HAVE YOU EVER tried running as fast as you can into a parked car?
Hurts, doesn’t it?
No? Never tried?
Well, Galway’s hurlers did something similar in the All-Ireland hurling final. At the end of a game that Limerick won by 11 points, a graphic of statistics flashed up on the big screen, showing that Limerick turned over Galway possession 41 times.
Some of that was handling errors or balls dropped, shots dropped short and what have you. But most of the time, it came from a corner back or wing back taking a short puckout, advancing a few yards, and trying to blast past the likes of a Cian Lynch, William O’Donoghue, Seán Finn or Gearóid Hegarty.
Gearóid Hegarty runs onto the pitch. Bryan Keane
Bryan Keane
I’m gonna show my age here and remind myself of previous halcyon summers that stretched endlessly, with plentiful opportunities for swimming in lakes, catching fish, and playing sports until the darkness fell so hard you simply couldn’t see the ball.
Not for me though. I spent a good chunk of my adolescence playing the majestic Street Fighter 2 on the Super Nintendo with heavy drapes keeping out the sun. A feature of the game was your energy bar, showing you how much you, the protagonist, had left in the tank compared to your opponent. When the energy level tanked, the slightest push would send you into oblivion.
Watching the first half here was an eerily familiar sensation. Galway would carry the ball into contact, throw a shape and attack the ‘weak shoulder’ of the Limerick defender.
Only, there is no weak shoulder with this crowd. Instead, they are likely to put you on the seat of your pants and tramp all over the top of you in the pursuit of the loose ball.
Galway came up against the Final Boss, and got a hiding for their troubles. Limerick have completed hurling with this stunning performance.
To beat Limerick, Galway needed to try something different. Sure, sure, they have been doing this all year, the running game is their identity, and so on.
But they were coming up against a Limerick side that have been the greatest team ever.
Advertisement
Fifteen of the panel today were going for their sixth All-Ireland medal. In order to gain that kind of consistency, you need to have every element of the game cornered.
They had 11 players that lost in that 2017 Round 1 qualifier match against Kilkenny: Nickie Quaid, Seán Finn, the Casey brothers, the Morrissey brothers, Cian Lynch, Darragh O’Donovan, Kyle Hayes, Gearóid Hegarty and Barry Nash.
Cian Lynch with son CJ celebrating. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
Four more were drafted the following year: Diarmuid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Aaron Gillane and David Reidy were there for the 2018 breakthrough.
That comes down to their management. John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk have created an environment where players want to come back to heap the highest level of demands upon themselves.
They have been the best coached team in terms of catching, striking and the slick interplay of handpassing to players facing the opposition goals.
Caroline Currid’s role has been well discussed by this stage and it remains a truism that every All-Ireland they achieved, she was there with them.
They have also brought the level of strength and conditioning to new heights, recruiting only the best coaches but also crucially refreshing it every few years to guard against complacency.
Within that time, they have become a team of mighty oaks.
Asked about their hara-kiri methods of taking so much punishment, Galway manager Micheál Donoghue pointed to “going lateral rather than forward.
“They are good at that, setting traps and if you want to go down the middle, they will punish you.”
And how.
Occasionally, colleagues of mine in the GAA press corps have attempted to describe the Soviet Brutalist majesty of Croke Park’s interview room. It’s sort of like the room you imagine you’d be billeted underground if a nuclear strike was afoot, all blocks and pipes and only the faint echo of chat in the corridor.
But here you can hear the Limerick boom box going. Flat out. Big beats. The whimsical singer-songwriter opening themselves up and letting themselves bleed all over the page isn’t in big demand.
You could hear the cheers and shouts. You could, if we are being graphic about it, taste the armpit sweat and inhale the athlete’s foot.
This was one they enjoyed. They were also able to enjoy it on the pitch as they continued to exert a vast superiority as Galway’s energy bars drained away.
After heading in at the break 0-13 to 0-8 up, only two Galway players had scored, Aaron Niland with seven, one from play, and a Jason Rabbitte point from play.
A Niland free opened the second half but Limerick answered it with 1-5 to 0-1. The goal from Cathal O’Neill opened up an 12-point lead and while Galway then claimed four consecutive scores, Limerick responded with 0-10 to 0-4 before Conor Cooney’s penalty goal deep in injury time.
Ronan Glennon’s red card was the ultimate blow. There didn’t appear a way back at that stage but that confirmed it entirely on 57 minutes when he caught Peter Casey with a high shoulder.
From 49 shots, Limerick scored 1-29.
So John Kiely comes in and gets asked the question every All-Ireland winning manager gets asked: how does it feel?
And he gives his initial reaction before turning the credit over to his head coach, Paul Kinnerk.
“Look, it’s joy, really. I’m just so, so happy for the lads. To produce that level of performance in a final takes great satisfaction,” says Kiely.
“But it takes an incredible level of preparation. Paul, Paul Kinnerk that is, deserves an incredible amount of credit for the manner in which he had the team prepared for the challenge. They (Galway) bring a very difficult, tactical challenge to the table.
Paul Kinnerk and family after the game. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“And we’ve seen the last two games what that can look like when you don’t control it or impact it in any way. They’re incredibly good on the ball. They get numbers behind the halfway line.
“They’re strong on opposition puck out. They’re brilliant at shooting from distance. They have a target man inside who’s super at holding up the ball inside.
“They have so many feathers to their bow. And that meant we had a multifaceted approach to trying to deal with Galway today. And it is a credit to Paul in terms of the result that we got on pitch in terms of how we were able to gain control of the game, keep control of the game and limit Galway in the areas that they’re strongest in.
“And I think that’s the first thing I’d like to say. Huge well done to Paul on that. It was just extraordinary the detail that he got to and how he nailed it.”
The panel met up again on 15 November. Barring the five days off they allowed themselves around Christmas, there wasn’t a period that they went more than three days without some training or meetings going on.
And once again, Kiely hands out the credit to those helping him.
Related Reads
Brilliant Limerick sweep Galway aside to claim All-Ireland hurling title
The unsung forward heroes for Galway and Limerick, ready to cap off brilliant summers
'I was very proud of the Limerick supporters that day' - the fascinating life of Éamonn Cregan
“There is an incredible sense of unity and togetherness within the group. An indomitable one, I would have described it as, to be quite honest with you. Caroline has made a huge impact in that regard and the work she’s done with the players since coming in,” he said.
Caroline Currid with Cian Lynch and girlfriend Dayna. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“So I have to salute that.
“The other part of it is, and you touched on it earlier, in terms of player availability, it’s very difficult in an intense situation and our medical team and Adrian O’Brien, in particular in terms of S&C, has done an incredible job over the last two years in building resilient players that are available on a consistent basis and even when they do get injured, the injuries are minor and they recover really quickly from them.
“So I think Adrian deserves great credit for the manner in which he has produced the team as well because every fourth quarter he’s got a new team.”
The effort was summed up by Gearóid Hegarty. For the second game in a row, he did not get on the scoresheet. For a scoring forward who has lit up All-Ireland finals with goals, this is most unusual.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Limerick are the Final Bosses and have completed hurling
HAVE YOU EVER tried running as fast as you can into a parked car?
Hurts, doesn’t it?
No? Never tried?
Well, Galway’s hurlers did something similar in the All-Ireland hurling final. At the end of a game that Limerick won by 11 points, a graphic of statistics flashed up on the big screen, showing that Limerick turned over Galway possession 41 times.
Some of that was handling errors or balls dropped, shots dropped short and what have you. But most of the time, it came from a corner back or wing back taking a short puckout, advancing a few yards, and trying to blast past the likes of a Cian Lynch, William O’Donoghue, Seán Finn or Gearóid Hegarty.
I’m gonna show my age here and remind myself of previous halcyon summers that stretched endlessly, with plentiful opportunities for swimming in lakes, catching fish, and playing sports until the darkness fell so hard you simply couldn’t see the ball.
Not for me though. I spent a good chunk of my adolescence playing the majestic Street Fighter 2 on the Super Nintendo with heavy drapes keeping out the sun. A feature of the game was your energy bar, showing you how much you, the protagonist, had left in the tank compared to your opponent. When the energy level tanked, the slightest push would send you into oblivion.
Watching the first half here was an eerily familiar sensation. Galway would carry the ball into contact, throw a shape and attack the ‘weak shoulder’ of the Limerick defender.
Only, there is no weak shoulder with this crowd. Instead, they are likely to put you on the seat of your pants and tramp all over the top of you in the pursuit of the loose ball.
Galway came up against the Final Boss, and got a hiding for their troubles. Limerick have completed hurling with this stunning performance.
To beat Limerick, Galway needed to try something different. Sure, sure, they have been doing this all year, the running game is their identity, and so on.
But they were coming up against a Limerick side that have been the greatest team ever.
Fifteen of the panel today were going for their sixth All-Ireland medal. In order to gain that kind of consistency, you need to have every element of the game cornered.
They had 11 players that lost in that 2017 Round 1 qualifier match against Kilkenny: Nickie Quaid, Seán Finn, the Casey brothers, the Morrissey brothers, Cian Lynch, Darragh O’Donovan, Kyle Hayes, Gearóid Hegarty and Barry Nash.
Four more were drafted the following year: Diarmuid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Aaron Gillane and David Reidy were there for the 2018 breakthrough.
That comes down to their management. John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk have created an environment where players want to come back to heap the highest level of demands upon themselves.
They have been the best coached team in terms of catching, striking and the slick interplay of handpassing to players facing the opposition goals.
Caroline Currid’s role has been well discussed by this stage and it remains a truism that every All-Ireland they achieved, she was there with them.
They have also brought the level of strength and conditioning to new heights, recruiting only the best coaches but also crucially refreshing it every few years to guard against complacency.
Within that time, they have become a team of mighty oaks.
Asked about their hara-kiri methods of taking so much punishment, Galway manager Micheál Donoghue pointed to “going lateral rather than forward.
“They are good at that, setting traps and if you want to go down the middle, they will punish you.”
And how.
Occasionally, colleagues of mine in the GAA press corps have attempted to describe the Soviet Brutalist majesty of Croke Park’s interview room. It’s sort of like the room you imagine you’d be billeted underground if a nuclear strike was afoot, all blocks and pipes and only the faint echo of chat in the corridor.
But here you can hear the Limerick boom box going. Flat out. Big beats. The whimsical singer-songwriter opening themselves up and letting themselves bleed all over the page isn’t in big demand.
This was one they enjoyed. They were also able to enjoy it on the pitch as they continued to exert a vast superiority as Galway’s energy bars drained away.
After heading in at the break 0-13 to 0-8 up, only two Galway players had scored, Aaron Niland with seven, one from play, and a Jason Rabbitte point from play.
A Niland free opened the second half but Limerick answered it with 1-5 to 0-1. The goal from Cathal O’Neill opened up an 12-point lead and while Galway then claimed four consecutive scores, Limerick responded with 0-10 to 0-4 before Conor Cooney’s penalty goal deep in injury time.
Ronan Glennon’s red card was the ultimate blow. There didn’t appear a way back at that stage but that confirmed it entirely on 57 minutes when he caught Peter Casey with a high shoulder.
From 49 shots, Limerick scored 1-29.
So John Kiely comes in and gets asked the question every All-Ireland winning manager gets asked: how does it feel?
And he gives his initial reaction before turning the credit over to his head coach, Paul Kinnerk.
“Look, it’s joy, really. I’m just so, so happy for the lads. To produce that level of performance in a final takes great satisfaction,” says Kiely.
“But it takes an incredible level of preparation. Paul, Paul Kinnerk that is, deserves an incredible amount of credit for the manner in which he had the team prepared for the challenge. They (Galway) bring a very difficult, tactical challenge to the table.
“And we’ve seen the last two games what that can look like when you don’t control it or impact it in any way. They’re incredibly good on the ball. They get numbers behind the halfway line.
“They’re strong on opposition puck out. They’re brilliant at shooting from distance. They have a target man inside who’s super at holding up the ball inside.
“They have so many feathers to their bow. And that meant we had a multifaceted approach to trying to deal with Galway today. And it is a credit to Paul in terms of the result that we got on pitch in terms of how we were able to gain control of the game, keep control of the game and limit Galway in the areas that they’re strongest in.
“And I think that’s the first thing I’d like to say. Huge well done to Paul on that. It was just extraordinary the detail that he got to and how he nailed it.”
The panel met up again on 15 November. Barring the five days off they allowed themselves around Christmas, there wasn’t a period that they went more than three days without some training or meetings going on.
And once again, Kiely hands out the credit to those helping him.
“There is an incredible sense of unity and togetherness within the group. An indomitable one, I would have described it as, to be quite honest with you. Caroline has made a huge impact in that regard and the work she’s done with the players since coming in,” he said.
“So I have to salute that.
“The other part of it is, and you touched on it earlier, in terms of player availability, it’s very difficult in an intense situation and our medical team and Adrian O’Brien, in particular in terms of S&C, has done an incredible job over the last two years in building resilient players that are available on a consistent basis and even when they do get injured, the injuries are minor and they recover really quickly from them.
“So I think Adrian deserves great credit for the manner in which he has produced the team as well because every fourth quarter he’s got a new team.”
The effort was summed up by Gearóid Hegarty. For the second game in a row, he did not get on the scoresheet. For a scoring forward who has lit up All-Ireland finals with goals, this is most unusual.
And yet, when the time comes to pick the shortlist for the Hurler of the Year, there is a very, very strong chance he will be in the running.
That’s what a team looks like.
That’s what the greatest ever hurling team looks like.
**
Check out the latest episode of The 42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All-Ireland Hurling final dreams GAA