Cody: We’re not remotely dirty

BRIAN CODY complaining about physicality?

Surely not.

Hardly a shrinking violet in his own days as an old-fashioned, towering full-back, since taking over as Kilkenny manager a decade ago, Cody’s teams have been noted for their prowess in the physical stakes.

Their supreme hurling ability is a given, their skill innate, but Cody’s current crop doesn’t just outhurl teams, they outmuscle them, overpower them, overwhelm them every which way. Which was why it came as something of a shock to the system yesterday in Nowlan Park, where Cody was endorsing the continued link with Lucozade Sport, to hear the Kilkenny manager declare that in all of his team’s most recent big games, they were the ones being bullied.

“Everyone talks about us and physicality but I believe we probably played second fiddle in the physicality stakes over the last few matches. I would say we played second fiddle the last day to Galway, I would say we played second fiddle to Tipperary in the league final, and I would say Waterford intended playing first fiddle to us in the physicality stakes in the All-Ireland final. And that’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that. I’d prefer if we weren’t playing second fiddle in any way but I don’t have a problem with the approach of teams or anything like that. Everybody just goes at the game, it’s the reaction to it that can confuse a bit.”

Part of that reaction is that Kilkenny have been accused of living on the edge, most recently by Galway’s Joe Canning, the finger being pointed at wing-back Tommy Walsh especially. “I would hate to think Tommy is not a player who plays on the edge,” says Cody. “Where are you supposed to play? I’m not sure about ‘playing on the edge’, what some people’s definition is. He’s a very competitive player, like all our players are.”

The incident that really had people talking in the win over Galway involved Walsh bringing down goal-bound Galway’s Andy Smith just minutes after being yellow-carded for pulling across the hand of Damien Hayes. A definite yellow card, leading to a red, reckoned many pundits – wrong, says Cody. “I don’t know, there seemingly was a lot of talk about that. I would say for certain if that happened out the field it wouldn’t have been a free. I saw several examples of it happening throughout the field and it wasn’t a free. If referees are allowed to officiate the thing in the spirit of the game then it makes for great games. I think the lasting thing from the Galway match and from the Tipperary League final as well is the sheer, absolute brilliance of both games. It’s a physical game – you can’t say it’s a man’s game because people start talking about ‘What’s a man’s game?’ But it was all very genuine, all very honest.”

So the accusation against Tommy Walsh is unfair? “It is, it’s unjust and unfair, but that’s the way it works. We carry on and do what we do. Tommy Walsh is one of the finest hurlers any of us have ever seen and he’s just a phenomenally skilful player. I’m not concerned about Tommy in the slightest. I’d be concerned if he’s not around, that’s all. So we have that, and that’s the thing that’s being built up around us, but I would say we’re a very genuine team who play absolutely with a great spirit. And without a shadow of a doubt, we’re competitive every time we go out.

“We’ll always be competitive and I would say that’s something that’s a great thing to have in a team. Dirt is absolutely not even a remote element of our panel. Hurling is a physical game and my God if that’s ever taken out of it, the game is dead. It’s full blooded, it’s manly, it’s genuine, it’s decent.

“It happens when a team is successful for a while that all sorts of agendas come out of the sky.

“That’s all part of it, it doesn’t bother me at all. But I do know for certain that we never, ever, ever go out with the intention of playing anything but within the rules.”

Nevertheless the perception is there, so much so that now, having been criticised for not sending off Tommy Walsh against Galway, referees may feel under pressure to ‘balance the books’. Not on, claims Cody.

“Nobody should be victimised. If you’re being victimised, that’s wrong, but ultimately, for all the talk about it, it’s more of an insult to the referee than anything else because what you’re suggesting is that the referee didn’t do what he should have done.”

He’s right, of course; hurling is a physical sport, and in every physical sport the most successful teams are usually those who do live on the edge. What Galway, Tipperary and Waterford last September have all tried to do was match Kilkenny in that department, and Dublin too, this Sunday, will try to do likewise.

It’s the least they can do, and even then it’s only a beginning, because Kilkenny are so much more than just physical.

Brian Cody’s observation above? Make no mistake about it, while it’s meant to be noted by a wider public, the real target audience will be between the white lines in Nowlan Park for the next few evenings.

Dublin, be warned – under this man, Kilkenny won’t be taking backward steps, against anyone.