Tipp chairman Nugent points Cody in right direction
Nugent acknowledged Cody was “seriously annoyed” when he marched towards the Tipp dugout during the first half of the Semple Stadium decider, before verbals were exchanged.
It is understood a remark was passed towards Cody from the Tipp bench – but not by Nugent. Cody reacted by storming to the edge of the Tipp dugout and TV pictures showed his anger was directed at Nugent, with Premier County board secretary Tim Floyd seated alongside him.
Speaking after the game, Cody played down the incident and joked that he “made a mistake in what bench I was at.”
Nugent adopted a similar jovial stance when contacted yesterday .
He smiled: “Brian came in yesterday just to look for directions to his own dugout. We gave him the directions and he went there. He said he was lost!”
Nugent conceded: “He was seriously annoyed at the time but in Tipperary we have immense respect for Brian. He’s passionate about the whole thing and when you’re that passionate, as the rest of us are, it can overflow.
“But it adds to the excitement of the whole occasion.
“We went to the Kilkenny dressing room after and everything was grand. There’s no problem at all. We have great respect for them, just as Brian has for us and our management as well.”
Nugent admitted the intense nature of the rivalry between Kilkenny and Tipperary helps to make the fixture what it is.
And he stated: “It’s absolutely intense. You’d find it hard to find words to describe what it is – with the emotion and the effect it has on people. It was some value for money but we were expecting that. From a Tipp point of view, we had massive support and I’d like to acknowledge that too. It meant a lot to the players.”
Tipperary’s players trained at 11am yesterday morning and they will complete a ball wall session tomorrow evening before being released back to their clubs for the weekend.
Manager Eamon O’Shea will now attempt to successfully juggle inter-county training sessions and club commitments ahead of the Limerick game on June 1.
Tipp are anxious not to fall into a trap similar to 2013 as assistant manager Michael Ryan believes “continuity” was lost between the League final and championship opener as players returned to club activity.
Nugent explained: “Consideration will be given to the club situation as well. There will be games next weekend and some games on May 18 as well. But the county players will be back into full belt training after this week is over.”
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