to all men.
They need to have the mobility and sense of anticipation to track the movement and supreme first touch of the likes of Cork’s Patrick Horgan. They need to have the height to match up against Tipperary’s 6ft3 in captain Seamus Callanan, and the sharpness of mind to react quicker to the play than someone who set a record by scoring a goal in eight consecutive Championship games in the one year for his county last summer.
They need to be strong enough in the air to match the fielding ability of a target man such as Wexford’s Conor McDonald or be able to cope if a fluid attacking unit like Galway rotate a Joe Canning or 6ft5in Johnny Glynn-type figure into the mix.
Being arguably the toughest position to fill in hurling in the modern game, and given the likelihood that the opposition will look for a mismatch, it’s no surprise that what was once an out-and-out specialist position now comes with a long list of demands.
At Nowlan Park this afternoon, the meeting of Kilkenny and Clare brings together two managers who made their reputation as being two of the best in the business. Who know so much about what it takes to wear the No3 jersey.
And both understand how vital it is to lockdown the position.
It’s only in recent years that a clip from the RTÉ sport archives resurfaced. ‘Skills of Hurling’ was broadcast on February 13, 1976, and featured a fresh-faced Brian Cody. Just 22 years old but still entrusted to give a mini-tutorial on the finer elements of catching a sliotar.
‘When catching the ball it is important to catch it with your fingers and not in the palm of your hand,’ he advised, already an All-Star at that tender age, having been named on the 1975 selection at left-corner back.
By 1982 he was on All-Star at full-back.
And then there is Clare manager Brian Lohan. Just a flavour of his CV – he won four All-Stars (1995, ’96, ’97and 2002), was on the hurler of the year (’95) and made the Munster hurling team of the millennium.
Lohan made that red helmet an iconic part of the Clare success story of the 1990s under Ger Loughnane
It’s one of the distinguishing features of Lohan’s first Allianz League campaign in charge of Clare – the identity of the No3.
David McInerney, 2013 All-Ireland winner, was the go-to figure for so long but Lohan has decided to let him spread his wings, his new partnership with Tony Kelly at midfield a definite success story so far this campaign.
Having that natural defensive cover has allowed Kelly to shine, the former Hurler of the Year hitting 12 points against Carlow and again against Wexford in a man-ofthe-match display. Even in the storm of last weekend, he managed almost half of Clare’s final 17-point tally, his eight points including three from play, with McInerney riding shotgun.
Shane Golden actually wore No3 for that game but Conor Cleary wore it for the opening two games and was flanked by Jack Browne and Eoin Quirke.
With the way the game has changed, versatility is everything. It’s often about getting the right defensive match-ups on any given day more than one player holding fort on the edge of the square.
Look at All-Ireland champions Tipperary last year. Ronan Maher was picked at No3 when it came to the final cut in the PwC All-Stars team. And that’s where he did so much good work in the latter stages of the All-Ireland campaign in particular.
But for the final against Kilkenny, it was Barry Heffernan who wore No3. He was the latest to step up to a position manned by James Barry and Seamus Kennedy with Brendan Maher’s man-marking brief even seeing him moonlight there in the Munster final.
That’s how fluid it was for the team that lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
The story of Cody and the Kilkenny No3 position on his watch also makes for interesting reading.
When JJ Delaney retired at the end of the victorious 2014 season, he bookended a 15-year spell where Cody only started five different players in the No3 shirt in the Championship. They were Canice Brennan (1999), Sean Meally (2000), Noel Hickey (2000-12), John Tennyson (2005), and JJ Delaney (2006-2014).
Meally’s 15 minutes of fame said a lot about Cody’s ruthless streak.
He lined out in the 2000 Leinster semi-final against Dublin, and never played a minute of Championship again. Yet it was Cody who gave him his biggest break, first calling him up and trusting him with the role for that game. In the corner alongside him was another Championship rookie, 19-year-old Noel Hickey; Philly Larkin was in the other. The Kilkenny defence was rarely troubled on a day when they coasted to a 3-16 to 0-10 victory.
The return from injury though of Willie O’Connor saw Cody reshuffle things for the Leinster final. It was Meally’s misfortune to lose out, Hickey trusted for the first time with a jersey he would come to own as he set off on a career that would yield nine All-Ireland medals.
It’s since Delaney’s retirement that No3 has been a trickier position to fill.
Joey Holden was a rock at fullback during Ballyhale Shamrocks’ recent All-Ireland club run and earned an All-Star in the position in 2015. But he has often played his best hurling for Kilkenny at corner-back or at wing-back.
Pádraig Walsh is a natural halfback – the current All-Star No6 – whose brilliant counter-attacking ability always meant that he looked a bit trapped in the No3 shirt.
Huw Lawlor’s emergence last summer in the position saw the O’Loughlin Gaels player nominated for an All-Star in defence and freed Walsh up, too.
If there is one moment that would have grated with Lawlor in the last round against Wexford, it was McDonald plucking Jack O’Connor’s sideline from the air on the edge of the square during the first half, winning the aerial battle and then finishing to the net with a brilliantly improvised back flick.
It’s that high-wire act that makes it such a pivotal position.
Lohan and Cody will no doubt appreciate that more than most.