Shane Dowling reckons that Sunday’s sideline battle between Henry Shefflin and Brian Cody will be “iconic”.
Shefflin played his entire Kilkenny career under Cody’s watch, winning 10 All-Irelands, but with his old boss still occupying the Cats hotseat he made the shock move to Galway last October after impressing while in charge of Ballyhale Shamrocks.
The 43-year-old will become just the third Kilkenny man to manage against his native county in Championship hurling after Diarmuid Healy and the late Georgie Leahy, both of whom had spells in charge of Offaly back in the 80s, with Leahy also managing Laois in that era.
Former Limerick star Dowling said: “I would love to be going to this match for the simple reason just to see Brian Cody and Henry Shefflin having their side-line battle. That is iconic no matter what way you look at it, it’s just class.
“It brings a hugely intriguing factor to the game, but God knows how this game is going to play out.
“I think Galway will sneak the win on Sunday. They are at home and the players will obviously have huge respect for Henry for what he has done and on top of it all he is a really nice guy.
“They will know deep down he will want to get one over Brian Cody. Home advantage is huge.”
Both teams have enjoyed comfortable victories over Westmeath, while Kilkenny put Laois to the sword last weekend. Galway will feel they should be on maximum points, however, having blown a winning position against Wexford in their first outing.
Dowling told BoyleSports: “I think Galway would have been very disappointed leaving Wexford with a draw and Wexford didn’t hold that form up against Dublin last weekend.
“Kilkenny have had two of the easiest games they are going to get this Leinster campaign so it’s hard to judge where they are at.
“In saying that, it’s grand to get out on the pitch and build the confidence, puck a few balls and next thing you are setting yourself up very nicely for the big challenges that are coming down the road.
“I can’t wait for this game, it’s going to be a cracker.”
Dowling believes that Kilkenny are now strong All-Ireland contenders having been unimpressed by them earlier in the year when they were beaten by Tipperary during the League.
“Kilkenny have a lot of personnel coming back and they have added some new personnel too. They are now a serious outfit and are big contenders for the All-Ireland.”
