Tipperary no longer football minnows, cautions Codd

It’s been a busy time for Tipperary footballer Paddy Codd of late. As well as having to prepare for Sunday’s Munster SFC quarter-final clash with Kerry, the full-back has also had to contend with his final exams in the University of Limerick.

With his Bachelor of Technology in Materials and Engineering Technology degree now hopefully out of the way, he can look forward to what Sunday presents, even if he admits balancing academic and sporting commitments was tough.

“It is, there’s a lot of travelling and study and training, you don’t have much of a social life after that,” he said.

“It’s an hour up and an hour down each night, doubts about whether I should be playing might come into my head sometimes but I’ve gone through it for the last four years and it’s worth it at the end of the day.

“The work situation after I come out isn’t great but I’m hoping that my sporting background might give me an edge in an interview. There are a few jobs out there.”

This will be the fourth year in-a-row Tipp and Kerry have begun their Munster campaigns against each other. The margin of defeat has narrowed year-on-year, and Codd feels the increased exposure to Kerry helps Tipp.

“It’s something we look forward to now every year, having to face Kerry!” he laughed.

“I suppose when I first played Kerry four years ago it was a daunting task, and when you meet anyone at home and tell them you got Kerry they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh sure ye might have a run in the qualifiers’. But I think we’ve got used to playing them and we’re not overawed by it anymore, we’ll go down and treat them with respect but they’ll treat us with respect too.

“We’ll go there feeling we can win; if you don’t go down with some sort of belief then you’re going nowhere. That’s down to playing well though, if you get too caught up in winning then you’re not going to win.”

Following the loss to Kerry last year, Tipp managed wins over Offaly, Wexford and Antrim in the qualifiers before falling to Down. While Codd was pleased with the progress, an extra step would have been welcomed.

“We were happy with how far we got, but we would have liked to have got to Croke Park,” he said.

“When we set out, our goal after we lost to Kerry was to go to Croke Park but we came short against Down.”

Regardless of the performances, it’s difficult to ever foresee football becoming the top sport in Tipp. Such a situation can be turned into an advantage though, Codd feels.

“There are footballing strongholds, and you want to do well for them,” he said. “When we talk about them it’s as if they’re our family, because at times there are so few following us, we nearly know them on first-name basis! It’s nearly like a club team at times, it’s a good feeling.”

Certainly a better feeling than any run-ins with temperamental horses at home growing up. Codd’s father Frank was a jockey, riding Bit of a Skite to victory in the 1983 National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham, but Paddy is happier to stay outside the railings.

“My father was probably one of the top amateurs in Ireland,” he said.

“Nothing was ever pushed on us at home, I have three sisters and we all went on different roads. Horse racing is probably something that you have to love, and the people that love it are in the game for life, it’s only hardship!”