Teams with the courage to play will win the day
SKILL and substance will triumph over system and structure at hurling’s great festival this weekend.
Of course, I could be accused of letting my heart rule my head on this, but I don’t believe that to be the case.
I could still be a little giddy after l ast Sunday, when I sat and watched a game of football and found that, for once, instead of reaching for Pat Spillane’s sick bucket I was reminded why the game once charmed me as Kerry and Cork went at it hell for leather.
Then I realised why, even at its best, that game could only ever be the matinee to the real blockbuster: Kilkenny and Galway. They went at each other in a game of such thunderous physicality and jaw- dropping skill that every bit of crankiness was bled f rom my bones.
Those two games reaffirmed my belief that teams who have the courage to go and play not only produce performances that are easy on the eye but, ultimately, they will also enjoy success.
This weekend we will witness a festival in Thurles — inside 24 hours we will see five games in total played there — and while I am duty- bound to make the obvious point that the rest of us have fields with goalposts as well, which we would like to see gainfully employed, it should be something to treasure.
The headline act is tomorrow’s Munster final which will pit an unbeaten Waterford team against, when on form, a near unbeatable Tipperary team. It is a final of delicious contrasts: Waterford will lean on a defensive system and a massive work ethic which have been spectacularly successful in taking them this far.
It is a credit to Derek McGrath, and while I might not subscribe to their over- dependence on a system, their presence at the game’s top table can only be applauded.
And they are more than just a chalk-and-blackboard team. Anyone who has witnessed the sight of Tadhg de Burca, Austin Gleeson and Kevin Moran hurling up a storm will know that they are gloriously a flesh-and-blood team too.
But, ultimately, they will invest their faith in a game-plan that will seek protection from a heavily-manned defence, which might work well in theory, but when you invite this Tipperary team onto you there can only be hell to pay.
Once Bonner Maher gets into his stride he will take two men to mark him just to make it an equal fight. And when Séamus Callanan explodes there is no insurance that can account for the damage he can do, while Bubbles O’Dwyer is shaping up for a ‘Player of the Year’ season.
But the thing about Tipperary is, and they showed it against Limerick, not only have they players of exceptional quality, but they also have it in them to get down and dirty, win the hard ball and make it count.
I would like to tell you that this will be tight, but the truth is that this will be a sobering jolt for Waterford, one that might just take the legs from beneath them for this summer at least.
As Cork are freshly signed up to a system — they employed Mark Ellis as a sweeper last weekend against Wexford while they withdrew Pat Horgan to the half-forward line —
you could argue that their meeting with Clare today is two system teams going head-to-head. If that is the case, we could end up watching a game of chess, but I don’t believe that will be the case.
People forget that it was against Cork that Davy Fitzgerald cast the shackles aside in 2013 and he was rewarded with a Championship. I think the sight of a fit-again Conor McGrath will make Fitzgerald realise that with players of the talent of Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell
and t he under- r ated Shane Golden, his team has so much ability and Cork are likely to be so uncomfortable in their structured skin, that they will find a lot of joy if they just go for it.
The truth is that Clare will win this game either way, because if this becomes a board game — or should that read bored — Cork are merely dabbling in draughts while eyeballing master chess players.
However, if Clare are to take their game to the level that they can challenge Tipperary and Kilkenny, they will need to lean on their ability rather than what they believe to be tactical nous, and the sooner they get their players to shed that false comfort blanket the better.
Finally, in a game between two limping teams, Limerick have been gifted a perfect chance at getting some momentum back in their season by drawing Dublin.
Not everyone i n my county believes that — their performance
last weekend against Westmeath was so woeful, and such has been the chopping and changing to the team, it has added to the sense that chaos reigns.
Part of the reason I believe they will win is down to the gut, but I’m also confident for them due to the return of Kevin Downes alongside Shane Dowling which will provide them with the option to play the direct style of hurling which fits comfortably with the county’s mind-set.
In contrast, I don’t see anything comfortable in the manner in which Dublin are playing, and Ger Cunningham’s tactical fingerprints are all over t hem, with an obsession for moving the ball by hand which makes them look slow and cumbersome at times.
That is not the way the game is supposed to be played. This weekend provides the opportunity for that message to be driven home more than once.
Tipp have it in them to win hard ball This will be a sobering jolt for Waterford