In the final hours

Donal O’Grady knows All-Ireland final countdowns better than most. Our hurling analyst offers some helpful tips for those bidding to keep their eye on the ball this week.

FINALS are different. Managers, coaches and players attempt to play them down — to form the mindset that it’s just another game.

But it isn’t.

There’s a certain atmosphere around an All-Ireland final. Many fans turn up to the training. Thousands of youngsters over the course of the weeks leading up to the game seek out the coveted autograph, not just on their team jersey, but also on their hurleys and sliotars. Many of the team are in demand by charity and commercial organisations for photo-shoots as interest around the country reaches fever pitch.

Journalists — print, radio and television — also seek to make contact with various players, and, of course, the captain is in constant demand. The players, being amateurs, must also go to work, and, as such, may be surrounded by the public, many of whom are fans, on a daily basis.

Talk of the match is everywhere and then there’s the dreaded ticket situation. Everyone wants a ticket. That’s not quite true. Everyone wants two tickets, Hogan, if possible. “Friends” appear from everywhere, badly stuck for two. The real fan, of course, would never approach a player for a ticket, as they are aware that requests just add to the pressure that a player is already under.

I remember reading an interview given by Roy Keane about his first cup final appearance with Nottingham Forest. He got so caught up in the ticket situation that he wasn’t prepared for the game and it simply passed him by. This was a professional speaking, who was normally cosseted away from the public coming up to a final day.

It’s easy to get distracted and it’s a huge balancing job to make sure, on the one hand, that players are protected from the hype, while ensuring they don’t come across as haughty or arrogant by being unavailable to their fans.

This can be a fine line and PR companies on huge commissions handle this sort of thing for professional organisations. Team management learn this from experience, or from listening to others who have experienced it.

There is no doubt there are external pressures surrounding Sunday that only appear at final time, and Kilkenny have a huge advantage over Limerick in this regard.

Playing in All-Irelands is second nature to them. Many of the autograph hunters will have been satisfied by virtue of Kilkenny’s many Leinster victories and their All-Ireland win last year, particularly as no new star has emerged this year.

All of Kilkenny management, players and, particularly, the fans will be relaxed about their almost annual visit to Croke Park come September. Let’s be honest; short of an ambush from a top-quality team in the quarter-final, which didn’t really materialise, they all knew they’d be here from very early on.

Limerick are in a different situation. They haven’t been here since 1996. All the players are “new”, but, at last, they’ve been to Croke Park twice this year and have established a match-day routine. Routine is very important and all that is needed here is to adjust the timings to plan for a 3.30pm throw-in. There are external pressures, but players feed off these also. There’s a great atmosphere — almost Christmas-like.

However, it can be a little distracting if it’s not managed properly and, instead of feeding off the positive benefits, it can consume one or two, distract their focus from the game, which is the main priority and they may serve up a performance which is less than their ability demands on the day.

Damien Reale, the captain, should have his speech written for him by now and think no more about it. If needs be, it can be handed to him on the podium while the Uachtarán is giving his speech prior to the presentation.

He should have no more commitments of any type after this weekend. The ticket situation should have been put to bed and all the focus has to be on the game from now on; some training sessions are behind closed doors, because specific tactics are being teased out but other times to allow the players to fully concentrate.

The stands can be quite noisy, as they are full of youngsters at times. Instructions etc on the field are not always heard as a result and all communication during these lead-up weeks have to be clear and unambiguous. The last thing a panel needs is for heightened tension between the coach and players because of a misunderstanding over some instruction not fully heard or understood.

Joe Kernan, the recently retired Armagh football manager, instructed, if that’s the correct world, families to deal with the ticket situation, answer the house phone, answer the door etc, so no contact would be made with the player as they approached their first All-Ireland.

Mobile phones were to be answered only to known numbers and, of course, as with most management nowadays, no papers were to be read, no sports bulletins were to be looked at or listened to for the week of the game.

The Limerick management have got everything right so far, mostly things that they could control. These external issues are somewhat out of their hands, but they are fully aware of them and that’s half the battle. We’ll only know after the game whether they got things right.

Getting your players to the throw-in relaxed but a little nervous is the key. It takes a lot of planning and communication, but an important issue is the attitude of the manager and backroom team.

Brian Cody and his management team have been in this situation many times and can look over last year’s notes. Richie Bennis has embraced and surmounted every challenge this year with a cheerful disposition and an enjoyment not often seen at this level.

His beaming countenance and spring lamb-like step should see him through these pre-match challenges also.