Cats move to centre stage in Theatre of Dreams
Old Trafford has the bigger hype machine, but if we continue to get the kind of fare we got yesterday in this new/old stadium with at least as much history as anything across the water, then more and more kids will surely grow up with the same ambition the Ballyhale Shamrocks had when he was a youngster.
"It was a thrilling game, very sporting, though I couldn't really enjoy it, my tongue was hanging out," he laughed. "We know a lot of the Tipp lads, they know us, so you go out to enjoy it as best you can. We're all hurlers at the end of the day, in Croke Park, Theatre of Dreams. That's what we grew up dreaming of, to go out in Croke Park and test each other on days like this."
Few on the field, even team-mates, know each other as well as Henry and the man he was attempting to break out there, Tipperary centre-back Eamonn Corcoran. They weren't just team-mates on the WIT Fitzgibbon Cup side they were mates, buddies, best of friends.
Normally they would only run into each other in passing on the field of play but on this occasion, with Shefflin now the pivot in the Kilkenny attack and Corcoran a late replacement at the point of the Tipperary defence, they were direct opponents. Not an experience the big redhead was anticipating with any kind of pleasure.
"Ah it was terrible, I was disgusted during the week when I was told. Brian came over and said Corcoran was centre-back and started laughing at me. I started laughing myself. 'You won't be laughing on Sunday' he said. He came up to shake me hand at the start of the game, I thought he might smile or something, but he didn't, real serious head on him and I knew, Corcoran is serious today. Hopefully over the winter we'll have a laugh about it."
Did they have a chat at any time? "Jesus no, if Brian (Cody) saw me talking to him, he'd have me off straight away inside corner-forward or somewhere."
Half-joking, but half-serious, because though he's far from a dour individual, the half-serious side of the Kilkenny manager is all about hurling, championship hurling, and this year, all about winning another All-Ireland.
"Nowlan Park, Tuesday night, 7.15, everyone be there," the order from The Boss rang out in the winners' dressing room, before the dispersal began, not too long after the final whistle.
There isn't a more brutally honest manager in the game, much of that directed at his own uncertainties in both picking the side or making the switches, but yesterday, and not for the first time, he got it right.
"I imagine it was a fabulous game of hurling, terrific scores on both sides," he said, by way of introduction, unable, as ever, to really enjoy it from his position.
"We were hanging on for dear life at stages in the first half, people talking about six-week gaps and everything else. They really settled down fast, played some terrific hurling early on. Eoin Kelly got three brilliant points early on, yet Philly Larkin was absolutely brilliant also, it was that kind of game. But the lads have the focus right this year, and that's coming from themselves, there is a desire there, a drive, an urgency, a ferocious ambition."
One of those with that drive was a youngster making his first inter-county appearance of the season, at top of the left. A lad called DJ Carey. Did alright too.
"People are talking about a six-week gap, a lot being made of it what about a 52 week gap, for him? Not bad, not bad at all," Cody laughed. Hold his place for the next day, then? Here, a round of laughter from all within earshot, but not from Brian Cody. Rather, an expansion of the philosophy that has seen several established names in the Kilkenny hurling world cast aside, to be replaced by hungry young wolves in kitten clothing.
"All places are up for grabs," he emphasised. "A lad came on there today (Jimmy Coogan) and maybe ye never heard of him, but he shot over an excellent point, then a goal. The goal was crucial, set up by DJ, but the point was something special, a fabulous point from way out on the sideline. The guts to take that shot on, on the field a few minutes a point at that stage was a massive thing to be getting."
You get the impression this is Brian Cody's kind of guy, Brian Cody's kind of team. Guts, the guts to go for it, the guts to go for glory. Not done yet, however, job only half-finished. This win atoned for the disappointment of last year, at the semi-final stage. But more is needed in Kilkenny, one more win.
"We've hit a fair high now, but there's still a big match coming up. We'll have to get ready for that.
"We're playing Clare, a team that comes up here for sport, wins serious matches, tough matches. But it's two decent teams coming up here, and it's going to make for a good game again."
Good game? If it's anything like yesterday, and with Clare involved, don't bother to bet against that. Clare/Kilkenny, old dogs, new cats, round three of a battle that currently sits at one all. Dream match up? You could say that, and a fitting theatre.
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