Cody: I never felt under pressure

AFTER years holding down one of the most high-pressure positions in Irish sport, 11 Leinster titles, seven All-Irelands, five national leagues Brian Cody doesn’t look a day older than when he took over in late 1998.

In fact, as he eases that large frame into a sitting position in the lush confines of Hotel Kilkenny, folds those powerful arms across the chest in familiar pose, damn it, if anything he even looks younger. “Sure God help me!” he laughed.

Yes, he laughs. I’d say he laughs a lot actually, the smile lines around the eyes a bit of a giveaway, yet the public persona of Brian Cody is that of a deadly serious individual, especially when it comes to hurling.

But here, sitting in front of you, the physical evidence belies that theory. No man who takes himself that seriously could possibly look this relaxed, this good, in his 13th full season in such a demanding job. Especially not when you consider that his real job is as school principal at St Patrick’s De La Salle NS, itself a demanding position.

So, how does he handle all that pressure?

“I’ve never felt under pressure, to be honest,” he said and laughed again.

What, never? Not even during the last three years as Kilkenny closed in on their own historic five in a row, denied only by a magnificent Tipperary team last September?

“No, not even remotely, and I know people will find it hard to believe this, but not in the slightest. We just had to win matches, that was all. I never looked beyond winning the next match, whatever that was, I never got bogged down in what was at stake or anything like that.

“History? People’s expectations? What it might mean if we won? None of that bothered me. What it means to me is just winning the next match, progressing, and if that meant you won the All-Ireland, you won the All-Ireland. If it didn’t — the fact that we didn’t win the All-Ireland last year, I don’t feel any different now to how I’d feel if we had won it.

“Whether we’re favourites for it this year or not favourites, same thing. Obviously Tipperary are favourites, and rightly so, they’re the best team in the country and that’s grand. But either way I don’t feel the pressure. From the point of view of expectation, obviously there was a sense of something big happening last September on the day of the match but we approached it exactly as we’ve always done – history? Nah.”

But what about trying to juggle those two jobs, Kilkenny manager and school principal, surely there was occasional pressure there?

“None. That’s part and parcel of life. Everyone that’s lucky enough to still have a job also have their own problems to face. I have those problems, but the day you can no longer manage it all is the day you stop doing it.

“It’s about managing your time, that’s what we’re all trying to do, to get the balance right between your work and your family. Then if you’re lucky enough to get involved in some other kind of activity and enjoying it — as I am with Kilkenny — it can’t be something you’re doing at the expense of something else.

“You’ve got to be able to do it right, or you shouldn’t take it on. I can’t allow my family to suffer because of what I’m doing with Kilkenny, I can’t allow my job to suffer but at the same time I can’t allow the job I’m trying to do with Kilkenny to suffer either. You try to manage your time to enable you to do all those things to the best of your ability. You just go with the way you are, and that’s the way I am.”

What about the bad years, when Kilkenny weren’t winning?

“No. Again that’s part and parcel of it all. I’m comfortable with the way we’ve been doing the job, I’m comfortable with the people I’ve worked with over the years, I’m comfortable with the players, with everyone who has ever been involved – the various management teams, the backroom teams, the county board.

“There’s a great togetherness in Kilkenny, a great honesty in this group and that’s something that developed very early on. Regardless of winning or losing, that – to me – is the most important element of the whole thing, that honesty. It’s grown, it’s strong, it’s terrific, the spirit that’s within the whole group.

“As long as that remains intact, which it is, I see that as being a major part of my job done. If that honesty is there the team will always go out and give themselves the best chance of success, of getting the best out of themselves.

“We’ve been doing that, everyone and I’m just facilitating that, integrating the group properly. It’s a group thing, that every player, that every panel member who comes in to do anything, who aspires to make it, is supported.

“It’s about building a proper community and the county board is centrally involved in that – the underage setup is strong, it’s good, some great people involved in it.”

In fact, if anything, says Brian, far from taking anything out of him, the last 12 years and counting have actually given him something.

“Ah sure of course it has, a huge amount. When you’re doing something that you really enjoy doing, filling your time doing it — what’s the alternative to that? I’d have been filling a lot of my time with hurling anyway, with the club or whatever.”

With that attitude, is it any wonder that under this man’s baton Kilkenny have won what they’ve won? In honesty, do we need to say another word?