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Tackling and turnovers in historic heat key to All-Ireland glory

Updated / Friday, 15 Jul 2022 06:39
'You have the two best teams at tackling and turnovers. Say whatever you want about the game, but it is a proven fact that whoever does that more often and more consistently, will generally win'
'You have the two best teams at tackling and turnovers. Say whatever you want about the game, but it is a proven fact that whoever does that more often and more consistently, will generally win'

Before you even start talking about the match, you could start talking about the mad weather that's coming the weekend, the injury to Cian Lynch, or the injury to Hawk-Eye.

Well, it sounds as if Limerick are going to be without the services of hurler of the year Lynch. That’s very harsh on Cian, and you would have to feel sorry for him.

Forget about Limerick, we all want to see the best players playing on the biggest day. The only positive for Limerick is they have been without him all year. In saying that, in a dressing room you always get a bit of a jolt from seeing your main lads togged out, and it is a sucker punch seeing a lad in a full tracksuit.

But Limerick have dealt with adversity and I'm sure this will be no different.

Then Hawk-Eye, well, it was a laughing stock last weekend. It's simple for me: Test it and if it's working, use it, but if they are not 100% confident, forget about it. But they need to let everybody know by today at the latest.

The other thing they need to let people know is how teams can have access to water at the weekend. Again, a reminder that the players are humans and not machines. I would love to see common sense prevail, and allow two maor uisces for each team on Sunday, who can go in and give players water. Thirty degrees will be no fun, and you would think the GAA will come up with something for the safety of the players.

So, onto the main event then. Personally, I don’t get how Limerick are such a warm order? What is it based on? The past or the present? Because if it’s the present, surely their performances against Galway, against Clare, and say against Tipp would make them far from worthy favourites for Sunday.

If it’s the past, it is a different year with a fit Peter Casey and a fit Cian Lynch. What's been most impressive from Limerick, is when the game is in the melting pot, they prevail. The know how, the been-there-done-that, the experience.

At some point in time though, that has to stop. But with the exception of the Cork game which feels like an age ago, and a 15-minute second half spell against Waterford, who didn’t make it out of Munster, they have fallen over the line.

Call it me playing down Limerick if you like, but they are all facts.

Well on the other hand then, you could say the same about Kilkenny. Beaten by Galway in Pearse Stadium, and not just beaten by Wexford, but remember, if the Dubs had overturned Galway on the same day, the Cats could be in Lanzarote on Sunday, and not Croke Park.

But, when they were in Croke Park on Leinster final day, they were average. How could you expect them to blow Clare away in a semi-final after that showing? Well, that’s exactly what happened. Cody unleashed the pack, who had a training weekend in Carton House, a four-week break, and improved dramatically.

Some people will say the biggest battle will take place on the sideline, but I beg to differ. That battle will be won or lost in the 10 days leading up to the game. Who prepared better, who will get their tactics right, who will get the game plan right. That won't happen on Sunday, it's happening as we speak.

You can imagine Paul Kinnerk in a little room, going through hours and hours of footage to find every angle possible to find an inch, but can you imagine Brian Cody doing the same, and has he us all fooled? Does he really like this short ball or will he try attack direct?

Both sides specialise in battling for possession

What you have got is - whatever about the two best teams in the country - you have the two best teams at tackling and turnovers. Say whatever you want about the game, but it is a proven fact that whoever does that more often and more consistently, will generally win.

Of course, you can't lose sight of the importance of scoring, and not missing, which has been the theme of the All-Ireland series. Eoin Cody, TJ Reid, Cian Kenny, Adrian Mullen, only need half a second. Aaron Gillane, Seamus Flanagan, Gearóid Hegarty and Kyle Hayes will punish you before you know it.

So between hits and hardship on opposition, as well as having players who rarely miss, that it is why these two are in the final, and why others will be watching it.

Will Mikey Butler do a man-marking job on Gillane, or do they leave that to Huw Lawlor? Will TJ play out around the middle, or go in at the edge of the square and try repeat what Brian Concannon did?

Will Paddy Deegan try claw balls over Hegarty, or will he go back to the full-back line? Will Kilkenny go man on man like Galway and Clare did and nearly catch them?

But 'nearly' won't do Cody or Kilkenny. Will Limerick claim three in a row, or will we see one of Cody's greatest achievements in his 24 years as manager? One way or another we will most definitely see history being made on Sunday, and by the looks of it, we will all be sweating at the end to see which way it goes.

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