AS MUCH AS we want to go straight into the hurling action at the weekend, it’s important that anyone with a column or a platform is using it to highlight the scenes we have had two weeks in a row on Hill 16.
I am not coming at this as a member of the GAA Taliban that despises other sports. When I was a young fella, my father could have been doing with going on green diesel as he had me on the road morning, noon night.
I played hurling. I played Gaelic football. Soccer? Yes, thanks. Rugby. Badminton. Golf, all of it. I played all and I was brought to them all.
So it’s important to note that I am not coming at this with an ill bias to other sports that might have a different supporter culture.
But if segregation comes in for the GAA, it’s not something that would be reversed. If it’s just in one area of the stadium, then it logically spreads to other areas of the stadium. It puts a desperate taint on us all and that’s why it has to be instantly stamped out.
How do we do it? Lifetime bans for the perpetrators. No second chances. How do you enforce that? The truth is you cannot really. We don’t have facial recognition technology, but at least the threat of such a ban carries weight. The ban would have to extend to club activities which is far easier to monitor.
I was at the Cork-Limerick match last year with my nephew. We were sitting beside a man from the ‘Barrs. Every time Cork scored, he was up on his feet applauding. But when Limerick would score, he gave a respectful clap. Alright, he was of a different age. That kind of mutual appreciation is far more in keeping with the national disposition.
Young kids admire their heroes, but some are also drawn to bravado.
Onto events of this week and I had a chuckle when I spotted the comments from John Kiely around Nickie Quaid’s in-game breaks to be tended to by the doctor. Just when Galway had a period of momentum, naturally.
I find Kiely and Quaid to be gentlemen. But this is 100% game-management. I think John has gone in so hard with his comments because he knows that the game is up for doing it again.
I wouldn’t get annoyed by it. Another team has a purple patch, what are you going to do? The goalie has to restart the game, so you kill the momentum.
What’s the worst can happen? The referee is duty bound to call in a team doctor. A referee cannot second guess a player. The very worst he can do is give a yellow card for time-wasting. Will he give a second yellow card? No way.
But if I was on that team, you think that anyone is annoyed this is happening? Not a chance. As for John? It’s just the Arsene Wenger defence. What does anyone expect him to say?
In the columnist game, you have to make a few predictions here and there. I said last week that Galway didn’t have the full 70 minutes in them to beat Limerick. I said they might have 20 minutes in them to trouble them.
Plenty have said that there are similarities between Galway now and the Cork team I played on. I wouldn’t insult either team by backing that up. In our case, we were simply inconsistent.
Jimmy Barry Murphy had the greatest handle on it. He said that when we worked hard, we were the greatest team in Ireland. When we didn’t, we didn’t have a chance. It was that simple.
We will come back to Limerick next week, but as I have said before, the longer they are in the championship, the worse it was for everyone else.
As for Galway, they need to stick with Henry Shefflin. If there’s couple of promising players floating around, they need to take the next step and their strength and conditioning needs to improve. But they have a good age profile.
How can you ever go against Kilkenny? Similar to the threat that Aaron Gillane has for Limerick, Eoin Cody provides it for Kilkenny.
They are the Germany of the hurling world. They will go into this final as massive underdogs. Probably rightly so. But would you have a heart attack if they won?
At colleges’ level I have coached Darragh Corcoran and Dean Mason of Ballyhale. When people talk of characteristics that hurlers have, it’s always mentioned about Cork arrogance. I’m not dying about that but I see stuff in Kilkenny hurlers; mainly humility and a self-assurance; and they are not mutually exclusive.
And it comes from their forwards working like dogs. If they didn’t, then they don’t turn that ball over for Cody’s goal, and Clare are in the All-Ireland final.
To me, it wasn’t just a goal. A goal is worth three points. But psychologically, that goal was a five-pointer. It’s one that makes you think on the pitch, ‘Ah, shit. Where do we go from here?’
Eoin Murphy, well…
I remember the greatest save of my career. Semple Stadium, May 2018 and Bubbles Dwyer whipped on a breaking ball.
What an unbelievable save by Cork's Anthony Nash! pic.twitter.com/WsRoVoKYul
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 27, 2018
Darragh Maloney was doing the commentary for it and he said, ‘Give that man the All-Star now!’
Well, he said the exact same thing on Sunday. We can save a lot of hassle and give Murphy the All-Star for his save from Peter Duggan’s shot.
Eoin Murphy with one of the greatest saves you will ever see to deny Peter Duggan!#GAANOW pic.twitter.com/SS47zPDUk2
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 9, 2023
People seem to think his puckouts are not as sophisticated as others. But he keeps Kilkenny in games with his shot stopping and with a minute to go, it was a match winner. And I’m delighted for him because he’s such a skillful goalie and a nice guy.
So here we are. The All-Ireland final, Limerick and Kilkenny again. We’ll get under the skin of it next week.