Derek McGrath: Tipp can't be as naive again but Limerick continuously evolve

Tipperary have belatedly realised a defensive structure can provide more room up front

Fri, 06 May, 2022 - 12:02

Good leaders create an environment of trust, connecting emotionally with people and giving them a sense of safety and belonging. Colm Bonnar will have begun the process of creating this connection with his Tipperary players. John Kiely has created this over four years in Limerick.

Kiely has proved that the ‘soft’, human side of management can coexist with an obsessive relentless focus on the hard tactical side. Tipperary’s movement towards this balanced approach has begun.

Brendan Cummins’ abhorrence of defensive systems was swiftly binned and replaced by a dose of reality. Tipperary U20s produced two very good performances based not on having seven backs but on having 10. This belated realisation that this defensive structure can provide more room up front had Fintan O’Connor’s brilliant coaching stamp all over it. Ensuring you are hard to beat does not mean that you are unwilling to attack for the win. Cummins’ flexibility and propensity to sit bodies back and counter at speed provides hope to the Tipperary hurling fraternity that Willie Maher’s musings around “the game evolving and interchangeability” may have acted as a catalyst for change.

Similarly, James Woodlock’s superbly coached and prepared minor team set the terms of engagement and a possible template for Tipperary teams going forward. Some of the Waterford minors in school remarked at how Tipperary were set up defensively with huge numbers back the field creating space for Tom Delaney to run amok up front.

Clare’s first goal in Thurles will have featured in the video analysis briefings of Damien Young within the Tipperary camp. On 10:38, Tony Kelly hits a free 35 yards form goal and immediately sets up for the puckout. Knowing he will be tagged consistently Kelly takes off out field with Craig Morgan and not Seamus Kennedy following. Crucially, his beautiful offload to Clare’s player of the year so far Ryan Taylor helps set Peter Duggan for the eventual Ian Galvin goal.

Watching the many conversations between Noel McGrath and Colm Bonnar during the Waterford game I got the sense of a player tactically guiding both his management and players around the field. The theory that Walsh Park perhaps suited the Tipperary’s lack of mobility gained more credence after the difficulties the wide open spaces of Semple presented them.

In planning for the movement, power and physique of the Limerick forward line, Tipperary will surely have learned lessons from the naivety of their defensive approach against Clare.

I was intrigued by the variety of Limerick’s approach against Waterford. At 19:30 watch Diarmaid Byrnes stand over what looks a run-of- the-mill free. Watch the movement of Gearoid Hegarty infield to create space on his wing. Take note of the ‘blocking’ done by Conor Boylan on Conor Prunty to give Hegarty five yards to win possession and the subsequent free.

Kiely’s brilliant man management of Boylan and Graeme Mulcahy has echoes of Jurgen Klopp. Mulcahy fluffed his goal chance and was substituted but Kiely reinforced to Graeme his importance to the team ethic. Limerick have a number of ‘nuisance’ players who constantly chase, harry, hook and hunt the opposition. And it is the cleverness of their targets that makes them stand apart.

As soon as the Waterford puckout was struck, Boylan or Mulcahy or both would head for the back of Tadgh de Burca, their job to stop the Clashmore playmaker from setting the tempo. No plaudits would come their way next day from the national scribes, but the opinion of their teammates and management will matters most.

For evidence of Mulcahy’s guile and selfless running, take note of Aaron Gillane’s brilliant score from a Nickie Quaid puckout on 35:15. Rewind 30 seconds for the contributory factors. Austin Gleeson, after hitting a free from the right half forward position, is paranoid that Limerick’s outlet receiver Diarmaid Byrnes will receive possession and Austin races across the field to sit right up on Byrnes. Meanwhile, four of the Limerick forwards - Morrissey, O’Neill, Hegarty and Boylan - occupy the left hand side of the field. William O’Donoghue has cleverly moved inside his own 45 bringing Calum Lyons with him. But it is the craft and game sense of Mulcahy in the right corner that makes the score. Instead of taking up the open space on the right, he moves towards goal and points over his shoulder to the space that Gillane explodes into to receive the puckout. Quaid’s positioning on the opposite side of the goal to the area he strikes to is another key takeaway.

As interesting as watching Limerick marry prerehearsed systematic coaching with instinctive decision making was their dominance of the field in other areas. I have consistently lamented the loss of the Maor Foirne, not alone for the players’ benefit but also for watching anoraks like myself.

Watching Mick Dempsey take and impart instructions from Cody — or Bulfin and Fitzgerald and Bevans and Cahill — became a massive part of the game. A tactical realignment, a subtle switch, a change of puckout strategy. the maor foirnes contribute to the ebb and flow of game changing moments. Watching Kinnerk quietly whisper to Shane Dowling before that 2018 penalty or encouraging Richie McCarthy in as a late replacement for Mike Casey in the final, spectators got real insight into the influential contribution of the coach.

Limerick’s adaption to the loss of the role has seen their medical team remove any demarcation lines within their management set up. Their approach has been brilliantly creative.

When Waterford came to the Gaelic Grounds the Limerick mentality was to insist this is our patch, and our messaging will be on point. This communicative messaging saw physio Mark Melbourne and doctor James Ryan operate as a brilliantly creative duo. Undoubtedly tending to the hydration and medical needs of their players, their influence in terms of tactical instruction is also plain. At 1:05:35, watch the dynamic duo in full flow as at least five players are ‘attended to’ and provided with words of encouragement and direction. With five minutes to go Nickie Quaid receives subtle advice on the next few puckouts. It is welcome to see such inclusivity amongst management teams and the constant thinking outside the box in the modern game. It would be interesting to see the GPS readings of the medical duo.

Perhaps the most sense this week was spoken by the brilliantly inventive Rory Gallagher. Correctly lauded for the clinical execution of a detailed gameplan he remarked that “I don’t believe you can build tactics unless you build a togetherness”.

Tipperary are only beginning their build, Limerick are continuously evolving. This evolution to continue on Sunday.