Maurice Brosnan's hurling observations: Where next for Galway after All-Ireland final loss?
TRIBAL DEVASTATION: Limerick manager John Kiely shakes hands with Galway players who look dejected after the final whistle at Croke Park. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
When the third strike resulted in a deserved booking eyes all over Croke Park instinctively turned towards the far sideline. Mike Casey, Sean Finn and Jason Rabbitte all glanced over in the same direction. Elsewhere, some were gripped by dread.
It is hard to imagine such a one-sided final had a moment of such tension, but Casey’s third foul on the Galway full-back forced Limerick to change the matchup. For the next puckout, the Na Piarsaigh number three took off out the field following Conor Whelan. Finn stayed close to goal.
In the stand was Mike’s anxious mother, Helen. In the calm of the victorious team hotel on Monday morning, she revealed that the strain was too much for her to take. She had to leave her seat and make for the concourse until half-time. The anxiety had become unbearable.
To her relief, Casey settled into the contest and came off to a standing reception in the second half. Peter was typically influential in his typical role as he struck four points and supplied two assists. He was up early the following morning for media duty only a few hours after leaving Copper Face Jacks. Let no one tell you this is a soft generation.
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The strands that bind this group are just as evident off the field as they are on it. The scene on Monday morning at the hotel was one of warmth and appreciation and outright hilarity. From a wary individual slipping around the back of the hotel in a bid to find a different entrance and avoid waiting supporters and media, to accusations of fake calls, as a player strode across the lobby with his hand clasped to their ear despite heckling from team-mates that "no one is on that phone!"
After a ruthlessly efficient display, this driven group were content to show their lighter side too.
“We are not immune to all of these feelings. I know ye think we are robots and all this, but we are very much not,” said Will O’Donoghue when asked whether he was driven by the fear of losing or the desire to win on Sunday.
“Maybe there is a reason that topic was brought up (in the group). It is clearly because some of us were potentially feeling that heightened sense of wanting everything to go right which is then the fear of losing, that compounds things. As opposed to just being comfortable with what panned out if we gave everything we could.”
There is a glorious autonomy to how they approached the entire occasion. They have that vital ability to identify and deal with the stuff that truly matters. When the Limerick bus pulled up under the Hogan Stand in the early afternoon, players emerged in a patchwork of various gear. Polos, sleeveless training tops and shirts of all descriptions.
Their match jersey was the typical design, without any special inscription for the final. There are so many contributors to this unit, so many elements that make up the whole, but at its core, they were simply focused on performing in a match.
Here are eight observations from the hurling championship.
This group have a phenomenal ability to produce their best performance for a final. Their captain is cut from the same cloth.
That is despite the fact he doesn’t always score heavily. In 2018, his tally was one point. In 2020, he didn’t score. In 2021 he hit 0-6 and in 2022 he was injured. In 2023, Lynch scored 0-2 and on Sunday, he hit the same.
Yet he was central to so much of what they did right. Lynch had 20 possessions in the final, assisting 0-4. His creative return could have been significantly higher but for some inaccuracy from team-mates.
The maestro never turned over the ball. On 16 occasions, he handpassed in the short, sharp way that this team have weaponised. The calm and clarity he brings in the middle is a fundamental part of their well-oiled machine.
This is becoming a hallmark of this side. Gearóid Hegarty did not score for the second successive game yet finished with a remarkable seven assists, including turnovers forced and frees won. Unlike Lynch, he did miss some presentable chances too, with two goal opportunities, as well as a wide.
How this team cover for each other is outstanding. The collective helps every individual. Shane O’Brien had just four possessions: a pass that was turned over, a shot off the post, a short attempt and a shot that was deflected out for a 65, which was then missed. Yet Casey and Aaron Gillane were able to step up and ensure their inside line was still productive.
A theme of this column is the misleading nature of puckout retention figures. It struck us again while rewatching the game when an RTÉ graphic flashed on screen after the first quarter. Galway had won just two of their opening six puckouts. Limerick had claimed five from six.
What happened next? For Nickie Quaid’s first five puckouts, he went short to a free defender as Galway retreated. All five were turned over. They failed to score from any of them.
The recurring pattern was a ball to Seán Finn or Mike Casey, followed by a long delivery that Galway managed to win. In total, Limerick went short with 16 puckouts during the game. Eleven of them were turned over.
To their credit, the management team quickly identified the issue and made adjustments to resolve it. Diarmaid Byrnes dropped into the corner on several occasions to utilise his passing range and vision.
There were glimpses of their season-long patterns in this victory. Adam English’s opening point came from a classic move. As Quaid prepared to restart play, Hegarty and the rest of the half-forward line gathered under the Hogan Stand. English waited outside his own 45 as the ball travelled over his head.
From there, he set off on a trademark deep run and split the posts.
When Galway let Limerick go short, they were successful in squeezing them.
Their issue at the other end was an exaggerated version of something similar. They found it increasingly difficult to navigate the middle third. Limerick sourced 1-17 from turnovers in that area. The trade-off with this running game is that if you are turned over, you are left badly exposed at the back.
This was a tie of brain as well as brawn.
In the inevitable comparisons between this awesome outfit and Kilkenny at the height of their powers, the half-back line is a heavyweight clash. Tommy Walsh, Brian Hogan, and JJ Delaney (or John Tennyson depending on the year) versus Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon’s heir William O’Donoghue, and Kyle Hayes. Talk about a blockbuster.
What John Kiely received from his wall on Sunday was sensational. All three of them created assists, combining for six points created. Byrnes hit three of his four placed balls, Hayes surged forward for two points and O’Donoghue gave a masterclass in on-field communication and organisation.
What a wonderful innovation by the BBC. On Sunday, their viewers could access a live, dedicated player cam following one player throughout the 2026 All-Ireland hurling final. It is an even more intriguing prospect for the football final given the wealth of attacking talent that will be on display.
Hegarty was the focus for the first half. A fascinating moment came before that puckout we described earlier as Limerick’s usual short restart was coming under pressure. The number 10 slowly started to walk across to the right wing and pointed to all of his team-mates to do similar.
This is the challenge with Limerick. You know what they are going to do. They don’t hide it. Stopping it is another matter entirely.
One slight apprehension may be the amount of water carriers who can be seen with earphones plugged in, even if they are difficult to make out given the transparent cables. There has been a significant clampdown on this practice, with some backroom team members told to remove them before the All-Ireland football semi-finals.
As for the demand for more creative angles, imagine a world where the GAA had a broadcaster who could provide access to behind-the-goal footage or more through their subscription model. We live in hope.
At the homecoming event on Monday, Micheál Donoghue was adamant. The final was a disappointing day, sure. Still, this group are coming.
“The most encouraging thing… Look, as we are having the chat here it would be remiss of us not to mention Limerick as well,” he said.
“They were absolutely outstanding, came with a great performance and got a deserved victory.
“From our own point of view, we are really happy with the squad. The underage teams, the minors and 20s did really well this year. The talent bank is there so hopefully we will be back here next with a different result.”
The scale of their inexperience in some lines was striking. In the full-back line, Darren Morrissey, Joshua Ryan and Cillian Trayers have 50 championship appearances combined. Aaron Gillane alone has 52.
That said, the disappointment for Galway is that while there was a fear such a scoreline would come to pass, the reason for it was unexpected. Their younger core largely delivered on the day. They needed their senior leaders to produce the kind of display John McGrath or Ronan Maher did for Tipperary in the 2025 decider.
Rory Burke, Cullen Killeen and a host of other prospects will come through in the coming year, while their path back to a semi-final looks somewhat navigable. The future is bright.
John Meyler and the hurling expert advisory group continue to work away on possible rule tweaks for hurling, with one proposal becoming increasingly popular: a ban on the back-pass to goalkeepers.
It is worth asking whether such a rule would even have a meaningful impact on the game. Nickie Quaid had just three possessions in the All-Ireland final. There are other ways to encourage a higher press and create more contests, such as stricter policing of steps.
If such a change did come in, other alterations would be required alongside it.
“We are going to have to bring in the breach thing then,” said Anthony Daly at the pre-final live podcast.
“Everyone will go back if the goalkeeper can’t do a one-two. I would be in favour of it if you had to keep six up inside the opposition 65. We thought this would never happen in the football, am I right?”
That said, Quaid is a live contender for the top individual honour. It would have been a sweet note to finish the season on if he could have denied Conor Cooney’s late penalty. If there was ever a sign of the relentless hunger within this Limerick side, it was Cian Lynch having to go over and console Quaid even though they were 11 points up in the dying seconds.
But for overall impact, the standout candidate is Gearóid Hegarty. He was central to their second-half surge against Waterford earlier this year, his move inside changed the Munster final and he was a monster in the last two games, causing problems for every matchup and on puckouts.
This group only have one two-time winner in Lynch. The only other hurler to claim more than one is Henry Shefflin. Hegarty can complete a formidable half-forward line.
In this column at the start of the season, we offered eight bold predictions. It is only right to close out by revisiting those pre-season calls.
Brian Hayes’ success on the square will inspire others to play a big man inside? .
Galway would defy the doom and gloom around last season and enjoy a much better campaign than anticipated? .
Barry Hennessy will prove to be an elite coach? Too early to say. .
There will be a rise in goalkeeper involvement from open play? .
Teams will double down on a proven shooter at centre forward after Jake Morris’ success, with Cian Lynch returning to midfield and Cathal O’Neill moving to 11? It was Aidan O’Connor rather than O’Neill, but we’ll claim a somewhat dubious anyway.
There will be several forwards deployed as defenders in 2026? Shane Bennett, Ronan Glennon and Niall O’Farrell all enjoyed fine seasons but we still need a wider sample. .
We will see several black-card controversies? . Why wasn’t Galway’s late penalty a black card too, by the way?
Limerick will win the All-Ireland? .
Four wins, two draws, two losses. A respectable attempt. Time now for a forensic review over the winter before a gruelling pre-season in the hope of peaking for 2027.
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