The real hurling has yet to start, says Cody

FOR the hurling world at large, the defeat of Kilkenny in the glamour Allianz National Hurling League tie in Nowlan Park at the weekend was a dose of reality.

While the status accorded the holders after a winning sequence in the preliminary rounds may have been flattering, it hardly warranted the type of speculation it generated. Yes, Kilkenny do look the team best equipped to win another All-Ireland, but, as manager Brian Cody pointed out after Sunday’s game with Tipperary, the ‘real’ hurling has yet to start.

“We never lost our sanity ourselves, but out there people write all sorts of stuff. We’re talking about hurling played in February and March and like I say the whole time, the year’s hurling is only starting about now. And, it’s going to step up in a major way over the next few weeks. We have got a serious reminder about the difficulties we face in the weeks and months ahead,” he said.

With a different combination of results, next Sunday’s game against Cork in Pairc Uí Chaoimh would have been meaningless, but it has now taken on an added significance.

“The Cork game is a terrific challenge for us and then Wexford the following Sunday,’’ added Cody.

“Cork will be a big one for us after our defeat in Nowlan Park. Tipperary will make it, obviously. I have been saying that the whole time. Tipp are excellent and they came well out on top against us. “There might have been only three points in it at the end, but they won the game fairly and squarely after having given us a bit of a lead early on.”

Kilkenny star DJ Carey had no doubt the better team won on Sunday. “There was a bit of bite in the game, with everybody writing us up as the two best teams in the country at the moment. We won in a close game last year and if we were in the same position we would be trying to set our stall out.

“It was a good hard-fought game. We trained reasonably hard during February and March. We can’t fault our fitness and we can’t fault our enthusiasm. We are hurling every bit as good as we were. Tipperary hurled better. Naturally, we are hoping to get things back on track against Cork. We have to improve, it’s as simple as that.”

Meanwhile, Tipperary manager Michael Doyle agrees that, while some more players will come into the reckoning, they are nearing their likely championship formation.

Paul Kelly has recovered from injury, but tonsillitis ruled him out of the panel on Sunday, while Eddie Enright is due to resume training tomorrow night. There is also the possibility of former Kilkenny star Denis Byrne being brought into the panel, although Doyle wasn’t giving anything away.

“We’re going to have a look at three or four other guys. Our idea is when we train we are going to bring in one or two on different nights. We’ll have a look at them and let them go through the training that the lads do,” Doyle said.

Predictably, he is pleased with the progress of full-forward Ger O’Grady, who impressed with Thurles Sarsfields in their county championship run.

“We have fierce faith in him. He has a good hand and he’s an intelligent boy. Maybe he was off the pace a bit before with the speed of the hurling. But we have good time for him and that’s why he is in with us,” he said.

Eoin Kelly, captain in the absence of Brian O’Meara, was delighted with the outcome against Kilkenny, stressing the importance of the victory after having gone under to Cork.

His tussle with Philip Larkin was one of the feature of the match and he enjoyed it.

“He’s a good, fair hurler and that’s what it is all about. We shook hands afterwards,” he said, adding: “that’s the good thing about the game.”