Former Limerick All-Ireland winner Shane Dowling argues that the sloppiness of Galway's hurling in Sunday's loss to Tipperary in Thurles suggested they hadn't much work done and were probably timing themselves to peak later in the year.
The Tribesmen battled their way back from an eight-point second half deficit to tie the game against Tipp in the final few minutes, before a timely couple of points for the hosts was followed by a Gearóid O'Connor penalty to settle the game.
The game saw the return of former Tipp manager and coach Eamon O'Shea, this time as part of the Galway set-up, having been invited into the backroom team by Henry Shefflin in the autumn.
On League Sunday, Liam Sheedy - who was spearheaded the Tipp management team of which O'Shea was part in 2010 and 2019 - said we should wait for summer days to see the extent of his impact on their play.
Dowling, who reckons the five-point margin was flattering to Galway, said we saw little indicator of it during Sunday's game in Thurles.
"We're not going to get carried away two weeks in. But it's year 3 of Henry now and they need something," Dowling told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"They're not that far away. They only need to get minor improvements. You look at the last two years.
"Two years ago, they ran Limerick to the wire. Again last year, for 25 minutes of that first half - and I know a game is played over 75 minutes, not over 25 minutes...
"They have very, very skilful players and very, very skilful forwards. But it hasn't come to fruition on the big days in the last couple of years.
"That's what I'd say Henry is looking for. Can Eamon O'Shea bring that extra couple of percent that's needed? They have the players, they have the quality. But the word consistency has bandied around a fair bit around Galway.
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"They were poor yesterday for large spells. And what they were actually poor at was hurling. Not work ethic or anything like that.
"There were so many balls going to ground, missed passes.
"The question I'm asking is where are they at hurling-wise? I'd say they're a long way away. I'd imagine they haven't a whole pile of work done.
"Like everyone, they're not going to be judged on the league. They need to get major honours this year. They're timing their run for the latter stages.
"It looked to me that they haven't a whole pile of work done based on what their hurling was like yesterday. I thought Tipperary were miles better."
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