I have it from a solid source that Johnny Murphy has entered the witness protection program
And there is a trophy for that.
They do not have a Canning and that is key in my view.
Wont take much from a decent Galway man to lift em 20% but the last few years has done damage.
I think they have huge holes to fill at that.
It isnt that they dont have hurlers, Galway have that in abundance, but they have a lot of work to replace leaders and experience.
Might still see em plugging away in semis but the longer the road travelled I think its very apparent how reliant Galway were on Joe and one or two more to get them that AI.
Nothing against them either, my grandfather was a Galway man and Id shout for em if we were out lest someone thinks Iâm digging the boot in.
Can someone with a sub do the honours
Strength in science: how Lukasz Kirszenstein helped Clare reach the promised land
The Pole headed the Bannerâs strength and conditioning this season, following past All-Ireland successes with Tipperary and Galway
Clareâs S&C coach Lukasz Kirszenstein alongside captain Tony Kelly (bottom left) after the countyâs victory over Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Sat Aug 24 2024 - 06:00
Lukasz Kirszenstein has a hurley that Joe Canning gave him years ago â not as a token or an ornament, but as an instrument to be learned. In the intercounty dressing rooms that had become his workplace and his playground, Kirszenstein noticed players picking up other playersâ hurleys and judging them, like they were swishing a mouthful of wine.
He wondered for a long time what they were doing until one day he found himself doing it too. He had joined the band.
In conversation he will say things like âthe way hurling used to beâ, unconsciously but in context. Beyond his short experience, how many reference points did he have? He understands, though, that he has been part of the most convulsive decade the game has known. In hurlingâs age of Citius, Altius, Fortius*,* hurlers needed someone like him.
Last month, Kirszenstein was the strength and conditioning (S&C) coach for the All-Ireland hurling champions for the third time in eight years: Tipperary in 2016, Galway a year later and now Clare. Intercounty teams have had various species of physical trainers for decades, but nobody had ever achieved such a feat with three different counties.
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This year Clare were stretched, sometimes on a rack. No other team played more competitive minutes. Between league and championship, Clare had 15 matches, one more than Kilkenny, two more than Cork, three more than Limerick. After more than 100 minutes in the All-Ireland final they were the last team wobbling.
The hurling championship used to have long stretches of flat calm, where tapering and peaking was a different kind of challenge; now it is a series of white-water rapids.
âWe got to the league final and I was like, âOh no, in two weeksâ time weâre playing Limerick. Whatâs the best way we can do this?â So we planned for that. And then the next game, and the next game. It doesnât leave you too much space to do anything crazy â which is good sometimes.â
The two teams who would reach the All-Ireland final met at a cliffâs edge before the end of April. Clare had cocked up against Limerick and had seven days to restore their bodies and minds. Shortly after half-time Cork led by seven points. The Munster championship is full of pop-up crises.
Lukasz Kirszenstein with Henry Shefflin during their time with the Galway senior hurling panel. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
âThe catalyst was the midweek session we did after the loss [to Limerick]. It was really good and it instilled the confidence back in. Players at that level are very resilient. That group never panics. The session was short, but it was hard. Weâre talking intensity, not volume. The old thing in the GAA would have been, in the match week, wrap yourself in bubble wrap and wait for the game. At that level it doesnât work like that.â
Itâs nearly 20 years since Kirszenstein arrived in Ireland. He had quickly grown tired of London, but he was just 24 and had no desire to return home to Poland. His brother was working in a hotel in Adare and there was work there also for Kirszenstein.
His qualifications, though, were in sport. He had a degree in physical education and a masters in anthropometry â the science of human measurement. In the hotel, he served his time in the restaurant while his eyes were on the gym.
[ Clareâs residual experience of All-Ireland success carries the dayOpens in new window ]
âBelieve it or not it was hard for me to break into strength and conditioning. Someone told me once, pretty abruptly, âYouâre never going to get into strength and conditioning because your qualification is not recognised here.â It was from a top university in Poland. I said, like, âWe will see.ââ
Rugby was his point of entry. Garryowen gave him a chance and from there some work materialised in the Munster Academy. The next turn had no signpost. One of the coaches in the academy was asked to train the Tipperary hurlers and he brought Kirszenstein as his assistant. But just a couple of months later, the IRFU cracked down on its full-time academy coaches moonlighting with other teams. Before the start of the 2013 National League, the Tipperary job fell into his lap.
âIt didnât go really well. A steep learning curve. It was a funny year as well. There were a few other things wrong but, yeah, that was a big lesson for me.
Clare manager Brian Lohan dejected after a Munster Championship Round 1 loss to Limerick in Ennis. A week later, the Banner bounced back to beat Cork at PĂĄirc UĂ Chaoimh. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
From one team sport to another, he reckons about 75 per cent of strength and conditioning occupies common ground. The last quarter is full of variables. So he needed to learn about hurlers.
âHurling is one sport that exposes a bit of fatigue because itâs such a fine skill. If youâre that small bit off, straight away youâre dropping balls, the basics let you down, youâre shooting wides. Itâs very visible if you get it wrong. And it happens.
âItâs very easy to mess it up. I believe Iâve mastered things to get it right, but still â probably eight times out of 10 you get it right but 15 to 20 per cent of the time you get it wrong.â
He recalls that in 2015, Tipperary had a five-week gap between the Munster final and the All-Ireland semi-final. âWe didnât manage that right. I was probably too inexperienced to call it. Now, Iâd do it completely different.â
At the end of 2013, Kirszenstein took a chance. He quit his job in the hotel and trusted in his ability to attract clients. At the beginning of 2014, Tipp were the only team on his books; by the end of the year, he had added the Ireland womenâs rugby team. They were amateurs too, doing blocks of training in regional pods.
âThe Dublin-based girls used to train at 6am in UCD. I had to be up at 3.30 in the morning and drive from Limerick. It wasnât pretty. There was a Galway group, Cork, London, Belfast and some other exiles. I was managing that â the whole lot, and a couple of coaches.â In that season Ireland won the Six Nations.
Lukasz Kirszenstein celebrates with the Ireland squad after winning the 2015 RBS Womenâs Six Nations. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
His reputation grew quickly, and after Tipperary won the All-Ireland in 2016, Galway approached him. They had been coming up short and were searching for meaningful inches. âIt was a big decision [to leave Tipperary] after winning and people say, âWhy would you not stay?â But at the same time I was four years there.
âWe have a shelf life in S&C. In professional sport itâs a little bit different. In amateur sport, I think there is a best-before date.â
Galway were already the most physical team in the championship and Kirszenstein had no desire to make them bigger. With the Tribesmen, the emphasis in his training was speed. Less than 12 months after he started, they won the All-Ireland. What difference had he made? In the absence of declared data, acclaim was the best testimony available.
In 2023, at the end of Henry Shefflinâs second year, he stepped away. By then he had worked under three different Galway managers. âIt was the seventh year. I was like, âHold on a second, Iâm not sticking to my principles here.â Maybe I just stayed a bit long. When Shane OâNeill was gone [at the end of 2021], I had a think about it and thatâs when I should have called it, really â but I didnât.â
But regardless of where he has ventured, the key to the success of Kirszensteinâs method has been a focus on the science, not the fad.
âIn conditioning work, one of the rules is to progressively overload, but not all the time. If youâre doing it all the time, itâs probably overkill.
âThe biggest problem in amateur sport is the recovery part. Being able to switch off and have outside stresses really dimmed. The body doesnât distinguish between physical stress or mental stress or environmental stress. So, you have a certain capacity in your body to tolerate that. When you come to the pitch, and youâre running on empty, youâre digging a hole for yourself.â
Clare celebrate victory over Cork after extra-time to win the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
With a business partner, Kirszenstein devised a wellness app called Actimet. The Clare players used it this year, as did the Galway players before them. Every morning, players are asked to rate their wellbeing on a scale of 1 to 10 under various categories in a process that takes less than 20 seconds.
âI wouldnât be jumping the gun if I saw something out of sorts, but itâs a conversation starter. Itâs not a real science because itâs a subjective marker â you donât have data for it, you just have a number that the player came up with. But it does help. Thatâs one of those layers that gives you that extra bit of, âRight, where are we at?ââ
Under Brian Lohan, Clare had used four different S&C coaches in four years; Kirszenstein was number five. What it also meant was that he wasnât starting from scratch.
âWith S&C you need time, especially if you want to build something. In Clare, it was easier. You have to give credit to the previous S&Cs. These players have been on the road a few years, so they were obviously in good shape already. I changed a few things all right â without going into specifics. I think the feedback was good.
âBut we will be sitting down and reviewing it because obviously there are certain things that you do well and certain things that need improvement. And we will find improvement.â
If nobody retires, Clare and Limerick will have the greatest number of thirtysomethings in next yearâs championship. Everyone believes thereâs another kick in Limerick. And Clare? They will have the legs