Galway struggling to deal with second-season syndrome

I CAN still remember the moment. And the question. I was nearly waiting for it. 

Dublin had just been taken apart by Galway in Pearse Stadium. We had come off the back of a good year in 2013, when we could have won an All-Ireland. Everyone expected us to kick on. We expected ourselves to kick on. Then we got tanked in our first league game and the question rolled off the pack of journalists’ tongues like cold butter off warm pasta.

‘Dalo, after every good year ye’ve had under you, ye have followed it up with a poor year. Is this result a concern about possibly another tough season?’

My response was firm and to the point.

‘Lads, if I was to worry about all that kind of stuff, I wouldn’t even get out of bed in the morning.’

I wouldn’t, but the question was still bouncing around in my head the whole way home from Salthill. Was it a sign? Was this another omen like 2012, when we also got hammered by Galway in our first league game and then had a disastrous championship? It kinda was. We got blitzed in the Leinster final and limped out to Tipperary in the All- Ireland quarter-final.

Anytime we had a bad year, we nearly put in more effort than we had during the good season, and we still couldn’t arrest the trend. Why did that keep happening? What triggered it? Somewhere, mentally, do fellas think this improvement will automatically occur, without digging down deep and making it happen? That’s not sounding overly simplistic but we tried everything imaginable to address the concern and we were never able to deal with that increased level of expectation. One day that October, the entire back room staff sat down in a Longford hotel for 10 hours solid to see where could we drain another few percent from all of us to go the next step.

Some counties just seem more naturally inclined and better able to deal with that hint of success than others. They kick on. Waterford certainly look to have this year so far. It’s still early to judge Galway but their record is similar to the Dubs in many ways. There may be different levels of expectation attached to both counties but any time Galway reached an All-Ireland final in the last 23 years (1993, 2001, 2005, 2012), the following season was effectively a disaster. That kind of history means nothing but can mean everything to counties desperate to end a famine and win an All-Ireland.

That is the key challenge facing Michael Donoghue and Galway in 2016.

They have only lost two games out of three but concerns have already surfaced. Their performance against Dublin was woeful. There was nearly an acceptance that they were going to lose in Nowlan Park last week. They have a decent draw in Leinster and may be still holding back but Dublin found out in 2014 that having a decent draw can sometimes come against you. The same thing happened to Galway in 2013 when they only had to beat Laois to reach the Leinster final.

What do you really find out after a supposed ‘handy run-in’ before fetching up in a provincial final?

Micheal Donoghue is still only finding out what his best team is, what is their best formation. That was obvious in the second half against Kilkenny, when they made major structural changes with a fair degree of success. I’m sure this week too will be all about assigning different roles to very flexible players.

Getting two points tomorrow is crucial but you have to start the testing process sometime and I hope Micheal continues to experiment again. David Burke was brilliant when he went to centre-back. Daithi Burke gives them great solidity at number 3. I know people everywhere are divided about Joe Canning’s best position but I think he’s at a stage in his career where it suits him to be around midfield. He is in good shape, he can play-make and score and exert his influence more in that role than he can when he’s stuck inside.

Galway would lose out on his presence inside but Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn have emerged as important players. If they can take their game to another level in goalscoring terms, it would offset the concerns of moving Joe out the field. I think it gives the overall structure of the team a better balance.

Tipp are similarly still searching for points and the right balance but I’m sure Mick Ryan is scratching his head a bit too. Tipp have played well in all three games but lost two narrowly. They should be okay if they win one of their last two matches but improving their defence is nearly as much a priority as anything else. Otherwise, their scoring form is better than Galway’s and if they hit the right notes up front, they just might have enough.

Despite the absolute faith in their system, last week also showed how much Waterford are willing to experiment too.

They didn’t get much joy with playing Austin Gleeson at full-forward but at least they tried it. Gleeson is so talented and flexible anyway that it wouldn’t surprise me if Derek McGrath gave it a go again during the summer, when nobody is expecting it.

Their rotational policy is very effective in Waterford’s overall system. The willingness and appetite of Shane Bennett, Patrick Curran, and Jake Dillon to get out the field and do their job is unrelenting and all of their young players are growing in tandem with the team’s accelerated level of growth. It is even more pleasing that Waterford were able to win in the circumstances against Tipperary without Maurice Shanahan, Tadgh de Burca and Pauric Mahoney.

Dublin will equally entitled to be thrilled with how they have responded from the opening day hiding from Tipperary. Irrespective of how poor and lifeless Cork were, last week’s display was a big statement from the Dubs in Croke Park.

They were never a team noted for goals, either in my time or since Ger Cunningham took over, but they hit four last week, all real quality finishes. Eamonn Dillon bagged two but the performances and maturity of him and Mark Schutte is a real sign of how this team is evolving.

Mark had a direct hand in three of the goals. There was a time when he would have tried to burst through himself and lift the net out of it with a rocket but he was very clever and impressed in his role as provider. Mark did the same against Galway when he broke the tackle and laid the ball on a plate for Seanie McGrath to finish.

With Waterford already through to the quarter-finals (in all but confirmation), Ger might be hoping that they drop off in their intensity slightly. That is unlikely to happen but it will still be hard for Waterford to sustain that level of high-energy and even a slight drop off in performance may leave the door open for the Dubs.

With Liam Rushe sitting deep in Walsh Park and Niall McMorrow coming out from centre forward to make a third midfielder, the Dubs will be tough to beat. What they need now though, is for their younger players, especially the likes of Shane Barrett who was excellent against Cork, to kick on. I see the Dubs playing well and being hard to beat but you can’t back against this Waterford side in their current form.