LAST UPDATE | 18 Jul 2022
THERE WERE 278 possessions during play, 201 tackles, 106 stick passes, 84 handpasses, 84 shots, 79 puck-outs, 60 scores, 20 frees and 11 side-line cuts during yesterday’s All Ireland hurling final between Kilkenny and Limerick.
Walking out of Croke Park yesterday I felt that the excellent final broke down a lot of narratives that are in the media and amongst the hurling fraternity. This ranged from All-Star positions, the difference in coaching and how each team approached the game.
Possessions and tackles
Basic possession and tackles stats are not a great measure of a team’s performance. It is important to investigate the output of each possession and the impact of off-the-ball work.
It is a way of highlighting the importance of some players in the game. Limerick had 154 possessions and tackled Kilkenny players on 97 occasions. Brian Cody’s Kilkenny had 124 possessions and 104 tackles.
(Player – first half possessions – second half – total)
- Gearoid Hegarty – 8 – 15 – 23
- Barry Nash – 7 – 7 – 14
- Declan Hannon – 5 – 8 – 13
- William O’Donoghue – 8 – 5 – 13
- Kyle Hayes – 5 – 7 – 12
Kilkenny
- TJ Reid – 8 – 4 – 12
- Adrian Mullen – 3 – 8 – 12
- Paddy Deegan – 5 – 5 – 10
- Mickey Butler – 6 – 4 – 10
- Eoin Murphy – 3 – 6 – 9
(Player – first half tackles – second half – total)
- William O’Donoghue – 3 – 8 – 11
- Kyle Hayes – 3 – 6 – 9
- Tom Morrissey – 3 – 6 – 9
- Gearóid Hegarty – 3 – 6 – 9
- Dan Morrissey 3 – 4 – 7
Kilkenny
- Paddy Deegan – 7 – 5 – 12
- TJ Reid – 7 – 2 – 9
- Billy Ryan – 3 – 6 – 9
- Adrian Mullen – 4 – 5 – 9
- Eoin Cody – 3 – 4 – 7
- Huw Lawlor – 3 – 4 – 7
The game once again highlighted the danger of teams chasing possession and tackle targets in hurling. Kilkenny’s Paddy Deegan finished as Kilkenny’s top tackler with 12 tackles, but the stats do not highlight the pressure that the O’Loughlin Gaels man was under due to the way Kilkenny’s defended.
Limerick half-forward line
The Limerick half-forward line had 48 possessions which was 30% of their team’s overall. 17 of these possessions by the half-forward line were received when they were free and unmarked. This highlighted the movement of these players and Kilkenny’s method of defending. It resulted in this line of the field hitting 1-14 of 1-31.
Hegarty scored 1-5. He had two wides, two shots blocked, four successful hand passes and four successful stick passes as well as one unsuccessful flick pass off the hurl.
Quaid vs Murphy
Nickie Quaid and Eoin Murphy are the best goalkeepers in the game, but yesterday’s game showed why the Limerick goalkeeper is a level above Murphy when it comes to the demands of the modern game. The one stat that highlighted this was the use of possession by both goalkeepers during open play. Quaid had six possessions during play with all his stick passes finding a Limerick player.
Murphy had nine possessions during play with five of his passes finding a Kilkenny player and four of them being turned over. On two occasions these stick passes led to Limerick turning over the delivery and scoring two points.
In the 52-minute Murphy had possession, he decided to launch a ball into the Limerick D instead of finding Adrian Mullen who was unmarked inside the Kilkenny 45-metre line. The Ballyhale man jumped in the air in frustration, but it probably highlighted the difference in the culture and coaching of both teams.
I believe that if Murphy was in the Limerick camp, he would have pinged that ball out to Mullen. What transpired was a Limerick counter-attack with Gearóid Hegarty receiving the pass unmarked who hit a pass to Tom Morrissey unmarked and the Ahane man scored the point.
The performance highlighted why Nickie Quaid is so important to Limerick and why he needs to be the All-Star goalkeeper for 2022. He should be a contender for hurler of the year.
The Will O Donoghue effect
Due to the nature of how Limerick defend in their half-back line, there can be huge gaps between the opposition’s centre-forward and Declan Hannon. This led to Padraig Walsh receiving possession free on four occasions and John Donnelly receiving the ball free on one occasion.
The work of Will O Donoghue with 11 tackles and winning possession on 13 occasions shows some of his influence. The Na Piarsaigh man’s value to the team in covering the breaks off the opposition’s puck-outs and allowing his centre back to drop deep is hard to measure.
However, his role allows Hannon to drop deep which affects the picture for the opposition player when delivering possession into the Limerick defence.
The Ballyhale lads tour de force
The first half of the final saw TJ Reid heavily involved in the game with eight possessions and seven tackles. He was targeted on seven Kilkenny long puck-outs. The second half saw Adrian Mullen move to midfield which saw him drive the Kilkenny fightback with nine possessions and five tackles.
He popped up everywhere in his own half and inside the opposition’s 21-metre line. It will be an area that Kilkenny will look back in hindsight and wonder if he should have been positioned there from the start.
Cody’s patience on the line with Ryan saw results
At halftime, Billy Ryan had control of possession on one occasion in the first half. Cody showed faith in the Ballycallan man who scored a goal and was a nightmare for any of the Limerick backs in possession as he threw his body around the place.
He offered himself to take some punishment on puck-outs. The All-Ireland final showed that the 25-year-old is growing into one of the prototype Kilkenny forwards who has all the hurling and throws his body at everything.
Limerick puck-out brilliance vs Kilkenny’s basic plan
Limerick scored 0-15 off their own puck-out while Kilkenny scored 1-13 from Eoin Murphy’s restarts. Limerick’s scores were based on years of repetition and a relationship built up between their goalkeeper and outfield players.
Kilkenny lacked a plan at times and overhit puck outs deep into the Limerick 45-metre line which suited the Limerick team as they were able to mop up the breaks.
It was only when TJ Reid and Walter Walsh were able to work together in the second half that Limerick looked in trouble defending the restarts. Players were getting lost on breaks and on a couple of occasions two Limerick players went for the same ball.
Long puck-outs
Limerick hit 34 long pucks out and they retained possession on 25 occasions and lost possession 9 times.
They hit three short puck-outs with two of them resulting in Limerick scores and just one short restart resulting in possession not being retained in the opposition’s half from the restart.
While the lack of a plan and the reliance on individual brilliance and communication between Kilkenny players saw the cats retain possession on 13 of their 32 long puck-outs.
(Team – won break – lost break – won clean – lost clean)
- Limerick – 14 – 5 – 11 – 4
- Kilkenny – 8 – 16 – 5 – 3
Breaking ball is an area that Kilkenny have struggled on over recent years as puck-outs need clarity now and your half-forward, midfield and half-backs need to be in sync.
Kilkenny retained just 38% of their long puck-outs which created a breaking ball scenario between 2019 and 2021. Yesterday’s final further highlighted their struggles as they retained just 33% of the breaking ball off their long puck-out.
The form lines stayed strong for Limerick as over the last three seasons they have 49% of the breaking ball off their long puck-out and their detail mixed with Kilkenny’s lack of a plan in how to defend the puck-out contributed to a 73% retention rate on the breaking ball from their long restarts.
Long puck-out targets
(Player – no. targets – possession retained – won clean)
- Kyle Hayes – 14 – 6 – 3
- Gearóid Hegarty - 13 – 11 – 7
- TJ Reid – 10 – 3 – 1
- Eoin Cody – 7 – 2 – 0
- Billy Ryan – 6 – 2 – 0
Referee watch
Colm Lyons was consistent with his refereeing yesterday and the Cork man awarded 10 frees for players grabbing the opposition’s player with the free hand.
He let it flow and did not penalise the team who were able to crowd a player in possession. The one questionable decision was Mike Casey’s free in the first half when compared to free against John Donnelly who fell to the ground after receiving a similar tackle by Barry Nash. But Colm is human like us all and he had no decision which influenced the outcome of the tie.
Conclusion
There is an All-Ireland winning team in this group of Kilkenny players, their hurling ability, athleticism and willingness to work for each other are awesome.
There is nobody in the GAA who has earned the right to question Brian Cody when you compare CVs but I personally feel this Kilkenny group is being let down by their coaching of certain areas of the game.
Kilkenny are losing games in the same way each year. It is now no All-Ireland win in seven years and three final losses.
In the preview of the game on Saturday I highlighted their 2020 loss to Waterford and their inability to have a solution to stop Waterford’s movement. Liam Cahill’s outfit scored 2-7 (13) off their long puck-out. Sunday was no different and they conceded 0-15 from long puck-outs.
When you look at it emotionlessly, this was a game that Kilkenny could have won as Limerick were down one of the greatest hurlers to ever play the game and they have one of the greatest in Reid.
Limerick are revolutionising hurling at inter-county level and they have changed the way we all watch the game. When the ball is in Nickie Quaid’s hand, I found myself glued to the set-up and movement of Limerick’s middle five. When Kilkenny were in possession in their own half you are looking as to how the Limerick backs are handing over opposition players and marking their zones.
One area that could be exposed in the coming years is the half-back line not pushing up on the opposition’s half-forwards. There just are times when O Donoghue and O Donovan cannot pick up the slack. Padraig Walsh received the ball free on four occasions and John Donnely received it free once from the centre-forward position.
For the hurling fraternity who want to protect our beloved game, it showed that you can play this sport in several ways and still get a spectacle. Kilkenny used the handpass on 27 occasions in the game while Limerick used the skill 57 times.
Limerick’s slick puck-outs generated 0-15 while Kilkenny’s basic and abrasive restarts resulted in 1-13. There are different ways to go about things but the key ingredients to both Limerick and Kilkenny’s performance was touch, striking, their ability to catch the ball under pressure, shoot accurately and a huge physicality.