A bit of divil could bring back the excitement
I’m training a team in Tipperary, Burgess, and there’s very little talk down there this week about the upcoming Tipperary/Clare Munster semi-final — the same situation applies in Clare. What’s happened? Is the appetite gone? Is the hurling not good enough anymore? Tipperary and Clare was a match-up that in recent years used to really fire the imagination of hurling supporters in Munster — what has changed?
I’m told the same applies in almost every other county, no great buzz this year. Is it the economy? Is it the standard of hurling this year? And we only have to go back six days to know what I’m talking about there, the drawn game between Limerick and Waterford. I wonder what the ticket sales will be in Limerick tomorrow, in Thurles this afternoon?
Look at Tipp and Cork in Thurles a few weeks ago, 35,000 where you’d have had a full house a few years ago, look at Limerick and Waterford last Sunday, only 25,000; I don’t think anyone can deny there is a problem. Perhaps it’s time people looked at the whole championship structure, but people definitely aren’t excited about what’s happening this year. Maybe all that will change when we get to the knockout phase — we’ll just have to wait and see.
But look around you at the moment, see the number of fellas who are idle, training when they should be playing as club championships are held off until the end of summer, or maybe not training at all, because their season is over already, knocked out of the championship. Is all that inactivity bringing down the standard, leading to the lack of interest? Anyway, we’re not going to get all the answers here, and the powers-that-be will continue to do their own thing.
To the games in Munster this weekend, and the big one I suppose is Tipperary and Clare in Limerick. First, I want to talk about Tipperary; the hay is saved, Cork are bet, and Liam Sheedy has helped to get his clubman from Portroe, Alan Kelly, elected to the European Parliament! That little plug by Sheedy on television after the Cork match didn’t do Kelly’s chances any harm, and Sheedy knew full well what he was doing.!!
I’m sure all Sheedy’s focus this year has been on getting Tipperary to an All-Ireland final, and an important step along that road is winning in Munster, retaining their title. He’s lost two of his half-back line from last year, with Eamonn Corcoran retired, Shane Maher out injured, and it wasn’t until Cork came storming back in the second half of Tipp’s first-round win that you really began to realise how big a loss those two were.
When Cork started running at the new Tipp half-back line, they were in trouble. Add in the fact that Conor O’Mahony, the third member of last year’s half-back line, wasn’t fully fit after his bout of the mumps, had to be taken off, and Tipperary were really struggling here. So, major question-marks then over the half-backs, the critical line in any team. Compensating somewhat for that, Tipp have an outstanding midfielder in Shane McGrath, one of the best around. Alongside him, James Woodlock didn’t do enough against Cork.
The strongest element of this Tipperary team is up front; forwards of the quality of Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett, Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan, John O’Brien, and Pat Kerwick. Micheál Webster was a little out of place among that lot and I’m not surprised he’s been dropped, but he’s a good option for changing the shape of the game.
I have been reading and hearing for a while now that this is an emerging Clare team, a team in transition; it is not. The only man without championship experience is David Barrett — most of the rest are battle-hardened, with far more experience than most of the Tipp lads. I would say more of this Clare team have All-Ireland final experience than Tipp, with most of them also having plenty of experience at semi-final level. They’ve been around for a good number of years, so whatever Clare lack going into this one, it’s not experience.
Clare had a disastrous league run, unlucky in a few games but still didn’t win a match. Were they putting all their eggs in one basket? It’s a big gamble. I’ll be looking to guys like Brian O’Connell, Brendan Bugler, Tony Griffin, Niall Gilligan and others to show leadership. Clare’s big problem has been in their forwards, but they’ve also leaked some big scores.
THEY need to concentrate, really dig in; let Clare play with a bit of divil — in fact let both teams play with a bit of divil in them, and go at it as they did in the 90s. Maybe then we’ll get people excited again, we’ll get people interested. A winner? Tipperary — they have higher ambitions than beating Clare, they have the better hurlers, and the win over Cork will stand to them.
Quick word on the Limerick/Waterford replay: I went with Waterford last week, and even though Limerick had a great chance to win it in the second half, I think that chance has passed. Hopefully we’ll have a better game, but then that won’t be difficult. I know some people are disappointed it’s not being televised — but after the drawn game, I know many others who are grateful.
