Cody: Idle club players ‘short-changed’

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has described the lack of club championship action during the summer months as a “very dangerous” development.

The 11-time All-Ireland winning manager is “seriously concerned” at where the club game is headed, endorsing the repeated call from the Club Players Association for a blank-canvas approach to tackling the fixtures debacle.

In a wide-ranging interview with Scariff Bay Community Radio, Cody said “short-changed” club players are getting a “raw deal” such is the complete shutdown of club championship action during the months of May, June, July, and August.

“The club is the vital core of the GAA. I’d be very seriously concerned about where it is going. It is all being taken away from the summer months. Club players are getting a raw deal. There is no point in pretending otherwise. I think it is a very, very dangerous situation what is happening,” began the Kilkenny hurling boss.

“Everyone can rave about the inter-county set-up and how the Leinster and Munster round-robins are structured, with the games coming thick and fast. But the club get a window of opportunity in April to play a few matches and then they are supposed to stop until the county is finished.

So they are not supposed to play in May, June, July, or August, which is completely wrong. [The powers-that-be] don’t seem to see that. I don’t understand why not.

“This is going to lower the standard of club hurling, without a shadow of a doubt. Players have no incentive to keep going. Students will, understandably, go away to America because when they come back, they will not have missed a club match.

“The reality is that once club hurling begins to suffer, standard-wise, that will eventually filter through to the county team and then the game will suffer. It bothers me.”

Cody, who was recently ratified for a 22nd season in charge, said the fixture mess must be treated as a matter of urgent priority.

“Essentially, what [the CPA] want to do is go in with a blank page, look at all the various competitions that are there — inter-county, club, third-level, all the various matches that are there — and start at the beginning, just open the whole thing up, and lets get a series of competitions laid out that is going to benefit everybody, but is not going to short-change club players, which is happening at the moment. It’s crying out for it.

“Like, before the round-robin came in, club players [in Kilkenny] had a game every single month from April onward. Now, club pitches are empty during the summer months, which is criminal.”

Cody remains in favour of the Kilkenny senior hurling champions being afforded the honour of nominating the captaincy, a tradition which only they and Kerry continue to uphold.

“That tradition has served Kilkenny well. Lots of people will say it is an outdated thing, an old-fashioned thing, but I am totally happy with it.”