THERE WAS LOOSE talk three weeks ago that we could be getting set for the last All-Ireland final with Brian Cody and Henry Shefflin working together. The draw means there is another outing for them to work in and the retirement talk will be parked.
They’re the player-manager partnership in GAA that stands out the most. It’s incredible what they’ve done, the level of success they’ve achieved and the length of time they’ve been playing for. Cody and Shefflin have built up a massively strong relationship that has brought so much success.
It’s difficult to put your finger on what they have. They obviously work very well together. When I came on to the Cork panel at the start of 2002, Kilkenny were after winning the All-Ireland in 2000. They were really only starting off at that stage, no one knew where it would lead to.
Shefflin was clearly Kilkenny’s most important player. In dressing rooms and training sessions before games, we looked to target him. We knew if we got on top of Henry to keep him quiet, it was a huge help. With Cody, we looked at what he wanted in players. He’s always wanted forwards who could win their own ball. Walter Walsh is a typical example of a guy that Cody recognises something in and uses it effectively for the team. Not every manager might have utilised Walsh, he has a different striking style for example. But Cody spotted something and the rewards were seen in the replay against Galway two years ago.
Shefflin isn’t as prominent any more in driving on the team. That’s to be expected with the length of the career he’s had and the injuries he’s been forced to overcome. He starts on the bench today and I’d say if you talk to Henry today, he accepts it’s 20 minutes for him now. He might be hoping to get a half but he’ll realize that 70 minutes is no longer his role.
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Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
I’d have met him over the years at Allstar awards and different things. You’d be chatting away about stuff but he’d often probe in the early years with questions about training and preparation that we were doing. He wanted to know what guys like Sean Óg were doing so he could compare as he tried to make himself great. I don’t think he’s ever lost that desire to get that edge. He’d look at guys from other sports and try to improve himself. That’s what makes Shefflin great.
I always respected the Kilkenny players. If you don’t respect them, you’re not going to perform to your best. The biggest respect you can pay them is to play at the top level and to your peak. We always knew if we’re not at our best against Kilkenny, we weren’t going to win.
I would have hurled with a few of them in college in CIT, lads that are still going now. Jackie Tyrrell, Aidan Fogarty and Michael Fennelly. We got to a Fitzgibbon final one year and lost to WIT, who had Ollie Moran, Paul Curran and Setanta in their team.
Back then Jackie was only coming on to the Kilkenny team but he was really training hard. He’s a massive man, he could play anywhere amongst the six backs in college. Now he’s one of the best corner-backs to have ever played. For that Fitz final, he had an unbelievable battle. Setanta was the leading light in Cork, Jackie the up and coming guy in Kilkenny. It was a hard and tough fight. Jackie was becoming a big player, it was a sign of things to come.
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Cody is the standard bearer in terms of winning titles. He keeps telling the media that he is not a tactician. But you can see there’s a system of play there in trying to get the right guy in to the right position. He works on players and if they’re not doing the business, he gets someone else there. It’s worked out well for him but he has had a great quality of player available to him. Interestingly there’s no U21 player in the current Kilkenny panel and you’d wonder are they ready to replace the legends like Henry, Tommy and Jackie at some stage?
Today will be the focus though, not the future. Three weeks has been a long time for both teams. The question for coaches is how to manager that time. I would have liked to relax for the first week, go hard for the second week and maintain the levels for the third week. You can’t really flog players as the work is done.
Tipperary would have looked to get back out the week after. They looked hungrier and younger while showing great movement in the forwards. They really upset Kilkenny and would have felt they’d the upper hand. They didn’t really dominate on the scoreboard though and Kilkenny to their credit hung in there to show their mettle.
I think Tipperary realized during the game that we can get scores here handier than we ever have before against Kilkenny. 1-28 was a phenomenal total. The Tipperary message will be to keep going at that level and they’ll get over the line. Tipperary know Kilkeny won’t die so they’ll have to keep going.
Bonner Maher is still the key man for Tipperary. Lar, Callanan, Noel McGrath and John O’Dwyer hit brilliant scores the last day. But Bonner runs that show and he’s going to be the key guy that Kilkenny need to look after. I mentioned Colin Fennelly before the drawn game but Richie Power took up the mantle that day. Tipperary need to put the shackles on him.
It’ll be interesting to see what Kilkenny do with Michael Fennelly and Richie Hogan. You can see they tried to target Fennelly for puckouts the last day but I think they’re better off going with him at midfield. He’s more used to that and covers more ground. If they keep Richie Hogan closer to goal, he’ll take scores himself or create them to cause real problems.
Kilkenny will be gunning for this to win the tenth for Shefflin and Cody. They’re the greatest at what they do but I’m going to stick with Tipperary. I tipped them before the drawn game and they did enough to convince me they can finish off the job. If they maintain the movement in their forwards, they can unlock Kilkenny and win.
Cody and Shefflin’s greatness continues but Tipperary can complete this replay task
THERE WAS LOOSE talk three weeks ago that we could be getting set for the last All-Ireland final with Brian Cody and Henry Shefflin working together. The draw means there is another outing for them to work in and the retirement talk will be parked.
They’re the player-manager partnership in GAA that stands out the most. It’s incredible what they’ve done, the level of success they’ve achieved and the length of time they’ve been playing for. Cody and Shefflin have built up a massively strong relationship that has brought so much success.
It’s difficult to put your finger on what they have. They obviously work very well together. When I came on to the Cork panel at the start of 2002, Kilkenny were after winning the All-Ireland in 2000. They were really only starting off at that stage, no one knew where it would lead to.
Shefflin was clearly Kilkenny’s most important player. In dressing rooms and training sessions before games, we looked to target him. We knew if we got on top of Henry to keep him quiet, it was a huge help. With Cody, we looked at what he wanted in players. He’s always wanted forwards who could win their own ball. Walter Walsh is a typical example of a guy that Cody recognises something in and uses it effectively for the team. Not every manager might have utilised Walsh, he has a different striking style for example. But Cody spotted something and the rewards were seen in the replay against Galway two years ago.
Shefflin isn’t as prominent any more in driving on the team. That’s to be expected with the length of the career he’s had and the injuries he’s been forced to overcome. He starts on the bench today and I’d say if you talk to Henry today, he accepts it’s 20 minutes for him now. He might be hoping to get a half but he’ll realize that 70 minutes is no longer his role.
I’d have met him over the years at Allstar awards and different things. You’d be chatting away about stuff but he’d often probe in the early years with questions about training and preparation that we were doing. He wanted to know what guys like Sean Óg were doing so he could compare as he tried to make himself great. I don’t think he’s ever lost that desire to get that edge. He’d look at guys from other sports and try to improve himself. That’s what makes Shefflin great.
I always respected the Kilkenny players. If you don’t respect them, you’re not going to perform to your best. The biggest respect you can pay them is to play at the top level and to your peak. We always knew if we’re not at our best against Kilkenny, we weren’t going to win.
I would have hurled with a few of them in college in CIT, lads that are still going now. Jackie Tyrrell, Aidan Fogarty and Michael Fennelly. We got to a Fitzgibbon final one year and lost to WIT, who had Ollie Moran, Paul Curran and Setanta in their team.
Back then Jackie was only coming on to the Kilkenny team but he was really training hard. He’s a massive man, he could play anywhere amongst the six backs in college. Now he’s one of the best corner-backs to have ever played. For that Fitz final, he had an unbelievable battle. Setanta was the leading light in Cork, Jackie the up and coming guy in Kilkenny. It was a hard and tough fight. Jackie was becoming a big player, it was a sign of things to come.
Cody is the standard bearer in terms of winning titles. He keeps telling the media that he is not a tactician. But you can see there’s a system of play there in trying to get the right guy in to the right position. He works on players and if they’re not doing the business, he gets someone else there. It’s worked out well for him but he has had a great quality of player available to him. Interestingly there’s no U21 player in the current Kilkenny panel and you’d wonder are they ready to replace the legends like Henry, Tommy and Jackie at some stage?
Today will be the focus though, not the future. Three weeks has been a long time for both teams. The question for coaches is how to manager that time. I would have liked to relax for the first week, go hard for the second week and maintain the levels for the third week. You can’t really flog players as the work is done.
Tipperary would have looked to get back out the week after. They looked hungrier and younger while showing great movement in the forwards. They really upset Kilkenny and would have felt they’d the upper hand. They didn’t really dominate on the scoreboard though and Kilkenny to their credit hung in there to show their mettle.
I think Tipperary realized during the game that we can get scores here handier than we ever have before against Kilkenny. 1-28 was a phenomenal total. The Tipperary message will be to keep going at that level and they’ll get over the line. Tipperary know Kilkeny won’t die so they’ll have to keep going.
Bonner Maher is still the key man for Tipperary. Lar, Callanan, Noel McGrath and John O’Dwyer hit brilliant scores the last day. But Bonner runs that show and he’s going to be the key guy that Kilkenny need to look after. I mentioned Colin Fennelly before the drawn game but Richie Power took up the mantle that day. Tipperary need to put the shackles on him.
It’ll be interesting to see what Kilkenny do with Michael Fennelly and Richie Hogan. You can see they tried to target Fennelly for puckouts the last day but I think they’re better off going with him at midfield. He’s more used to that and covers more ground. If they keep Richie Hogan closer to goal, he’ll take scores himself or create them to cause real problems.
Kilkenny will be gunning for this to win the tenth for Shefflin and Cody. They’re the greatest at what they do but I’m going to stick with Tipperary. I tipped them before the drawn game and they did enough to convince me they can finish off the job. If they maintain the movement in their forwards, they can unlock Kilkenny and win.
Michael Duignan: I’d start both Tommy Walsh and Henry Shefflin in the replay
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