Hurling inter county championship

[Mickmack]

Keith Duggan

The genie is out of the bottle. The emerald green of Limerick hurling has never burned as brightly as it does right now.

As the 2021 All-Ireland hurling final meandered to an inevitable closure, the atmosphere in the famous stadium was redolent of the seasons when Kilkenny left all others playing for second. The distance between the back-to-back champions and the rest has never looked as daunting.

Limerick had 16 points to spare against a young Cork team that was, in the honest summation of Kieran Kingston, simply “outgunned, out-everything.” It finished 3-32 to 1-22 and had Limerick been meaner in their conversion rate - they clipped 18 wides - they could have finished the day with a truly shocking total.

“It was a great performance,” said John Kiely afterwards. The elation of his maiden win in 2018 was replaced here by a deep satisfaction. “We were building towards it over the last couple of months.

“We got things right from the start. Got the energy levels right and put pressure on Cork ball coming out of defence. And when he had the ball ourselves we used it really well. We got into a flow and when you get into that state it is very hard to stop.”

No. It is completely unstoppable. No other team can live with them right now. Here was a total performance for 35 minutes, when they outscored Cork by 3-18 to 1-11. Thirteen different scorers.

One of the few Limerick men not to raise a flag was Kyle Hayes. But he already has the goal of the year if not the young century. The odd thing was that for all the dark magic of Cian Lynch’s playmaking, and the imperious movement and creativity of their inside line, and the free-scoring nature of their first half blitz, we got to see the true heart of Limerick when they didn’t have the ball.


They wear their work ethic as though it is the county crest. They were unstinting in their want.


What could Cork do? Whatever dreams they entertained on their way to the capital were crowded into the first quarter of the game. The sharp knowledge and dogs-on-the-street talk held that Cork would need goals to profit here and plenty of ‘em. In the fourth minute, with his first sight of open ground in front of him, Shane Kingston took off on a blurry arc around Sean Finn as, in the stands, a murmur of anticipation quickly bloomed into a yell.

Kingston was going for it. The finish, on the run and a narrowing angle, was clean and emphatic. But the audacity of intent was as important as the goal. It revealed Cork’s mindset: bold and receptive to half-chances and willing to create something out of nothing. It sent out a clear message to the champions.

Tone deaf
The problem is that this Limerick team is tone deaf when it comes to the persuasions of other teams. They weren’t listening in the Mediterranean heat of the Munster final when Tipperary hit them with what proved to be the last great aria of the Liam Sheedy regime. And they weren’t listening here. They responded to Kingston’s early goal with three crisp points and reclaimed their iron grip.

Within 10 minutes , they had imposed their desired shape and rhythm on the game, inviting Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins to find one of the Cork fullback line with his puck outs and then hunting down the receiver with a hunger and aggression which quickly forced Cork to rush and to spill ball and to just try and get rid of the thing.


Time after time, young Rob Downey or Tim O’Mahony or Niall O’Leary would evade one green jersey only to find himself wandering into a dark forest of converging Limerick men. It was pure work-rate and physical intent from the champions so that every challenge became a lunch-money-at-the-school-playground racket. It didn’t look fair. Cork had no answer.

“They are an exceptional team,” said Kieran Kingston. “There is no team that would win what they have won in the last four or five years if they weren’t an exceptional team. It is not possible. They were a puck of a ball from four in a row and three Munsters and two national leagues. We have to acknowledge that.

“They are really well managed. The way they conduct themselves after a win off the field is as good they are on the field. They play with an edge. They are physical. They are huge men. They are really good hurlers. They are well coached. And they are a humble bunch too, having met them outside. Sometimes you have to take your hat off and say well done. We were beaten by the better team. And that is life. It’s not nice!”

In the long term, this may be a valuable experience for the young Cork team. But what a demoralising afternoon for an attractive team. Seamus Harnedy landed some good scores through the blizzard and Pat Horgan kept the score ticking from frees. But their final got away from them early.

Limerick just eased away from them, plundering three goals over the first half hour and punishing each Cork error with rigorous intent. The half-time scoreboard felt like a rebuke to anyone who had entertained reasons why they could be beaten: 3-18, with 3-16 from play. It was a stark indication of the gulf between Limerick and the rest.


Standing on the RTÉ broadcast podium, Henry Shefflin noted that as a first half performance, it was without comparison - before half recalling that his old team had soared to similar heights back in 2008. The Ballyhale maestro was lost in admiration but like many hurling people was probably silently computing the ramifications of this.

Limerick are suddenly entering all time conversations. The old heartbreaks and mishaps and squandered youth are just that: folk tales. They’ve become the empire.

[veteran]

Cork looked hugely impressive against Kilkenny and when Shane Kingston rattled in that early goal I thought to myself Limerick are going to earn their crust today. After that early “ scare “ Limerick simply cannibalised Cork. That first half performance allied to their second half performance against Tipperary underlined their greatness. How do they compare to the Kilkenny four in a row team? The first thing of course is they still are not a four in a row team. Three out of four, as fine an accomplishment as it clearly is, is not the the equivalent of four in a row . After today’s massacre , one is inclined to think that they could be go on and win four or five in a row but a lot can change in a year or two. Some might say that hurling is too competitive to allow that to happen but if you take Dublin and Limerick out of their respective codes is their any significant difference in the competitiveness of the pretenders in football and hurling. I alluded to the danger here after last year’s final that Limerick could become the Dublin of hurling. That danger looms ever larger when one considers the sugar daddy subventing Limerick.

Cork will be devastated tonight but a huge consolation for them this that they have captured three underage All-Ireland’s in the space of a month or so. Seamus Harnedy and Patrick Horgan are unlikely to retire for another year so they will most likely be Limerick’s main challengers over the coming years and may prevent Limerick from becoming that Dublin behemoth in the small ball game. That is the hope.

[taggert]

Aug 22, 2021 19:45:16 GMT kerryexile said:

Aug 22, 2021 19:23:36 GMT Mickmack said:

They dominate you in the air and blow you away physically if you try to 'play it through the lines'.

The '3inarow' looks assured if they want it.

Losing in 2019 has had the same effect on them as Dublin footballers loss in 2014 v Donegal.



This was the third one sided final in a row.

They played the game today utterly on their terms. KK would surely have made a better fist of it.

Its a pity the KK team of 10 years ago are not around now to challenge this awesome Limerick side.

I know all games evolve but I would like to see a Kilkenny team under Cody take them on. The big question would be could they they turn it into a game of traditional rucks and stop Limerick playing tippy tappy hurling (to borrow a phrase from critics of Barcelona in the recent past). 

Not anytime soon is the answer for 2 reasons: 1 - no team can match them physically and they have not reached their peak by a long shot given their age profile and their squad depth; and 2 - Kilkenny are at least 3 forwards short of competing for honours as evidenced by their calling on Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan in the recent semi (31 and 34 come next seasons c'ship respectively), both of whom are past their best.

[Mickmack]

Talking points: Cork's defence remains well shy of All-Ireland winning level


SUN, 22 AUG, 2021 - 19:59


PM O’SULLIVAN
PUCKOUT GRAVITY

Restarts in hurling have become ever more important for several reasons. So marked a rise in scoring tallies is a leading factor. The more scores you concede, the more puckouts required. Here comes double jeopardy in the 21st-century game.

The means through which Limerick dominated Cork? Causing these opponents to expend so much energy at puckouts. A 23rd-minute attempt by goalkeeper Patrick Collins to go long in Shane Kingston’s direction at left half-forward only led to lost possession and a Peter Casey point. The immediately previous Cork puckout towards Robbie O’Flynn at right half-forward had gone the same way, with Séamus Flanagan accruing a shot at goal that went wide.

The day had begun to tilt. An attempt by Collins to go short in the 22nd minute got turned over for Darragh O’Donovan’s point. Now Cork were damned if they did short and damned if they did long. Achieving a 31st senior title, until Cork construct a more secure strategy on this front, will be extremely difficult.

Between the 21st and 31st minutes, Limerick turned a four-point lead into a 10-point gulf. This contest, courtesy of one side’s puckout breakdown, was seized in that stretch.

REBEL BACKDOWN

Cork’s major flaw over recent seasons lay in defending coherently as a unit. A degree of optimism about their chances in this final pivoted on increased cohesion in defence. The view was that two career corner-backs, Niall O’Leary and Seán O’Donoghue, had been located. Robert Downey slotted in at full-back and Mark Coleman seemed a tyro Declan Hannon at centre-back, more important as a playmaker than as a marker.

Cork’s defensive display in August 2021 will have a significant impact on 2022 and beyond. Limerick’s starting full-forward line, on an afternoon when Peter Casey went off injured before half-time and Séamus Flanagan was profligate, notched 1-9 from play. Casey shot a quintet of points before hobbling off.


O’Leary and O’Donoghue had both been substituted by the 53rd minute. Cian Lynch, Coleman’s charge in some sense, hurled with nonchalant imperiousness and shot a sextet of points. Downey battled to the end but hardly impressed. Tim O’Mahony, off whom Gearóid Hegarty took 2-2, badly faltered. Eoin Cadogan, off whom Tom Morrissey took 0-3, held his own in part but will be 35 in November.

This Cork backline, on this evidence, is far from the finished All-Ireland article.

UNTWINNED PEAKS

Sometimes we miss an event’s bigger picture, logging in the detail. This final ended up a procession because two teams at an emphatically different stage of development found a mismatch. Nearly all Limerick’s players were appearing in a third decider. Bar Séamus Harnedy and Patrick Horgan, none of Cork’s players had experienced this stage.

A truly fantastic Limerick team is striding towards its peak. Whether they will achieve optimum level in 2022, 2023, or 2024 now becomes a live debate. Sunday’s display etched their name in hurling’s highest reaches.

Tally wise, Kilkenny’s 3-30 in 2008 and Tipperary’s 2-29 in 2016 were exceeded. Declan Hannon became the fourth man to captain three senior triumphs, falling in step with Tipperary’s Mikey Maher, Kilkenny’s Dick ‘Droog’ Walsh, and Cork’s Christy Ring. Sending Hannon a fourth time up the steps might become a 2022 rallying point.

Cork’s peak cannot now be accessed without absorbing the blizzard of this obliteration. Understandable excitement about successive All-Ireland U20 titles, about their minors’ wonderful display in last week’s All-Ireland final, must be parked. A 16-point defeat can bring a sort of vertigo.

This All-Ireland final left hopes of a 31st Cork senior title in 2022 much slipperier.


MORE IN THIS SECTION

[dc84]

What a crazy game highest scoring final ever I'd say, thought we might get a game go8ng by first 15 mins. Corks old failings came back though it was so easy for the l8merick half backs and midfielders to pop nice ball into ff l8ne there was minimal pressure put on out the field by cork.
Limerick were awesome but the lack of work rate from cork was shocking for a final it will take them a long time to get over that I'd say hard to see anyone other than limerick for next few years

[glengael]

Well done to Limerick. They are enjoying their days in the sun after so many years on the outside. They batted Cork aside as they had done to all comers this season.
I remember a Munster Football semi-final, maybe 2012, in Thurles. Kerry gave a very lame performance to win. The hurling game was on after. I will never forget the rise in decibel level when Limerick appeared and the passion of their followers.

Cork will rise again and build on the underage success this year.

[Annascaultilidie]

[Ballyfireside]

Not so sure anyone can say Cork made mistakes if only because it was clear from early on that it was only a case of how they were going to be beat - Treaty would have beaten the pick of the rest.

[Mickmack]

Aug 19, 2021 13:12:24 GMT Kerryman Randy Savage said:

Aug 16, 2021 8:34:23 GMT Mickmack said:

Will Liam Cahill leave Waterford if offered the job to manage his home county?

I'd be very shocked if he didnt. He should have gotten it last time, his work with u21s was impressive. A Tipp man offered, in their eyes, the biggest job in hurling will never say no.

I heard McGrath was offered Wexford if he wants it but since there are questions about Cahill moving maybe he is waiting for the return to Waterford.

Liam Cahill is staying with Waterford

[veteran]

This Liam Cahill story is one of the most intriguing of the year. The first intriguing aspect is that the Tipp County Board went public and said they had approached Liam. Conventionally, that news surfaces when talks break down or are progressing well. Was this a preemptive strike to put moral pressure on a fellow Tipp man? I believe Liam was very upset when Liam Sheedy was given the job a few years ago after he (Liam ) had great underage success with Tipp. Was this a way of getting revenge ?

Regardless of the circumstances , it is extraordinary that he refused to go back to manage his own county, not just any county remember , but one of the trinity of traditional hurling powerhouses. Why? Maybe Waterford have unearthed a sugar daddy where there will be a bottomless well of funds available. Maybe , it is purely an altruistic decision in that he anticipates an imminent breakthrough by Waterford based on what he has seen at first hand down there. Conversely, perhaps he views the current Tipperary panel as a spent force and that a lot of time will need to be invested before they are ready to challenge again.

After turning down the offer in an hour of great Tipperary need, will he ever again be offered the job? How will Tipperary supporters react, a county which historically has a hurling superiority complex, to one of their own refusing to accept what they would regard as the most prestigious hurling job in the land?

There have few more interesting sporting stories this year .

[dc84]

Aug 26, 2021 16:23:03 GMT veteran said:

This Liam Cahill story is one of the most intriguing of the year. The first intriguing aspect is that the Tipp County Board went public and said they had approached Liam. Conventionally, that news surfaces when talks break down or are progressing well. Was this a preemptive strike to put moral pressure on a fellow Tipp man? I believe Liam was very upset when Liam Sheedy was given the job a few years ago after he (Liam ) had great underage success with Tipp. Was this a way of getting revenge ?

Regardless of the circumstances , it is extraordinary that he refused to go back to manage his own county, not just any county remember , but one of the trinity of traditional hurling powerhouses. Why? Maybe Waterford have unearthed a sugar daddy where there will be a bottomless well of funds available. Maybe , it is purely an altruistic decision in that he anticipates an imminent breakthrough by Waterford based on what he has seen at first hand down there. Conversely, perhaps he views the current Tipperary panel as a spent force and that a lot of time will need to be invested before they are ready to challenge again.

After turning down the offer in an hour of great Tipperary need, will he ever again be offered the job? How will Tipperary supporters react, a county which historically has a hurling superiority complex, to one of their own refusing to accept what they would regard as the most prestigious hurling job in the land?

There have few more interesting sporting stories this year .

Yeah it's really interesting alright I think you have the right of it in last lines of 2nd paragraph. Waterford are on the up have a decent youngish team there who are all playing for him and tipp look like they have a big rebuilding job ahead a lot of the old warhorses will be stepping away or will be deemed surplus to requirements over next year or two. And tipp havent regenerated well over the past few years interesting times

[Mickmack]

Aug 26, 2021 16:23:03 GMT veteran said:

This Liam Cahill story is one of the most intriguing of the year. The first intriguing aspect is that the Tipp County Board went public and said they had approached Liam. Conventionally, that news surfaces when talks break down or are progressing well. Was this a preemptive strike to put moral pressure on a fellow Tipp man? I believe Liam was very upset when Liam Sheedy was given the job a few years ago after he (Liam ) had great underage success with Tipp. Was this a way of getting revenge ?

Regardless of the circumstances , it is extraordinary that he refused to go back to manage his own county, not just any county remember , but one of the trinity of traditional hurling powerhouses. Why? Maybe Waterford have unearthed a sugar daddy where there will be a bottomless well of funds available. Maybe , it is purely an altruistic decision in that he anticipates an imminent breakthrough by Waterford based on what he has seen at first hand down there. Conversely, perhaps he views the current Tipperary panel as a spent force and that a lot of time will need to be invested before they are ready to challenge again.

After turning down the offer in an hour of great Tipperary need, will he ever again be offered the job? How will Tipperary supporters react, a county which historically has a hurling superiority complex, to one of their own refusing to accept what they would regard as the most prestigious hurling job in the land?

There have few more interesting sporting stories this year .

It is indeed a fascinating situation.

I well remember a work colleague from Tipp telling me that the Tipp job was between two lads from the same club. Cahill and another lad whose name escapes me.

The older Tipp players didnt want Cahill.


Out of the blue Tipp co board went for someone else....the tried and trusted Liam Sheedy.

[taggert]

He made the right call.
Limerick will dominate for next 2 or 3 years while Tipp will be transitioning over the same period (i.e. older boys out and new boys in).
He will probably succeed the next Tipp manager.

[Mickmack]

Aug 13, 2021 8:42:28 GMT Mickmack said:

Jackie Tyrrell


As I looked out from the RTÉ gantry in Croke Park on Sunday, I was far from alone in being able to see the Kilkenny ship sinking under water. It was clear to everyone that a new hole was being pierced in the hull every time a Cork player rifled the ball over the bar from 60 yards. Jack O’Connor, Shane Kingston, Séamus Harnedy – one after another after another. “Rebels! Rebels! Rebels!” came the cry from the crowd.

I knew Kilkenny were done and that is a very hard place to be. I felt for the lads down on the pitch. Some of them were out on their feet. Lots of them had abandoned their normal positions on the ship and just gone for it. Pádraig Walsh had left his spot at the heart of the defence where had orchestrated everything so well for most of the day and thrown himself into all-out attack. It was a desperate bid to save a game that was essentially gone.

It reminded me of the scenes in Road Runner cartoons when Wile E Coyote is holding a stick of dynamite and it’s about to explode. He looks at the dynamite and then looks out from the screen. He knows it and the viewer knows it. There’s nothing to be done now except wait for the bang.

Still, I stood there a proud Kilkenny man watching it unfold. I was proud of the way the team fought and kept fighting. Staying alive in normal time when we had no right to push the game to extra time was something special. Somehow the team and panel found a way to force a draw despite Cork clearly having the upper hand over them.

What we do have is a team that are getting the most out of themselves in most areas. I look at the current crop and admire their resilience
When we sit down to weigh up where Kilkenny go from here, we have to be realistic and we have to be fair. I am not going to look back or compare and contrast. That is not fair to the current crop of players. And anyway, it doesn’t get anyone anywhere. The past is the past. I am just going to look at now and where they are going.


It’s pretty clear where Kilkenny rank on the intercounty scene. In the past two seasons, they have won back-to-back Leinster titles and they have been beaten quite well in both All-Ireland semi-finals. All the evidence says that this is as good as they are. A top-four team. Nothing more, nothing less. That will not be acceptable in Kilkenny where Celtic Crosses are as common as tourists in the Marble City. But reality is the only starting point worth considering.

Let’s look at the bigger picture. We have been seriously underperforming at underage for this past decade. No All-Ireland minor title since 2014. No All-Ireland under-20/21 since 2008. Because of our culture, we have fabricated the last two Young Hurlers of the year – Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody – both hailing from Ballyhale. They have been exceptional, in every sense.

This overall lack of underage talent has hurt our progression levels. For years, there was always talent streaming into the senior set-up. Some of the good years, they couldn’t even make it into the set-up. They had to take a number and wait in line for the standards of those ahead of them to drop.

But more importantly, Kilkenny had a steady stream of what I call a ‘wow’ player. One or two coming through the system every two to three years. Henry Shefflin, JJ Delaney, Tommy Walsh, Cha Fitzpatrick and Richie Power, TJ Reid and Richie Hogan. Players who came in and made the senior players catch each other’s eye and nod. But we haven’t had one of them enter a Kilkenny set-up in over 13 years.

What we do have is a team that are getting the most out of themselves in most areas. I look at the current crop and admire their resilience. They are constantly being compared with teams from the recent past, which is both demoralising and irrelevant. They don’t bow to anyone, they get on with their business and work like dogs for the sacred jersey. I admire that.



This is 2021 and these are the Kilkenny players. They work like demons to improve. I take my own club man Conor Browne and his development in the past four years has been astounding. He was never earmarked for huge things from early doors in our club but he has turned into a serious hurler for Kilkenny.

He’s one of the first names down on the teamsheet for Brian Cody now. He marked Joe Canning last year in the Leinster final and did a really good job on him. If you told me that five years ago, I’d have laughed. But through hard work, determination and talent, this is the type of level Conor has got himself to. He will keep improving the further he goes. There are others like him and they will keep working and improving too.

There will obviously be talk about whether Brian Cody will go again in 2022. But really, it is a pointless conversation to have or to get into. Brian is his own man and will leave when he wants to and when he feels it’s right for him and the future of Kilkenny hurling. Nobody is going to push him out – and nobody should.

Of course, there will be stellar men waiting in the wings for when that day does come. Whenever it does, I would love to see Henry assume that position. You’re talking about the biggest boots in the GAA to fill so you’re going to need somebody who won’t be fazed by the task ahead. Henry has all the attributes to take on that role whenever it becomes available.

But all that is for the future. Whether it happens in the next few months or the next few years, it’s a conversation for down the line. In the here and now, there are some fundamental things that we as Kilkenny hurling people have to reckon with. Another year will pass without us making the All-Ireland final. We haven’t won Liam MacCarthy since 2015. Why not?


I just feel when the level of competition goes to a certain height, we struggle for oxygen and make poor decisions. That’s not something you can coach
Something that struck me on Sunday was how there were common threads between losing to Cork and losing to Waterford at the same stage the previous year. When the opposition got on top of Kilkenny, outside of TJ’s aerial ability we didn’t have any ball-winners. We lacked punch up front.

Between the 60th minute and the 67th, we went long on our puck-outs six times and lost every one of them. That is crunch time and that’s not good enough. And it’s especially not good enough when the same thing happened on the same stage at the same point in the competition last year. Waterford were able to hold TJ for a crucial period near the end of the 2020 game too and we couldn’t win primary possession in the forwards.

This is not a problem unique to Kilkenny. Most other teams have that issue too at crucial stages in games because their go-to men are naturally targeted. But the best counties go other routes to fix it.

Cork were quite happy to play the ball around the back and be patient. They were totally relaxed about using their goalkeeper and waiting for a run or an open patch and then distributing. Limerick have perfected working the ball out to the most lucrative platform on the pitch – their own 65. Kilkenny haven’t mastered that yet and when the pressure comes on we revert to type. Long ball, let the best man win it.

When Waterford ran at us in the second half last year, we couldn’t deal with it. Gaps appeared where they had been air-tight in the first half. We were chasing shadows at times, which is the one thing you don’t want in the second half of an All-Ireland semi-final. You need every lift you can get at that stage but if you’re always half a yard off the ball, getting there half-second too late, it’s so demoralising.



When Cork ran at us in the second half on Sunday, we couldn’t contain them. We lost our shape and the tight man-marking that we had in the first half started to loosen out. I don’t think it’s down to tiredness – whatever problems Kilkenny have, physical fitness isn’t one of them.

I just feel when the level of competition goes to a certain height, we struggle for oxygen and make poor decisions. That’s not something you can coach. Players have to get there themselves through trial and error over a number of seasons.

There is plenty you can coach, however. The short game isn’t our natural way of playing hurling but it is something that we must respect more and welcome as a way forward. To beat anyone you need to retain possession and keep working it into an area where the ball going into the forward line is stacked in your favour.

The 50/50 ball is no good anymore because you’re playing against teams that make it their business to mind possession. They have drilled it and played it for so long that it becomes second nature to them. In the height of championship intensity when there isn’t time to breathe or think, they still look to keep the ball regardless.

We need to rewire our mindset and accept and promote the short ball as being just as important as the long ball
Whereas our instinct in Kilkenny in that situation is to go with the long ball and trust our forwards to sort it out. That is ingrained in Kilkenny hurling and it has brought generations of success. Changing it is not a simple job.

Go to a club match in Kilkenny over the coming months and watch what happens if players start tip-tapping stick-passes around at the back. Or, God forbid, start flicking short puck-outs. The locals will react as if you had put up a banner on the clubhouse saying ‘Tipperary is the home of hurling’. The groans from the sidelines will be palpable – and woe betide you if it leads to a mistake and a score against you.


But I really think there needs to be a change of attitude. Hurling has changed at the highest level of the game. We need to embrace it as the future. We need to rewire our mindset and accept and promote the short ball as being just as important as the long ball.

For now, all is quiet and pensive on Noreside. But with time comes reflection and with reflection comes hope of new days. Kilkenny will rise again.

Well worth reading this by Jackie in the light of Kerry needing to change the way they play too. As KK need to do.

[Mickmack]

Premium
‘It’s a big appointment’ – Cyril Farrell insists Galway must ‘pick the right person’ for hurling role

Frank Roche
September 30 2021 09:35 PM


Galway hurling is now at a “crossroads” as it steps up the search for a manager, according to Cyril Farrell.

But the man who led his native Tribesmen to three All-Ireland titles in the 1980s is still adamant that, if county board chiefs make the right appointment, Galway can regroup from a demoralising 2021 and quickly become viable pretenders to Limerick’s throne again.

“I know the (county) championship is on and you’d love to have a person in place, but it’s important they pick the right person,” Farrell stressed.

“It’s funny, down here in Galway, last year we were being touted as the second team to Limerick; now we’re way down the list.

“But I can tell you, if they get organised, they’ll be there or thereabouts. It’s a matter of getting the right person in and getting the whole thing reorganised and back into shape.”

The county has been without a manager for the past four weeks, ever since Limerick native Shane O’Neill called time on his two-year reign, one that bottomed out with summer defeats to Dublin and Waterford.

Former boss Micheál Donoghue, who ended Galway’s 29-year Liam MacCarthy famine in 2017 only to step down two years ago, was widely presumed to be gearing up for a comeback . . . but he exited the race earlier this week.


That leaves a handful of local candidates – and one potential box-office ‘outsider’ in Davy Fitzgerald.

Deteriorating relations with some elements of the hierarchy were widely seen as a factor in Donoghue’s 2019 departure, and his latest withdrawal has intensified the pressure on Galway GAA chiefs.

Whereas there was “no official list given of what names were nominated or who they were interviewing or who was on the interview panel, everyone assumed that it was Micheál’s to take,” Farrell pointed out.

“It’s a crossroads and a big appointment,” he added. “They need to get it right. That’s why, to be fair, everyone was saying they’ve a championship on, why haven’t they a person in already? But you can’t do it that fast.

“If it goes wrong, it’s going to affect it for years. There’s a lot of talent around the place.”

Many of the current Galway group have been “there a long time” and the panel needs reinvigoration, he accepted. But even the addition of a few young players, and a new manager, can “get a buzz going” again.

“I keep saying, they’re looking at the U-20s but they should be searching a little bit from the 20-to-25 9 (age bracket). There’s a group there that is kind of lost and they’re good hurlers – and physically strong.


“Like, the U-20s now or U-17s, they’re not men yet, they’re only filling into their bodies. But there’s a group around that are developed.

“I can tell you, if the right guy gets in and gives confidence to some of these guys, they could fly. The guys themselves don’t even realise it.

“Get the right man, because the hurlers will come,” Farrell advised. “And whoever gets in, back them to the hilt, you have to do that.”

[Mickmack]

Oct 1, 2021 8:02:52 GMT Mickmack said:

Premium
‘It’s a big appointment’ – Cyril Farrell insists Galway must ‘pick the right person’ for hurling role

Frank Roche
September 30 2021 09:35 PM


Galway hurling is now at a “crossroads” as it steps up the search for a manager, according to Cyril Farrell.

But the man who led his native Tribesmen to three All-Ireland titles in the 1980s is still adamant that, if county board chiefs make the right appointment, Galway can regroup from a demoralising 2021 and quickly become viable pretenders to Limerick’s throne again.

“I know the (county) championship is on and you’d love to have a person in place, but it’s important they pick the right person,” Farrell stressed.

“It’s funny, down here in Galway, last year we were being touted as the second team to Limerick; now we’re way down the list.

“But I can tell you, if they get organised, they’ll be there or thereabouts. It’s a matter of getting the right person in and getting the whole thing reorganised and back into shape.”

The county has been without a manager for the past four weeks, ever since Limerick native Shane O’Neill called time on his two-year reign, one that bottomed out with summer defeats to Dublin and Waterford.

Former boss Micheál Donoghue, who ended Galway’s 29-year Liam MacCarthy famine in 2017 only to step down two years ago, was widely presumed to be gearing up for a comeback . . . but he exited the race earlier this week.


That leaves a handful of local candidates – and one potential box-office ‘outsider’ in Davy Fitzgerald.

Deteriorating relations with some elements of the hierarchy were widely seen as a factor in Donoghue’s 2019 departure, and his latest withdrawal has intensified the pressure on Galway GAA chiefs.

Whereas there was “no official list given of what names were nominated or who they were interviewing or who was on the interview panel, everyone assumed that it was Micheál’s to take,” Farrell pointed out.

“It’s a crossroads and a big appointment,” he added. “They need to get it right. That’s why, to be fair, everyone was saying they’ve a championship on, why haven’t they a person in already? But you can’t do it that fast.

“If it goes wrong, it’s going to affect it for years. There’s a lot of talent around the place.”

Many of the current Galway group have been “there a long time” and the panel needs reinvigoration, he accepted. But even the addition of a few young players, and a new manager, can “get a buzz going” again.

“I keep saying, they’re looking at the U-20s but they should be searching a little bit from the 20-to-25 9 (age bracket). There’s a group there that is kind of lost and they’re good hurlers – and physically strong.


“Like, the U-20s now or U-17s, they’re not men yet, they’re only filling into their bodies. But there’s a group around that are developed.

“I can tell you, if the right guy gets in and gives confidence to some of these guys, they could fly. The guys themselves don’t even realise it.

“Get the right man, because the hurlers will come,” Farrell advised. “And whoever gets in, back them to the hilt, you have to do that.”

Davy Fitz going to be Galway manager per media in Clare

[Mickmack]

Do you want your girlfriend lifting you off the couch to put you to bed every night?'


Pádraic Maher has laid out in stark terms the risk he would have faced in continuing his hurling career with a serious neck injury.



    
THU, 03 FEB, 2022 - 13:52
JOHN FOGARTY
Pádraic Maher has laid out in stark terms the risk he would have faced in continuing his hurling career with a serious neck injury.

After announcing his retirement from the sport on Tuesday, Tipperary’s three-time All-Ireland winner will speak to more specialists in the coming days but the decision to play on was already taken out of his hands by medical experts such as his county and club doctor Paul Ryan.

“The list was very eye-opening,” he revealed of the potential injuries had he continued on. “He only listed off what the damage could be, especially when you are working in the head and neck area. He put it to me, ‘Do you want your girlfriend lifting you off the couch to put you to bed every night?’ It was that extreme so when he started talking like that, I said, this is a fairly black and white decision for me.

“Thankfully, the risk has been taken away, please God, and with the bit of guidance from the medics going forward I will have a perfectly healthy life to live.”

Although it’s not certain whether it was a new injury or an old one that was aggravated, it’s believed Maher suffered the neck difficulty in training between the county semi-final and drawn final against Loughmore-Castleiney last November.

The 32-year-old, who can no longer involve himself in any contact sports, experienced neck pain and headaches shortly afterwards. “It only came upon me in November around the time we were playing the county final. I was still training and putting the body under stress, so I was playing every couple of weeks but it died off then after we were beaten in the replay and naturally enough stopped training. The doctor asked me to take it handy and the pain subsided. I’d get an odd headache every now and again but it wouldn’t stop me doing anything.



“But in fairness to Paul Ryan, he said to me before I went back to training (with Tipp) to check that everything was working okay, and basically just ticking a box, really.

Thankfully, he did do it because this is what came out of it. Unfortunately, it is not the best news to get, in a way for my own health going forward, I’m glad to have done what I have done.”

For a player who never missed a championship game for Tipperary from 2009 to 2021, Maher appreciates there is irony in his career being finished by an injury. “Very unlucky but very lucky at the same time.”

As he looks to fill the gap left by hurling in the coming months, the Limerick-based Garda doesn’t expect the problem to impact on his occupation. “The doctor said to me I was walking in as a fit 32-year-old and everything is working relatively alright. I asked what my health was going to be like going forward, and he said I’d be fine once I took the risk out of it, and the risk is contact sport.

“Going forward, I hope everything works perfectly, and the way the doctor put it to me was the risk has been taken away so hopefully it doesn’t get any worse. But I will be monitored for a while and be in touch with plenty of medics in the time being.

“I’ve been told I can still do loads of exercising. I can still go running, I can still go swimming and cycling and it’s just maybe certain things in the gym I won’t be able to do now. I can’t push too hard in the gym or do contact, but I can still do plenty more, which is great too.

“It’s going to be some void to fill alright, being gone four or five nights a week and building up to big games at the weekend. So it’s going to be strange. I would have been fairly keen on golf when I was younger and as the GAA got more serious I would have pulled back. The golf clubs are there, I’d have to dust them off but I’ll get them back off.

“Squash and stuff, I’d love to be able to play but I’d have to speak with the medics again. I don’t know if I can be twisting or turning or moving my neck too sharply but there’s still loads for me to do between work and the coffee shop. I’ll be trying to get the (golf) handicap down as well, that’s for sure. The last time I finished up it was 12, but that’s well gone now and I’d be hoping to get back up to 18.”

[Mickmack]

Laochra Gael on Joe Quaid was excellent tonight. Well worth a watch.

[horsebox77]

Laochra Gael is an excellent programme by an top notch TV channel.

I find Laochra Gael a very honest and genuine programme, extremely insightful and as the old man would say 'thought provoking"

But ya, this week's edition was an excellent watch, they didn't mention club much, what club was he?

If only TG4 re-ran All Ireland Gold we'd be laughing - Seriously though other national channels could learn a lot from them

[Mickmack]

Feoghenagh i think. East of New castlewest. Nicky plays with Effin. All small rural clubs.

[Mickmack]

Limerick All-Ireland winner Séamus Hickey rejects the view that the county’s hurlers are a “dirty” team but accepts that they have in recent years “strayed over” the line between physicality and foul play.

The former All Star, who retired in 2018, was speaking at a press call for the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup final, which takes place on Saturday. He was asked about the fall-out from Limerick’s defeat by Galway in the league and the sending-off of Gearóid Hegarty.

This triggered some speculation about Limerick’s disciplinary track record with former Cork hurler and RTE pundit Dónal Óg Cusack saying that Hegarty “had it coming,” because of his “habit of flicking back with the hurley. You can’t do it. He’s been lucky over the last number of years.”

Hickey made the point that the standard for physicality had been set by the Kilkenny team of the previous two decades.

“I think that the standard has been set for over a decade for what is required in senior intercounty hurling and that physicality and intensity was set early on in the 2000s by a phenomenal team and even when we were looking at Galway’s rise to prominence in the 2010s, that was based on an increased physicality, an increased intensity and I suppose they were men of great stature, great physicality.


“Limerick, we are fortunate to have big men, very physical men and they’re encouraged – certainly when I was in the set-up, we were encouraged to make contact, to be physical. And it is a game of contact and physicality and you’ll find that the more contact you make with the opposition, the more disruptive you are.”

“Now, you have to do that within the rules so you’re coached in correct tackle technique but the reality is that when you’re putting an emphasis on intensity and physicality, you’re going to stray over it. And I think Limerick have strayed over it in the last couple of years but, to me, to no major consequence.


“I don’t think they’re dirty. I think there’s definitely a burden that comes with handling the attention and the intensity of what the other team is throwing at you and really the aim of the underdog is to get under the skin of the favourites. So, to me, that’s part of it.”

Increased scrutiny
He was also asked had it been a good thing that the issue had been highlighted at a non-critical stage of the year or did he feel that it meant increased scrutiny from now on?

“Is it something that could hurt them in the summertime, in the heat of championship? It is possible, absolutely it is because if you play on the edge then it is the referee’s interpretation of the physicality and the playing of the game that could ultimately decide the moment but it’s the same for every team. Limerick ultimately have to play by the rules. If you break the rules there’s a consequence.”

Speaking about the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup, Hickey outlined the huge contribution it had made to the success of Limerick by acting effectively as a finishing school for up-and-coming hurlers.

“When I was playing (Fitzgibbon) I was the only Limerick hurler on the UL panel for nearly four years. It changed then towards the end. We had a couple of Limerick players on the panel when we won it in 2011 but between 2012 and the present day, we’ve had really, really good representation across a number of teams, winning teams.

“Mary Immaculate, UL, LIT obviously, or (as it is now) Technical University of Shannon: I think the last 10 years have been really, really good. Having more Limerick players represented on the strong Fitzgibbon teams definitely was an advantage when it came to building a team, building standards.


“Having players that were able to excel at the highest level in colleges - when I look at the likes of Aaron Gillane, he was with us in late 2016, peripheral on the panel, a young guy who hadn’t a huge pedigree from under-age and then absolutely lit it up for Mary I in the Fitzgibbon when they won it I think in 2018, the year we won the All-Ireland.”

[Mickmack]

No one complains about Limericks physicality.

Its just that there has been 3 of 4 instances where the hurley was used to hurt opponents in recent years. The year they beat Waterford Hegarty slapped Austin Gleeson in the testicles with the hurl. Last year he gave an opponent a slap with the hurl as a group of players went high to fetch a ball. I am fairly sure he did something to Joe Canning too.

Last week in a melee he used the hurl as a weapon.

Arron Gillane turned around and pulled across his man last year...probably in retaliation for something.

[clarinman]

Feb 18, 2022 9:11:50 GMT Mickmack said:

No one complains about Limericks physicality.

Its just that there has been 3 of 4 instances where the hurley was used to hurt opponents in recent years. The year they beat Waterford Hegarty slapped Austin Gleeson in the testicles with the hurl. Last year he gave an opponent a slap with the hurl as a group of players went high to fetch a ball. I am fairly sure he did something to Joe Canning too.

Last week in a melee he used the hurl as a weapon.

Arron Gillane turned around and pulled across his man last year...probably in retaliation for something.

I agree Mick, people have no problem with Limerick as a team but Hegarty should have received several red cards over the last few seasons. A lot of his hits are late and nasty.

[Mickmack]

this was the goal by Mikey Kiely of Waterford to put UL into the Fitzgibbon Cup final.

The teams were level in injury time today when he got another goal to win the final for UL.


NUIG were 4 up with 4 minutes to go when Cian Lynch of NUIG was sent off for nothing...

UL took over then and hit 1.04

[Mickmack]

Cian Lynch wearing 11 got a straight red for that!

[Mickmack]

Cian Lynchs red card has been rescinded too.

[veteran]

People are often critical of Kerry’s backs being wide open when directly run at but it is rare you see a back line being decimated down the middle like Cork were tonight against Waterford . They conceded four goals and if the referee wasn’t so hasty with the whistle it would have been five. Every time the Waterford lads galloped down the middle you felt there was another goal on the way. Cork will need to do a lot of remedial work with their central defence before the Limerick game.

Another worry for Cork is the fear that the imitable Pat Horgan’s glitter might becoming a little dulled. The legs don’t appear to be as nimble as of yore. Also I wonder if Cork are putting too much emphasis on sheer pace in attack. They could do with a mullocker or two like Willie Walsh , Tim Crowley etc. Seamus Harnedy seems to be in the decline.

It appears that Liam Cahill made the right choice , eschewing a return to Tipp. All achieved tonight without the mercurial golden boy, Austin Gleason. One has to be happy for them.

[Mickmack]

Waterford may not have the best first 15 in hurling but I think they have possibly the best panel now.

[thehermit]

Mad to think Cork haven't a League title to their name since 98 and its getting perilously close to 20 years without Liam too.

Waterford are looking really good at the minute, no surprise if they end up meeting Limerick in the All Ireland final. Would be brilliant for hurling for the Desie to end their famine.

Should have stuck with the hurling tonight rather than watching Munster surrender on their home soil and be humiliated yet again

[Mickmack]

I had an interesting chat with a Corkman. He said refs in Cork club games 'blow for everything'. Light nippy hurlers are protected.

When they don the red jersey however and come up against refs from other counties the same players are 'blown out of it' as a lot more is let go.