Brian Cody’s frosty handshake with Henry Shefflin a month ago has not been aired inside the Galway camp as they prepare to do battle with Kilkenny in Saturday’s Leinster SHC final showdown.
Galway selector Damien Joyce said it has not been an issue as they get ready to take on the holders in Saturday’s final at Croke Park, having pipped Kilkenny by 1-24 to 3-17 over four weeks ago at Pearse Stadium.
A late Conor Cooney pointed-free gave Galway victory, but while a lot of the post-match commentary centred around the manner of Cody’s handshake with the man who won 10 All-Irelands under him with Kilkenny. Joyce said this had not featured as they prepare for battle again.
“No, it hasn’t to be honest, and to be fair to Henry he has made nothing out of it,” said Joyce. “Things are moving so quick from game to game that we just have to focus quickly on what can we learn from the last game, and how can we move forward.
“Obviously the fact that it is Kilkenny and Henry being the Galway manager is bringing that extra bit to it, but I guess for all of us in the group and for Henry himself, his focus is very much here, and the focus for ourselves is to try to prepare the team through last week and this week to be ready.
“It is a massive challenge for us going to Croke Park but it is a great challenge for this group to have in front of them and to go after,” added Joyce, who first linked up with Shefflin when they won a Fitzgibbon Cup title together with Waterford IT in 1999 and then defended it the following year.
Joyce, a former Galway captain who was also part of Michéal Donoghue’s 2017 All-Ireland winning management team, said their primary goal at the start of the Leinster championship was to be one of the three who qualified, but now that they were in the provincial final they were mad keen to win it.
“At the start of this championship we said there were six teams, five games and three spots up for grabs, and for us our goal at that stage was could we get one of those spots, and to be very honest we didn’t mind which spot it was. We just wanted to get into a slot of being one of the three coming out of Leinster, and we have managed to achieve that.
“As it turned out we have got ourselves into a spot where we can compete for silverware which is a brilliant opportunity for this group of players and for a new management coming in as well.
“So for us it is now how can we attack the situation we are in, how can we get the best out of ourselves in a final in Croke Park on Saturday night.
“It is a tall order and you are talking about a top-end team going for a three in a row in Leinster in their fifth Leinster final in a row, so they are a formidable outfit. They had to go to Parnell Park and do the job against Dublin and they did it. They are a serious outfit and they are targeting this game, they want to win the Leinster final.
“But it’s a brilliant opportunity for us to go up there and test ourselves against them in Croke Park, and that’s what we are looking forward to,” said Joyce.
