ALL-IRELAND SHC FINAL:You learn more about the Kilkenny manager watching him patrol the sideline than from an annual interview, writes Gavin Cummiskey

WE ARE not going to get a glimpse into Brian Cody’s soul during a group interview at 10.30pm in Langton’s hotel, two weeks before an All-Ireland final.

And still, he was engaging and polite.

Insightful? Possibly.

You learn more about Cody watching him patrol the sideline than from an interview at their now traditional welcoming of the fourth estate to the Marble City before their September summit.

They do, however, seem more relaxed this year. Jackie Tyrrell had just spoken about the ecstasy he has tasted in those glorious 15 minutes after winning an All-Ireland final.

“He’s right – Jackie is not always right, but he is right this time,” joked Cody.

We have him thinking good thoughts. Queries about the injury crisis (or impending miracles) and last year’s controversial penalty have been dealt with and drifted away.

“It’s brilliant. It’s untouchable,” adds the Village man of those previous 11 moments, four as a player, when he has been on the green grass of Croke Park when the music stops.

The next question needs to be decent. It isn’t.

Is there a sense of anti-climax after that, Brian?

“No.”

How long would you bask in an All-Ireland victory after taking nine months to get there?

“The boys don’t bask in it. You just feel great. The night time is great. The next day is brilliant. The following day is fairly good too, and then life goes on. The club matches kick in then.”

Cody has always refused to feed opponents the nourishing taste of disrespect. Tipperary are better motivated, he says.

We cannot believe him. We believe the secret of Kilkenny’s success is their ability to self-motivate. Something happened a few years back – maybe Cork helped them – when they realised they were the best team in the land, blessed with the potential to be the greatest team hurling – or even Irish sport – has seen.

They buried their heads in preparation and let the legend of Nowlan Park training collisions grow and grow.

Now, on the cusp of five-in-a- row, with immortality on the grandest of scales beckoning, Cody is not going to open his heart to a bunch of familiar, if nameless, faces, armed with recording devices.

Before extolling the virtues of Tipperary’s youthful escapades in recent times he notes the irrelevancy of last year’s decider.

“It could be motivation for them more than us, because they’ll say ‘we almost won it last year and we’re going to finish it off this year’. That’s understandable, we’d have been in that situation ourselves down through the years and done that as well, naturally (2006 springs to mind).

“It’s not the same for us, I suppose, we ended up winning it last year after a huge battle. Definitely motivation for them.”

The end may come this Sunday. Kilkenny could be beaten; Tipperary may surpass them and they may not recover. We doubt it. But Cody is pressed so much about the end or the possibility of it that he admits this group will eventually stop hurling (the fear for the rest of us is they will be usurped by better, younger Kilkenny players with a similar glint in their eye).

“It’s an inevitability that you’re going to be beaten at some stage, but you try and postpone it, you don’t focus on things like that, and I think there’s (a motivation) in the fact that you don’t want to lose this thing anyway, the thought of losing can always give you a real incentive to win. We can’t get carried away with the fact that this is going to end. It is going to end, just hope it’s not this year.”

There is a perception of Cody as a disciplinarian. In the early seasons the Charlie Carter revolt was quickly silenced. There hasn’t been a grumble since.

“It wouldn’t be possible to prevent (arrogance) if it was innate in them. It would be very, very difficult. It is a question of character themselves. You can’t control completely that, if there was an arrogance in the individual, it would surface.

“They are a sound bunch of lads.”

Has there been a few difficult individuals over the years?

“Possibly.”

Is it not the nature of young lads to make mistakes?

“Ah, mistakes never worry me. There are genuine mistakes and honest mistakes, but mistakes are good. Mistakes are part of learning.”

But a young fella coming into this panel and thinking, perhaps he has made it . . .

“That is not a problem. It is no harm to act the eejit sometimes. Everybody did at some stage. It’s part of living.”

Thanks for your time, Brian.

“No bother.”

Learn much? Neither did we.

Just enjoy this amazing group while they are around.

Brian Cody

12th season as Kilkenny manager

Club: James Stephens

Playing honours: 4 All-Ireland SHC (1974, '75, '82*, '83) 5 Leinster SHC (1974, '75, '78, '82, '83) 1 All-Ireland MHC (1972*) 2 All-Star ('75, '82) 2 All-Ireland club SHC ('76, '82) *captain.

Managerial honours: 7 All-Ireland SHC (2000, '02, '03, '06, '07, '08, '09) 11 Leinster SHC (1999, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10) 4 NHL (2002, '03, '06, '09).

Managerial SHC Record: Played: 51. Won: 45. Drew 1. Lost: 5.