GALWAY SELECTOR MATTIE Kenny says the side’s players were “physically drained and mentally drained” following their recent intense All-Ireland final against Kilkenny.

However, Kenny says the players are now “refreshed” and looking forward to the game on Sunday, and that “motivating them for a replay shouldn’t be an issue, and it’s not”.

“The match took a nice bit out of their bodies, there was a little bit of bruising,” he says. “Iarla Tannian, Kevin Hynes, we had to look at what injuries they had. It was only knots and bruises, no breakages or anything like that, we just had to get them recovered from that.”

And while the players may be refreshed and ready for the occasion, that is not to suggest the Galway camp have had an overly relaxing time these past few days, with video analysis in particular requiring considerable attention.

“Adrian Sylver heads up the video analysis with myself, Gordon Crowley also helps, but Adrian and myself would be trawling through the videos, Anthony looks at them but Adrian and myself primarily. All the players would then get their own individual clips as normal, that’s handed out to them straight away after the game or the following day.

“We’d be looking at the different scenarios – how did we fail, where was our defensive line set up, and there was a bit of a disconnect between our defence and our attack. We’ve got to look at how we can link that better for the next day – maybe we were defending too deep.”

He continues: “But Kilkenny were coming strong and sometimes players have to make their own decisions. Hurling is not an exact science, we need to be careful that we understand that. You’ve got to have players with intelligence who can think on their feet, who play with their heads up, they’ve got to be able to adjust themselves to what’s happening around them.

“It can’t be as system-driven as football or soccer or rugby. There was a lot written early on in the year about the Galway system but it has been over-analysed. Sometimes it’s just a natural instinct for players to fall back if Kilkenny are going through a good patch.”

And while Kenny seems as tactically astute as any GAA coach, he believes too much of an emphasis can often be placed on this side of the game.

“Myself as a coach you try to set up the team, talk about tactics, but ultimately it’s the players on the pitch – they must show the desire to get on the ball, they must show the desire to make things happen. To a large extent tactics go out the window. You’re giving the players guidelines, a direction, but you’re also giving them license – players are the ones who have to make things happen. They have to show that desire, that competitiveness, that willingness to get on the ball, to break the tackle or whatever.

“You can’t get too tied up in tactics or formations or systems, it’s all about the team, the 15 individuals gelling as a team and wanting to get on the ball, wanting to make something happen. Systems and formations and tactics won’t win matches, it’s individuals and teams, it’s their desire.

“In the All-Ireland final Kilkenny showed more desire to win than they did in the Leinster final; the next day Kilkenny are capable of saying ‘we really, really want this’ and blowing away the opposition. That’s where tactics go out the window and where individual desire takes over.”

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