Kilkenny All-Ireland winning captain Lester Ryan has revealed the secrets to Brian Cody's success as a manager.

"He has this ability to make players hungrier and hungrier every year, no matter how successful they've been," Ryan pointed out to The Examiner.

"He doesn't speak to lads for the sake of it. He's very approachable if you've a problem or want something like, say, a reference.

"He's fair. But he keeps his distance."

Tomorrow, Ryan and his Clara club-mates will be aiming to put county Kilkenny SHC titles back-to-back when they square up to Ballyhale Shamrocks.

12 months ago he had the final say when his close range free ended up in the Carrickshock net and secured a long awaited second title for the club.

As events transpired, it also earned him the honour of captaining the Cats and his Liam McCarthy Cup acceptance speech generated widespread praise.

Reflecting on his choice of words, he explained: "I wanted to make sure it was really relevant to Kilkenny, to the panel.

"That's why I said Ar scáth a chéile. Because it's all about togetherness, about the unit, about the panel. All 37 of us, from 1 to 37."

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