Derek McGrath: Focused John Kiely will have another trick up his sleeve
29 July 2018; Limerick manager John Kiely speaks to his team following their victory in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Cork and Limerick at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Making the Fitzgibbon panel of 1995 in UCC as a fresher was significant. The great Canon O'Brien presided over a team laden with stars that included my own club man Johnny Brenner, Pat Hartnett, Donal O’Mahony, and Owen O’Neill. The heartbeats of the set-up though were the inseparable Gerry Maguire of Latin-Cullen and the now revered Limerick manager John Kiely. Welcoming, full of warmth, engaging and purposeful, both were also well able to pull a prank or two.
A first-round preliminary against a Tommy Dunne- and PJ Delaney-led WIT beckoned and Kiely and Maguire sought out their most vulnerable and naïve target… me.
A team meeting revealed that one of the associated honours of making the panel was the fact that suits would be supplied and fitted for the whole team. The ruse began with Kiely informing me that I was to be fitted for my suit down in Murphy’s Menswear on Patrick’s Street in Cork City.
Over the course of the six-week build-up to the game, I visited the shop at least four times where I was regularly checked for sizes, tried on various sports jackets etc. The prank was such that all were complicit in the process.
I also informed my family and friends that I would be collecting my suit the week of the game. Having told the world about it made it a bit harder to accept the reality.
The last training session brought the caveat that you must have your suit with you. Having traipsed down the town again before training I was informed by Mr Murphy that my suit had been collected by Kiely and Maguire. Needless to say, when I arrived at the Dyke I was met with a chorus of jeers and laughter. All part of the initiation process, I suppose.
Watching the Limerick success story from afar and Kiely’s central role provides much joy and optimism.
The joy comes from witnessing a really decent, sincere, compassionate, focused man leading his charges in an understated yet hugely effective manner. The hope lies in the fact that we can all learn from it, knowing that care, fun and compassion can exist on the same spectrum as challenge and ambition.
Kiely’s creation of an environment that is challenging yet supportive was evidenced in his words before their league game against Cork. Speaking of Cathal O Neill’s and Colin Coughlan’s academic and sporting balance, he mentioned fun, enjoying the moments, and becoming accustomed to the environment.
That psychological safety space that he and Caroline Currid have created ensures that people feel they can offer suggestions and take sensible risks. Caring is a deeply effective team-building strategy.
Neither Kiely or Limerick will suffer from what Bill Walsh described as 'success disease'. Similar to the Dublin footballers, one gets the impression that Limerick are as sceptical about success as they are defeat. Of course they celebrate their accomplishments but their ability to refocus sets them apart. With winning, teams can become unstable emotionally and mentally. The goal has been achieved and it can lead to heightened confidence, sometimes dangerously followed by overconfidence and a sense that ‘we’ve got this sussed’.
Walsh describes it as 'contentment' and points out that when it sets in “it can create a lack of respect for the competition, a feeling of superiority and an assumption that you can win at will, turn it on when it counts”. If Limerick are to be beaten only a lazy analyst will point to any of the above.
But how have Limerick ensured that this will not occur?
When Declan Hannon eloquently thanked the frontline staff of the HSE from the Hogan Stand last December most people acknowledged it as “a nice touch”. On a deeper level, it provided a sense of the perspective of the players and their sense of purpose. There was no feeling of false choreography but rather that this was organic and authentic. All the things that Kiely and Currid would have lived rather than espoused. It also ensured absolute inclusivity.
When Barry Nash was played as a corner-back and Kyle Hayes reverted to 7, the commentary began: “Ah sure Nash is not a corner-back, we'll miss Kyle as a rampaging 11”. The brains trust think differently. Ignoring the noise has dominated column inches in relation to Gareth Southgate this week and similarly it is something that Kiely and Kinnerk are good at. They would have considered that no team is playing with a conventional 3 inside anymore so it is possible to have a creative player who will end up playing a huge amount of ball from 4, who will often be completely free. Similarly, who can give us something dynamic with pace and power from 7? Limerick are quite capable of changing again if the occasion demands. The subtle relocation of Cian Lynch to 11 provided the nation’s sweepers or ‘sitting 6s’ with new conundrums. Mark Coleman is next on the list.
Even though Limerick are going for back-to-back titles, one feels that it should be three in a row. The trajectory of the team has allowed them to approach the league slightly differently this year. The instruction not to come together collectively post Christmas in terms of training will have been planned meticulously, not just from a physical perspective but from an emotional stance. The balance between the importance of the bonding cycle and the influence of a secure base would have been considered. Given that these lads have bonded significantly over the last few years, a little time apart before a return to the secure base would have been deemed the most appropriate method of recreating and accelerating the hunger. Dr George Kohlreiser, the famous organisational psychologist and hostage negotiator, accurately sums up a secure base in his book as “enabling us to have a sense of security and protection so that the mind’s eye can be focused on exploration, creativity and doing those things from which we derive satisfaction or pleasure”. Looking from the outside in, it seems an accurate description of this Limerick camp. They love what they are doing.
Ahead of the 2019 meeting of Cork and Limerick, Hannon remarked of the difficulties they’d always had with Cork’s short game. The constant referencing of Nicky Quaid’s save in 2018 underlines the feeling that Cork are the team that have, or are likely to, ‘trouble’ Limerick. Limerick may look at this as the next on their list of measurable targets. The sense is that they will go after the Rebels in the manner that they did in the league game.
As Waterford manager we had some horrendous days, notably a 20-point trouncing at the hands of Tipperary in 2016. Last Friday's column by Ronan O’Gara where he talked about the importance of giving your all to something evoked both a memory and a possible coping mechanism. We tried to associate ourselves with something that was symbolic of our ethos, coming up with the maxim ‘Gach Rud. Gach lá’. (Everything. Every day). Put simply, if the players and management can give everything without feeling burdened to all aspects of their lives including their distinct vulnerabilities then we can continue to grow and learn. This applied to all everything from relationships to hurling. Limerick seem to have the perfect balance and sense of perspective.
DROP CAP
Cork’s analysis will have focused on games where Limerick have been challenged forcefully in recent years. While many point to the Galway semi-final last year, with the exception of a laboured start, Limerick’s poor execution largely disguised the significant gap between the teams.
As a starting point, the Munster final against Waterford is more informative. A savagely aggressive Waterford approach saw Dessie Hutchinson operate as a lone forward, the middle third flooded with bodies, Tadgh de Búrca operating as a sweeper, Kevin Moran man to man with Tom Morrissey, and Jack Fagan marking Gearóid Hegarty.
This allowed Calum Lyons provide a double layer of protection, but also to bomb forward when appropriate. The energy of the Déise players enabled them to be where the ball was at all times.
The perception around Cork’s ‘new’ style of play is ill-informed and lazy. The Cork team of 2017 played with only two up front, with Shane Kingston and Luke Meade often part of their half-back line before breaking at pace. A sextet of forwards from Robbie O’ Flynn, Seamus Harnedy, Kingston, Meade, Patrick Horgan, Alan Cadogan, Jack O’Connor and Shane Barrett, with Darragh Fitzgibbon and Tim O’Mahony bombing from the middle third, should have one clear instruction from their bench Sunday. “Run”.
The concentration on Cork’s defensive alignment in the league overlooked the fact that no team scored more goals. The Coleman dilemma will be central to their setup. Perhaps it’s too early for a returning Bill Cooper but a defensively minded midfielder and half-forward will be needed to track and sometimes mark Cian Lynch’s deep forays. It’s during the transition that he is at his most dangerous.
Kieran Kingston and his management team could do worse than look at the game management and brilliance of Ryan Taylor's role for Clare last Sunday. While many raved about John Conlon’s performance, the Clonlara man could share his piece of crystal with Taylor for tracking the deep Waterford forwards leaving Conlon free for the whole game.
The gegenpress that Cork felt some weeks ago will likely be replaced by the normal retreating and layered approach of the Limerick forwards. Cork will have learned a lesson from that experience too. A more flexible policy involving more movement, bunch and break, and even long and direct puckouts down the middle will materialise.
Limerick will more than likely look to counter this counter by sending one of the full-forward line out to hound Coleman from behind. Graeme Mulcahy normally gets this often unheralded but extremely important role.
The Cork match-ups will be interesting. The 2018 drawn game saw Eoin Cadogan perform a very aggressive and effective man-marking job on Gearóid Hegarty. He also snuffed out Gillane in the '19 game in the Gaelic Grounds.
Perhaps we will see Cahalane and Tim O’Mahony take Hegarty and Morrissey, go deep with them, and try to offer themselves as attacking outlets with Coleman sitting, a midfielder marking Lynch and Robbie O’Flynn, with Meade and Barrett acting as outlets and support for Coleman.
Limerick will look to counter this depth with target-based metrics around their work-rate, hoping to make workable goal chances. When this happens they will accumulate some total.
A couple of years after Kiely and Maguire had left UCC, we finally got our hands on the Fitzgibbon Cup. The story of the suit, however, continued to follow me around. The previous year we had undertaken the Nutron diet with Waterford under the reign of the genial Gerald McCarthy. Having been omitted from the squad having put on a few pounds, my pen picture for the Fitzgibbon weekend read:
“NUTRON = Not Unless There’s Rakes Of Nosh.
That suit wouldn't fit you now McGrath.”
Kiely to continue the trickery tomorrow evening. Limerick to advance.
