GAELIC GAMES:THE RECURRENCE of Henry Shefflin's knee injury will go down as one of the defining moments of Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final – the moment, perhaps, when Kilkenny first realised it wasn't going to be their day to make history.
Yet Kilkenny manager Brian Cody yesterday reiterated his absolute belief that starting Shefflin at centre forward was in no way a gamble that backfired.
“Henry was fit to play, undoubtedly,” said Cody, speaking at the team hotel in Citywest before journeying home.
“It wasn’t even remotely up for grabs, and it wasn’t because he was Henry Shefflin who was injured. He was Henry Shefflin who wasn’t injured. Absolutely, as far as we could see.
“Henry had been back training, full training, for two weeks before the game. Prior to that, as everybody knows, he had been with Ger Hartmann (in Limerick), getting intensive treatment. Along with John Tennyson.
“It’s very easy forget about John. Everyone was talking about Henry, but John was in the same situation, and went through the very, very same treatment regime as Henry did.”
Indeed, that Tennyson played the entire game without any problem suggests Shefflin was simply unlucky, that on another day, and perhaps had the Croke Park surface not been so slippery and wet, he might have got away with it.
What Cody is certain of is both players were 100 per cent ready and able.
“We saw them, I saw them, in action prior to the game, three or four weeks before, what they were doing. I saw them up with us, and privately we did some work with them. And what they were doing was outrageous, for any kind of an injured man. Any of our fully fit players would be tested to be doing what they were doing.
“So, to the naked eye, to everything in front of our eyes, the two lads were absolutely perfectly fit. From any cruciate point of view it did not impinge whatsoever. They were so strong, and the rehab they had done was so powerful they looked perfect. And if there was any doubt, if we were any way doubtful, they would not have played.”
Still neither Cody, nor anyone in Kilkenny, will never know what might have been had Shefflin been able to finish the game. Given his status within the team his loss was incalculable, although Cody, typically, refused to use that or anything else as any excuse for losing on Sunday.
“We’ve had the pleasure of winning All-Irelands, and this year we were on the other side. And I’ve been in losing All-Ireland dressingrooms before, as a player, and a manager. They are tough places, places you want to avoid at all costs. But it’s always there for somebody, and when you do lose it, I think it’s very important there’s no groaning and no moaning and no excuses. You take it, you take it on the chin, and you respect the fact you were beaten by a better team.
“And we were beaten by a better team on Sunday. Tipperary were excellent.
“We’re massively disappointed. I’m not trying to pretend we were geniuses as losers or anything like that. We’re not. We hate losing. But we can’t change it.”
