The secret's out lads
For years hurling men and women have wondered what is the magic ingredient in Kilkenny's ceaseless march to glory year in year out. Is it something in the water? Is it the ultra competitive club championship? Or is it pure luck that a great manager and great players came together at the right time?
Well we might be closer to an answer after Brian Cody's comments this week at an event in UCD. And the truth is scary. The James Stephens man has revealed that Kilkenny's success is primarily down to their attitude in games and what they feel they need to do to beat their opponents:
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People say going out in a match that ‘we’re prepared to die to win this game’ but that’s a dangerous thing to say. You should never say you’re prepared to die to win. You should always be prepared to kill to win a game. That’s the difference.'
Anyone who's ever come off the field against the Cats might agree.
The sentiment is probably said somewhat tongue in cheek, but we 'd wager that it's not too far off the mark, knowing what we do about those legendary training sessions in Nowlan Park over the years.
Cody's teams are rarely, if ever, well beaten and their fighting spirit has been tested more than once in the last number of years. The Kilkenny supremo feels that good preparation has been key to their success:
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What I kind of love, the whole spirit of the thing, when you know that you’re going out on that field and there’s nobody, nobody going to outfight you. There’s no other team around that can say ‘I’m going to work harder than this crowd’ because you developed that kind of spirit that can’t be broken. It’s a fabulous thing.'
The Kilkenny man doesn't agree either with Joe Brolly's recent sentiments that players are effectively indentured slaves. The 10-time All-Ireland winning manager says those who agree with Brolly are missing the point of being involved in GAA:
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The reason why any of us are involved in sport from day one and the reason why all of us stay involved in sport is because you enjoy it. I always think of that and I think we should never forget it.'
Kilkenny begin their season on Friday night in the refixed Walsh Cup game against NUIG. The students have been warned.
H/T to
The Examiner
