Back to basics for Limerick

LIMERICK selector TJ Ryan has revealed one of the secret mantras which has helped changed the fortunes of the county’s senior hurlers.

“The KISS philosophy – Keep It Simple Stupid,” Ryan said of the approach which helped Donal O’Grady’s charges to a stunning victory over Clare in Cusack Park on Sunday, a result which help banish some of the memories of last year’s stand-off on Shannonside.

Ryan continued: “You could see on Sunday, a lot of the good things we did were from doing the simple stuff right — giving quality ball, having a glance before you hit to try and find the support player in space. That’s what it’s about.”

It’s that focus on getting the basics right that makes New Zealand and Kilkenny so hard to beat, reckons former Limerick captain TJ Ryan.

People say you have to be twice as good as them to beat them; you don’t, but you do have to be better, because they won’t beat themselves, they will not contribute to their own demise.

Look at Ireland against France in the Six Nations last Sunday, look even at Clare in Limerick’s surprise win on Sunday in the opening round of the League – unforced errors, silly penalties, all led to opportunities lost and to the concession of easy scores.

Limerick, meanwhile, in only O’Grady’s first game, were intelligent, controlled, disciplined.

“We looked strong, played very competently, gave away only one point in the first half and that was from a free.

“As a management team we’ve been working on that for the last few weeks. It’s difficult to change a fella from the way he has always hurled but you can try to get them to gel into a new system.

“The workrate all over the pitch was very good, the hooking and blocking and all that kind of stuff.

“In general they were very disciplined but we’ll look at the DVD and I’m sure we’ll find things to work on.

“We probably should have had a few more scores from the amount of possession we had, and we also gave away too many frees — whether that was because they were a bit soft or we just weren’t clinical in the tackle I don’t know.

“But there will be things for us to work on. We know that, and that’s what we’ll be doing over the next four or five games, and in training, trying to eradicate the faults.

“But look, this was a very positive result for Limerick, a very positive day and should make the hurling people in Limerick happy.”

IT was a far cry from the last year when Limerick lost every competitive match they played, were relegated to division 2 in the league. Then, the county was in turmoil, even the most diehard supporters in despair, disappointment etched ever deeper on their faces as the year deteriorated.

The contrast on Sunday, however, the smiles on Limerick faces as they left Cusack Park, said it all – a new dawn for hurling on Shannonside.

“Hurling is a simple game and that’s what Donal O’Grady does best, he can reduce the game to the basics and the boys have bought into that.

“Both himself and Jerry (Wallis, trainer) have brought a very professional approach to the whole thing and that’s crucial in the modern era.

“The standard of preparation has gone up and up, especially for the top teams, and if you want to go places you have to have a professional setup.

“Sunday was a fact-finding mission if you like – we’re pleased to get the two points but looking back at it, you’re not sure of what you beat.

“It’s like a horse winning a Bumper, it is good to win but you don’t know the quality of the rest of the field. It’s a positive, and we have to keep this going now and to drive on.

“But even if we’d been beaten by six or seven points I’d have been saying the same thing – make no judgements yet, give it a bit of time and we’ll see where we are.

“Westmeath will be a big test on Saturday (Gaelic Grounds 2.30pm), we have to go to the north twice (against Antrim and Down) which is going to be very tricky, then you have the likes of Laois there as well, so there are plenty of challenges.”