Patrick Horgan: Limerick present puzzles that can unravel the Galway system

That system that has brought Galway to the final will be tested by Limerick all over the field.

GREEN WAVE: Tom Morrissey, left, and Barry Nash of Limerick celebrate. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

There’s obviously value in having had the experience of playing in an All-Ireland final, and the Limerick lads have plenty of that banked over the years.

In handling the two weeks between the semi and the final they’ll hardly notice something like getting fitted for an All-Ireland suit. 

The same with sharing out All-Ireland tickets - by this point they each probably have their own system for doing that and it hardly registers with them.

Most of the Galway lads won’t have that experience to call on, but that’s not entirely negative either. There’s an excitement involved in the build-up, there’ll be great craic in all the players’ clubs and neighbourhoods up to this weekend - and they should enjoy that. 

They earned their place in the final and they should embrace the build-up to the game.

One part of the build-up which can become a bit of a challenge is the ticket situation - it’s a little late now but I hope the Galway players had that job outsourced to family or county board people. 

Otherwise your phone can get pretty warm from all the folks ‘checking in’ to see if they can get fixed up with a couple of good Upper Hogans.

(They might want to keep track of some of those new ‘friends’, too, because if the game goes against you some of them aren’t be too shy about sticking the knife in, tickets or no tickets.)

Once the ball is thrown in on Sunday any of those headaches in the build-up will be long gone.

So how will Galway set up? I think they’ll have to go with the same approach that’s gotten them to the All-Ireland final. It’s how they play, and they’re not going to change for the biggest day of the year. 

Their plan will be to sit back, keep it as close as they can until the latter stages, and trust then that they’ll be able to overrun Limerick late on.

The big issue for them is what to do if they give Limerick that space in the middle third. Limerick players getting the ball to hand in the half-back and midfield areas is a daunting prospect, and even more so if Galway don’t put pressure on them there.

Because of that Galway may have to push up on Limerick to a certain extent, but if they do they might be drifting away from the system that’s served them so well all year.

That Galway system will be tested in other parts of the field as well. For instance, Limerick have their own questions to answer because Galway got huge joy out of Jason Rabbitte against Cork and will want a similar return from him this weekend.

Of course Limerick are now well warned about the danger he poses. Either Dan Morrissey or Mike Casey will probably pick him up, with Sean Finn staying near goal as well to ensure there aren’t any one-on-one situations.

And this is where the challenge to Galway’s system kicks in. Limerick don’t tend to focus too much on opposing dangermen because they trust in their own system, which has served them so well, and their defensive set-up may ask some tricky questions of Galway.

For instance, Barry Nash will probably pick up the member of the Galway full-forward line who drifts furthest out the field, and that’s a good match-up for Limerick. 

Unlike most defenders, the closer Nash is to his opponent’s goal the better it is for him: he’s a good distributor, he carries the ball well, and he can pick off scores.

Does that mean Micheál Donoghue will encourage one of his corner-forwards to stay high up the pitch to keep Nash pinned back in his own half? If so, then the space Rabbitte had against Cork will be far more crowded and difficult to exploit.

For Limerick there are also puzzles to work out. For me Cian Lynch has to play, but instead of who? For Adam English?

Limerick supporters in the Hogan Stand celebrate. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

That’s not because Adam isn’t good enough to start, but Limerick seem to use him from the bench quite a bit - maybe it’s to get an injection of energy when they introduce him as a sub.

The way Darragh O’Donovan’s been playing he has to start. Limerick’s performances have gone up a notch with him: they value him massively in the middle of the field.

Looking at Limerick’s half-forward line you’re talking Cathal O’Neill - who I presume is fit - Aidan O’Connor and Gearóid Hegarty, so I think Adam English may lose out to Cian for a starting spot even though I’d expect him to come in at some stage.

Comparing the two managers, John Kiely must have the advantage in terms of how far down the road he and his team are - the number of games they’ve played, the understanding each player has of his job and of the team’s plan, the big games that have stress-tested those plans.

John and his selectors aren’t afraid to make big calls either - they’ve taken off star players in games and gotten a fair bounce from the subs they’ve introduced, winning games in which they were struggling.

That’s not damning Micheál Donoghue in comparison - he’s done an unbelievable job with Galway and with the younger players in particular. 

He and his management may not have the same connection as John Kiely and the Limerick players simply because they haven’t worked together as long, and that only comes with time.

Micheál does have the knack of getting the best out of his players wherever he goes, which is a great sign in any manager, and he’s doing that with this Galway team as well.

There’ll be plenty of discussion of other factors which might have an impact on the game, such as the referee. Colm Lyons is a very good referee, and I’m delighted to see him get the game, but I don’t think players focus too much on the officials. They have enough to deal with in terms of their own preparation.

Players certainly aren’t thinking, when the ball drops into their hand in an All-Ireland final, ‘I’ve got to play this way because the ref penalises you if you play the other way’. Every player is taking the game as he sees it.

If there are a lot of frees in the game will it suit Limerick more? Perhaps: Aidan O’Connor is a very good free-taker.

The 2026 hurling season needs a good final. 

The All-Ireland semi-finals were decent games but I don’t think the championship ever really caught fire the way it did in previous years. 

I’ve said before now that the championship has felt the loss of Tipperary and Kilkenny in the latter stages, and we need a serious conversation about having more teams involved later in the season, but for this weekend there’s just one focus.

I have a fancy for Limerick because of their past record, and because of the level of performance they’ve produced in the past, while Galway are more of an unknown quantity. 

I think Limerick might win by a few - and that Diarmaid Byrnes might pick up the man of the match, the way he’s playing.