Cody sees shades of Cats in Treaty attitude

For those looking for it, there were trace elements of the Kilkenny attitude in Limerick’s demolition of Wexford a couple of weeks ago.

Brian Cody, for one, spotted the attitude of the men in green.

“They were looking ahead of that match obviously as it went on, everyone was fighting for his place, it’s a competitive situation. They have a strong panel, they showed that.

“They lined out without Donal O’Grady who is obviously a huge player for them. The thing worked seamlessly with the quality of subs coming on as well.”

The Kilkenny manager also identified Limerick’s motivation.

“What is an advantage to them is that they’ve said many times that they didn’t perform to their ability on that day (last year’s All-Ireland semi-final) so that’s extra motivation for them, to ensure that wouldn’t happen again. I’m sure they will be very, very clear about that. I’m sure they’ll be on top of their game on Sunday which makes it more difficult for us.

“The reality of the Munster final was that they could have been five or six points up after 10 minutes. Unusually Shane Dowling missed a couple of frees, he never does and certainly won’t ever do it again probably, and even shots from play. That was certainly gone out of their play the last day. They’ve obviously worked on that.”

Limerick have had some unhappy outings in Croke Park in the last few years, going back to the All-Ireland defeat by Kilkenny in 2007 and, more recently, disappointing semi-final showings against Tipperary and Clare.

“In that game we got early scores which made it very difficult for them but for the rest of that game they were very, very competitive, we didn’t pull away at any stage from them.

“They fought to the bitter end and I’d say they did turn up that day. They got an unfortunate start but they were certainly competitive. The other two games they didn’t perform at all but I don’t see that as a factor (this time).”

Within their own camp the lead-in is familiar to the stripey men.

Club action and recovery time.

“The object of the exercise is to ensure we hit the ground completely fresh and strong on Sunday.”

Part of their strength has come from a dynamic midfield this year; they’ll face another fine duo on Sunday.

“Limerick’s midfield is outstanding, James Ryan and Paul Browne,” says Cody.

“They’ve great experience, their work-rate and their athleticism and everything about them. They’ve been huge players in every match this year for them.

“Our midfield in the last few matches, neither of the players in the position would have been considered a ‘natural midfielder’ but they’ve done very well for us and who knows what midfield we’ll come up with the next day.

“Michael Fennelly and Michael Rice would have been considered two midfielders and both of them were out of the equation at different times.”

Richie Hogan gave an exhibition in that area in the Leinster final. Cody never doubted he could flourish there.

“I just thought he’s an outstanding hurler. Obviously there’re huge fitness levels involved in playing midfield now with the amount of running and covering that’s involved.

“He’s a willing worker. He was a player that was seen as an outstanding inside forward and clinical finisher but he’s brought so much to his game over the past few years, he’s really worked hard on his game and developed his overall fitness.

“He’s a player you’d always be quite happy to play in the forward line but we found ourselves in a position where we were short midfielders and we looked at options. Richie played midfield in the All-Ireland against Galway a couple of years ago as well and you’d always be thinking a fella like him can do so many different jobs for the team.”

The manager stresses one quality perennially associated with the Kilkenny hurlers, but he doesn’t rise to the bait dangled by one of his former players, Eddie Brennan, about a potential ‘traditional’ final.

“Freshness has always been a part of our game, part and parcel of it, keeping going until September. I don’t think freshness has ever been a problem for us, nor will it be the next day. I don’t think you can tire of being competitive, or of striving to make the All-Ireland final. I don’t consider tradition too much. I don’t even consider the second semi-final — we have a challenge ahead of us, Kilkenny and Limerick.

“Eddie is in the privileged position of being a pundit, so he can pontificate on such matters. My punditry days are probably in the past.”