'His club needed him and Brian Cody answered the call. That sums him up.'

Of all the things he has done for James Stephens, Eoin Larkin believes agreeing to come back as a selector is up there as one of the best things Brian Cody has done for his club

DEFLATED: Next to nobody in James Stephens had an idea before this year’s All-Ireland final at least that Cody was going to step down as Kilkenny manager. Pic: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Channeling his Neil Hamilton’s Commissioner Gordon, Seamus Dwyer reached for the bat phone in August and rang James Stephens’ capped crusader.

The circumstances insisted. The Laois native guided 'The Village' to the 2019 final as well as semi-finals in the following two seasons, while highly respected former Laois senior and Kerry U20 football manager John Sugrue was on board as trainer. Yet with one win from their opening four league games they were in difficulty. They needed a jolt. Brian Cody, selector Brian Cody, was just that.

“I think Seamus Dwyer was onto him not so long after he retired from Kilkenny,” says Eoin Larkin, who stepped down from the senior panel to junior during the summer. “Things hadn’t been going well and I suppose he felt that someone of Brian’s stature coming back might demand an air of respect. Brian is a brilliant club man and any help that he can give he will give it.” 

The Cody effect wasn’t immediate. After he agreed to come on board in the latter half of August, James Stephens continued to struggle in their league campaign with defeats to O’Loughlin Gaels and Dicksboro.

But they came alive in the knockout stages, beating Lisdowney with relative ease in the first round, which basically doubles up as a relegation semi-final. Bennettsbridge, who had been excellent in the league and seven points better in the clubs’ mid-August meeting, were then dismissed by five points. Dicksboro had also been fancied in the semi-final but they too were put to the sword.

“The whole team lifted with him coming on board,” says a club source. “We hadn’t played much good hurling but the good hurling has been played since he got involved and that is no bad reflection on the lads who had been there. Brian has just moved us on to another level and I’d say he’s loving it. We’re just lucky he stepped down from Kilkenny and now we have his undivided attention.” 

Larkin would hardly believe the turnaround were it not for the 68-year-old who has steered it. 

“I don’t think anybody expected them to get to a county final after the league,” says the eight-time All-Ireland winner, who is also a three-time senior county medalist. “They’re there on merit and have hurled particularly well the last two days without being very, very good. Brian has obviously done a good job in summoning these performances.” 

The stories about what Cody has done for his club are bountiful. As manager of the 2015 All-Ireland SHC champions, he would have been expected to attend that year’s All-Stars gala but it clashed with a James Stephens’ U21s meeting prior to their opening championship game. Cody was a selector to them too.

Generosity of time has been matched by money. Cody was long known for refusing payment for giving talks and making appearances. Eventually and organically, donations were made to 'The Village' as tokens of appreciation. 

“He’s been extraordinary,” says one club official. Larkin smiles: “I could never confirm because he’s the type of fella that wouldn’t confirm or deny. But I have heard those stories that any time people tried to give him a few pound, it went to the club.

“He’s just a true club man. Even the fundraising we’re doing for the new club complex out on the Kells Road, he and his wife Elsie have been heavily involved in raising funds for it. He’s just a great man in every capacity.” 

Next to nobody in the club had an idea before this year’s All-Ireland final at least that Cody was going to step down as Kilkenny manager. Larkin was aware of a whisper or two but dismissed them when July 17 passed without an announcement.

“I had heard a couple of rumours. Knowing the way Brian operates, I thought if he was going to do it, it would have been straight after the match without much talk about it. When that didn’t happen, I just presumed he would stay on.

“Whatever the reasons were behind it, he’s not getting any younger and I’m sure he’s a couple of grandchildren or on the way and he wants to spend a bit more time at home. Like, he’s given unbelievable service to hurling. I suppose he just wants to sit back and enjoy his own family now.” 

Of all the things he has done for Stephens, Larkin believes agreeing to come back as a selector is up there as one of the best things Cody has done for his club. That his youngest son Diarmuid is team captain this year, he says, is only a bonus.

“Coming back into the fold after giving 24 years service to Kilkenny when he could easily and deservedly have taken six months for himself but he got the phone call, maybe took a week or two to get it right in his head and he went straight back into it. His club needed him, they were in bother and he answered the call. I think that sums the man up.”