Tobin brothers in arms ready for battle

A WEEK to the All-Ireland final, side by side they stroll into the restaurant, the brothers Kevin and Pat Tobin, not a bother on them, chatting, smiling, as comfortable together as bacon and eggs, as different as bacon and eggs.

Pat, the younger, is the crispy, crackly one, the livewire built for speed; Kevin is the more solid, more settled.

“Kevin is built more for the longer journey,” grins Pat, a nod towards his brother’s powerful frame, “In a straight race, he’d take me if we were going down to the shop, a mile down the road.” “Maybe,” agrees Kevin, “But if it’s to the next-door neighbour’s, I’d just give it to him!”

It’s that contrast in build, in style, that has seen the brothers play different parts in Limerick’s march to this Sunday’s All-Ireland final against reigning champions Kilkenny, in Croke Park; the stronger, more powerful Kevin is used against one type of defender, to implement one variation of the Limerick gameplan, the pacy Pat plays a different role entirely.

Sometimes one can even replace the other, as has happened on occasion this year. Doesn’t faze the lads a whit. “I don’t think anything of it, it’s just one player for another, that’s all,” says Kevin; “It happened in the last replay against Tipperary,” adds Pat; “I was so impressive — I got blocked down for a goal, hit two wides — that Richie took me off again!

“But it’s great to have the two of us on there, great for the tickets too!” !

Those tickets are as scarce as snow in the Sahara but there’s no shortage in the Tobin house, not this week. The two lads are taken care of, as is younger brother Seán, a member of the Limerick minor team this year; that just leaves mother and father, and middle brother William, a trainee Garda in Cork — no problem.

They have earned those tickets, have Kevin and Pat Tobin. 1-1 for Pat in the championship opener against Tipp, the goal of the priceless variety, last score of the game, gave Limerick a second chance; two points then for Kevin in the replay, brought on as a second-half sub, a game in which Pat was taken off then brought on again in extra-time. Another brace for Kevin in the second replay, the game in which he was replaced by Pat, referred to above; two points for Pat in the Munster final, one for Kevin, both introduced as second-half subs, both making a major impact; yet another two points for Kevin against Clare, before he tired. Finally, the magnificent win over Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final, in which both brothers came on towards the finish, tactical substitutions to win time more than anything else.

Are they as surprised as the rest of the country, though, at Limerick’s progress? Kevin: “I think we always knew ourselves that we had a good enough team to compete…” — hold on there Kevin, good enough to compete? Is that good enough, for any team with real ambition?

You must believe you’re good enough to WIN, surely? “Ok, I accept that, good enough to win, but that comes with confidence, and confidence comes with winning. It’s just that when you haven’t won a first-round match in six years it makes it harder, it does force you to question yourself — are you really good enough?

“We won three All-Ireland U-21’s (Kevin played in all three, Pat in two), so we knew the hurlers were in the county, and we knew the structures were in place within the county as well. It was just a case of getting that one win out of the way, and anyone can see now, since we got that win we’ve blossomed, we’ve grown in confidence. The whole thing has picked up again which is great for Limerick, for the whole county.”

“Losing wasn’t tolerated on that U-21 run,” says Pat, “Wasn’t even considered, and it’s the same now with Richie, Gary, Dave Moriarty (team trainer, and a man much credited for their progress this year by all the players).

“At the start of the league we set the qualifying stages as a target but unfortunately Dublin played probably the best game they played all year against us, beat us, and that cost us. But the 10th of June was always the big day — that was the big target.

“Every night in training it was brought up, repeated over and over again right from the start of January — Munster semi-final, Tipperary, the 10th of June, the 10th of June, the 10th of June.

“It was mentioned so often during the year that when someone asked me when was my birthday I said, ‘The 10th of June!’ And it’s not, it’s actually the 1st of October, but it was that crazy.”

The new date in the Limerick diary is September 2, All-Ireland final, Croke Park; if Pat was a bit hypnotised by the constant repetition of the original target, ‘The 10th of June,’ he’s still a little mesmerised by this. “We never lost sight of the game that was in front of us, it was just game by game, one coming very quickly after the other.

There’s no sign of any tension in the brothers, not yet anyway; it’s pleasure, joy, soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the moment. “Loving it,” says Kevin; “I’ve never enjoyed a year as much. The U-21 years were great, but the seniors is the ultimate. The 21’s you always have the next grade, but this is it, you don’t get any higher than this. We’re not getting any younger either, any of us; I’m 26, five years out of U-21, Pat is 25 in a month or so. That’s a long time between big days.”

Outside of their own county, they’re not given much chance this Sunday, Limerick; truth be told, they’re not given a great chance by many of their own either. Doesn’t bother the Tobin brothers. Kevin: “I suppose 31 counties didn’t give us much of a chance against Waterford either, did they, and it turned out the way it did. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

“Limerick are on a bit of a roll this year but Kilkenny have been in eight of the last 10 All-Ireland finals — that’s some record. They’ve strolled into it, like they do every other year. But there’s no reason why we can’t win this. There’s no secret to anything we’ve done. We’re going to have to meet fire with fire for the first quarter of an hour…” — for the full 75 minutes Kevin, no?

“Yeah, that’s it. I think we have similar styles, Limerick like to pound, harass, hassle the opposition, give them no room, and that’s how Kilkenny beat Cork in the All-Ireland final last year. High-intensity, in your face, don’t give them five seconds on the ball, the way we played against Waterford. It’s very hard to play against that, it’s very hard to defend against that, six or seven fellas swimming around the ball.”

Pat: “We’ve known all year, it’s been building up; we have the stuff to do it, and if we give it everything, if we believe in ourselves, we can.”