John Fogarty: Limerick have overcome all rivals — and all of the narratives too
The devoted: Limerick fans stand in front of a sign that reads “John and his Apostles” at All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions Limerick homecoming in TUS Gaelic Grounds. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher
Box office by deed, Limerick are led by a manager whose words are almost as appealing.
Plenty of John Kiely's utterances are carried elsewhere in today’s edition and there are more here as he offers insight into how Limerick learned that the media is a game too. An opinion against or too much in favour of Limerick goes uncontested and the repercussions, he believes, can be costly.
“You have to manage it and you have to be very aware of what’s going on and what the narratives are because there are a million and one narratives now,” Kiely said yesterday. “You can’t let these narratives go unchecked, if you like, because you can’t keep players insulated from the outside noise.
“It will penetrate. They will hear it, they will see it. They’re all on social media, they’re all on Instagram, Twitter. It’s there for us all but it’s how it’s acknowledged and how it’s managed. We would manage those narratives throughout the year.”
Playing down expectation has been the obvious means of challenging the narrative but another example came after the final Munster round-robin game in Ennis in which Gearóid Hegarty had been harshly sent off. Kiely undermined the negative perception of his player: “There’s a narrative there at the moment that Gearóid is playing on the edge or doing x, y, or z, and it’s feeding into people’s decision-making. It needs to stop, because it’s going to have a big impact and it's disappointing to see a player do that.”
What didn’t help Limerick was how close they came to picking up a couple of red cards against Tipperary the game previous but Kiely had to take a stand. He spoke of would-be All-Ireland final referee Colm Lyons making an error in dismissing Hegarty and it needing to be corrected. It couldn’t be as it was a double yellow booking and didn’t contribute to a suspension but that wasn’t the point.
Three games later and Limerick’s discipline has largely been excellent – they didn’t pick up a yellow card in either the All-Ireland semi-final or final – but Kiely has learned not to be too gung-ho about defending his men. After initially accusing Galway of simulating in last year’s league game, he apologised to them via this newspaper having watched the video footage back.
“The bottom line is that what I thought I had seen was absolutely not the case. I wish to wholeheartedly retract those comments with regard to Galway and to apologise for them," he recanted. "It’s important that I set the record straight now that I’m certain that what I saw was not what I believed I had seen.”
Kiely knew if what he was going to say about his team’s discipline in the future was going to carry weight he had to say sorry. It was the type of behaviour you’d expect he expects from his own players if they said something silly.
We can’t say for certain Seamus Flanagan paid for some loose talk with his place in 2019 but he may have had some explaining to do after making himself a hostage to fortune with the following: “You can’t out-work us because we’re going to out-work anyone that we play. You can plan all you want for us, mark us, drop a sweeper, drop two sweepers, but once we work harder than you, we’re going to beat you, we’re going to get those hooks, get those blocks, get those scores and I don’t know how you can plan against that.” Later that season, Kilkenny did.
As Limerick have become bigger news, Kiely has recognised the importance of performing in the press. He said yesterday: “We have become more empowering of our players over the last number of years. Gradually, they get more experienced. Do they get it right all the time? They don’t. Do I get it right all the time? I don’t. But if somebody makes a mistake, I don’t hang them over it. We learn from it and we move on.
“That’s the beauty of it in our group. We’re not afraid of it, we’re not altogether throwing our arms around it but we know it has a place and a part to play and it has an important part to play. It’s just a case of making sure that we find a place in it where the players are able to perform and still be a part of that.”
If, as Kiely noted, the neutrals moved away from Limerick this year, the champions will feel even more isolated in 2023. Having been a self-admitted proponent of anyone but Kilkenny winning an All-Ireland when the Cats were kings in the late 2000s, he knows exactly how others will be feeling and thinking about Limerick on their pedestal next season.
After leaping umpteen hurdles this year, it’s another that will present itself but all in good time. The question of being denied a fair jury can wait when for four years this special bunch have been deprived of a full coronation.
On the night Limerick were bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup home for a third year running, Tipperary were attempting to move forward with their intention to appoint Liam Cahill, a year later than they had intended.
Coincidence? You’d hope not when Tipperary’s dirty laundry has been hung out to dry for all to see but to be fair the word was on Friday that Cahill would be announced yesterday.
That the news came just as Cashel King Cormacs issued their own press release damning the board for the manner in which they treated Colm Bonnar served as a reminder that Tipperary may have got their man and the end could very well justify the means, but they could have done their business so much better.
The Tipperary press release confirming Bonnar was “relieved” of his duties was roundly criticised and rightly so. Was it any wonder it wasn’t repeated on the official county website when it read so harsh and cold? Bonnar may not have fallen on his sword as they so wished but that he didn’t go quietly wasn’t on him but officials.
Two weeks ago, the bush telegraph was ringing in both Tipperary and Waterford that there were going to be management changes. This newspaper reported on July 8 that there would be alterations to the Tipperary set-up, while highlighting there was no confirmation that Cahill was staying on in Waterford.
If the plan at that time was for Cahill to take the helm in Tipperary, it had to be choreographed. Bonnar had to go, then Cahill from Waterford, then Cahill's return. That turned out to be the sequence of events but it has been messy and Cahill’s ratification, while expected, won't go without some unrest at the next county board meeting.
Knowing so many of these Tipperary players as they do from under-age, Cahill and Bevans have a running start. Lessons will have to be learned from their time in Waterford but the men are eminently qualified.
Excuse the dust as we brush off an old quote of Mickey Harte’s about Division 2 teams and All-Irelands that has stood the test of time or at least the last 11 years.
“I don't think that anybody from Division 3 or Division 4, no disrespect to them, is going to win the All-Ireland,” the then Tyrone manager said. “In fact, it is highly doubtful anyone from Division 2 is going to win it.
“The team that wins the All-Ireland generally comes from the top division. If you want to look at teams that are going to do well, you look at Division 1. It's highly unlikely (Tyrone will win the All-Ireland), I'm not saying it's impossible."
Pádraic Joyce sure hopes not but Harte’s suggestion has not been dismissed. Since 2011, only two Division 2 teams have reached the All-Ireland final, Donegal in 2014 and Mayo last season. Like Galway this season, both were promoted from Division 2 but Kerry and Tyrone had the better of them in each final.
Seeing as they have beaten two Division 1 teams in Mayo and Armagh to reach the last two this year, the same as Kerry have (Mayo and Dublin), Galway may not be all that worried about Harte’s assertion. By the time Sunday comes around, Kerry might not yet have come down from that all-time high of beating Dublin in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Email: john.fogarty@examiner.ie
