LIKE MINDS COLLIDE
Sheff lin embodied Cody’s will on the pitch and they will now square off as equals on the sideline, says ex-Cat Hogan
SITTING back in the Avignon sunshine, Brian Hogan is happy to talk hurling – not the usual topic of conversation for the locals in this part of southern France. As international commercial manager at Walsh Whiskey, Hogan is on the move a lot, as his job takes in western Europe and Canada. The travel element means he’s had to park his coaching and committee commitments after giving such outstanding playing service to O’Loughlin Gaels.
That is especially the case after taking on the first year of an MBA in DCU. But this afternoon’s Leinster Championship meeting between Galway and Kilkenny at Salthill isn’t far from his thoughts as he takes a time out from his work itinerary.
‘The sun is shining here – I’m sitting in a square. Could be worse of a Wednesday afternoon!’ he says laughing, talking about something he never thought he’d see – the stars aligning so that Henry Shefflin will be on the sideline in a Supermac’s top with Brian Cody standing nearby.
‘There’s no such thing as succession plans but I’m sure, at some level, Henry has an eye on maybe taking Kilkenny down the line. You’ve Brian there, who is the benchmark,’ says Hogan. ‘Henry will have great insight into the Kilkenny lads. And he’ll bring that to the Galway set-up in terms of how Kilkenny will line out, individual players.
But, ultimately, he’s still going to be reliant on the Galway lads going out on the day and executing the plan. Against Wexford, they did it for a period, then it fell off.
Didn’t close the match out. I think he’ll be focusing more on that. Using that long diagonal ball into the corners, isolating one-onones,’ Hogan adds.
‘He knows what Kilkenny are going to bring. It’s that intensity. You have to match that first and foremost.’
During the fourin-a-row and more, Shefflin acted as Cody’s on-field general and came to almost embody his manager’s will.
So how much did he have the manager’s ear, given how Cody has tended to operate at a remove during his time in charge?
Hogan gives an insight into the subtle changes that would have occurred, even when it came to those with a bucketful of medals.
‘Brian would have had a leadership group of senior players. That group would have evolved.
‘Towards the end of my time, I could see how some of us were being gently manoeuvred – the likes of Cillian Buckley and Pádraig Walsh were stepping in. That’s the skill.
‘There’s the perception of Brian just being the one talking in the dressing room – you don’t stay there for 20-plus years if it’s just the one voice.
‘Henry was a great leader for sure, setting standards and by example.
But, same as the rest of us, when the career finishes, when you’re gone you’re gone.
‘I don’t think the lads will be meeting up for coffee and chats about the hurling! Certainly not now. Or even before the Galway job.
‘Once it’s done, it’s next in line. Kilkenny goes on.’
Since Tipperary were taken apart by Clare last weekend, there has been talk of the former’s style of hurling, with the likes of respected Tipperary coach Willie Maher talking of ‘the Tipperary way’. So is there a ‘Kilkenny way’?
Especially in light of the level of scrutiny over style and tactics with the way Limerick have taken over?
‘I think it’s a bit more nuanced than saying “we want to play through the lines”,’ says Hogan. ‘Certain teams have forgotten that.
‘It’s fine having speed and playing through the lines but you need to be able to adapt. Limerick are as good as they are because they have more than one string to their bow.
‘They can physically stand up for themselves, stand up to any aggression thrown at them. That doesn’t faze them. They can play through the lines – or go long.
‘They have the full variety of puckouts – the short option, the medium option, the long option. Some teams don’t have that, don’t have a get-out ball long. Cork being the obvious one.
‘Certain teams have gone down the route of trying to be over-prescriptive in what they’re trying to do and players have become paralysed in what they’re doing – that paralysis by over-analysis.’
Cork, in particular, have had to don a full flak jacket to protect from the shots fired in their direction since the emphatic defeat by Limerick in round one. Hogan isn’t alone in wondering how some of the basics of defending eluded them.
‘Your defensive instinct should always be “Where’s the danger? Where’s the space?”. It’s been analysed about Kyle Hayes’ goal, about how there was such a gap left up the middle, but you can go back as far as 2013 and the All-Ireland final between Clare and Cork.
‘Great match but, my God, it was one of the most open finals – you could drive a truck up the middle!
‘If you think back to when The Rock [Diarmuid O’Sullivan], John Gardiner, Brian Murphy or Wayne Sherlock were there, guys who were defenders, if you were going through with a ball you’d know all about it.
‘I just don’t feel there’s that element in Cork at the moment.
‘Everyone can have a blip. But it’s not one game. It’s been a consistent theme with Cork where they’ve conceded an easy goal or that defensive mindset, that defensive instinct, seems to be missing.
‘Look at Limerick. I’ve no doubt if Kyle Hayes was playing for Cork there would be two or three of the Limerick lads having to be dug out of him.’
So how does he feel about the comparisons being drawn between the current Limerick team and Kilkenny’s great side who came within a match of sealing the five-in-a-row in 2010? If Limerick win this year’s title, it will also amount to four All-Irelands in five years.
‘It makes great bar-stool talk. It’s the same in any sport – how does this Man City team compare to Alex Ferguson’s United teams?
‘Look, they’re a phenomenal team, in their own right. Whether they are superior or on a par with ourselves...?
When we were playing, there were comparisons made to the teams in the past.
‘It’s like, “there’ll never be another DJ”. And then along comes Henry. Then it’s “there’ll never be another Henry”. And along comes TJ. It was “there’ll never be another side like Kilkenny”. And here’s Limerick.
‘At the moment, I love watching them. They play a great brand of hurling. Their physicality, their athleticism, the way they use the ball.
‘Whether it’s Will O’Donoghue tracking or it’s Declan Hannon sitting in the pocket or deciding to push up, they seem to have that autonomy.
‘That’s certainly the way we would have operated. They’re a serious side. It’s going to be a fair team to knock them off their perch. Waterford look best equipped of anyone.’
When he looks at Galway then, is a single All-Ireland in 2017 a fair return for all those times they pushed Kilkenny, all the talent of the Joe Canning Years?
‘It is. Because that’s sport – you get what you deserve. It’s cruel but it’s the reality of it. They had the opportunities – for different reasons, it didn’t happen. You look at
Galway as a full entity – the strength of club hurling, the underage success – you would be thinking surely they should be more competitive.
‘For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to put it all together, apart from that one year. You think of a hurler like Joe Canning – I’ve marked him, played against him. An incredible hurler.
‘He could have gone through his whole career without picking up a Celtic Cross. Now that doesn’t define him either.
‘If he hadn’t won it, it wouldn’t have made him any less of a player. There’s many a great hurler has never won one. I’d pick Ken McGrath as a prime example. One of the best, in my eyes.
‘But Galway should be competing more consistently than they are.’
Dumped out of Leinster by Dublin last year and then out of the All-Ireland series by Waterford prompted Shane O’Neill’s departure, and Shefflin’s bold move to take up the reins.
But how about Hogan’s own county?
The first half of the League affair against Tipperary was dire fare, with both counties adapting new systems of play and new players, but Kilkenny were transformed since hammering Dublin soon after. So are Kilkenny back?
‘What’s back? Is ‘back’ winning All-Irelands or is ‘back’ being competitive? That Tipp match was dreadful. You see where Tipp are at at the moment. Have Kilkenny improved on last year? I think they have. I like the look of their defensive unit. We’re starting to get a settled look about them.
‘You’ve an athletic half-back line. Now the last Laois game was abysmally one-sided so it’s hard to judge much by it.
‘But there’s a nice look to them. Is there enough there yet to go toe-totoe with Limerick in terms of the squad?
‘They’re certainly going in the right direction but I think they’re still a bit off it.
‘But it’s Kilkenny, it’s Brian… who knows?’
Henry was a great leader, setting standards and showing by example