ALL-IRELAND SHC FINAL COUNTDOWN: Gavin Cummiskeytakes in the Kilkenny media night and ends up, as usual, reading between the lines

THE KILKENNY media gathering before an All-Ireland final is a routine affair. It kicks off late in the evening and entails the rolling out of all the big names - who answer politely but say very little.

It's not that Kilkenny are wary of the media; it's just they have said it all before. There are plenty of strong, interesting personalities in the camp, but few or no showmen. And none are getting loose-tongued on this particular evening in Langton's Hotel.

And so Brian Cody inevitably becomes the main focus. The last interview of a long evening.

Of course, no more than his players, the man from The Village is not one for pouring out his heart and soul to a tape recorder.

On this occasion a reference to the 1963 All-Ireland final seems to offer anecdote material. It was the last time Kilkenny and Waterford met in September and, it seems, a young Brian Cody's first trip to Croke Park. For good measure, a young Kilkenny team turned over a vastly experienced Waterford.

"It was the first All-Ireland I was ever at - I remember the game well," he says. And then he draws the characteristic moral: favourites are there to be knocked off their perch.

"That's what happens," he continues. "All I know about favouritism - I just know for certain that on any given day we could beat Waterford or Waterford could beat us. It's about getting it right on the day. That's the way it works."

But we are keen to milk the opportunity for colour: "So, it was your first trip to Croke Park?"

"Oh, man. Could have been."

So, little point in pursuing that. He will happily talk hurling but is adamant there is no arcane secret to Kilkenny's unrivalled success of recent times. Unrivalled because Cork have now been dispatched; unrivalled because no team seems capable of sticking with their brutal intensity for 70 minutes; and unrivalled for the foreseeable future unless Waterford can maintain their unquestioned brilliance for longer than usual and their key men play to full potential - and that includes the great Dan Shanahan; last year's hurler of the year has been a disappointment in 2008.

Cody has spent recent seasons talking up Leinster opposition despite his team's regular double-digit victories over Offaly and Wexford. After they put Cork to the sword he took a similar line.

It's not that he is dissembling; he reads these games deeply.

"Cork came out very strongly," he recalls. "The first 20 minutes was a real battle. And again the first 20 minutes of the second half they put serious questions to us.

"You know, we weathered the storm and that's good preparation for the final but you look back at last Sunday and certainly Waterford got tested inside out and upside down, every possible way they could be. Preparation-

wise, both teams are as prepared as they possible can be."

The three-in-a-row is brushed aside, disregarded by Cody. It is of little benefit to him. He refuses to downgrade a normal All-Ireland final by putting extra emphasis on a three-in-a-row campaign. As with his continued defence of Leinster hurling, he will stand by this approach no matter how many times it is raised.

His patience is admirable considering he twice failed at this juncture as a player, in 1976 and 1984, and again as manager, in 2004. But what of the players? Does it impinge on them?

"You can't keep them totally switched off. It is a motivation for some players. They're individuals . . . different players react to different motivations. That type of thing has never done anything for me. I don't think about it. There is no extra motivation needed, certainly, for me to try and win this All-Ireland final.

"Personally, I don't, quite honestly, think about the three-in-a-row too much at all, to be honest. I think the huge challenge of playing the All-Ireland final is there. Anytime you get an opportunity it is something you savour and something you go after."

What about the way Cork dominated the second half of the 2004 final - can that be put down to thoughts of making history?

"I never considered for one second that I'm doing the three-in-a-row at all and I'm not going to make excuses about it. Cork were better than us on the day and they brushed us aside in the second half but it hasn't happened to us too often."

Everything he says is valid but, as ever in these situations, the suspicion remains we are being kept at diplomatic arm's length from the Kilkenny hurling consciousness. We broach the topic of Davy Fitzgerald.

"Davy Fitz - as a player he was inspirational. He was full of passion and enthusiasm. He is new to the intercounty management scene at senior level but he has huge management experience behind him at LIT level and club level and various counties and under-21 level with Clare as well.

"You are as you are and he brings everything to the table. But obviously a lot of work had been done there as well with Justin McCarthy. He had a great innings with Waterford but (Davy) took over Waterford at a time when the players themselves just felt that they were crying out for this massive final push, I suppose, to get to an All-Ireland final.

"Certainly everything else gelled very well for them and there is obviously a huge spirit and unity and enthusiasm there. That makes them massive opposition."

Massive opposition but for how long? Kilkenny will go full throttle for the full 70 minutes. That we know. Waterford have not done so for at least a year.

And what about motivation? He has been at the helm since 1999. That's 10 seasons of the same voice and the same methods.

"I say very little to the lads. That's why they never get fed up listening. I say very little to them. I'm the manager of the team.

"That's my job and I manage it as I manage it. There is no big secret to how I do it. Players play. We have a good set-up.

"We have a huge number of people involved in it. We have the backing of the county board and we have total unity in the whole county. That's the way it is."

Cody Facts

Born: 1954

Club: James Stephens

Manager: 1999 to date

Honours: player- All-Ireland 4 (1974, 1975, 1982 (captain) and 1983), Leinster 5 (1974, 1975, 1978 1982 and 1983), 2 All Stars (1975, 1982), All-Ireland club 2 (1976, 1982), National League 3 (1976, 1982, 1983)

Honours: manager: All-Ireland 5 (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007), Leinster 9 (every year except 2004, National League 3 (2002, 2003, 2005)

Staff: Martin Fogarty (selector), Michael Dempsey (selector/trainer), Noel Richardson (physical trainer).