"When you get out there, perform well, and you win an All-Ireland, there's no greater feeling than that," says Derek Lyng. Although now that Lyng has experienced that winning feeling both on the field and on the sideline, which is actually greater?
No contest, naturally. From 2002-2009, Lyng won six All-Ireland titles playing midfield with Kilkenny; then last year, he won his first as a Kilkenny selector.
“Look, on the sideline, it’s absolutely enjoyable, a different kind of emotion maybe,” he says. “It was my first year, and the win over Tipperary, after a replay, was great. There’s a fantastic buzz and I think that’s what drives you on to do it again.
“I just think as a player, you’ve the pressure of All-Ireland final day. And ultimately it’s about the players. It’s their day, and how they go about their business on the day is the most important thing.”
Honours
Not that is Lyng is unique, and certainly not in Kilkenny: fellow selector James McGarry also won six All-Irelands playing in goal for Kilkenny, while
Brian Cody
now has 10 All-Ireland titles as Kilkenny manager to add to the four he won on the field. That makes for 28 titles between them (leaving selector Michael Dempsey, the Laois native who actually comes from a football background, the only exception).
There are other differences too between winning an All-Ireland on the field and on the sideline. Lyng hadn’t necessarily planned to get involved again after retiring in 2010, although once Cody’s call come through – when he went to freshen up his backroom team after the 2013 defeat to Cork – there was no way Lyng could say no.
“I do think when you ask players if they’d like to get involved, most of them would say yes at some stage. The timing of it just probably wasn’t expected.
“I played with my club for a few years once I retired and really enjoyed that. Then the opportunity came from Brian, and I was more than happy to come back in. The challenge there, from the previous year, when Cork beat us in Thurles. So it’s a great place to be again.
Competitive environment
“There is different dynamic, when you’re there on the sideline. But most of the players that I played with drove the competitive environment, drove the good standards that are there.
“From their point of view, it didn’t matter to them who was on the sideline. They’re so driven, they want what’s best for Kilkenny, and they’re getting the most out of themselves. So I don’t think it was something that there was any fuss made of. I think they just got on with the job.
“Sometimes you’re wondering what they’re thinking. You’re going in, and instead of having the banter, you’re on the other side of things, getting them through the sessions, and everything else. But again it didn’t matter who was doing it.
“They’re going to thunder into the sessions, like they’ve always done, to get the most out of themselves.”
The other difference is that Lyng is now tasked with instilling confidence into the Kilkenny players, whereas before, someone else did that task for him: but whether that's a Richie Hogan or a TJ Reid that's already part of the package.
“I think what was there from the get-go, with those two lads. I suppose they were players that were noted at underage level, the whole way up.
It probably took them a few years to develop physically. At that time, the team and the panel were very competitive.
“So they would have had good days and bad days but it was very competitive,” he added.
