Brian Cody: Kilkenny 'very competitive' under Derek Lyng

Brian Cody was never one for hot takes.

During his 24 years as the most successful inter-county manager ever seen, it was rare to hear him air a radical opinion, red cards (not a fan generally) aside. The Kilkenny bainisteoir left it to others to do the jaw jaw; his idea of blue-sky seemingly only the bit between the goalposts.

It's a little ironic then that he is now a member of the GAA's Hurling Development Committee. Though its main remit is to promote the spread of hurling, the sport he made his life's work, it will also be a forum to discuss potential structure and rule changes. Cody still has that aura. When he speaks you listen.

"Whatever the brief is for the committee, that’s what will happen," the 15-time All-Ireland winner (four as a player), tells RTÉ Sport.

"You can always think there’s scope for improvement in everything. Whatever situations are put in front of us, we’ll have a chat about them."

Is a plague of thrown handpasses one of them?

"It’s an issue that’s there, for certain," he says. "I think that what happens now, unfortunately, is that there is so much talk about it and so much pressure on referees, that they are almost looking for an opportunity to give a free.

"When it is shown back then, maybe it transpires that actually it was a decent pass. That’s tough too."

He is lukewarm on the experiment of players striking the sliotar with the other hand or hurl instead, which was trialled in college games late last year.

"I’m not sure you need to go that far. Handpassing has always been an integral part of the game. It’s a vital skill.

"It has certainly changed over the years, from the point of whether they are definitely handpasses or not, but I don’t think penalising the player with the ball too much is a