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IN HIS OWN WORDS - Brian Cody on Tipperary, the injuries, commentators and walking the line
THE tough, hard lessons learned by Tipperary during last year's and the current championships have left them better prepared than ever to challenge for the Liam McCarthy Cup.
On Tipperary
Kilkenny boss Brian Cody is not a bit surprised that the Cats are facing the team they beat in the 2009 hurling final in Sunday's All-Ireland decider in Croke Park.
The defeat by Kilkenny last year and the setback against Cork in the opening round of the Munster championship in May have helped Tipperary grow and mature as a squad, the Noreside chief insisted.
"Tipperary are better than last year," was the straight and to the point summary from Mr Cody. "Would I have expected Tipperary to make the All-Ireland final again? Yes. I would have been surprised if they weren't in it."
The reasoning was simple, really. There was an experience thing involved. Five of their players are currently playing at under-21 level.
"That shows the talent that is coming through in the county," Mr Cody pointed out. "Some of those players were there last year. They are more experienced now."
Money couldn't buy the sort of experience Tipperary gained during the past 12 months, he insisted.
"The defeat by Cork wasn't a bad thing in the long run," he continued. "Something like that strengthens a team and gives it a greater resolve. It gives the players a real understanding that the potential is there for something like that to happen.
Adds steel
"They have learned that. Something like that adds steel to a team. I knew that day leaving Pairc Ui Chaoimh that Tipperary weren't finished in the championship."
He was impressed by Tipperary's confident run through the championship, and especially so in the wins over Galway and Waterford in the quarter and semi-finals.
"There is no doubt they have had a good run into the final," he reckoned. "They picked things up after the Cork match. They had Wexford and then Offaly. The win over Galway was huge. They were staring defeat with time running out, but they held their nerve. Experience came through.
"In the semi-final they were very good. Waterford were good. They were Munster champions. They were ready for the challenge. Tipperary were really, really good."
So, would the defeat by Kilkenny in last year's final give them an edge?
"Some seem to think that losing last year will make a difference," opened the James Stephens man on that matter. "They will probably use that for motivation. People speculate what you use for motivation. Some people will use that. That is par for the course. That is okay.
"But at the end of the day two teams are going out on the pitch to play this year's All-Ireland final. What they did even the day before the final won't come into it, not to mention something that happened 12 months ago?
"At the same time it is sport and people do remember losing and what it is like. That can be a motivating factor.
A life of its own
"It is impossible to predict how the final will go, where it will go, who will take it over or what will happen. The game will take on a life of its own. All I know is that it has the makings of a savage, savage struggle."
He said what was particularly striking about Tipperary 2010 more than anything else in recent times was the depth in strength in their panel. They are able to bring on subs at various stages of games that would walk on to any county team; excellent players with experience.
"People often speculate about the strength in depth we have," he observed. "I would have a huge confidence in our panel, and I wouldn't swop it for anything. But Tipperary's is as strong."
On the injuries
HEARTBREAKING though they may be for players and unsettling for fans, injuries cannot be allowed to impair the vision or divert the attention of teams preparing for an All-Ireland final.
Kilkenny have had more than their share of injuries to contend with during the run up to Sunday's showdown against Tipperary, but the Cats have had to park their troubles and get on with life.
"Injuries could become a distraction, but we are used to them," insisted Kilkenny manager, Brian Cody when asked about how people were coping with the long list of casualties in recent times . . . . . to John Tennyson, Brian Hogan, Henry Shefflin, Michael Rice, Hogan a second and third time, Richie Power and so on.
"There is nothing new about this," he continued. "In 2006 J.J. Delaney was struck down if you like a few days before the All-Ireland final. He is a top class player. We didn't allow it dilute the focus or anything like that. We lost Noel Hickey and Henry Shefflin in an All-Ireland final the same day. We lost the two lads the last day, Brian (Hogan) and Henry (Shefflin).
"Go through the whole panel and the players have all been involved in situations where injuries have happened. It is part and parcel of sport. You are blessed if you avoid injuries. But life goes on. Whoever can't play can't play."
In some cases, the loss of a player or players can have a galvanising effect on the squad? How did he see it?
Injuries never positive
"I don't even think that," he assured. "That is like suggesting injuries are a positive thing. It is never a positive to be short a player or players. I see it as an ordinary thing to happen, a normal thing that can happen."
In such situations he felt huge sorrow and sympathy for the players involved.
"But that is it," he continued. "We will start with 15 players. It is not as if we will start with 14. I don't lose sleep over it."
He admitted, however, that he felt the need to address the issue the panel when the players came together the first evening to commence training for the All-Ireland final.
"The issue was put to bed then," he assured. "It took no more than a minute to sort out."
He dealt with the issue of Kilkenny's bid for the All-Ireland five in-a-rows on many occasions in the past. The story was the same. In its simplest form, Sunday was another All-Ireland final, nothing more, nothing less.
"For the speculators, the media and so on, there are all sorts of other elements to it," he knew. "That is natural. It is up to people like that to pursue that side of the story.
"For the players and all involved in the Kilkenny camp it you are preparing for a hurling match, a massive hurling match, the All-Ireland final. The All-Ireland final is the place where all hurling teams would love to be.
"You peel everything away from around the All-Ireland final and all that is left are 70 minutes of hurling. You go out and play a top class team, which is what you would expect if you want to win an All-Ireland final.
No short cuts
"You have to rely on all you're hurling brain, all your skill and all of your determination and bring every single thing that you ever had from when you started playing hurling to the table on the day. There are no short cuts, no easy options."
He said an All-Ireland final was about holding your nerve. It was about mentally and physically facing up to whatever challenge is out there.
"This final will not be about anything from the past or the future. It will be about the here and now," were his last words on the matter.
On commentators and walking the line
THE theorists in hurling, the people who have an absolute belief that they can explain everything that is happening and going on in the game, are a source of some amusement to Kilkenny manager Brian Cody.
The James Stephens man has guided the county to seven senior All-Ireland victories, but a lot of the time he fails to see the things going on in or around games that some commentators seem sure are happening.
"I envy them sometimes," he said with a wry smile when we drifted on to speaking about handling the pressures on the sideline and how a manager can influence things. "Then I am not sure if I do envy them.
"I never have that sense myself when I hear people talking about some things. I don't ever see some of the stuff that other people see to be honest. Then maybe some people like to pretend they see some stuff because it sounds good.
"I would never be too sure. I go with a gut instinct and what I believe in."
Having absolute confidence in the players he picks and puts out on the field in any game is one of his basic beliefs. Hence, he doesn't rush into making changes during matches.
You are stuck in
"You don't feel the crowd," he said of his stand alone position on the sideline. "You don't know the people are there. How could you go out on the field and perform if you are thinking about where you are. When the game starts you are stuck in it.
"It is going on in front of me. I am watching it," he explained when he took us into his world. "I have no understanding or sense of what the person behind me feels. I know there is support for us. There is support for the opposition. There is support for the game. That is it.
"You have to concentrate on what you are doing."
Kilkenny, he admitted, didn't delve too much into breaking down matches into minute individual parts to plan their strategy or to take the opposition asunder.
"We go very much on our sense of things," he explained. "You never think you know it all. Hurling is a very fast game and it is bang, bang, bang sort of stuff. It is not a hugely methodical game in a way.
"Obviously you can have things in your head and maybe you can see what the opposition are trying to do. Very often tactics can go out the window and the game can simply go and go."
One wondered did Kilkenny always have a Plan B, just in case things were running against them. The boss was slightly amused, suggesting that neither he nor the selectors had a switch that could change the course of any game.
"Once the game starts you would be codding yourself to an extent if you think you will influence, or have total control on how the game will pan out," he said. "I have yet to be part of something like that."
Total freedom
What the management team have is total freedom of choice as regards the team they put out. They know how the players will perform or are inclined to play, or how they would like them to play.
"You have a trust and confidence in the players," was the way he put it.
The way things can explode in your face was highlighted in the
All-Irelands All-Ireland semi-final when Kilkenny lost Henry Shefflin and Brian Hogan before half time, he reminded. Kilkenny merely turned to their bench and asked the next player to answer the call.
"You have to have confidence in the teams you put out," Mr Cody continued. "It would be ease to put out one or two different individuals in different positions. On different days things will run different ways for individuals and you may have to say let's make a change.
"You don't rush into that. If you have the confidence to pick a player let him play. It is easy to be impatient. It is understandable being impatient as a supporter or whatever. You still have to go with your gut feeling about a player and what you believe about him."
A player, he suggested, could be working and working and things won't happen for him. The selectors may have seen this before and know the lad can come through.
"You know what he has," was the way he put it. "When push comes to shove this fellow won't be found wanting. That has happened. It is how you hang in. You can see his spirit is not broken, if you like; his nerve is still strong and he is not afraid to step out and do the right thing even though he is being exposed.
Player exposed
"Very often a player can be exposed because he is working for the team. You leave your own spot because you have to fill in for the team and your man taps over two or three points. Then you hear the shout take him off. It could be the wrong lad.
"It is hugely important that players are allowed make mistakes. I would encourage them to make mistakes…..honest mistakes. If you are playing with fear you will make loads of mistakes.
"If you are afraid to make a mistake you will make loads of them. I don't want the players looking over their shoulders and wondering. I believe now what I always believed about these Kilkenny players."
He was certain that on Sunday the Kilkenny team will play with terrific spirit and drive. They will enjoy period of dominance. Tipperary will have periods of dominance.
"That is how it works," insisted the James Stephens man. "It is how we cope with their periods of dominance that will decide the game."
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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