The only way to dethrone All-Ireland champions Limerick is to throw caution to the wind and high press the four-in-a-row seekers into submission. So says former Galway ace, Joe Canning.
The Treaty men slipped quietly out of Salthill with a five-point win over Canning's countymen on Sunday and the former All Star forward reckons the Munster champions were simply given too much room to maneuvre around Pearse Park.
"Limerick had too much space in the backs especially," Canning said on RTÉ2's League Sunday programme. "Cian Lynch got on a numerous amount of ball on his own. Barry Nash got on loads of ball.
Many teams go into a meeting with Limerick with a sense somewhere between trepidation and terror. But Canning - and his fellow panellist, ex-Kilkenny star Jackie Tyrrell - believe you must speculate to accumulate if you want to take over at the top of hurling's totem pole.
"If you push out on the Limerick defence, their midfield, their half-forward line and half-back line, full-back line, it just might take away the quality of ball into their full-forward line.
"If you can slow down the quality of ball going up the field, all the better. Teams are sitting off them and they have acres of space. Kyle Hayes got three points nearly on his own in the first half.
Joe Canning on why teams in the league should take a risk and "push up on the Limerick defence, their midfield, half-forward line and half-back line" #rtegaa #allianzleagues #hurling pic.twitter.com/MqVHaAAeX1
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 26, 2023
"I just think, especially in the league, why not try it, just go all out... Cork tried it, their two wing backs pushed up totally and it nullified the two wing-forwards, particularly in the second half.
"No team has really tried it for a full match yet - and why not?
"There is an element of risk to the full-back line. But at the same time, if you can make it a 50-50 ball from outside instead of a 70-30 ball that you're facing now. Every full-back or corner back would prefer a 50-50 ball, where you can get a flick in, instead of that great ball they're facing now - that's the problem.
Tyrrell backed up Canning's assertion and pointed to last year's All-Ireland semi-final clash between the two sides when Galway ran Limerick to three points.
"If you look at it one on one, Fintan Burke did it on Gearóid Hegarty last year in the All-Ireland semi-final," Tyrrell argued. "For 70 minutes I watched him, he never left him alone, he did a outstanding job.
"Then you see in the All-Ireland final when [Kilkenny's] Paddy Deegan dropped off him, Gearóid Hegarty practically won the game on his own - scored 1-04 and ran riot.
"It's a hard one to call. You need to press them hard then back your full-back line to attack the ball and get out in front."
