Treaty men get a little help from rugby’s Earls in pursuit
WHILE all the talk around this All-Ireland final is the huge youthful contingent of the Limerick side — who received a pep talk from Ireland rugby star Keith Earls — defending champions Galway are fairly fresh-faced themselves.
Manager Michael Donoghue revealed that sprinkling a little senior experience down through the underage ranks has helped build a culture of a pathway to the senior squad.
“It was one of the big rocks for us when we took the job that we wanted to be competing at the highest level as much as we could,” said Donoghue.
“That’s the goal. It was paramount that we got massive connectivity and structures between the teams. We had that strong relationship with Tony Ward with the U21s, and even going down to the U17s with Jeff Lynskey.
“We had Cyril Donnellan involved and Fergal Healy. Two prominent players. Cyril was obviously involved in our own setup. He knows what goes on in the senior set-up and relays that. That’s a good foundation to start with.”
Judging from the progress of all elite teams that reach the All-Ireland finals, conditioning is playing an ever-increasing role and Galway’s foresight at securing the services of Polish strength and conditioning expert Lucasz Kirszenstein and using him right through the underage system has been remarkable.
At one point it seemed Munster Rugby were poised to poach the Pole, but Galway have him now on a long-term deal.
Galway haven’t lost a championship game in two years. Their last defeat was a one-point reverse to Tipperary in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final. Donoghue says he had no issue keeping his troops motivated following last September’s breakthrough.
“I think for us with the new structure and everything starting earlier, and with the way the year finished for us and the break and so on, getting back into it probably took us a bit longer.
“But I think once we were open with the group and everybody really knew where we were, we put a timescale on this is where we had to be at this particular time. We just used the league to get through it again and it’s funny given it’s two Division 1B teams in the final.”
Opponents Limerick are in their first final since 2007 and seeking their first title since 1973.
Treaty county manager John Kiely knows how the county can be gripped with the weight of expectation, having been a member of the extended panel in 1994, when they suffered a calamitous defeat to Offaly.
They lost only one game in the newly-structured Munster Championship this year — a classic against Cork in the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh — but recovered to defeat them in the All-Ireland semi-final, a game many are keen to hail as the best-ever of the modern era.
That it was achieved with 11 of Kiely’s successful All-Ireland winning under-21 team from 2015 tells us about their dedication to the manager and their hunger for more.