Don’t forget @thelimericks greatest meltdown. The time they went dark on TFK in their effort to not disrupt team prep for the final…
Serious serious bidness
Back on the early morning posting about thelimericks? I thought you were cured.
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Shane Dowling told em shur
When your wife and kids are Limerick supporters it’s your reality, the time of day doesn’t matter.
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The sun always shines for us Limericks. No sunset or sunrise
Is that what it is? Oh jaysus.
Derek McGrath: Limerick speeded it all up, will Tipp stick or twist?
The tempo setter of the Treaty organisation Nickie Quaid was in more of a hurry last Sunday.
KIELY A CLASS ACT
I dedicated column inches three years ago to the roguish elements of John Kiely’s character. A four-month ruse aided and abetted by his aide de camp, Lattin Cullen’s Jerry Maguire, in 1994 saw me traipse consistently up and down to Tom Murphy menswear in Patrick Street Cork to be fitted for our ‘Fitzgibbon Suits’. The suits as it materialised were but phantom garments, part of an elaborate plan to ensure my initiation as a fresher into the Fitzgibbon squad was a memorable one. That was and is Kiely: funny, witty, trickster traits underlined by a deep-rooted genuineness and sincerity.
Leinster’s Croke Park Champions Cup semi-final on Sunday has propelled Declan Darcy’s performance coach role to the forefront. His experience with Dublin in Croker, allied to his skillset around elite performance, has been helping his team prepare.
Listening to Kiely’s post-match interview last Sunday prompted me to revisit Darcy’s thesis submission for his doctorate in elite performance. It was on the importance of care when developing elite performers or athletes. Darcy wrote of care "as a multi-faceted word or notion”. Most regard it as a soft notion associated with hugs and support of the athlete, but Darcy informed us that care “can be a tough conversation”. while reiterating the importance of living the fact that “you will do whatever it takes to show it (the cause) and the person matter”.
Johns’s post-match comments were laced with class, love, respect, dignity and integrity. When asked about the wellbeing of Peter Casey, he spoke of “looking after him”, of the “hurt of the group”. When Kiely spoke of “rallying around him, supporting him, giving him every assistance we can", outlining that Casey is “one of ours”, you got the sense that this familial bond, this intangible togetherness of the Treaty squad runs deep and that is not just reserved for when someone gets injured.
The balanced nature of his commentary classily referred to “not wanting to see anyone getting injured” whilst also referencing having "a huge regard for the opposition”. Notwithstanding this, John has a steely, ruthless edge too. But he realises that they can coexist within the same person and that courage, as Hemingway remarked, is “ grace under pressure”.
WHAT THEY DID WITH PAUL WAS BROUGHT TO THE PITCH
A little more revealing from a tactical perspective was that John mentioned “accuracy of shooting, accuracy in the tackle, our pickups, our passing, our ball retention, free count” as areas Limerick had focused on throughout the week before the game. It’s difficult to put yourself in the position of the Limerick coaching staff, but some of the preparation looked to be borne out by key findings from multiple viewings of the Tipperary game. How might that week have looked?
- THE REVIEW
The genial Kinnerk and the sharp Seanie O’Donnell would have crunched the numbers and GPS readings, assessed data around key areas like scoring efficiency, tackle count, key decision making and puckout retention and its relationship with speed, as well as analysed their shape. This is all married with a review of their psychological state in terms of mindset with Joe O’ Connor. The coaching week is simplified and set out.
- PUCKOUTS/ SPEED IT UP NICKIE
The tempo setter of the Treaty organisation Nickie Quaid was in more of a hurry last Sunday. In Ennis, in the first half, Clare had only four wides. For those wides, Quaid had the ball back in open play in 6 seconds, 13, 11 and 14, averaging 11 seconds to get his team moving.
Against Tipperary the tempo was world’s apart. For Tipperary’s four first-half wides, Quaid had the puckout back (legally I may add) in play for the first three in 5 seconds and the fourth in 4 seconds. The average was down below 5 seconds. For a sense of Quaid’s brilliant game management and ability to read situations, you could point to the 25 seconds after Aidan McCarthy billowed the net in Ennis and the 28 seconds after Johnny Ryan’s point for Tipperary.
QUAID ONLY PART OF THE CHANGE
The body language and “tuned in” nature of Limerick was much sharper. The brilliantly committed Dan Morrissey sets the tone when setting up on restarts. For years, Limerick have used Diarmaid Byrnes as a fourth receiver in the right corner back position on puckouts. This year’s flexibility piece has seen Hayes now come to four with Byrnes occasionally up on his man on the other side. The paranoia that wing forwards feel when pressing up on Limerick’s backs results in opportunities for Quaid to play balls into acres of space in front of Reidy, O’Neill and Morrissey. As seen last Sunday, puckout practice was significant during the week.
THE BEST TACKLERS AND THE BEST WITH THEIR FEET
Donnacha Ó Dálaigh’s brilliant poke and chip with his right foot into the grateful hands of Adam English reinforced to me how good Limerick are with their feet. An early outside-the-foot poke to win possession by David Reidy, the subtleness of Hegarty’s feet and Cian Lynch’s composure when using his feet are the extra bits Limerick players have over every other team.
I am not suggesting the week was spent playing soccer, but they understand better than anyone the merits of toeing it out to a better-placed teammate. They have perfected the Kilkenny-like flick (again perfectly legal) with a long hurley extension. The champions of this are Finn, Byrnes, O’Neill and O’Donoghue. O’Donoghue’s ability to disrupt the back of a ruck by not fouling reveals his brilliant game sense. He often just shoves the ruck forward to allow the ball to squirm to a Limerick player.
BETTER DEPTH
Limerick seemed to assess that their shape was not at its flexible best against Clare. Most assumed that Peter Casey would again be wandering far from goal. Instead, his brilliance was used in tandem with Gillane and Reidy was the wanderer. The interchangeability of Lynch, O’Neill and Reidy became an impossible ambiguity for Tipperary to assess and act upon. Crucially, Reidy and Tom Morrissey’s location at times within their own 45 allowed Kyle Hayes and Nash to charge forward from the left wing. Morrisey also had clear instructions early on to angle ball into Gillane just to build his flow.
ALL ON THE LINE IN WALSH PARK
Davy’s sprint for the tunnel in Walsh Park the last day, allied to his relative anonymity since, is a welcome approach. We have been buoyed by what happened two weeks ago, but Davy will know what is coming in Walsh Park in a 50/50 encounter.
Against Cork, Waterford were able to marry perfectly the instinctive skillset of their players with a very detailed plan. Much commentary afterwards insinuated that the players led the restructure, and this may have germs of truth, but this was a management and team playing and acting as one.
It took a level of planning to execute Jamie Barron’s opening goal. It may look to some as just a long ball down the middle with runners on the break. Rewatch and you will see the picture created by Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mahony, Monty and Darragh Lyons. Pause it when Mikey Kiely takes his hand down at the last second and you will see the depth of planning that Davy has gone into.
Tipperary were extremely flat last week and will arrive in Walsh Park having endured a difficult week’s commentary. The hope and likelihood is that they will have engaged their souls together as a group, self-analysed at every level, and will feel that the work done in Portugal will present itself in Waterford.
The quandary is whether to stick or twist. Is it a day to throw back into the mix proud workaholic Dan McCormack? Can you get 50 minutes from a forward line that includes the two McGraths, Forde, Morris, Kehoe and Gearóid Ó’Connor with Bonner again coming from the bench?
The energy and hurling that Conor Stakelum and Cathal Barrett give Tipperary may also be assessed, depending on fitness. Last year’s tracking by Barrett of Tony Kelly may prompt Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans to identify key men from the Déise that need to be tracked. Could we see Barrett v Barron?
These Waterford players have an inherent decency about them. There is no hint of indulgence or arrogance and their pursuits are genuinely about the team and who they represent. Being in Walsh Park with all my family to witness their selflessness was the very definition of what it means to be born and reared in our city and county. I began to think to myself that it’s ten years now we have witnessed the brilliance of Tadgh and 101 appearances not out for Jamie. How lucky we are…. Tipp will bring everything they have but Waterford will win.
WATCH OUT FOR THE SPACE MAKERS
Eamon O’Shea’s brilliance in teaching players how to make and appreciate space pointed me in the direction of an interesting study by Dr. Geir Jordet, a Norwegian professor of psychology. Jordet’s PhD thesis was on the role of vision, perception and anticipation in elite-level performance. He focuses on the art of decision-making and particularly the “Visual Exploratory Frequency” of prominent soccer players.
Put simply, the findings revealed that those who “scanned frequently” before the ball arrived performed better. Pause the Limerick Tipperary game on 46 minutes 12 seconds and you will see Cian Lynch scan his surroundings at least five times. Chief scanners of the weekend ahead should include the Mannions, De Búrca, Noel McGrath, Barron and Bennett. I will let you decide what they all have in common.
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The tfk cognoscenti won’t like this but that’s another good article from Derek.
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Much improved 7.5/10
You’d have to applaud any fella that re-visited a doctoral thesis for the purposes of a newspaper article. Most dissertations never get read twice, not even by the author (cc @Kyle )
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A Tipp win would keep the MSHC alive. A Waterford win makes it a procession really.
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I don’t think ‘genial’ means what Derek thinks it does.
I don’t like his writing style. He writes like someone who is writing an English Paper 2 essay.
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Derek’s praise for Limerick will have @thelimericks changing their minds about him. For all they’ve won, @thelimericks most of all want to be respected & loved. They crave that external validation.
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Derek has a lovely way about him and writes a great article.
Likebait post.
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We are quite satisfied with being successful cunts actually.
Derek is making a bob or two in Limerick (well, in the Demilitarized Zone at least) at the moment. He knows the score.
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HIs writing also appears a little too high brow for the pass english fellas.
If you need anything explained send me a dm bro. I’ll walk you through it.
Derek is a very decent man.