Derek McGrath on the hurling quarter-finals: Waterford to flow and Tipp to grit it out
IN FULL FLOW: Tadhg De Búrca of Waterford is tackled by Peter Casey of Limerick during the Munster final. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi and Angela Duckworth are not really what one might call ‘hurling people’ but the famed psychologists know a great deal about what the protagonists involved tomorrow will bring to both All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Think of an “artist, single-mindedly absorbed in the process, experiencing a euphoric sense of elevation,” a state Csikzentmihalyi labelled ‘flow’, and you begin to think of the likes of Joe Canning, Tadhg de Búrca and Tony Kelly.
Sometimes we are in danger of taking what we see on any given weekend for granted. Canning’s score from a sideline cut 47 minutes into last weekend’s Leinster final came after a 15-second ‘see what’s on first’ approach.
If you pause your recording as Joe observes what’s on, focus in on the lateral eye movements and his eyes wide open indicate someone in the zone and in a complete state of flow.
With the greatest respect to Cian Lynch last Sunday, the two best players on the field were Waterford men, namely Stephen Bennett and de Búrca.
Any fear of bias dissipated when I watched the game back from the behind the goal camera on Monday evening. The first half, when the camera was located at Waterford’s defensive end, gave us the most informative view of a player in full flow — Tadhg organising, anticipating and just being himself.
Waterford GAA would do well to dissect the half and apply the learnings to its development squads. You could classify it under the genre of masterclass.
Enough superlatives have been handed to Kelly for his flow, but the hints were forthcoming over recent weeks of what Angela Duckworth has called a combination of passion and perseverance for long-time goals. The presence of 'grit'.
Canning’s injuries have been well documented, De Búrca has worn a lonely road to the gyms of Clashmore and Carriganore for eight months and Patrick O’Connor referenced the diligence of Kelly during lockdown.
I have witnessed Tony in action with his students at St Flannan’s. Myself and Philip Mahony were involved with our White Cup team here last year and we came up against a Flannan’s team coached by Kelly and Jamesie O’Connor.
We were comprehensively outplayed but Kelly’s encouraging words, his directional observations, and his obvious humility were standout features, not alone for his own players but for all who travelled on our defeated bus.
Most GAA players will have worked through particular challenges, will attack the friction and realise that the learnings come through perseverance.
While the constructs of flow and grit may seem mutually exclusive — one relating to effortlessness and the other relating to tough, hard, effortful work — in reality they have a complementary relationship.
By being gritty, by sticking at it, individuals are more likely to reach a state of flow in a given task due to their tendency to engage in more deliberate practice. At the same time, the flow experienced by these players is likely to increase their decision to persevere.
After the win over Wexford, the remarks of Brian Lohan and Kelly combined both flow and grit and were significant. Referencing that Clare were perhaps the forgotten team, not part of the pre-match conversation, even ‘disrespected’, resulted in an indignant Clare taking the field and channelling that anger in a purposeful way.
They had an edge which they needed.
The difficulty now motivationally is to recreate the edge. They’ve had a pat on the back. There will be ‘We have Davy Mac back” loose talk. Such murmurings can blunt the blade and lead to a subconscious complacency.
Clare are a very talented team and a forward line that includes David Reidy, Shane O’Donnell, Kelly, Ryan Taylor, possibly Aaron Cunningham and a fit Aaron Shanagher must be respected.
Limiting Kelly will be at the forefront of Waterford’s plan. Calum Lyons may be the most suitable candidate to track and manmark the Clare wizard. Given the fact that he has played in the full- and half-back lines for Waterford and at half-forward and midfield for his club Ballyduff, Cahill may decide he has the versatility to limit Kelly.
Against this, he may weigh up the value of Lyons’ marauding runs from deep and decide to go with a similarly versatile marker in Kieran Bennett, who has seen action in all lines of the field for the Déise except the full-forward line.
A notable inclusion on the panel last weekend was Conor Gleeson, wearing number 26. If he has trained well enough this week he may well come into the equation also.
Cahill’s post-match interview following the loss to Limerick immediately set the tone for tomorrow.
Whilst delighted with the collective effort and reaffirming to his players that he was “very proud of their honesty”, he also crucially pointed to improvement areas.
Dessie Hutchinson will be delighted to see the sod of Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The continued brilliance of Stephen Bennett, the unheralded skill and steadiness of Jack Prendergast, Shane McNulty and Conor Prunty, allied to the direction provided by Jake Dillon, will be crucial for Waterford.
Green shoots often emerge during the most difficult times and Paraic Fanning’s role in entrusting and developing Lyons and Prendergast should not be forgotten.
Austin Gleeson will also revel on the harder surface in Cork and tomorrow could be his day to combine grit and flow to propel us into a very appealing semi-final with the Cats.
Liam Sheedy’s post-match synopsis following Tipperary’s win over Cork was equally compelling. Not alone for hailing the spirit and character of his team, but more tellingly how it may have influenced Shane O’Neill’s thinking ahead of the titanic clash tomorrow.
Noting that Mark Coleman was “sitting deep in front of the full-back line” in the first half, Cork’s return to the land of the conventional in the second saw Sheedy remark that “we had more space to play into”.
Galway’s plan to go with seven at the back against Kilkenny, with Pádraig Mannion sweeping, may well have been the right one.
Had Jason Whelan not mishit on 53 minutes and instead saw Brian Concannon splendidly isolated for a tap-in goal, it would have been.
The double whammy from Richie Hogan and TJ Reid is celebrated rightly for the execution and skill, but it also highlighted the importance of having Mannion in situ in the most dangerous situations. While Joseph Cooney had performed dutifully on TJ, his lack of corner-back defensive instincts presented themselves with the first dip of the shoulders from the Kilkenny maestro.
Galway’s perceived standing as the most likely to trouble Limerick has yet to be fully validated and whilst Concannon, Flynn and Niall Burke looked dangerous on different occasions inside over the last two games, the league match earlier this spring may inform their thoughts about a possible placing of Conor Whelan in a more advanced role.
If the ball dries up, Whelan like all good players will know to go hunting for it.
Expect David Burke to be relocated back to the middle of the field. But all the tactical approaches will be influenced by whether or not a gale is blowing at the Gaelic Grounds.
From a Tipperary perspective, the invaluable nature of the often understated input of Michael Breen and Dan McCormack was and will be huge. This may well be supplemented by the likely availability of Barry Heffernan and Seamus Kennedy, and while doubts may persist about their match fitness Sheedy may point to last year’s semi-final when he sprung both pre-game against Wexford. The reappearance of either would allow Niall O’Meara return to his more customary forward role.
Sometimes it’s helpful to look back when trying to ascertain a pattern in terms of a team’s trajectory. Before the championship of 2019 Sheedy’s manipulation of the April club month saw an animal-like Tipperary team arrive to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and fillet Cork with ruthless efficiency.
Chief among the terrorists that day were John O’Dwyer and John and Noel McGrath. The commentary surrounded the hunger, skill and conditioning of the Tipperary trio. Bubbles has not featured this year, bar a brief cameo against Limerick, and the McGraths have visibly struggled.
Loughmore Castleiney’s deep sojourn to the finals of both hurling and football championships may be a telling influence. Yet class is permanent. Liam will hope that one spark of brilliance will act as a catalyst for either the creator or the assassin.
Sheedy's glass-half-full personality will have arrowed in on the 50-plus minutes Bonner now has under his belt, the infectious input from the bench of Willie Connors and Paul Flynn, and the undoubted leadership and skillset of the Mahers, Seamus Callanan and Jason Forde.
The emergence of Jake Morris as a potential Lar Corbett-type assassin will have pleased the equally animated Eamon O’Shea and Eoin Kelly.
Waterford to flow in Cork and Tipperary to grit it out in Limerick.
