Cody at ease after victory in season opener

It was back to business for Brian Cody and Kilkenny as he oversaw his side emerge victorious against Laois.

The Cats boss used the Walsh Cup game as something of a trial and he was pleased with how the new players fared in the end.

“With it being the first game we tried to look at a lot of players and most of those lads haven’t played for Kilkenny before so they did themselves good. I was very impressed with them,” he admitted.

Of the players on show there would have only been a handful of them that were ever on a Kilkenny senior panel before including the likes of Luke Scanlon, Chris Bolger and Sean Morrissey so naturally it took time for them to feel their way into the contest.

Cody added: “In the first half Laois had a lot of wides early on and they could have built up a bit of a lead but our lads came back into it and I was very happy with them.”

Despite the loss of Colin Fennelly and Joey Holden to retirement, the Cats have managed to hold onto the majority of last year’s squad with the likes of Richie Hogan, Conor Fogarty and Walter Walsh all coming back for another crack in 2022 and that depth in the panel is something Cody is looking to maintain.

“The competition for places in the squad is good and lads are working hard to try and get into the panel and the lads on the field there showed that they have the potential to play.”

Kilkenny’s frontline players weren’t left idle though as they took part in their own in house match and that’s what made the Laois game so important as it might be the only chance for players to stake a claim for a spot on the panel for the league and championship, so getting a win proved to be important.

“The second half was very good by the lads but overall it was only the first game and it is only January so you can’t expect a huge amount at this time of the year and the application and workrate was all good.”

The Kilkenny manager was also asked about moving into his 24th season in charge but in typical Cody fashion he added that he is just looking forward to the year ahead.

Opposite Cody on the sideline was former James Stephens boss Seamus Plunkett and the current Laois supremo was keen to take the positives from their games with Wexford and Kilkenny over the last two weekends.

He also pointed out that the current congested intercounty calendar provides some problems for club players involved on county squad’s including Shamrocks of Ballyhale.

“When you look at the way the season is structured, I don’t really know where intercounty players are going to get a break and I think worse than that intercounty players that go well with the club are in a bit of bother.

“Using Shamrocks of Ballyhale as an example, they could go on to play in an All-Ireland club final but where are they going to get a break or a preseason done.

“Even in Laois, Clough-Ballacolla went on a fantastic run to make a Leinster final against Shamrocks in December but they probably missed out on a bit of preseason and that is not the way to prepare teams.

“I’m not even crying from a manager’s view, I’m just looking at it from a sports scientists viewpoint and the wellbeing of the players is very important.

“I think this can be fixed but we just have to look at the 12 months as a package and the GAA will need to do something as players will suffer.
“The flipside though is all teams will be delighted to have five games in the league and then five in the championship and it’s brilliant to have that back again this year,” the Laois manager stated.

Kilkenny and Laois will become familiar foes over the next few months with the two counties scheduled to meet in UPMC Nowlan Park during both the Allianz National Hurling League and the Leinster Championship.