A SIX-HOUR stop-over in Madrid airport, en route to Buenos Aires for the Vodafone All Star hurling tour, meant the corralling of the All-Ireland final managers Brian Cody and Liam Sheedy became an essential duty.
New trial rules in hurling are promised this spring and while Cody remains the pre-eminent figure in the sport he was unsure of the details.
Maybe he really does switch off in December. We seriously doubt it though. When the process was explained, the response was conservative.
Entering a 12th season in charge of this remarkable Kilkenny team, Cody sees no need for experimentation.
“I’m not sure about the others; I don’t think we needed any change there. Not being able to throw the ball forward, it’s going to be difficult to police that, that’s the style a lot of free-takers prefer, step forward into the free. I wouldn’t be too worked up about it though. The square ball is the most interesting one, that’s going to take away the controversy about whether it was or was not a square ball. The backs are going to have to be a lot more vigilant in policing the square area as regards forwards lurking around there.”
Hurling folk tend to become irked when football changes precipitate alterations in their game as well. “I think people are changing things just for the sake of changing. I don’t think the game needs anything. Look at the two major competitions this year, the league final and the All-Ireland final, two outstanding games; why would you want to change anything when it can be played like that? Change wouldn’t be on my agenda, to be honest.
“Yeah, I saw one of the changes in football is the introduction of the mark for high catches from kick-outs, and that one will reward a skill in that game, certainly worth trying. But I don’t think hurling has those kind of situations where something like that is required.”
Sheedy went another way: “I don’t think that it is any harm to keep on tweaking. It is always good to see if there are ways of improving the game. The game keeps on getting faster and if there are small facets that could make a difference to the overall game, it is good to try it and if it’s not working change it.”
If Sheedy was presented with a blank canvas, Joe Canning’s particular skills would become even more valuable. “I like the idea of the two points for the sideline cut. I think that is an art that some players have taken to a new level. It is a specialist thing and it has been perfected.
“I thought that was a great idea when it was in. It kept teams on their toes.
“If you were leading a game by a point with a minute to go, you did not want the ball going over the line because you could end up losing the game.”
