WHEN EMPIRES FALL, they tend to fall hard.
We can be pretty sure that Kilkenny will be around for the foreseeable future as a competitive force but Sunday’s All-Ireland final wasn’t one of Brian Cody’s better days at the office.
Cody, being Cody, will recognise in the aftermath of yesterday’s crushing All-Ireland final defeat against Tipperary that there are gaps to be filled.
Speaking to reporters at the team’s Citywest Hotel base yesterday, Cody appeared to indicate that will happen sooner rather than later.
When Kilkenny lost against Tipperary in 2010, there were nine starting survivors handed jerseys for the rematch a year later.
Goalkeeper PJ Ryan was collateral damage, out in the cold despite his 2009 heroics.
Tipp scored four goals in 2010 and Ryan paid the price as David Herity came in for the following season.
John Dalton, corner back in ’10, didn’t play in ’11 either.
There were no starting places either for Aidan Fogarty (injured), John Tennyson, ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick and TJ Reid, who had to make do with a place on the bench.
In the aftermath of the 2010 defeat, Kilkenny were in a much better place than they are now to launch a fightback.
It was still a time when they were at the peak of their powers but now, a major rebuild lies in store.
Just two survivors from the 2010 starting team – Reid and Eoin Larkin – lined out yesterday when the ball was thrown in.
Michael Fennelly, if fit, would have swelled that number to three while, in contrast, Tipp had 2010 starters Michael Cahill, Pádraic Maher, Brendan Maher, Patrick Maher and Noel McGrath in their Sunday line-up.
All five were young then, now they’re at the peak of their powers. The baton has been passed to Tipperary, for the time being at least.
Cody has been slow to apportion blame to a full-back line that leaked 2-21 yesterday.
That’s a noble public sentiment but behind closed doors, Cody will take action.
He’ll understand that full-back and left corner back are holes that need filling, while centre back is an issue that needs addressing too.
It was strange that Cody didn’t make a change until the 60th minute of the game, or at least ask his midfielders and half-forwards to sit deeper, a la the 2014 replay when that tactic worked a treat against Tipperary.
Cody decided to trust his players in a man-on-man situation and while, again, that’s a noble sentiment, it back-fired spectacularly.
Cody doesn’t often get it wrong on All-Ireland final day but this time, he did. There’s also a saying that ‘Kilkenny don’t do tactics.’ Well, they didn’t do them against Tipp.
The nature of the defeat will hurt Cody, you could see he wasn’t in the mood for small talk during his post-match press conference, and the widely-held view that Kilkenny don’t have the depth of old was given ultimate credence on the biggest day of the year.
When Cody looked behind him, he realised he didn’t have much to call upon.
In 2010, he brought on Michael Rice, Derek Lyng, Martin Comerford and Richie Hogan. Different time, more depth. But time has moved on and it’s caught up with Kilkenny in a big way.
Not only does Cody have to worry about a rejuvenated Tipp in 2017, he’ll have Galway for company in Leinster and Waterford will surely believe now, if they didn’t already, that they will beat Kilkenny if they meet them again, given their age profile.
Kilkenny did win an All-Ireland minor title two years ago but not with the type of team filled with players you could definitely ear-mark to go on and become senior stars of the future, a contrast to previous sides.
Liam Blanchfield has made the step-up but found the going tough in his first senior final.
Kilkenny haven’t won an All-Ireland U21 title since 2008 either and this summer, suffered a humiliating defeat to Westmeath in the Leinster championship.
The conveyor belt has slowed down and if Cody can sift through the wreckage and come with another All-Ireland winning senior vintage, it will represent a quite brilliant achievement.
Since taking over for the 1999 championship, Cody hasn’t endured too many barren patches but Kilkenny have consistently had brilliant players at their disposal.
They still do, but not as many, while their main duo, Richie Hogan and TJ Reid, are both 28 and fast approaching the 30 mark.
This latest rebuild, in many ways, represents Cody’s greatest test.
Sunday’s nine-point defeat saw the Kilkenny house fall down when paper had covered the cracks during the course of two epic semi-final clashes against Waterford.
Cody will act, and act swiftly, but even that may not be good enough.
The recent period of dominance enjoyed by Kilkenny is one they’ll struggle to replicate in the years to come – even with Cody at the helm.
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