It would be fitting if Shefflin and Cody go out at top

ONE of the pleasures of writing in these pages this past year was the opportunity to get an extensive one-to-one interview with Henry Shefflin.

It was on the eve of this year’s All-Ireland final and it was a fascinating insight into the mindset of a man who was preparing for his 11th All-Ireland senior inter-county final. After his cruciate had given way again only minutes into the 2010 decider, he was on crutches and out of work for three months.

His work colleagues at Bank of Ireland had been kind enough to give him the use of an automatic car to make it easier for him to get down to the gym in Hotel Kilkenny and carry out his rehab. It was a gesture he did not take for granted.

Every day he’d make use of that car, because every day he’d go to the gym. There was no Tuesday or Thursday morning when he slouched off, knowing no one else would notice.

The way he viewed it, the rehab was now his job. Instead of going into work for Bank ofIreland, he was going into that gym and giving himself the best possible chance to play again and reward their generosity.

“Some other people aren’t that lucky,” he’d say, “to get that time off from their employers, so I was going to respect that [privilege]. The gym kept me sane while I was off work.”

Normally there’s little in the way of romance about the same old teams and same old players winning the same trophies again and again but seeing someone of that integrity and dedication — as well as brilliance — land his eighth All-Ireland medal was one of the most uplifting sporting stories of 2011 and in our eyes his Climb For Nine will be one of the most compelling of 2012.

Again he’s coming off an operation and injury and again he’ll miss another league, essentially the fifth he’ll have sat out in the last six years. Back in October he damaged his shoulder playing for Ballyhale Shamrocks and while he had the fortitude to play through that pain to try to help the club to another county title, it was only a matter of time before he found himself back on the operating table.

There is no doubt that Shefflin will come back from this latest injury, that we’ll see him back in a Leinster final in July and most likely see him back playing in another All-Ireland in September.

But there’s only so many times one man can keep coming back.

The body can only take so much. The body is probably telling him something. In a fortnight’s time he’ll turn 33.

Next winter he may decide he’s got a lot — enough — to show for a man of 34.

It would be wrong to say this Kilkenny team are consumed with breaking or making records because they’re not, but by the same token they’re not oblivious to such milestones either.

In 2008 Cha Fitzpatrick spoke from the steps of the Hogan Stand of the desire to become the first three-in-a-row All-Ireland-winning Kilkenny team.

They got a kick out of winning four and will admit they got a bit distracted in 2010 by all the talk of Henry’s injury status and the drive for five.

There was hardly a mention in the run-up to last year’s All-Ireland that Shefflin, Eddie Brennan and Michael Kavanagh could join John Doyle and Christy Ring on eightAll-Ireland medals, but the idea of surpassing the two of them and the Kerry quintet of Spillane, Ogie, Páidí, Power and Sheehy might privately drive Shefflin and Cody all the more in what could be the final push.

Not even Cody will go on forever.

This winter he reflected longer than usual on whether to return and he could well soon reach the stage where he’d like to do other things in life before that life is over.

For all the league games Shefflin has missed over the last six years he has started every championship game for Cody and there would be something fitting about the two of them going out together on top — on top of the all-time pile.

This upcoming season is to be treasured, not least of all by them.

There are so many head-to-head clashes we’re looking forward to in 2012.

Somewhere along the way Rory will encounter Tiger, most likely in Augusta.

We tend to forget that for all his troubles and torment, Tiger still managed to finish in the top five in the Masters these past two years and it was the sound of Tiger roaring back as much as anything that spooked Rory on that 10th hole last April.

Rory, with a Major under his belt, may be a different animal now, but Tiger is too.

Then there’s Joe Ward and Kenny Egan in January; Crossmaglen and Crokes in February; Keith Andrews and Xavi in June, not to mention London in late July, early August.

But the storyline of Henry versus Ring and Doyle and his own mortality and injuries will rival them all.