Tribe now hunted by pack: Con
CONOR HAYES has warned the Tribesmen that pretenders to the crown are now queuing up to have their chance at beating the All-ireland champions.
According to Hayes, who captained Galway to consecutive Liam Maccarthy’s in 1987 and ’88, Micheal Donoghue faces a tricky juggling act to avoid the pitfalls that all champions are presented with.
Galway’s 15-game winning run came to an end last Sunday at Pearse Stadium against John Kiely’s Limerick which denied them promotion for a second year in a row.
“Galway are coming at it from a different angle this year, they are the targeted team. That was always the way with All-ireland champions,” said Hayes, who also managed Galway to the 2005 All-ireland final.
“Galway are that team now, every team will benchmark against them. It used to be Kilkenny and Tipperary, but most teams will look at Galway now.
“You are always expecting for teams to have their best performances against the All-ireland champions. Everyone wants to have a go at them. Galway are under that constant pressure now.
“After we won, the ’88 the season told on us in the end. Cyril Farrell kept playing the best team all the time because he didn’t want us to be beaten. Maybe we didn’t try enough newer lads, it was hard to strike a balance.
“As champions everyone had great respect for you, but fancy themselves to take you on too. Galway will find a good bit of that this year.”