That’s my first taught also. He generally did his damage with OLG in final quarter coming out as 3rd midfielder using his athleticism.
Number 7 his best position by far. His style is probably one of the ugliest in top level hurler aside from grip changers.
I had included NCW in with the football clubs but you could put them in both codes to be honest. They are a decent season away from being senior in hurling.
Rathkeale currently Junior B in hurling and will be doing well to have a hurling team at all in another decade I reckon. Football has always been number one there. Included Askeaton in the hurling - their relationship with Ballysteen reminds me of Patrickswell & Ballybrown - the same parish but they don’t like each other.
Mountcollins lads play with Tour but they contribute very little to the numbers. Most stick to the big ball.
I’m looking forward to the attempt 
They’re Junior A? You have them relegated already!
Freudian slip. In my head they already are Junior B. They will be soon!
The price of success. There are many fans in other counties who would gladly have the same problem.
For me, Tom Morrissey epitomises the greatness of this Limerick team.
Attack success and never be afraid to fail.
Offaly are on the cusp of history, Limerick are Limerick, Galway have a free hit, Kilkenny prepare an ambush, Clare are buoyed by the 15-minute revival against Wexford, and Tipperary want to spoil things for the neutral.
All six teams will point to key principles around culture, standards, and honesty. They have coaches and players working as one, boards providing vision and necessary resources and support. And it’s all underpinned by the values instilled in players and management by their parents and club coaches.
So what separates them this weekend?
Most GAA followers will not be familiar with the name Ben Darwin, a former rugby player and coach who set up a company called ‘Gain Line Analytics’. Darwin believed that a team is “a system of relationships, and those within it are either aligned or not”. Fundamentally, he deduced that “the better aligned the relationships, the more successful the team”.
Through data and analysis, Darwin found cohesion to be the key difference between levels of performance. He set himself the task of measuring the intangible of team chemistry. The algorithm, which is described in detail in Ben Lyttleton’s brilliant book Edge, proved a “clear correlation between the quantity and intensity of linkages within a team and team performance”.
So which of this weekend’s teams are most cohesive?
Limerick stand out immediately. Their playing style is a brilliant fusion of instinctive and systematic. And as physically gifted as they are, they are just as gifted above the neck. Their intrinsic motivation, their ability to push boundaries, and their mental toughness are unparalleled.
Every other team is making up ground in terms of psychological coaching, but Limerick are still ahead. Their cohesion is most visible on puckouts. One of their most productive ploys is the positioning and use of Diarmaid Byrnes. The full-back trio of Finn, Casey and Nash tuck in tight on the 21, allowing Byrnes to occupy the right channel just in front of the 21. Hannon lodges himself between 21 and 45 with one or both midfielders O’Donoghue and O’Donovan situating themselves between the 5 and 7 channels infield.
Interestingly, in one significant shift from last year, Dan Morrissey does not locate himself wide and high on the left touchline as Kyle Hayes used to. Indeed Hayes’ dynamism and pace going forward and his reading of the breaks from Nickie Quaid’s long puckouts down the left has been missed. Rewatch Hayes’ goal in the Munster Championship victory over Cork last year for the perfect illustration of what is lost from the Treaty armoury.
But the imbalanced nature of their shape, with Byrnes as a fourth full back line occupant, still keeps teams guessing. Watch the paranoia of Austin Gleeson racing across the field having hit a 70-yard free during the round-robin game to ensure Byrnes is not first receiver from the puckout.
Because Limerick’s forwards either occupy the middle channel or four of them overload one side, Quaid can also deliver into the space vacated by the normally deep-lying wing forward.
Similarly, Limerick’s adaptability on the opposition puckout is cleverly thought out from game to game. Always evident are the basic prerequisites of hurls and hands up, immediate reset having scored or missed, and the filling of six spots regardless of temporary positioning. More subtle is the layering of players to ensure defensive shape and the opposition’s main threats are limited or nullified.
Most talk will centre around tonight’s announcement of the Limerick team and we will quickly scroll to see is Lynch at 11 and Casey at 15. Science and instinctive gut will fuse to inform management decisions on whether to start the offensive wizards. Lynch’s brilliance is well documented but a quick glance at all the big moments last year show Casey’s influence on the green machine.
Five points from play in the Munster Final, the brilliant offload to Hegarty for Gillane’s All-Ireland semi-final goal and a 20-minute man of the match performance in the All-Ireland final underline his importance. Outside of the physicality and skill of all the Limerick forwards, he possesses that guile, craft, timing and footwork that great players have.
For me, Tom Morrissey epitomises the greatness of this Limerick team. Searching for early season form, his ability to persevere, never show an emotional reaction to either wides or scores, portrays a player on a different level in terms of emotional intelligence. A championship player who, like Hannon, Lynch and Finn, is an extension of the coaching staff on the grass.
If Limerick opt just to switch Lynch for an unlucky Cathal O’Neill, then Kyle Hayes will replicate his second half of the Munster Final by withdrawing from the inside line to the middle third, making incisive runs and hammering the central door of the Galway defence.
It cannot be discounted either that Hayes will be relocated to 11, with Lynch given a licence to roam from the inside line, knowing he will be tagged and opening up space for Gillane and Flanagan to go 2v2. Even a relocation of Hayes back to 7 will not disturb Limerick’s cohesiveness.
For Galway, cohesiveness should be one of their pillars given that the central spine of Burke, McInerney, Mannion, Cooney and Whelan is almost the same as the All-Ireland winning team of 17.
Motivationally, the talk of “Cork throwing it away” will play into Shefflin’s and Richie O’Neill’s hands. Both will have pored over Galway’s semi-final approach of 2020 when Shane O’Neill cleverly filled the left corner of the Galway defence with a sitting defender, curtailing somewhat Gillane’s space.
Galway set up extremely defensively to counter Corks running game the last day and it worked. They may now decide to press on Barry Nash and Sean Finn but allow Mike Casey to receive puckouts before engaging en masse between the 21 and 45. They won’t leave the brilliantly fluent Nash receive free ball from Quaid. I expect Galway to be fiercely aggressive, highly motivated, tactically well set up, play very well, but lose.
In the other semi, Clare’s strength is also in their cohesion. Populism puts this down to Lohan and his coaching staff, but I also see evidence of Kinnerk’s and Davy Fitz’s work within the playing style of the Clare team. Give and goes from the middle third, off-the-shoulder counter-attacking, a sitting six, attacking half-backs and a lone furrower on the edge of the square. It takes me back to ‘13 and beyond.
The secret of brilliant leadership is to use good ingredients in your own recipe, and this is what Lohan has done. Clare’s patterns of play with Taylor, Kelly, Fitzgerald and Reidy should eventually see them get in behind a stubbornly resistant Kilkenny.
Perhaps the most cohesive teams this weekend will be in Nowlan Park, where Offaly and Tipperary contest a historic Minor All-Ireland Final. I watched the Tony Forristal final of three years ago in Waterford where Tipperary came out on top. It was clear then that both teams had brilliantly talented players. Offaly, in particular, have brilliantly managed expectancy, embraced the excitement, and created an environment for players to flourish.
During the first lockdown, I attended (online) an Offaly Coaching Workshop where presentations centred on different formations — from having a plus-one in your backs, to a “T Shape”, to using third and fourth midfielders. Instead of regressing, Offaly were now progressing.
This team has a beautiful mix of skill and structure. While Ravenhill and Screeney will get the plaudits, the tenacity and poise of James Mahon and Ruairi Kelly, as well as the tactical acumen of Leo O’Connor and his management team are key. Expect them to tag Tom Delaney as they did Laois’ Ger Quinlan by employing a plus one in that area.
An Offaly win would be brilliant but James Woodlock may ensure Screeney and Ravenhill are tagged all day and Tipperary’s better spread of scorers may get them over the line.
Nothing will separate Tipp and Offaly in terms of cohesion this weekend, but Limerick and Clare can show familiarity helps to set up a third meeting in two weeks.
I’d honestly say that’s cheap.
He has toned down the flowery language a little bit. Must be feeling the heat from Canning.
I got 4 paragraphs into a Del column before giving up
Progress
Derek has come to accept his Limerick overlords. Today’s article was good.
tip for the future, skip the first four
‘All six teams will point to key principles around culture, standards, and honesty. They have coaches and players working as one, boards providing vision and necessary resources and support. And it’s all underpinned by the values instilled in players and management by their parents and club coaches.’
He’s some bluffer.
Odd comment when they gave up a world of scoring chances.
It’ll be some craic in the willie Clancy festival next week if limerick and Clare are in the all Ireland
He will be happier in himself now that he has reached acceptance.
Ah jesus
Paul Kinnerk’s Limerick vs Paul Kinnerk’s Clare in the final