DUIGNAN: LIMERICK CAN ADD TO RICHES
Adding League to All-Ireland title would underscore Limerick class
OF the 13,000 or so who travelled to Nowlan Park for the Allianz Hurling League semi-finals, one group in particular was there on a fact-finding mission. As former juvenile chairman of Ballinamere-Durrow, I was interested to hear that our club coaching officer Pat Cleary had organised a club initiative, inviting all interested coaches to head to Kilkenny. With our adult team set to make its bow in the Offaly senior hurling championship in the next couple of weeks with great strides having been made at underage level, this was part of an attempt to modernise our approach to coaching. To look at the top four teams – All-Ireland champions Limerick against Dublin and Galway against Waterford – and see how they are playing the game. In was an opportunity to pick out the good, the bad and the indifferent from a coaching perspective.
The feeling I got from Pat afterwards was one of disappointment with the amount of short passing involved, the breakdown of moves, and the number of rucks and turnovers that characterised the games – the Limerick-Dublin tie in particular. In an interview after game, Treaty County manager John Kiely said his side committed more players to the ruck in the second half, and later admitted that it was a frustrating match in many ways.
On Sunday night I tweeted in agreement to Pat’s observation on the short passing. Turns out that same issue was echoed by the coaches. Because there has to be an acknowledgement that what goes on in inter-county hurling sometimes isn’t applicable on the club scene.
At the very elite level, if you go short, then short again, that most likely means that a player has to break the tackle, give the pass, then his teammate must break another tackle or give it to a support runner on his shoulder. It requires a huge level of skill, control and precision – not to mention strength to beat the man and conditioning to play that running game.
Clubs don’t have the personnel to carry that off. Without the levels of skill, the move will inevitably break down and look terrible. This is not the game of hurling we want.
There is another general issue as well. As an overall spectacle, a game like Limerick-Dublin becomes defined by the extra defender and the large number of bodies thumping into each other in the middle third. It takes from the amount of goalmouth action with players often resorting to shooting from distance. Diarmaid Byrnes won the man-of-the-match award but his arms nearly fell off from hitting balls. The debate over the weight of the sliotar and how far it now flies is another part of it all.
A word of warning then to coaches all over the country: don’t copy this template, unless you’re sure you have the personnel to pull it off.
If clubs all over the country try to ape the same model of play, it could be detrimental to the game. Inevitably, it’s going to lead to more rucks, mauls and scrums with lads fighting for possession like on a
rugby field. Of course, there is value in a sweeper when conditions dictate, or you want to frustrate a team like Limerick as Mattie Kenny’s Dublin did, as it can keep the underdog in the game until the end.
The general consensus from our coaches though was that it would suit better to play a more mixed game. Use the short pass to get out of trouble but that we’d also like to move the ball quicker. At the same time, our delegation was taken by the physique and skill level of the county players.
Forwards want the ball played quickly and into space. Aaron Gillane, Graeme Mulcahy and Seamus Flanagan showed how much of a threat they carry, even against a team using a sweeper, especially on the end of diagonal passes when support runners move into the space.
Limerick won a truly brilliant AllIreland Championship last year with a style that mixed a short game so effectively with direct ball to the forwards. Last year, it was more short, short, long – it was the third and fourth short pass last weekend that was adding to supporters’ frustration and I think you’ll need a slightly more direct approach against Waterford in this afternoon’s League final at Croke Park.
I wouldn’t judge Limerick too harshly on last Sunday’s display as it seemed Dublin caught them by surprise. Kenny’s side were hugely motivated and had some outstanding defensive displays, Eoghan O’Donnell giving one of them. They had the extra defender but worked so hard up front, forced Limerick into that extra passing.
At times in this year’s League, the All-Ireland champions have looked too comfortable. They were guilty of overdoing things in the quarterfinal against Laois.
And yet some of their play was sublime. Cian Lynch’s touches were incredible in the way he moved the ball around. Ultimately, his vision and reading of the game undid Dublin. His catch and pass for Séamus Flanagan’s goal was sensational.
If there is a worry, it’s that the half-forward line were all replaced, a line which is so important to them in the way they drop deep and link the play.
I’d expect Limerick to move the ball quicker today against a Waterford side that set up in a similar manner. Austin Gleeson has been drifting all over the middle third, Jamie Barron covers every blade of grass in that same area and Páraic Fanning’s side will have runners attacking from deep if they turn over possession.
Waterford won a National League under Derek McGrath – the one medal they had to show for all their efforts. Limerick haven’t won the title since 1997. To hold a League title and the Liam MacCarthy at the same time would be some going.
At the peak of the Kilkenny-Tipperary rivalry, they played out some thrilling League final encounters. I remember Séamus Callanan breaking Brian Hogan’s collarbone with a tackle – that’s the level of intensity that can materialise in these games. So, this is an important standalone match.
Next year’s League has been changed so that it won’t be as competitive and the GAA have to be concerned over attendances which have been dismal in certain cases. Why only 19,000 at the All-Ireland club finals? Why such a low crowd at the Nowlan Park double-header last weekend?
Are people losing interest in going to matches? Has the ticket price increase made a difference?
I’ve argued that for the ordinary supporter, it’s like death by a thousand cuts. It was an unnecessary increase just to balance the books. When the League is over, will it be a case that you have more money but less people attending?
My wishlist for today is for a fullblooded contest. Waterford are still missing a couple of players and were quite sluggish in the first 20 minutes against Galway.
Limerick have shown such winning form, they won’t want to relent. If they are defensively sound and don’t let free-taker Stephen Bennett clock up 13 or 14 points, they can back up their AllIreland with another title.