Galways greatest hurler according to the limerick lads who discovered the sport in 2018 and are mostly hibernating until Munster rubby pendulum swings back.
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It’ll never swing back thank god. The hurling is here to stay.
That’ll be a very long hibernation please god. The Limericks and Joe are here to stay.
Joe’s children’s laughter as they go up the steps of Croker in Limerick kit will be his revenge.
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What Galway player do you think is greater than Joe? He’s the best hurler ever.
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Whaylin
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Iggy Clarke.
Joe Canning: Cork will need to reproduce their best to clear tricky Tipp hurdle
It’s a must-win game for both the Rebels and the Premier County while settled Clare should prove too strong for Waterford in Ennis
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Cork’s Darragh Fitzgibbon takes on Limerick’s William O’Donoghue. Cork will need to bring the same level of intent they showed against Limerick when they meet Tipperary on Sunday. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Fri May 17 2024 - 06:00
Where has this Cork team been all along?
Last Saturday night it wasn’t just about goals and points, because Cork have never had a problem putting up big scores against anybody, but it was their attitude and frame of mind. They were physical, they played on the edge and when they were tackling there was always an extra player coming in – stuff that you wouldn’t normally associate with Cork.
You could see it in their body language too. You didn’t need to hear what they were saying to see that they were encouraging each other. Lads were running 10 yards to clap somebody on the back for winning a free. There was a real togetherness about the performance and a serious level of intent. THe Corkness was back.
Not every team performs under pressure and many teams have wilted under the kind of pressure Limerick are liable to bring. Over the last few years Limerick’s opponents have often played with fear, not wanting to take too many risks. They still lost. This time for Cork the consequences of losing were black and white. They couldn’t afford to play with fear.
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A few Cork players came of age. I thought Brian Hayes was phenomenal. His touch for the first goal, when he got his hurley to a long puck-out, inside the Limerick D, and deflected it to Shane Barrett was unbelievable. That wasn’t a lucky touch, that was a controlled flick that Barrett was expecting.
Cork’s Brian Hayes celebrates at the final whistle with Patrick Horgan. Hayes was exceptional against Limerick, a display illuminated by his sublime flick to set up Shane Barrett’s early goal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Cork went after Limerick in the air – which most teams write-off as an option – and Hayes was at the heart of that. He was the target for a lot of Cork’s long puck-outs and he kept putting his hand up. His touch was very good, too, which hasn’t always been the case. When he came across from the footballers he was definitely a work in progress and we really only saw glimpses of what he could do. But on Saturday night he put it all together as a ball-winner, a playmaker and a finisher.
From Cork’s point of view, though, this can’t be a one-off performance. If they lose to Tipperary on Sunday they’re gone from the championship. Would a draw – like last year – be any good for either team? It’s not a mathematical impossibility that a team will qualify from Munster with three points, but that would require an extraordinary sequence of results. Realistically, Cork and Tipp both know this is a game they must win.
Cork will be favourites after beating Limerick but in some ways this game sets up nicely for Tipperary. They’ve had two weeks to recover from their match against Waterford in Walsh Park and the way they finished that night will have been a huge boost to their morale. But they’ve had time to come down from that and build themselves back up again.
Cork have only had a week to get over the Limerick game. Making a physical recovery is not the issue. They would have been focusing on that straight after the game and again on Sunday. The big question for Cork is whether they can recover mentally.
The mental energy they expended against Limerick would have been huge. To get into that frame of mind so soon again will be tough, and if they’re not in that frame of mind they’ll be in trouble.
Tipperary will be targeting a fast start. Liam Cahill’s teams have caused trouble for Cork in recent years, including his time with Waterford, and the Tipperary under-21s. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went hunting for goals to put Cork on the back foot.
Liam Cahill: his teams have caused problems for Cork in recent years. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
From a defensive point of view, they’ll have to stop Cork’s runners. The best way to do that is with numbers. They’ll have to flood their defence and block the spaces. Limerick failed to do that in the first half on Saturday night and found themselves eight points down. In their last two games Cork have created a world of goal chances and Tipp can’t afford to give them the oxygen of goals.
After that it comes down to work rate. Who wants it more? On that question Cork didn’t leave any doubts last Saturday night. They’ll need to come up with the same answer on Sunday.
The game in Ennis is huge too. A win for Waterford would guarantee them qualification from the group and give them a big chance of getting to the Munster final. A loss for Clare would put them in trouble again and in that sense there’s probably more pressure on them.
At the start of the championship most people reckoned that Clare were the second best team in the country and the biggest threat to Limerick. This year so much is changing from week to week that it’s hard to keep up, but I would still say that Clare are in the top three contenders and their performance against Cork three weeks ago impressed me.
They didn’t have their best stuff, and they were in trouble for a while after half-time, but they took over the match after that. You could see all of their big match experience. Only a week earlier they had thrown away a big lead against Limerick but they were able to park that. This was a game they couldn’t afford to lose and they imposed themselves on Cork.
One of the things I like about Clare is that they change very little about their set-up from game to game, regardless of their opponents. Limerick and Kilkenny have a similar mentality. They believe in their own structure and their own way of playing and they let other teams worry about them.
Waterford’s set-up has been more predictable for their first couple of games, and it has worked so far. I wouldn’t write them off, but I still fancy Clare.
And as for Limerick? I was sad to see them lose on Saturday night. They’ve been great champions, the greatest team of all time but all good things must come to an end.
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Joe loves ye altogether
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Joe loves excellence more than anything
“They didn’t have their best stuff, and they were in trouble for a while after half-time”
Stuff?
We really need Joe’s insight and expertise to be put to better use. Could they not get him involved in some sort of capacity on one of the underage teams.
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I recall Joe saying, when he took over underage teams, that there would be less focus on winning and more focus on producing players ready for senior intercounty hurling. Part (a) is going well anyway.
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And who can blame him? We’re a fierce likeable bunch.
It’s that time of the week again!
Joe Canning: The consequences of another hiding for Tipperary don’t bear thinking about
Munster shouldn’t overshadow the Leinster championships, where yet more drama is on the cards
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There was red everywhere one looked at Semple Stadium last weekend as Tipperary hosted Cork. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Fri May 24 2024 - 06:00
About midday last Sunday I arrived in Thurles and went for a drive around the town, just to soak up the atmosphere. I’m not sure what I expected to see but all I saw were red jerseys. When the game started all you could see in the ground were red jerseys. This was a home game for Tipperary, where even a draw was going to keep them alive in the championship, and the Tipp crowd just deserted them. It must have been a ratio of 10:1 Cork to Tipp inside Semple Stadium.
With 20 minutes to go I saw Tipperary supporters walking out. A game that had been in the balance at half-time was already over. Watching from the RTÉ studio in the corner I was amazed by how naive Tipp were in their set-up. There was space at both ends of the field, in fairness, but Tipp basically allowed Cork to play the way they wanted.
Their full forwards and half forwards didn’t come out the field for puck-outs so there were acres of room for the Cork half forwards to run into. This Cork team still has weaknesses but if you give them space they’re going to crucify you. Tipp knew that and they still went man on man, almost deciding that they were going beat Cork at their own game. It was madness.
The decision not take off Cathal Barrett before Cork’s second goal was crazy too. Brian Hayes burnt him and when Barrett gave up the chase it looked like he was limping. But the physios came on to the field and Barrett played away. A couple of minutes later he was turned over for Alan Connolly’s second goal and then they took him off. It summed up the poor decision-making that killed Tipp.
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During my career I experienced what the Tipperary players felt in the second half. I remember an All-Ireland final against Kilkenny when we were leading at half-time and they killed us in the second half. I played in an All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles when Waterford beat us by 10 points.
On those days you feel helpless. I was looking at the Tipperary players in the second half last Sunday and they were putting simple chances wide because the game was gone and their heads were gone. Some days, when it goes wrong, it turns into a spiral, out of your control.
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Liam Cahill spoke afterwards about the integrity of the Munster championship and the importance of representing the Tipperary jersey in the right way. That’s going to be a huge challenge for them against Clare on Sunday. They’ve already had two hidings this summer; the consequences of another one don’t bear thinking about.
Limerick’s David Reidy battles with Michael Breen of Tipperary. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
I don’t see any prospect of a blowout in the Gaelic Grounds. I saw a lot in Waterford’s performance last Sunday to give them encouragement. After what happened at the end of the Clare match, with the disputed 65 and the uproar that followed, you can image what Davy Fitzgerald’s approach will be this week: it’s us against the world, nobody wants us in this championship. It was the kind of approach that Ger Loughnane often used when Davy was playing for Clare.
That only works, though, if you have the players to go to war and I think Waterford have. I was impressed by the way they hung in there against Clare last Sunday. The issue they have to address is being tighter at the back. For two of Clare’s goals Tadhg de Burca was missing from the middle because he was looking to join the play on the wing. In his absence Clare went straight through the centre.
After Limerick’s defeat against Cork and their strange performance against Clare, people have questioning the All-Ireland champions and wondering if they’re coming back to the pack. I don’t see it like that. Against Cork they were still in front in injury-time, having absorbed everything that Cork could throw at them. I saw more than enough in the second half to convince me that they’re still on track.
The biggest problem that I see for Limerick this year is their injury list. Over the years they’ve often had at least one big injury to cope with, but this year they’ve had three or four at the same time. Peter Casey is gone for the year, Mike Casey went off against Clare, Darragh O’Donovan hasn’t played in the championship yet this season and Seán Finn was forced off against Cork.
A big thing for Limerick under John Kiely has been their capacity to finish games off with a massive impact off the bench. Cathal O’Neill and David Reidy have been big players in that role, but because of the injuries they’ve been starting games. Graeme Mulcahy has been used a lot in that role too, but he didn’t come on against Cork and maybe he has fallen down the pecking order. Three of the young lads that came on in Páirc Uí Chaoimh are in their breakthrough seasons. It’s hard to expect players like that to turn a game around.
Limerick have so much experience of these pressure situations, though, that I can’t see them getting caught. Making fast starts hasn’t been the pattern for Limerick, but I can see them targeting that on Sunday.
Kilkenny’s John Donnelly. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho
The Leinster championship has been overshadowed by the Munster championship again, in terms of attention and promotion, and I think that’s wrong. Every year, since the round-robin came in, the Leinster championship has produced a dramatic final day. Of the four teams at the top of the table, any two of them can reach the Leinster final, and any three of them can qualify.
The key thing on Sunday, I think, will be home advantage. Dublin are playing really well, and I think they should have beaten Kilkenny last Saturday night. If their game against Galway was in Parnell Park it would be very hard to call, but Galway’s record against them in Pearse Stadium is good.
From Galway’s point of view this is a game they must win if they’re going to do anything later in the year. They haven’t done anything so far to suggest they can win the All-Ireland but there’s still time to turn that around. It has to start on Sunday.
I’m not sure what to make of Kilkenny. With the exception of Adrian Mullen all of their injuries have cleared up and they should be kicking on now. John Donnelly has been one of the best forwards in the championship so far this year and he’s been backing up his performances from week to week. They needed him again in Parnell Park last Saturday night.
Kilkenny haven’t beaten Wexford in the championship for the last two years, and they didn’t beat them in the league this year either. Wexford are going well and there is no outcome in Nowlan Park that would be a shock, but I just think Kilkenny will shade it.
One way or another it could be another insane weekend.
Every article is about Munster hurling, this one has only a quarter of it that’s dedicated. He should practice what he preaches.
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I forgot. Will do it in airport later
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Joe Canning: Difficult times for Galway as their season ends in a whimper
Tribesmen would be better off retaining the services of Henry Shefflin and Eamon O’Shea as they face rebuilding project
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Henry Shefflin: I would like to see him give it another year. I still think his relationship with Eamon O’Shea has a lot to offer. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Fri May 31 2024 - 06:00
Galway rarely leave the championship quietly. There’s usually some kind of a racket. Expectations are at the root of it. People look at Galway and think we should be winning more. That was true in my career and when I was watching Galway growing up and it’s not going to change.
Like those players last Sunday, anybody who has played for Galway has endured stuff that was hard to swallow. In my first season we were beaten by a Cork team that was reduced to 14 men before half-time. That was it: gone. My last season was in 2021, during Covid, when hurling reverted to a backdoor system: Dublin beat us in Leinster, Waterford beat us in the qualifiers. Two games. Gone.
I played 14 seasons for Galway and 13 of them ended in defeat. In most of those losing years we were regarded as contenders for the All-Ireland. That expectation is the damning part. It makes the bad years worse.
Henry Shefflin came to Galway to win the All-Ireland. Everybody understood that. In his first season they took Limerick down the stretch in an All-Ireland semi-final; in his second season they rattled Limerick for 25 minutes. This year, they failed to produce one performance that made them look like contenders.
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In the Leinster round-robin you must perform against Kilkenny, Wexford and Dublin. You will probably get away with playing well against two of them. This year Galway failed to perform against all of them.
The current championship structure is unforgiving in many ways but it also gives teams a chance to recover from one bad day. Wexford have done it this year and so have Cork. I expected that kind of response from Galway after the Kilkenny game but instead Galway went backwards against Wexford. Losing in Wexford Park, against 14 men for the last quarter, was probably the turning point.
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Wexford’s Jack O’Connor and Cian Byrne tackle Daithí Burke of Galway. Losing so badly to 14-man Wexford was probably the turning point for Galway. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho
At no stage did they look like a team going somewhere: gaining momentum, improving, growing. They looked stuck. Unsure of how they wanted to play, unsure of their identity, unsure of themselves.
When something like that happens the management will naturally get stick. In my view, most of the responsibility lies with the players. At least 70:30. When you cross the white line nobody else can do it for you.
I don’t know what was going on in training. I don’t know how well they thought they were going. They could have been flying. The bottom line is that you must produce it on the days that matter and Galway didn’t do that.
There’s been a lot of speculation about Shefflin’s future this week. Last autumn, before his three year term was up, he agreed an extension to take him beyond this season. But at that stage Galway still looked like a team that could mount a serious challenge for the All-Ireland whereas now Galway are facing into a period of rebuilding.
Is that what Shefflin signed up for? Not when he agreed to come on board in 2021 and not when he agreed to an extension nine months ago.
I would like to see him give it another year. I still think his relationship with Eamon O’Shea has a lot to offer. For whatever reason we didn’t see the fruits of it this season. Maybe they just didn’t have enough time. The championship starts at the end of April these days and the weather was so bad for the first few months of the year that it must have impacted on every county’s preparation.
For a team that was working with a new coach and potentially changing their style, they would have needed a lot of quality time on the pitch and that wasn’t available to anybody.
Galway have been trying to get O’Shea on board for a long time and it wouldn’t be good to lose him after just one season. I did a session with him once in Pearse Stadium, one-on-one. He had a good relationship with Micheál Donoghue and when Micheál was Galway manager he thought it would be beneficial for me to meet him and work through some stuff about movement.
Galway manager Henry Shefflin with selector Eamon O’Shea. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
As a person and as a coach, O’Shea has a really big presence and it’s easy to see how he could influence a group of players if their minds were open to his ideas. Galway really need him to stay.
The reality, though, is that there are no quick fixes here. Whoever takes on the rebuilding project will be laying a foundation for the next manager. Nobody will see Galway as contenders next year.
I imagine that some players will retire – at least a couple. I played with a lot of the lads who are coming towards the end of their careers. I wouldn’t dream of asking them what their plans are but I hope they take their time. Whatever team takes the field next year, Galway will still need experienced players.
People wonder what happened to the four-in-a-row minor teams that won All-Irelands between 2017 and 2020. The reality is that plenty of those players are on the senior panel now but very few of them are making the team. There has been a holdup in that process somewhere. Nobody makes a jump from minor to senior any more and going from under-20 to senior is a waiting game too.
Athletic development is absolutely critical. Going back the years did all the young players have that foundation? I don’t think so. Lukas Kirszenstein was in charge of strength and conditioning for all Galway hurling teams for a number of years but I know when Jeff Lynskey was manager at minor and under-20 level he wasn’t following Lukas’ strength and conditioning programmes. Those programmes would have been designed to help the younger players make the jump to senior in time. We are years behind Limerick in strength and conditioning. They are starting to click into gear now and are looking ominous.
For everyone who cares about Galway hurling it has been a tough week. Six weeks ago, even a month ago, Galway were seen as contenders for the All-Ireland. How long before we can say that again?
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