Don’t think this shite matters in the slightest to this Cork group. They are all lads who are largely used to Cork losing in their lifetime.
Wexford almost ended up in the 2024 Joe McDonagh. If things had gone slightly differently on the final day last May then they’d have been playing Cork in a tense preliminary quarter-final in Wexford Park.
Would the 5th placed team in Munster potentially spend a year in the Joe Mc if Kerry were to win promotion? The OTB hurling podcast suggested so last week. Some form of rule change recently to remove the promotion-relegation play-off.
No Munster becomes a pool of 6 in this utterly ridiculous format
Carlow & Tipp really should have played-off to determine relegation to the Joe McDonagh Cup. Had Carlow won then Galway could have been switched to Munster next season, with Offaly taking their place in Leinster.
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I’d have fancied Carlow to have beaten Tipperary in such a putative relegation play off this year. We’ll just never know now though.
Laois need Cheddar back for his seventh spell as manager/caretaker manager.
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St Mullins are supposed to be slowing up big time at underage. Not even competing in the A grade in some cases. But as long as they have Mouse and James Doyle then they’ll be a serious proposition. Long-term though it’ll be hard to see them continue to compete at the same level as MLR consistently. Lory Meagher is a stretch by @binkybarnes. I’d have said Christy Ring standard. Kildare have given them a couple of whippings at minor recently and they lost to Kerry in minor this year too. The U20’s were reasonably competitive this year though. It’s a far cry from beating Dublin U21’s in 2013, losing by 2 to Kilkenny in 2015 or reaching the Leinster minor final in 2006.
Ah that’s very good.
Limerick lols.
They’ll ate Cork.
Hannon and maybe Byrnes aren’t the fastest but they’re not set up to rely on shhhppeeed.
Big Kyle is slow. Dan too. And Mike.
Ah lads. I could’ve been county.
You’re too slow to have ever made county, if the metric of those limerick lads are slow anyway!
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I’m reading that Cork are gonna burn them. Sure they must be slow so.
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They wouldn’t pass to me at the trials because I was from a junior club.
Do you know what I did then?
You have some bizarre obsession with Cork. Where are you from exactly?
We’ve done almost nothing for three decades and lads are still crazy about us. Bizarre shite.
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Go on…
Not really.
@Appendage and Christy just get it
CHRISTY O’CONNOR
Limerick’s raising of the bar is a legacy beyond medals or glory
Now two steps from achieving five-in-a-row immortality, Limerick have driven their merciless standards to the next level on fitness and tactical ingenuity
Limerick’s Cathal O’Neill celebrates victory over Clare in Tipperary last weekend
JAMES CROMBIE/INPHO
Christy O’Connor
Sunday June 16 2024, 12.01am BST, The Sunday Times
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Despite all the closed-door secrecy around Limerick’s inner world, there are sporadic occasions when a public window opens up.
The Limerick squad work out at Fit 100, a state-of-the-art facility in a business park on the Ballysimon Road on the outskirts of the city. They regularly train there in small pods but there have been occasions when the public have been able to see the sweat shining off the bigger group, of how the features of their faces are disfigured with the determination of how Limerick operate in their world.
Back on the February Bank Holiday Monday morning, a former inter-county player was at another event in the Fit 100 building. Limerick had hammered Antrim the previous day in their opening league game by 27 points with a skeleton team but the rest of the squad were pushing themselves to the limit the following morning. The ferocity of the session was off the charts. “Looking at them that day,” the former player says, “I said to myself, ‘There’s no way these boys will be beaten this year. Not a hope.’ ”
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As Limerick are now two steps from achieving five-in-a-row immortality, their most important legacy has already gone beyond medals won or glory gained — it is about the attitude instilled in the group, the standards demanded. The example set by this Limerick squad as an entity.
It is about more than just winning. It’s about driving those merciless standards to the next level again. Limerick have honed their culture by marrying advanced levels of strength and conditioning with greater tactical ingenuity, expressing innovation in a way that has enabled this group to create a whole new order.
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Much of their markers towards reaching new standards are guided and driven by data. “Our performance levels are higher than what they were last year and the year before,” John Kiely, the Limerick manager, said after the Waterford game. “When you look at the data that’s there, which is very important for me, our average performance level is up a nice bit. Our trajectory is upwards as well.”
It was easy for Kiely to talk about numbers that day when Limerick got off 51 shots, the first time that had happened in more than two years. Limerick also hit 49 shots against Tipperary but the detail in the data from both matches would have informed Kiely of how their average performance levels in Munster have increased from the last two years.
Kiely has overseen Limerick’s upward trajectory, winning five All-Ireland titles as manager
BRENDAN MORAN/SPORTSFILE
In their last five matches, Limerick have sourced 5-66 off turnovers, but those numbers have radically increased since their first match against Clare in April. In their four games since, Limerick have averaged 1-15 off turnovers per game. Last Sunday, Limerick got 1-14 off turnovers. In last year’s Munster final, Limerick mined just 0-8 from the same source.
Limerick can win games any way they have to, but the turnover numbers have always been the most important gauge for Kiely in how it governs their key metrics. Limerick did get 2-10 off turnovers against Cork but those two goals were sourced from the second ball off short Cork puckouts, which had as much to do with poor decision-making from Seán O’Donoghue and Patrick Collins than Limerick’s crazed intensity. In any case, Limerick didn’t bring enough of that ferocity for long enough of that game, which left them open to the late sucker-punch that floored them.
That hasn’t happened since but was that due to the lack of intensity and quality from the opposition as much as Limerick wearing them down? Waterford were flat and off the pace. Clare weren’t themselves either last Sunday, lacking that conviction, energy and attitude they usually show against Limerick.
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And yet, Clare still only had one less shot. They missed three goal chances. Three of Limerick’s points stemmed from turnovers off Clare shots dropped short, which was effectively a six-point swing. Clare’s accuracy from placed balls was just 53 per cent. Shane O’Donnell went half an hour without a possession.
Kyle Hayes and Declan Hannon enjoy the victory over Clare that puts Limerick two wins from a historic fifth consecutive All-Ireland title
BRENDAN MORAN/SPORTSFILE
The counter-argument is that Limerick were still always in control. When their shot count is down, as it was with 36, their efficiency rates are always up; Limerick’s conversion rate from play was 79 per cent. O’Donnell wasn’t on the ball because Limerick didn’t allow him to be from flooding the space in front of him.
Are Limerick that far in front now that they can just bend any game to their will? Or have the chasing pack lost ground? Kilkenny have evolved, especially on their own puckout, but they still need to find something different if they run into Limerick again.
Clare need to bring more variety to their game, especially their own puckout, but their biggest concern is around how much potential psychological damage another big-game defeat has inflicted. Clare are vulnerable ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Cork look in good shape but they still have to prove they can do it when it matters most in Croke Park, particularly if they meet Limerick again. Cork have been profiting off their own puckout, mining 3-15 from it against Limerick in Munster. Would Limerick allow that to happen again? No.
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If the data is showing that Limerick’s performance levels are increasing, that’s even more of a concern for everyone else considering how Limerick’s graph rises once they hit Croke Park. They are now in a place where Kilkenny were in their pomp ahead of All-Ireland semi-finals, following their usual routine to time their run to reach their peak when it matters most.
They’ll feel in an even better position again now considering how much competition there is for places. Limerick looked vulnerable last Sunday when without Seán Finn, Seamus Flanagan, Peter Casey and Darragh O’Donovan. Yet Limerick have lost great players to injury before and others just seamlessly fit into the system. Players out of form suddenly find a spark to get the blaze raging again. A half-back line that was terrorised against Cork looked indestructible again last Sunday.
The crowd joined Limerick’s players in celebration after their Munster championship title success last weekend
BRENDAN MORAN/SPORTSFILE
Finn, Flanagan and O’Donovan will be back in contention for the semi-final. In his first championship start, Shane O’Brien was a contender for man of the match last week. After only having four possessions, Cian Lynch was taken off after 52 minutes. Lynch has only had assists for 0-9 in this championship, numbers way down on his normal figures. And yet, Limerick have just balanced the books elsewhere.
Everything Limerick have built, everything they stand for is controlled and deliberate, designed to protect against chaos and disruption. They are deaf to outside noise, like all the great teams are. In the American Football documentary-series Man in the Arena, Tom Brady elaborated in episode two on how the New England Patriots built a dynasty. “We ignored the noise,” he said. “We were the edgers. We did have the edge. We outworked you. We outcompeted you. And then when the chance came, we outwilled you.”
Last Monday evening, a handful of Limerick players were working out in Fit 100. It’s easy to see why Limerick are the edgers. And how they are continuing to outwork and outwill any opposition that comes in their way.
I’m 45 years old & Cork have won 6 Al’s in my lifetime. Corks glory days were in black & white, ground hurling & peak caps.
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Yesterday was much worse. The key skills were executed poorly - first touch and ground pick ups weren’t sharp. Short passing was half arsed and casual.
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Exactly. The Cork lads will have no understanding of this “we are Cork” shite.
Christy licking our holes while brother Jamesie never has a good word to say about us.
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