Cats show first signs of wear and tear
There is no comparison, and it’s very unfair on Kilkenny — the All Blacks just don’t measure up. What have they achieved? One World Cup since 1987, and both of those triumphs were at home in New Zealand. Contrast that with what this Kilkenny team have achieved in the last 12 years – 11 Leinster titles, eight All-Irelands, and how many National Leagues, six? I don’t think there’s any team in any sport in the world who can compare with that record.
Another thing I’d like to mention is the coaching element of Kilkenny’s hurling. I remember as a young lad looking at the great Tipperary team of ’60s and I don’t remember anyone talking about coaching back then. The reason Tipperary were the best team of the time was that they had the best players. The reason Kilkenny are tops now is the same. People can talk about the coaching or the training or the tactics, but you must have the key ingredients on the field. Kilkenny have them in abundance.
Look at those players, measure them against any other team in Ireland at the moment, measure them against any players who ever played the game, and tell me otherwise. You can have all the coaching in the world — and there was coaching back then too, with Paddy Leahy in Tipperary, Tough Barry in Cork, Tommy Maher in Kilkenny — but it all still comes back to the players. Kilkenny have them, and they have them in abundance.
Good as they are, however, they’re going to face a massive challenge tomorrow. In the Leinster semi-final, a very easy win over Dublin, Kilkenny learned nothing about themselves to prepare for this game. And the league decider victory over Cork didn’t help their cause either.
Kilkenny are well aware of this, they know they haven’t been tested yet in this championship but they know also that that’s about to change. The news coming out of Kilkenny too isn’t good, that they might be missing a few players because of injury — even if those players make it, how ready will they be, how much training have they done?
They’re back in Croke Park for the umpteenth time, a place they know well. You wonder though, if they fall behind tomorrow, if Galway get an early run on them, will they be able to come back, will they still have that gas left in the tank?
They’re going to need to have their forwards step up to the mark in this game, and they’re going to need goals again. Galway will be all out to stop them getting those goals and if they manage that, what then for Kilkenny, will they score enough points?
And another question, at the other end of the field will they themselves be able to stop this Galway attack from scoring goals?
Of course, the biggest question of all, the question we’ve come to ask now year after year — which Galway team will turn up tomorrow?
Will it be a team that lies down in front of Kilkenny or will it be a team that stands up? Individually Galway have the players, and individually also they are no longer as reliant on Joe Canning for scores as they were. Damien Hayes was always a threat and still is but now he’s joined by Conor Cooney in the full-forward line, and by the two Burkes, Niall and David, in the half-forwards.
The crucial man for Galway though, is the last of the sextet, a man who reminds me of Tipperary’s Bonner Maher — Cyril Donnellan. He’s not the greatest hurler, doesn’t have the greatest wrists, but he has a fantastic work rate, knows how to bring those around him into the play.
Galway’s fitness levels this year have impressed me, and you can see this especially in Joe Canning, who’s looking slimmer than he’s ever been and, as we all know, fitness is crucial in Croke Park. I thought I saw something in a few of the Kilkenny lads I never saw before during that easy win against Dublin, a bit of wear-and-tear. Maybe I’m wrong, but they will be well tested in that department in this game.
Summing up, if Kilkenny are carrying those injuries, if the reports are true, then this is a great chance for Galway.
It could be now or never — I think it’s now.
