Brian Cody looking forward to embracing new challenge

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody says that what transpired during 2013 came as no surprise to him. This year's championship has gone down as one of the most thrilling in years and part of that sparkle was generated by the arrival of new counties at the top and the eclipse of those, especially Kilkenny, who had been dominant in recent years.

Cody is in Shanghai with the GAA-GPA All Stars, sponsored by Opel, and his season will end busily, as he takes charge of both teams because Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald withdrew from the travelling party due to business commitments.

“This year was no surprise,” he said yesterday in the teams’ hotel. “I certainly wasn’t surprised by how things turned out. Some counties are always written up as potential favourites – that’s the way it works. The potential for teams to come through has been there for a good few years.

“Look at Clare and how their under-21s did in recent years. They were bound to come through at senior level. Look at Clare and how their under-21s did in recent years. They were bound to come through at senior level. It was obvious from early in the league that Davy Fitz had put his faith in these lads and they repaid it.

Cork had shown a lot of potential the previous year, Limerick too and Dublin. I've been talking about Dublin for a long time.

League success
"The reality is that in any given year anybody can beat anybody – that's the way it is and the way it has been."

Looking back on a year when Kilkenny ran out of steam, Cody makes the point that the county’s league success - achieved in his absence when he was recovering from heart surgery – was in a way more anomalous than the failure to make an impact on the championship.

“We played well against Tipperary in the qualifiers but in the league we were up and down. It was strange that we won it really because we lost our first two games – at that stage we were facing potential relegation. We fought very well to come back into it and got to the final. We weren’t playing particularly well, chasing games at times.

“Against Offaly we conceded four goals – that’s not something that normally lends itself to winning matches. We got over that one but we weren’t good against Dublin in the drawn game or replay. That was how our year was going – we were struggling.”

He queries the suggestion that Kilkenny will be in transition.

"It depends on what transition means. If we were to play at the level we played this year, we'd struggle. The challenge for us is to try and step up. That's what we'll be trying to do but who knows how things will turn out.

Long time
"Everyone knows that a lot of our players have been playing for a very long time. There's a huge amount of opposition out there now."

Reviewing what happened he can now see that all wasn’t well even at early stages of the year, as the team prepared for a possible three-in-a row.

“Probably they weren’t hitting markers they would set for themselves. We struggled in matches definitely and it’s the way all teams go, isn’t it? No team can churn it out year after year after year, I suppose . . . .”

The age of the team – and particularly the mileage of some of the players – had raised inevitable questions about retirements so the recent decision by Henry Shefflin to return to training has given the team a lift. Cody confirmed he wasn't expecting any departures.

“Everybody intends playing on,” he said before denying any “hard calls” were required.

“I mean making hard calls. I don’t think it’s that hard. Having to decide whether a player is going to be picked again or not, that’s part and parcel of it.

"If you can't face up to that, then there is no point in trying to do what a manager is trying to do. That's part of the situation that I am in. Calls have to be made in the best interests of the team. That will have to be done . . ."

Best ever
He was asked had it afforded him a wry smile that the first season for 17 years in which Kilkenny didn't get as far as an All-Ireland semi-final should be regarded as one of the best ever.

“I’m sure nobody thought it was good because we weren’t in it. I’m sure they all missed us badly. I thought the rest of the years were pretty good too. . . . This is the most recent season. They found it very, very exciting and sure it was.”

Cody now faces into his 16th year in charge of Kilkenny, a tenure that has brought unparalleled success – nine All-Irelands – and has regenerated his management team, bringing in former players James McGarry and Derek Lyng.

“Martin (Fogarty, his assistant) was stepping down. It was a question of bringing someone else in. There are loads of options in Kilkenny . . . .

“The two lads were the first choice. The two of them have a lot to offer. They have huge playing experience.

“They are great people in every way. They have a huge interest in the game and a huge knowledge of the game. I was delighted they were happy to come in.”