When it comes to coaching, the truth will find a way

Listening to JJ Delaney, Tommy Walsh and Aidan Fogarty on Off The Ball last weekend, it was striking if there was one thing they loved more than winning it was simply playing and if there was one thing they hated more than losing it was not playing at all, writes Kieran Shannon. 

There was a tangible dread of being left off the starting 15. What kind of motivator did they find Brian Cody? A brilliant one, not least because he understood that one of the greatest motivators of the lot could be the bench.

There’ll be plenty who’ll say it’s been easy for Cody to wield such a stick throughout his tenure, with the players and options at his disposal in a county like his. But you need only look across the county bounds to see how a similar dynamic was in play when Wexford won their All-Ireland 21 years ago.