The Hurling Championship so far: Sweepers, Surprises and Predictions
Well, I guess if you get two evenly matched teams who both fancy their six forwards to do well maybe youâll get the regulation line-up. But the weekend before last in the two qualifiers and the Munster final, all six teams set up with a sweeper. Maybe some didnât want to but the opposition can force your hand by withdrawing a forward. You can choose to let his defender follow him upfield but that leads to a 7-v-7 scenario at your attacking end and very little space and a 5-v-5 situation in your defence, with way too much space. Then you have teams leaving a spare man back covering the full-back line. Getting the correct man to play this role is key and to beat it you probably need to score from distance. Waterfordâs tally of just 16 points in the Munster final shows the downside, yet it took Tipp a lot of time and patience to get on top.
Henry Shefflin last week credited Anthony with his first experience of the sweeper in hurling. When a manager as traditional as Jimmy Barry-Murphy has bitten the bullet itâs time to sit up and take notice. They have imitated Waterford, which is homage to what Derek McGrath is doing. Only, itâs a base for Waterford. They will develop it in the next year or two with Austin Gleeson moving into the forwards. Cork have to go back figuratively and literally because they have finally acknowledged their shortcomings. You sweep if you are building or mirroring another side.
No. It is both an interesting development and a passing fad, nothing more. Letâs face it, itâs not as if every team is using a sweeper and hurling has consequently become as arid, dull and low-scoring as Serie A circa 1977. All it will take for this particular fashion to fade is for a team employing a sweeper to get hammered. Then itâll be back to 15 on 15, going long and letting the ball do the work. In sport, fashions are only fashions for so long. Theyâre not like black. They go out of style. But anything that gets people talking about tactics in hurling is to be welcomed.
I donât know about a fad, because sweepers seem to be with us as long as the rain. I suppose weâre in that period where the sweeper is evolving from being a negative tactic to becoming a more integrated part of an attacking strategy. But will teams be able to choose their sweeper? When Cork or Galway face Tipp, will they want Paudie Maher roaming around putting out fires and thundering clearances? Will we see more of the Lar-Tommy dance of 2012 - forwards trying to get sweepers to mark them?
Did Johnny Coen not win the 2012 Young Hurler of the Year for his role as sweeper in the Galway defence? Iâm with Larry, this is nothing new â at senior level at least. Most notable is how many underage teams are now operating with seven in defence. Both Tipperary and Limerick in the Munster minor final, as well as Clare, Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick in the two Munster U21 semi-finals, all employed a sweeper. Innovation has always followed innovation in hurling. Itâs popularity will eventually wane.
I think the sweeper is only the beginning of the end of the traditional formations but the key is what Anthony said - by playing a sweeper a manager is dictating the terms of engagement in a game, because itâs very difficult to align in an orthodox way against it. Itâs a given now that teams protect their full-back line; the intriguing thing is the next step.
Whatâs surprised most this year is the rule changes, in particular the one-v-one penalty, have not had the dramatic effect some pundits expected. Indeed, at all levels of hurling I have seen more penalties missed than scored. What seems to have happened is there appears to be less pressure on the goalkeeper now and huge expectancy and thus pressure on the taker. To see Dublin miss two against Galway had a huge bearing on the final outcome and even though Paul Ryan did hit his really well, Colm Callanan got down low to make a great save. Yes, we saw TJ Reid hit an unstoppable one versus Wexford and of course you do fancy that he, along with Seamus Callanan, Joe Canning and Patrick Horgan, would be deadly in this situation but it will be interesting to see, in say an All-Ireland final, who will hold their nerve. It certainly hasnât been the turkey shoot many expected.
The absence of tight matches, never mind the absence of draws. The consensus beforehand was that this was a wide-open championship, with as many as eight teams possessing realistic chances of being there in September if not lifting the MacCarthy Cup outright. Then the ball was thrown in and reality struck. Galway did a job on both Dublin and Laois, Kilkenny destroyed Wexford and were comfortable winners against Galway, Tipperary overwhelmed Limerick, and so on. Limerick/Clare and Cork/Clare were the only games that went right to the wire.
Taking up Endaâs point, whatâs been most surprising is the lack of surprise and just how poor this hurling championship has been. Waterford beating Cork for the second time in five weeks and Galway seeing off Dublin werenât exactly shocks. Neither was Cork beating Clare or Dublin beating Limerick although Clare and Limerick were favourites. The drop in the goal-rate points to a lack of excitement but it doesnât tell the whole story of just how poor some of the hurling has been. Thereâs almost this sense that Kilkenny and Tipperary have to save the season with another epic.
Like Anthony, the penalty conversion rate is a bit lower than I expected. But then we all know a keeper who reckoned those two lads beside him on the line were only in his way. Disappointingly, weâre also running out of time this season for hurlingâs first Panenka! We probably need a few more lads driving them into the corner and keepers diving early before someone tries one. If Tipp are running away with the final, you could see Seamie Callanan produce one, and maybe revive his Nic Anelka butterfly celebration as well.
The gap Kilkenny and Tipperary enjoy over the chasing pack. After the heights reached during last yearâs All-Ireland final saga, were we foolish to believe this would be the most open championship in recent memory? The general consensus before the start
of summer was that each of the five teams in Munster stood a realistic chance of provincial glory, while for the first time since the mid-noughties, four teams were in the running in Leinster. Instead, we have had a series of one-sided encounters. We are banking now on another Tipperary-Kilkenny epic to rescue the summer.
The lack of really good games. Weâre dangerously close to a stage where someone is going to say a championship game is an arm-wrestle; after that youâre in Gaelic football territory, basically.
The influence of Brian Cody and his players in terms of their insatiable hunger for success continues to amaze me, but if I was to pick out one man who has influenced the championship so far, it would have to be John âBubblesâ OâDwyer of Killenaule and Tipperary. His display against Limerick was breathtaking, the touch, movement and accuracy were a joy to behold and he followed that up, despite being much more tightly marked in the Munster final, by having a huge influence on breaking down the Waterford defensive system. Tipperary may have sadly lost the great Jimmy Doyle this year but they are discovering a very potent likeness in âBubblesâ.
By a mile, Derek McGrath. Granted, Clare employed a sweeper in 2013 at various stages and Galway defended in depth the year before. But McGrathâs defensive system â actually, letâs rephrase that: the system is as much about attacking as it is about defending â led Waterford to National League success and helped set one of the agendas for the championship. That Kevin Moran has been one of the players of the year to date is because the system has freed him to shine.
Yeah, Master McGrath too. When a managerâs system is being replicated by not only one of the most traditional and conventional hurling counties in the country, but their manager too, itâs an incredible compliment to what McGrath is doing. For Mark Ellis, read Tadhg de Burca. For Brian Lawton, read Colin Dunford. Itâs a shameless reproduction but itâs working. Waterford werenât supposed to be so good this season and at the outset it had been written off as another season of transition. Well, transition has never looked so good.
Cody. Sure, itâs always Cody. Brian Hogan didnât really mean it in a boastful way - or maybe he did - but he suggested during the week that most of the recent tactical innovations in the game have come about because teams have been trying to figure out some blessed way of matching Kilkenny. Even put aside your tactics and systems, Kilkenny and Cody are still setting the standards in terms of workrate, intensity and skill levels and, of course, The Savage Hunger. Until someone truly knocks them off the fecking perch, Codyâs will always be the biggest influence.
Throwing my weight behind McGrath too. In the 2014 league, the DĂ©ise leaked 17 goals in six games and were duly relegated. During the off-season, management culled a number of high-profile players with a view to implementing their present counter-attacking system. McGrath was criticised on both fronts. Justin McCarthy, speaking to this paper before the league final, took umbrage with said system. It went against tradition, he argued. The irony is that Waterford are at their best when they are at their most structured. McGrath realised that, and now other teams are following his lead. They mightnât be involved come September, but as Enda rightly stated, theyâve set the agenda thus far.
On the field, Padraic Maher, because heâs the key man in the favouritesâ pattern of play. Bubbles is catching the eye but the question of what to do with Maher will vex Tipperaryâs opponents in the All-Ireland semi-final and final, presuming they get over that first hurdle. Off the field, Derek McGrathâs perfected a system that has other managers working hard on the training field.
Overall, there is no doubt it has been disappointing championship so far and we are all hoping it will ignite this weekend. There have been close, tension-filled games and Dublinâs fightback against Limerick was memorable. The re-emergence of Waterford has also been great to see. On the flipside, the demise of Offaly and Antrim has been painful to observe. The one real moment of pure âarse off the seatâ excitement was provided yet again by that man Joe Canning with his almost blind catch, swivel and rocket to the back of the Catsâ net in the Leinster final. It lit up the stadium for the next few minutes.
As Anthony alludes to, highlights have been few and far between. Richie Hogan has competition from his own TJ Reid, Bubbles OâDwyer and Kevin Moran but his consistency has been something to marvel at. Even when Kilkenny were struggling in the league, he was standing out, just as Tony Kelly has, despite Clareâs setbacks this season. When you see teams like Galway going for such big men and Hogan as influential as ever, it underlines the playerâs brilliance. That old saying about the best always having enough space and time⊠Hogan proves it. First back-to-back hurler of the year in the modern era?
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Hmm, struggling here... Perhaps Limerick versus Clare. It was also a lowlight because the first half was awful. Both sides were so determined to be careful and measured that they forgot to hurl. Then the sendings-off happened, space opened up and we got ourselves a proper championship match. It wasnât fantastic but it was entertaining and it commanded our attention till the final whistle. This was Limerick and Clare tearing into one another like theyâve done for decades. Problem is, both of them are gone now and the match will soon be forgotten. If it hasnât already been.
Cian Lynchâs precociousness against Clare was so impressive it was nearly sickening. But it still wasnât as entertaining as Davy post-match. Seamus Callananâs goal against Limerick after Bubblesâ one-handed assist was masterful economy but Joeâs ridiculous pirouette was the show-stopper alright. But Iâve particularly enjoyed Eamon OâSheaâs existential post-match debriefs. Itâs not about me. Itâs not about trophies. Itâs not about winning even. Itâs not about hurling. We need Tipp to go all the way just to see how far heâs prepared to take this.
Michael Moynihan and I were privileged to secure courtside seats underneath the Kinane Stand when the Clare hurling management, and a couple of high-profile players along with them, laid siege to the refereeâs room following the four-minute/one-minute saga with the fourth officialâs board at the end of the Munster semi-final. Clareâs top men once again spouted this nonsense about the dark forces conspiring against them. I know, itâs been that good a hurling summer! On the field, Cathal Mannionâs hat-trick at OâConnor Park, leaving aside Dublinâs defensive ineptitude, was a thing of beauty.
Sadly, Iâd have to agree with Eoghan. It tells you everything about the championship that its most interesting few minutes took place in a corridor outside a dressing room. Conor Lehaneâs interchange with Patrick Horgan for the formerâs point against Clare was very good. Along with Joe Canningâs goal, that makes up what is right now a very brief 2015 championship highlight reel.
I just canât see past Tipp this year. There is a unity and sense of purpose about them all year. Add to that, they are about to have the equivalent of a new âŹ60 million striker joining Chelsea in the shape of a thankfully healthy again Noel McGrath. I think they hold more options on and off the field than any other county. They will, of course, probably have to take out the great Cats on hurlingâs biggest day to get there but I think this year they will hold the nerve and do it.
Tipperary. Iâm saying it all year and have seen nothing to sway me. They swatted Limerick aside in a match many people expected them to lose. Next time out they faced a very different challenge from Waterford and surmounted that too, pulling away in the closing stages. It wasnât spectacular, which it was never going to be anyway, but it was patient and composed and mature. Obviously, Kilkenny have done nothing wrong to date. But they need Michael Fennelly and Richie Power back and fully fit.
As much as Iâd like to disagree with the right honourable gentlemen, Iâll stick with Tipperary edging out Kilkenny in September. As a journalist, I would say this but far too much has been made of Tippâs low-key build-ups to games. I donât think it has added any points to their totals against Limerick and Waterford. But then they might have something worth keeping under lock and key. We got some insight into how determined they are after the Munster final when OâDwyer said they were never going to lose it on their home patch and Kieran Bergin saying they didnât train nine or 10 months just to win a Munster final. Theyâve backed up that talk so far. To win their next two games, theyâll need more than just hunger.
Will you listen to them! Sowing it into Tipp again. Setting them up for the fall. Dalo still picturing a smiling Nicky. We know well what Endaâs up to. And anyone on Twitter will tell you Fogartyâs gone desperate anti-Tipp these last few years! It is time to restore a bit of sanity. Alright, a bit of spring bullishness was understandable when it looked like every second Kilkenny man was retiring. All that talk about the weaker panel etc. But there were years when Cody was able to win the All-Ireland without hardly bringing on a sub. The first 15 need pressure from the line? Cody is on the line. How can you look past them?
Having been present for Tippâs two championship outings, I obviously missed something that Messrs Daly, McEvoy and Fogarty picked up on for its hard to comprehend their assuredness in backing Tipp. Given the favourable draw they secured by retaining Leinster â I canât see Waterford troubling them in the semi-final â Iâm plumping for Kilkenny. Joey Holdenâs report card reads favourably and were he to struggle against Seamus Callanan, heâs still surrounded by the strongest defence in the country. Like the look also of young Aylward. Though with Brian Hogan, Tommy Walsh and Aidan Fogarty no longer present to plug the gaps, the return to full fitness of Michael Fennelly and Richie Power is crucial.
I went for Tipp at the start of the year and theyâve been motoring well, though I think Waterford were closer to them in the Munster final than appeared to be the case. Iâve only seen Kilkenny once and they were awesome in a clinical way. If those two teams make an All-Ireland final, would you back against Kilkenny finding a way? I donât think so.
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