Odd fella
Hannon is a huge loss because the role is simply designed for him and anyone else in that role is a poor imitation.
There are two somewhat like for like replacements. If Finn was fit then Dan would come out, as he has done previously whenever Hannon was missing or subbed off. But Galway play a lot of high ball into their full forward line and we need Dan inside for that. He will likely pick up Whelan as well and given he is their main threat shutting him down is paramount.
The other is Nash. When teams play a sweeper against us Nash takes up the Hannon role while Hannon pushs up on the opposition centre forward. So Nash has experience playing the role and is a magnificent hurler. It does take away from our puckouts as he is the natural outlet for short ones and is superb at attacking from corner back in a way that no one else can. But teams have been making sure he isnât getting on the puckouts this year anyway so itâs been somewhat blunted.
Both these options would see Richie come in. Richie is experienced and hurling well. Obviously not as good as the starting 15. But not a bad option either.
Hayes could also play centre back but then you are taking away from your attacking outlet. It would also likely mean Coughlan comes in and I just donât think he is good enough. Hayes would also play centre back differently, he would be much more attacking. May not be a bad thing. But it would be a change of tactics. A left field option here would be Hego back to 7 instead. Then youâd still have the attacking platform from 7 and maybe it might free Hego up a bit. He used to play there so it wouldnât be completely mental. But itâs a risky move.
Lynch at 6 is an option too, but itâs not clear if he is even fit to play. Lynch could play anywhere obviously. But again itâs a high risk move given he hasnât looked right even when he was playing.
DOD the other option. Might be a runner. Great hurling brain and options in midfield with English and Reidy or possibly Lynch if fit. But again you are taking a lot from midfield then where he is a key cog in the wheel.
Long and short of it is thereâs no move you can make without weakening your hand somewhere else. I think Nash to 6 is the least disruptive.
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Iâll read that in morning when Iâm sober.
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I would think Lynch to 6 is a bit mad but then if he canât run much it might be ideal for him
It would certainly be a bold move. But your CB doesnât really do much marking these days
Or running?
I cannot see Cian Lynch going to 6. No chance mate.
I didnât suggest it was likely.
It isnât an option at all in fairness.
There is a pile of alternatives ahead of that. The rest of your post is reasonable. Richie English starting would be a real concern though in terms of corner back options on the bench. Its a tricky one.
I do think like for like Nash is the most suitable replacement but its risky as he hasnt really been tested there especially in a game like this. WOD or DOD maybe are more suitable if we can shore up the midfield.
Lot of questionsâŚ
A lot of Hannonâs game is linking play and distributing
Lynch would be well able to start attacks from there - wouldnât be shocked if they bring him in there as it does not hugely disrupt any other line
Barry Nash also a good option - well
Able to play the position.
Canât see them pushing Kyle to 6 and we need to firepower of Hego in attack
You may aswell have copied & pasted that Jack Neville piece a few weeks back, he even suggested Nickie Quaid.
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Us Ballystionions think alike
Ronan Lynch!
Ronan Lynch!
Ronan Lynch!
Do they even play hurling in Ballysteen?
Football is Ballysteen. Hurling is Askeaton
Fair enough, junior A?
Ya. The last bastion of hurling on the n69
I was doing the rounds in Limerick today and I have very important news for the forum. Hannon will be starting on Saturday.
Cian Lynch is also tearing it up in training. limerick by 8.
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Can someone post the full article please
Tribesmen canât blink this time around
Shefflin has a lot of calls to get right but Galway have the capacity to finally push Limerick over the edge
JAMESIE OâCONNOR
Henry Shefflin and John Kiely probably spent most of this weekend finalising their preparations for next Saturdayâs mouth-watering All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Galway and Limerick.
Maybe theyâre away in camp this weekend, maybe theyâve stayed home, but game plans, tactics, match-ups, team selection â all the big decisions are likely to have been made by the time you get around to reading this.
With Kiely, now in year seven, and his side making their sixth consecutive appearance at this stage of the competition, Limerickâs formula is unlikely to have changed; something Kiely referenced in his post-match interview after the Munster final. They know what works, and his players would have had a pretty good idea of what their schedule for the four weeks after winning the provincial title was going to look like.
Itâs somewhat different for Henry. On one level, in just his second year at the helm, heâs a lot newer to this than his counterpart in Limerick. But on another, has anyone entered inter-county management with the same level of big-game experience as the Ballyhale man?
I canât think of a better example that encapsulates the point Iâm trying to make, than the 2012 All-Ireland final draw with Galway, so bear with me. Having already beaten Kilkenny in that yearâs Leinster final, Galway were out of the blocks quickly, got the fast start they needed, and such was their dominance, the Cats had only two points on the board at the end of the first quarter.
I was in the press box with a birdâs-eye view of the field, and was shocked at the space the Galway forwards were creating. Tommy Walsh and the Kilkenny half-back line had been dragged all over the place, and at one point there was 100 yards of space in front of the Kilkenny full-back line. I couldnât believe what I was seeing. There was so much experience, and so many All-Ireland medals in the Kilkenny defence (players like JJ Delaney, Tommy, Brian Hogan, Jackie Tyrrell etc), and yet Galway were completely dictating the terms of engagement, clogging the space at one end and creating oceans of it at the other.
Luckily from a Kilkenny perspective, one move â one player â transformed matters. Shefflin had started the match at corner-forward, and irrespective of whether he took it upon himself or it came from management, his switch to centre-forward after about 20 minutes, turned the game on its head. It didnât take him long to diagnose what was happening. Within seconds, he was barking at his wing-forwards and midfielders ordering them back out the field on the Galway puck-out. He was spiky and narky and defiant, but Kilkenny got their shape back. With their half-forwards deeper, the midfielders were further back and crucially, the Kilkenny half-back line was able to sit on their own 45, tucked an awful lot closer to JJ, Jackie and Co in the last line of defence.
Brian Codyâs record speaks for itself, but from where I was watching, nothing or no-one changed the match more that day than Shefflin. It was arguably the greatest feat of on-field generalship in a big match that Iâve seen. If it hadnât happened, Kilkenny were dead and buried. Galway were lucky to escape with a draw, and Kilkenny won the replay pulling up.
Itâs one thing, seeing what needs to be done and doing it on the field as a player. Itâs a completely different thing to devise a plan to get the job done in the modern game as a manager. Last weekend, Shefflin got both absolutely spot on. After conceding four goals in the Leinster final, come hell or high water, there was no way Galway were going to allow themselves to be opened up at the back by Tipp. Playing Cathal Mannion as a plus one, in a deep-lying midfield, role, and with every one of their defenders touch tight in their marking, Galway completely neutralised the Tipperary attack.
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Now Shefflin finds himself pitted against arguably the sharpest tactical brain in the game in Limerickâs Paul Kinnerk. Plan A worked a treat against Tipp â but Tipp needed to get goals to win. Limerick have repeatedly shown they donât. At any rate, if Galway do what they did against Tipp, and go with the same plan, Kinnerk will have already figured out how to beat it. Galway better have Plans B and C ready. Even then, thereâs no one in the game in my mind, better at making those in-game adjustments than Kinnerk.
Thereâs no doubt that the champions have lost the cloak of invincibility surrounding them after blowing Kilkenny away in the league final. How much has that bruising Munster campaign taken out of them? How much have they left in the tank?
Minus both SeĂĄn Finn and Declan Hannon, and with doubts still lingering over Cian Lynchâs hamstring injury, Limerick are weaker than they were this time last year. Lynch clearly hasnât been right, and GearĂłid Hegarty hasnât hit anything close to his best form. SĂŠamus Flanagan and Peter Casey have been inconsistent, so outside of Tom Morrissey whoâs been as dependable as ever, and Aaron Gillane, whoâs come good when theyâve really needed him, theyâve found it harder to score as freely. Itâs been their defence, and Nickie Quaid and the full-back line in particular that have kept them on track.
Hannonâs injury means there will be further readjustments at the back. Itâs possible that Richie English comes into the corner with Mike Casey going to full-back. That would mean Mr Dependable, Dan Morrissey, slotting into Hannonâs role. Morrissey, however, has been outstanding on the edge of the square, and with Finn gone, I think theyâll be inclined to leave him there, especially with Conor Whelan in the hurler of the year conversation. The other option is to switch Kyle Hayes or Diarmaid Byrnes to six with Colin Coughlan coming in on the wing.
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If Lynch is fit, he presumably starts. That would be harsh on David Reidy, who not only hit three crucial second-half points in the Munster final, but also supplied the perfect ball for Gillaneâs goal. Reidy, however, was the difference coming off the bench in this game last year. His three scores in the 10 or so minutes he was on was what separated the teams at the finish, so Kiely may be tempted to keep him and Cathal OâNeill in reserve. Keep an eye out too for young Adam English, who canât be far off starting either.
Considering what happened in Munster, Galway have to feel that Limerick are there for the taking. The Tribesmen had the opportunities last year, but they blinked, and didnât take them. Limerick did. That was the difference.
The old guard â Joseph Cooney, the Mannion brothers, DaithĂ Burke â have all been in good form and Whelan has been exceptional. Theyâll need Brian Concannon to fire, but Kevin Cooney looks like a good player who can not only win his own ball but makes good decisions with it when he does. Evan Niland and Cianan Fahy were good against Tipp, and the three points Tom Monaghan clipped off the bench will make it very hard for Shefflin to leave him out.
Galway canât afford to blow the type of goal chances Whelan and Fahy missed, as well as shoot another dozen and a half wides. Clare paid the price for doing that in the Munster final.
Iâll be fascinated to see on whose terms the game is played, because that probably determines the outcome. Will Limerick withdraw their half-forwards, make themselves hard to break down and trust Gillane and Flanagan to do the lionâs share of the scoring, as they have in their last two games? Will Shefflin risk GearĂłid McInerney on Gillane in all that space, if the Galway half-backs push up and follow Hegarty and Morrissey out the field?
Does he put DaithĂ Burke back on Gillane, a move Iâd be more inclined to make? Will Galway sit back themselves, cut off the supply to Gillane and Flanagan and trust their own half-forwards and midfielders to look after Hegarty and Morrissey? Teams have tried that strategy and failed, but that was when both Morrissey and Hegarty were flying, which is not the case now.
Limerick have had to go to the well more often than in any of their previous campaigns. Yet, their resilience and capacity to grind it out has been remarkable. However, at some point the bucket has to come up empty. This could be that day.
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