After 25 years as Ballymacarbry and Waterford ladies football manager, Michael Ryan stepped down in 2006.
His three daughters were on the team by then and Ryan, the Waterford legend, felt it might lead to unnecessary headaches.
“When your daughters are playing, you’re either accused of being too soft or too hard,” he said, before leaving the job of his life to someone else.
Parents all over the country have the same headaches. Nepotism, bias or indeed a complete lack of it. While it’s not quite a lose-lose situation, managing a team with your son or daughter on it can certainly lead to hardship and unjust accusations.
Down we go Noreside.
In Kilkenny, there’s a new dodger on the block these days. DJ’s two sons Sean and Michael are promising young hurlers but it’s Michael, the younger of the two who’s on the cusp of a Kilkenny senior breakthrough.
Last year, the Young Ireland’s club man was on the extended panel and the natural progression this year will be for him to make an impact on the team.
So when Brian Cody asked his father DJ to be a selector for the coming year, you couldn’t blame Carey, the legendary hurling forward and nine-time All-Star, for having cold feet.
It’s a serious business and no matter what way you look at it, every decision will be scrutinised, and particularly so with his son on the front-line. So when Cody and Carey met up, DJ explained his reservations in an interview with Marie Crowe on Game on.
“I had some reservations. One of my sons, Michael is on the extended senior panel for 2019. Obviously he would be looking to step up next year, and I’d have reservations on that myself,” he said on Game On.
But in a true, classic Cody manner, the James Stephen’s club man shot DJ’s concerns down straight away.
“He didn’t accept it as an excuse,” said DJ.
“So here we are…”
Maybe the myths are true. The lads talked about it on Thursday’s GAA Hour Show and Colm Parkinson and Conor Heneghan saw the funny side of it all.
“So DJ Carey doesn’t stand a chance with Brian Cody. It’s like, what are you saying DJ, I’m not entertaining that excuse. You just don’t say no to Brian Cody,” said Wooly.
“Basically, the buck with your son stops with me, and you won’t have anything to do with it,” added Heneghan.
There’s no confusion about who makes the decisions in Kilkenny. Though Wooly certainly sees Carey’s point of view.
“That is a reservation for DJ. Traditionally, a selector from a club gets in on a new management team and suddenly there’s three or four lads from his club on the panel who’d never been on the panel before. I don’t understand why selectors do it because if I was a selector from a weaker club, I’d do the opposite…Ah I think we’ve moved away from that…”
Brian Cody’s the boss man and it’s his way or the highway.
You can watch Thursday’s GAA Hour Show here.
