Hurling & Camogie

Christy O'Connor: Kilkenny and Limerick want this final crack as much as each other

Kilkenny's Brian Cody at the end of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final between Clare and Kilkenny on  07-02-2022 at Croke Park Dublin. Pic Philip Walsh.
Kilkenny's Brian Cody at the end of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final between Clare and Kilkenny on 07-02-2022 at Croke Park Dublin. Pic Philip Walsh. Kilkenny's Brian Cody at the end of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final between Clare and Kilkenny on 07-02-2022 at Croke Park Dublin. Pic Philip Walsh.

Throughout Brian Cody’s two and a half decades as Kilkenny manager, their training sessions in Nowlan Park have always has a particular meaning; it stands for a value system which means that there is no hiding place.

Everything is revealed in plain sight, which means the ultimate test of the players endurance – mind and body.

During their relentless crusade in the past, training matches were so savagely intense that Kilkenny knew they were ready for anything when they arrived in Croke Park.

“The Nowlan Park cauldron acted as a mental trigger on match-days,” wrote Jackie Tyrrell in his book ‘The Warrior’s Code’. “You’d often look up at the clock in Croke Park and see that there were only 20 minutes gone.

"You’d be out on your feet wondering how you were going to get through the next 50 minutes. Then you’d think back to what you experienced in Nowlan Park and realise you were ready for anything.”

Kilkenny’s training sessions and internal matches in the lead-up to the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare were reportedly so impressive that Brian Cody felt they were as good as anything Kilkenny experienced during their glory years.

Unlike other teams, Kilkenny have always been more comfortable with a four-week training block than a a more regular run of matches. Privately, Cody has never been a huge fan of the round robin because it has never allowed Kilkenny the time to prepare which suited them so well in the past.

That has presented Cody and Kilkenny with different challenges than in the past, but Kilkenny have also evolved with the demands of the modern game, especially around their use of the ball.

The game is more tactical and technical now than it was in the past when Kilkenny were gobbling up All-Irelands. Deliveries inside have to be more measured. Movement and space creation have to be more dynamic and creative. Kilkenny have adapted but they’re now meeting a team and a system which is lifting Limerick towards Kilkenny’s level when they were so absolutely dominant.

Limerick are the top dogs now but, as with any successful team, there can be a tendency to inflate the myth around them from the outside. In so many ways, Limerick now are a carbon copy of Kilkenny at their peak under Brian Cody; they have the best players; they are physically superior to everyone else; their culture drives their ambition; their success pumps their confidence; their manager constantly demands more; the crucible of their training ground environment sets their standards.

They are a brilliant side, superbly coached. Like Kilkenny in their prime, every match Limerick play is analysed in microscopic detail, frame by frame, but there is no secret.

Limerick’s predictability in so much of their play is their greatest strength because they are so comfortable and so good at what they do.

Limerick thrive on pattern recognition within their system. How they play out from the back fits into their system, particularly in how they build the play through their platform in the middle third before playing that long ball into Aaron Gillane or Seamus Flanagan either side of the D.

Flanagan was superb in the Munster final while Gillane was outstanding against Galway. Yet Kilkenny have the luxury of having Huw Lawlor and Mikey Butler in the form of their lives, and capable of matching up to them at least, with Lawlor on Gillane and Butler on Flanagan.

Against Clare, Kilkenny were slick and dynamic. Their movement was the best it’s been all season by a considerable distance. They consistently created space and scoring opportunities, which Clare couldn’t.

Clare’s use of possession in the first half was extremely poor, especially their deliveries into their full-forward line. In that opening half, Clare turned over the ball a colossal 25 times. Kilkenny scored 1-10 off Clare turnovers in that half, and 1-13 in total.

Limerick won’t be as sloppy in possession as Clare were while they’ll also be as destructive on turnovers because it governs so much of their style; Limerick scored 0-15 off Galway turnovers.

Limerick have become very productive off short puckouts and Barry Nash has become their key out-ball option. Galway tried to shut that option down in the semi-final but Kilkenny will go man-for-man, which should leave more long ball options on for the Limerick half-forward line.

Limerick haven’t been getting as many shots off this year as they were in other years but their conversion rate has been high and solid. Yet it will need to be against a Kilkenny team on a hot streak of form, especially up front.

Diarmaid Byrnes has become a long-range weapon for Limerick, having scored 0-31 in six games, but TJ Reid’s accuracy from placed balls has gone to another level too. In his last two matches, Reid has nailed 19 points from 20 shots.

In their last two All-Ireland winning seasons, Limerick have reserved their best performance of the season for the final. Yet there have been signs of a leaking tank throughout this championship and they were there for the taking against Galway. They just couldn’t grab that opportunity but Kilkenny will if they get off that volume of shots (47) as Galway did.

Kilkenny will have the composure on the big day that Waterford and Cork lacked in the last two finals. Unlike those last two deciders, Kilkenny won’t be intimidated or physically bullied like Waterford and Cork were too.

What’s more, they’ll also match up well in physical terms to Limerick, which is one of the primary reasons Clare and Galway were able to go so close to them in this championship.

Kilkenny are gunning for a shot at Limerick. Yet Limerick are equally as intent on taking Kilkenny down, not just to win this final and corroborate their greatness but to heal that hurt from the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final, the last time Limerick were beaten in the championship.

Limerick deserve to be favourites but they’ll have to play really well if they are to secure the three-in-a-row.