Former Cork All-Ireland winner Diarmuid O’Sullivan has some advice for Limerick, if they want to put a stop to come between Galway winning All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships in a row.
"Obviously, Limerick hurling people will say it's a long wait since 1973. But you must remember that none of these players were even born back then. It's not their burden to carry or their cross to bear."
Diarmuid O'Sullivan is a Paddy Power GAA Ambassador and columnist with Paddy Power News (news.paddypower.com)
How will the players on both sides be feeling this week?
From a Galway point of view, they know what it's all about now from last year and they will manage themselves correctly. To be fair to Micheal Donoghue, he's done an excellent job on managing the camp.
Limerick on the other hand are relatively new to this, given their last All-Ireland appearance was in 2007. John Kiely got the players' media duties out of the way early too. The pressure of those duties are now off now and both managers will want to prepare their teams in the best matter possible, to have them in the best shape for Sunday.
Is there anything special you would do on a week leading to an All-Ireland final?
Every player prepares differently, but the most important thing for me was to get what you had to do out of the way early in the way. Get your tickets out of the way because they last thing a player (particularly a new one on the scene) needs is friends, family or clubmates hounding you for tickets. You don't want to be drawn into all that, you've got to box clever.
In my own experience of it, I reckon you learn as it goes on year-to-year. It's an All-Ireland, there can be a circus going on around it all outside of the game.
Will the Limerick players be feeling the weight of history given the last time they won an All-Ireland was 1973?
I believe it would be very unfair to put that pressure on the panel. Obviously, Limerick hurling people will say it's a long wait since 1973. But you must remember that none of these players were even born back then. It's not their burden to carry or their cross to bear. This is a fresh crop who are learning on the job. There's a big prize at stake and I'd ask why to burden a new group with old failings?
Do Limerick hold an advantage over Galway given the extra week they've had to prepare?
Absolutely they do. Freshness at this time of the year is key - both in mind and body. You need to be at your peak for an All-Ireland final. So, the extra week off is certainly an advantage too them. The question for them is, what do they do with that week? Did they do some extra recovery? Did they get all their video analysis out of the way? It is still a week Galway didn't have.
Is it a big factor in Galway's favour that they've experienced winning an All-Ireland final just last year?
That's huge for Galway. Don't ever underestimate the physiological factor of winning an All-Ireland and then going in looking for back-to-back ones. The knowledge you gain from your off-field activities to you your on-field preparations, you can't buy. Until you've been through it and soaked in that experience, you'll never actually fully understand it. Galway have gained that experience and it count for a hell of a lot.
What is the key match-up?
The key match-up for me is Galway's full-forward line against Limerick's full-back line. You've got Sean Finn, Mike Casey and Richie English facing Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney and Cathal Mannion. That Galway unit will bring a serious amount of physicality, size-wise they are also going to bring a different challenge to Limerick. They are also interchangeable and you can throw Jonathan Glynn and Niall Burke into that full forward line too. It's not the because of full-back lines - now don't get me wrong they are very comfortable and accomplished hurlers with good experience - but they lack some physicality and size to combat what Galway will bring. People will say Conor Whelan isn't the biggest, but look at him! He's built like a brick-s**t house. He's strong, he's aggressive, he's really powerful and he has that explosiveness built into his system.
How do Limerick deal with Jonathan Glynn?
I remember Donal O'Grady saying to me 'if you're on a big man the first thing you do is you need to keep the ball out of his hand'. Looking at a few guys that have come up against Glynn this year, they all seem intent on winning the ball. But, any full back line with a good goalkeeper will tell you that, you need to focus on getting the ball to the ground. You get your hand across him and knock the sliotar to ground, it's just the slightest touch.
Then your two corner backs or your goalkeeper need to be aware of the ploy. They sure know that you are not going up to win the ball directly, but what I am going to do is break the ball where it is in an advantageous position for me or the defenders or goalkeeper around me. I know it's easy to talk about in theory, but Mike Casey is just going to have to level to him - especially on the high balls if he ends up in full forward. You can't do that with Glynn. If Casey can get it to the turf, that's his advantage then because he's lower to the ground and he'll be on that break like a rash. In games of this magnitude it's the little details that make all the difference.
Is it important for Limerick to prevent the fast start habit that Galway have begun to develop?
Limerick will badly want to be in this game after 20/25 minutes. Like any team that get to an All-Ireland final, they want to be in a competitive position at that period of the game. They might have to sacrifice something from their game in the first 15/20 to achieve that with how Galway are playing. Limerick do know they have the ability to comeback from six or seven points in a very big game.
Do Limerick need goals to win this?
Limerick are well able to score a high amount of points themselves. They've got good long-range shooters too. Take Darragh O'Donovan in midfield, Diarmuid Byrnes at half-back and Cian Lynch too - they've got the hurlers to execute scores from far out the field too. Realistically though, any team will need to get goals to win an All-Ireland really. They'll have to get a minimum of one anyway to give yourself the chance of victory. Limerick's attack will have more muscle than Clare. Plus they always have the hurling ability that Clare had, but they've more size in the front six.
If Galway win this title, what does it say about them as a team?
In my own humble opinion, if Galway win this - it will be the greatest All-Ireland win of all time. Mainly due to the amount of games they've played to do it. It would be unprecedented. It would be as big as an achievement within the game of hurling. The physical toil they'll have put themselves through to do that with the Round Robin series, the replay of the Leinster final, extra time and a replay in the All-Ireland semi-final is enormous. What that demands of a guy's body is incredible.
Call the winner?
I said earlier on in the year that Limerick would run this Championship very close. I believe I predicted semi-final and possibly finalists. I still felt Galway were the team to beat at the time. As a player - who is still playing - and a supporter of the game, I must say I have to admire where they are. I still believe the ball is in Galway's court and it's theirs to lose. Limerick do have a right chance, but it just might be a small bit too early from them in their development. Either way it's another novel pairing in the final, which is only good for the game of hurling.
