An audience with Brian Cody

Daragh Ó Conchúir

Post-match interviews or press nights before Leinster and All-Ireland finals have become increasingly less likely to provide sharp insights into the country’s top hurlers and footballers. Non-committal, stone-walling and robotic answers to any line of questioning are customary.

Thank God then for the Rosenallis club in Laois, who organised An Audience with Brian Cody at the Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise recently, to help raise funds for their ongoing developments.

Thank God too for Cody himself, who allowed his guard to drop a little at any rate, for the duration of more than 90 minutes of inquisition, revealing a man of humour and warmth, along with the genius and steel that has made him one of the greatest managers the GAA has ever seen.

Renowned as a proud clubman, Cody joked when asked if he was James Stephens man first and Kilkenny man second: “I’d be a James Stephens man number one and two” he cracked, before explaining.

“I’m the Kilkenny manager and played for Kilkenny so am massively proud of Kilkenny, have a huge commitment to Kilkenny and all things Kilkenny.

“But any real GAA person understands what the club is. Rosenallis is the most important thing to Rosenallis people, Portlaoise to Portlaoise people… and that’s the way it should be.

“When different lads from different clubs come together they have the huge honour of wearing the county jersey. It’s a phenomenal opportunity and source of pride for them but the GAA is built on the club, the community and the locality and that’s the brilliant thing about it.”

Kilkenny supporters must shudder at the thought that the man who would subsequently lead them to eight All-Irelands had no thoughts for the inter-county job initially.

Indeed, he was considering a coaching stint with The Village’s U14s after an unsuccessful period as senior boss when some club officials approached him about allowing his name to go forward to succeed Kevin Fennelly, who had resigned after the 1998 All-Ireland final defeat to Offaly.

Once he was appointed, Cody’s goal, while simple, was not the obvious one.

“My real ambition was to build a spirit. I thought it was [missing]. I’m talking about within the whole hurling community in the county. I believe the supporters are entitled to have a team, always on the field, totally committed to winning… whatever match they’re playing. That wasn’t obvious to me at the time.

“Also… everyone involved in the team has a huge role to play as role models for the future hurlers. Kids need heroes, people to look up to and that was my real driving force, my obsession.”

He insisted his reputation as an authoritarian is undeserved.

“I’m certainly not a strict disciplinarian, contrary to what a lot of people seem to think. We’d have no rules or regulations. We don’t have anything written down or anything we have to adhere to. I think it’s back to having a massive spirit and great respect for one another. Total honesty. You allow fellas to be themselves, which is important as everyone has their own personality.

“If fellas are comfortable within the group, you don’t need rules, you don’t need regulations. They will drive each other on. They will do whatever they have to do to be the best they can be and I think it’s healthier that way.”

Training sessions in Nowlan Park have attained near-mythical status, attracting hurling enthusiasts from all over the country, but Cody describes them as 'ordinary'. If people think they are “on the edge” and his players play in that manner, he is pleased, because that is what he is trying to achieve.

“We’ve never trained early in the morning, we’ve never had a sports psychologist. We keep it very simple. Anyone who comes down and watches our training sessions will see they’re very ordinary and straightforward.

“Blood sport, X-rated and all the rest of it… No, it’s very ordinary. Training sessions, as regards being tough, they’re meant to be. I believe you have to train the way you have to play matches to be prepared to play at the highest level. If you don’t sample that in training, you’re not going to be ready.

“If that means you’re going to meet with supreme skill, fitness, pace, toughness, physicality, sometimes even a bit of dirt, you’ve got to be ready for that. If you’re heading to Croke Park or Thurles and suddenly you’re not used to it, you’ll very quickly discover you’re in the wrong place.

“It doesn’t really matter what pundits or commentators are saying as long as we’re doing what’s right for ourselves. But I do feel it’s a good place to be, on the edge.”

Cody also spoke about the challenge of emigration, particularly for rural clubs, and even the great man admitted to not having any answers with regard to the state of the country. But unsurprisingly, given his finger always seems to be on the pulse, he encapsulates the frustrations of a nation very well.

“I would love to know the truth of the whole thing. It’s very confusing for ordinary people… you have economists coming on every night swearing that default is the right thing to do for the country. And you have politicians coming on saying it just can’t be done. But the truth must be somewhere.”

For hurling supporters, there is one very definite truth. With Brian Cody at the helm, Kilkenny will always be a force.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/Jn3rUSVmw_s/post.aspx

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