Profile

The Profile: How Brian Cody has remained top dog among the Cats

Can Kilkenny’s stern, stoic and intensely private godfather of hurling bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup home for the first time since 2015?

Brian Cody has managed Kilkenny’s hurlers for almost a quarter of a century, with unparalleled success. Illustration: Peter Hanan

In brief:

Name and role: Brian Cody, Kilkenny hurling manager

Age: 68

Appearance: tall, ruddy-cheeked, gimlet-eyed, with an intimidating aura

Newsworthiness: after a few years in the relative wilderness, Cody is back in the All-Ireland final

In depth:

After two years of a near-global ban on handshakes, Brian Cody made sure he engineered a memorable one for his first encounter with Henry Shefflin, his former star player, last May.

The pair were meeting as the ...