Fogarty Forum: In pictures — 10 shades of Cody handshake

To Brian Cody’s credit, he gives good handshake

Mon, 02 May, 2022 - 18:00

John Fogarty

THE coldest handshakes never happen. Not once did friends turned foes Davy Fitzgerald and Brian Lohan attempt to seek each other out after a game the past two seasons. To our recollection, Kieran McGeeney and Jim McGuinness didn’t exchange pleasantries after Donegal and Kildare’s epic 2011 All-Ireland quarter-final. McGuinness had taken umbrage with Kildare’s pre-match claims Donegal were committing series of unpunished professional fouls.

To Brian Cody’s credit, he gives good handshake. Rarely, if ever, has he not pressed the flesh or, in the age of Covid, bumped a first or elbow. Easier to do that when he has been on the victorious side more often than not, says you, but the man is no Diego Simeone: he believes in decorum.

Even if it is as awkward as Sunday’s clasp with his old knight Henry Shefflin when it seemed he wanted more than the Galway manager was willing to give. In Cody’s 24 seasons as Kilkenny manager, it would rank as one of the coldest, if not most uncomfortable salutations. The great man has given us enough material to judge it by:

The “I’ll see you now” — Cody v Eamon O’Shea

It’s not often the reporter, intrepid as he or she might be, gets to Cody before the opposing manager but it happened at the end of the 2014 Division 1 final when the late Pat McAuliffe nabbed him ahead of Tipperary’s Eamon O’Shea. As he spoke to the RTÉ man, Cody beckoned O’Shea over to receive his congratulations.

The “I’ll see you again, sonny” — Cody v Anthony Cunningham

Captured having a word in Anthony Cunningham’s ear after Galway claimed a first Leinster SHC title in 2012, you could easily imagine him giving a well done but reminding him that Kilkenny might be down but not out. As it was to transpire two months later.

The “this ain’t over” — Cody v Cunningham, again.

Cody’s most animated handshake probably came at the end of the drawn 2012 All-Ireland final when he was clearly irate about Barry Kelly’s decision to award Galway a free, which Joe Canning converted to force a replay. Cunningham and himself were at loggerheads during the game, Cody was still making his feelings known after the whistle.

The “I’m sorry for your troubles” — Cody v Davy Fitz

Standing 6ft2in, when Cody is receiving the congratulations of his fallen counterpart it can often appear as if he’s consoling. Accompanying the handshake with an arm around the shoulder, Cody appeared to be offering condolences to Davy Fitzgerald after the 2008 All-Ireland final.

The “you could have robbed us” — Cody v O’Shea, again

Cody and O’Shea were all smiles at the end of the drawn 2014 All-Ireland final largely because John O’Dwyer’s last gasp free sailed wide. The decision to award Tipperary a free had infuriated Cody as he infamously elaborated about after the replay win.

The “you got me good” — Cody v Anthony Daly

Whatever it is about Anthonys, Daly also had a run-in or two with Cody on the sideline during spells with Clare and Dublin. Often, he was the one looking to compliment Cody but after the 2014 Leinster semi-final replay he was receiving the well wishes.

The “wasn’t that a bit of craic?” — Cody v TJ Ryan

Given his excellent replay record, it’s not rare to see Cody break out in a smile after a draw but you’d swear he and Limerick manager TJ Ryan were on the same side such was the levity between the pair at the end of the rain-hit 2014 All-Ireland semi-final.

The “I don’t want to talk” — Cody v Liam Sheedy

Fourteen points separated Tipperary and Kilkenny in the 2019 All-Ireland final but the margin, possibly not the result was coloured by Richie Hogan’s first-half sending off. Tried as Liam Sheedy might to commiserate with Cody, it didn’t appear he was interested in the platitudes.

The “boy, this one hurts” — Cody v John Conran

The photograph of Cody and Wexford boss John Conran at the conclusion of the 2004 Leinster semi-final didn’t tell as much as that of Cody’s exchange with Model County veteran Adrian Fenlon. A minute or two earlier, Cody had slumped to his knees behind the Davin Stand End goal as Micheál Jacob blocked down Peter Barry who had gathered Fenlon’s sideline and raised the green flag that sunk Kilkenny.

The “you can’t tell what I’m thinking” — Cody v Kieran Kingston

Cody was long advocating mask-wearing before it became advisory. Losing a second successive All-Ireland semi-final last year would have hurt hard especially after extra-time. Face covered, his disappointment was concealed as he touched knuckles with Kieran Kingston.

Can Cork stick to the process at crunch time?

Barring something spectacular, Patrick Horgan will be crowned the highest scorer in championship history in Walsh Park on Sunday week. His current total is an aggregate total of 567 points (22-501), one shy of Joe Canning’s 27-487 set last year.

It’s not a moment the Cork forward is likely going to savour.

Any garlands thrown his way will fall to pieces if his achievement is not accompanied by a victory that keeps his team in this year’s All-Ireland championship.

Tributes paid to Canning last July for surpassing Henry Shefflin’s 27-484 haul were lost in the wake of Galway’s championship exit to Waterford, which is a fate that could befall Horgan if the form guide is to believed.

If anything, Horgan will be raging that he didn’t convert the two goal opportunities and four frees in Thurles on Sunday that could have changed the complexion of the game. He won’t need Cork’s performance adviser Gary Keegan to help him distinguish between personal and team goals against Waterford, but the Dubliner’s expertise will be drawn on plenty by the group ahead of the make-or-break game.

On The Late, Late Show on Friday, Jim Gavin made the very appropriate point that the ambition to win goes without saying. Talking about the need to focus on the process, he sounded so much like Keegan who worked alongside him during Dublin’s golden years.

Speaking to former Dublin footballer Paul Flynn for “The Currency” last October, Keegan remarked: “Performance is a process. It’s a process. And as long as we follow that process, and within that process we know what the critical factors are, which are, for me, key behaviours, we go after those critical factors. These are the factors that help us to win the game.”

Demanding that Cork focus on the means when the necessary end screams at them is a challenge in itself.

Leinster SFC’s decline continues

Derry’s victory over Tyrone and the Clare-Limerick penalty shoot-out side, it was another humdrum weekend for provincial championship football. In the four Leinster SFC quarter-finals, the average margin of defeat was 14.25 points. That’s a three-point increase on 2020 when the mean difference was 11.25, while in 2019 it was 10.75 and 10.5 points in ‘18. And what about the province’s final four? Well, it’s the same as last year.

Up to and including this season, Dublin, Kildare and Meath have reached the semi-finals for four years running. An argument, a much stronger one than the falsehood that this is the most competitive Leinster SFC in years, can be made that the championship is disimproving.

The draw being made on live TV on Sunday night was akin to lots being taken in Squid Game: who will be killed first by Dublin and whose stay of execution is extended by a couple of weeks. Why did something so sad have to be broadcasted?

“It’s definitely going to be closer,” Alan Brogan said of the Leinster SFC last week. “It’s back to where it was maybe in 2009, 2010, 2011, around that time when we were having very tight games with the likes of Meath and Kildare.”

Dublin’s relegation has altered opinions and their defence is an area of concern but to believe they won’t have much to spare against the remaining two Leinster opponents borders on the mischievous or delusional.

john.fogarty@examiner.ie