TOO EARLY TO BLOOM
Limerick’s red-hot spring form might see them wilting later, warns Tyrrell
“They’re nearly going too well for me now”
MUCH like he played, Jackie Tyrrell still prefers the hard pull to a sugared stroke.
Limerick call to Nowlan Park tomorrow in a contest that is easily peddled as the match of this weekend’s third-round Allianz HL programme.
Tyrrell, looking through his ninetime All-Ireland-winning lenses, is not for hyping it up though, suggesting that tomorrow’s game is a contest between two teams who, right now, are not in the All-Ireland frame.
Considering one of those teams is the unbeaten All-Ireland champions and the other is Kilkenny, predictions don’t come packaged much bolder. He knows it too. ‘I don’t see them in the top three. I think you have Clare, Galway and Tipperary — I don’t see Kilkenny or Limerick in that bracket at the minute. ‘I just don’t have them in there. ‘John Kiely will be sitting at home rubbing his hands together when he hears that,’ says the fourtime All-Star.
But he is not saying it for fun. Not that he been unimpressed by Limerick, in fact it is because he has been so impressed that he just does not believe that Kiely’s team will be capable of sustaining their current form right through the whole year.
‘I am a little surprised, yeah,’ he admits, when quizzed on the champions’ early-season form.
‘But when you win an All-Ireland, the confidence it gives you is unbelievable.
‘And that’s not to be understated, it propels you forward.
‘You just want to stay hurling. You saw they went out to Boston and they cleaned the floor with everyone out there. They were enjoying themselves and it was great to see.
‘They’re on a conveyor belt right and there’s a lot of good things going on in Limerick hurling and if you’re a player, you want to be a front-runner in that.
‘But I wouldn’t be really getting too carried away by Limerick just yet. It’s a long year. I don’t see them winning the All-Ireland this year, I really don’t.
‘They’re nearly going too well for me now.
‘I know we can only analyse what we see in front of us but I wouldn’t be getting too excited just yet.
‘I would be wrapping some of those lads in cotton wool and holding them back a bit,’ suggests Tyrrell. What astonishes about that analysis is Tyrrell was part of a group whose greatness was rooted in the perception that there was no game that they did not believe was not worth winning. Of the nine League titles won on Brian Cody’s watch thus far, six were followed by the Liam McCarthy Cup the same year. Tyrrell (below) was there for all six doubles which suggests that going hard early in the season had no negative consequences.
However, he insists that as players they were always conscious that they had something extra left in the tank for the summer.
‘It’s not something we ever spoke about,’ he admits.
‘God, if Brian got wind that you were holding back a small bit, you’d be holding back for the rest of your career because you wouldn’t be there anymore.
‘But I think sub-consciously, you always knew what stage you were at any given point in the year.
‘You knew by Brian’s body language. When we trained from January to March, Brian would stand there with his woolly hat on. He’d just be watching fellas. Fast forward that to the middle of June when he’s in a t-shirt and the sweat is rolling off his head and he’s stuck right in the middle of it.
‘You can tell by body language where you are and what’s expected on any given night and I would say we were conscious of that.’
If Tyrrell’s analysis of Limerick is that they are not tapering their season to make the most out of it, his concern for his own is that they are just not ready yet.
‘Of course they can win the AllIreland, but do I think they will? I don’t think they’re there just now.
‘I’d like to see more of the League — will Richie Leahy come on and be a mainstay, will the get full-back position sorted, how will Cillian (Buckley) and Richie Hogan come back.
‘There are a few questions there that need to be answered.’
Kilkenny will hope that what is left of the spring will go some way to doing just that.
They need to build from the back, which is why so many eyes are currently fixed on Huw Lawlor at full-back.
If that works out, it could allow Pádraig Walsh to be released to a more advanced position where his potential to hurt the opposition would be accentuated.
Tyrrell, ever the corner-back, counsels caution.
‘It’s Russian Roulette in there right now.
‘And I understand why people want Pádraig out the field but there’s no point putting Pádraig out the field if we’re conceding two or three handy goals inside.
‘I think Brian will give Huw most of the League to see can he do it and he’ll make a decision near the end on it,’ said Tyrrell.
That defence could have a completely new-look spine this summer, with Cillian Buckley’s fitness a concern — he continues to be hampered by a knee problem — but they are not shy on options.
‘I’d really like to see Conor Delaney tried at centre-back. I saw a lot of him with the club last year and he was very good.
‘We really don’t know what’s happening with Cillian or when he’ll be back and I’m sure Brian will be anxious to have cover in all those positions.’
But Cody’s challenge in ensuring that his Kilkenny team is primed for a genuine tilt at the All-Ireland is developing an attack with a far broader scoring threat.
And Tyrrell believes that this could be a defining season for one emerging Kilkenny forward.
‘I really like Richie Leahy. The dynamism he has, being able to run at players. I’m very hopeful for him.
‘‘Kilkenny have some really good young players coming through at the moment and Richie Leahy could be the big one for us this year.
‘We need a couple of young players now to emerge and become mainstays.’
Tomorrow is as good a day as any to do just that.