Although Hegarty improved massively, I actually think Gillaneās improvement is nearly more meteoric.
He was always tidy enough but the mindset change to become one of the most dominant forwards in the game was incredible. Struggled to make the bench at minor & U-21 level until his breakthrough at the end of 2016/start of 2017.
He was one of the players many wanted dropped after the Ennis game in 2018. He wasnāt even that good in the semi final and final in 18. His improvement since 2019 is off the charts.
In the league semi final against Waterford in 2016 he looked all at sea. Gearoid has an inner confidence and he exudes it in all he does. A very nice lad as are his family who are good people.
Iād be the first to admit even after the 2020 all Ireland which was played in the autumn and behind closed doors when hegarty won the hurler of the year I thought he might never do anything similar again. I didnāt really think he was as good as people made out to be honest. He was effective at times in 2018 and 2019 but that was his third year on the panel and he was 23/24.
Gillane has improved obviously but he was the star for his club and won a 21 all Ireland too as a star forward.
Hegarty hasnāt just improved heās completely changed his game. Itās like the bonnar Maher turning into Seamus Callahan or something. He deserves incredible praise.
Any suspicions as to what these improvements are down to?
A real suspicion of hard work.
Thats the nail on the head there
Cork always have a huge spread of clubs in every age group. Itās something Iāve always noticed.
Eating Steak dinners and doing press ups.
Kinnerk is a phenomenal skills coach. Hegartyās first touch is off the charts. Training to do the right thing under as intense pressure as you can create in a session, particularly while tired, thatās how you improve for match situations.
Itās definitely not all the time he spent practicing hitting the ball off a wall anyway.
Paul Kinnerk
And a winning mentality
Limerickness.
I think Ken Hogan explained it well on Daloās podcastā¦they dont look united and there are few leaders when it matters. I have said this avout Cork for years. Bar 1 or 2 they dont look on the same page at all
Didnāt Gearoid Hegarty pull a famous Cork ex-poster on this last year and say that it was time spent pucking a ball agin a wall that helped him greatly?
Obviously my quip went straight over your headā¦
You got me good
Whatās the record for a semi-final beating in a match not involving Antrim or some other team who got a bye to this stage? Was it 24 points Tipperary beat Limerick by in 2009? Could see Limerick challenging that margin against Galway - if they want to, which they probably donāt.
If they wanted to they could win by 30 points but at this stage they are too cute and wonāt open up against teams unless itās a final.