RTÉ Hurling Analyst
It's do or die in what will be a festival of hurling this weekend.
The year is 2005. The venue is Punchestown Racecourse. The festival at that time is called Oxegen and we couldn’t wait to load up the Volkswagen Polo with cans, tents and five very excited people on the Friday and head up the road – we really maxed out on the space in that little car.
The line-up included Green Day, Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs, Snoop Dogg and of course The Saw Doctors to name but a few. Looking back it was unbelievable to have so much world-class talent assembled in a field in Kildare.
Fast forward to 2023 and this time me and my wife will be loading up a seven-seater with nappy bags, fully-charged iPads and enough snacks to feed a small army to head over to Thurles but the same type of anticipation and excitement is there, kind of.
What I mean is I feel this weekend is going to be a festival of hurling. The headliners are Clare and Cork on the Ennis Stage at 2pm and after that set the main stage in Tom Semple’s field hosts Tipperary and Limerick.
The weatherman says it’s going to be between 16 and 18 degrees, as I write this piece the only tickets available are for the Killinan End Terrace (the Tipp Terrace) and both towns will be hopping well before throw-in.
The atmospheres will create themselves, now can the hurling match up to it? I fully believe it will because now there’s something big on the line.
It’s been three weeks since we saw Limerick in action. The break was well deserved and came at the perfect time. They took a week off to recharge, refresh and mentally take a break from the pressures involved with being the best team in the country.
Now they are coming to Thurles with a point to prove to a lot of people, but most importantly to themselves as a group – a group who have won four All-Irelands in five years and are going for five Munster Championships in a row.
It sounds mad, but take whatever edge you can get in this game.
If the outside noise and the crazy stories are to be believed Limerick will barely have enough players to even play this game on Sunday, with lads walking away, getting sent home, being injured.
The majority of it will be absolute drivel and I always laugh when these stories come out and you are one of the players involved in the set-up. When it comes to rumours, especially in the GAA, if it’s a mouse in Nenagh it will be an elephant by the time the story reaches Thurles.
But will this drivel further galvanise them now? Will John Kiely see this as another motivational factor that it really is them against the rest now? 'So many are happy to see us lose and not going well. Let’s go out there and show them all we are far from done, in fact we’re only getting going now this year.’
Limerick’s performance against Clare was much better than how they hurled against Waterford and, injuries aside, I’m sure the curve on those performances will be going up from now on too.
This group have set such high standards over the past five years that these things won’t be the whole reason for seeking out their best championship performance of 2023 on Sunday, but it has to be a 'one-percenter' in getting there.
Where does that leave Tipp? Standing in the way of a wounded beast but in a position to kill the beast at the same time, should Cork pull off a result in Ennis beforehand.
There are so many things to look forward to – the potential match-ups of Cathal Barrett v Aaron Gillane, Bryan O’Mara v Cian Lynch, Jake Morris v Mike Casey and, before it all gets going, the throw-in and what will happen between the two old foes from the league in the form of Will O’Donoghue and Alan Tynan. Blockbuster stuff everywhere.
Tipperary are in a different zone compared to when the two teams met last year in the championship in the Gaelic Grounds. They did their best to try and live with Limerick but just ran out of ideas and steam. Now, in 2023, Tipp have proven they are stronger, fitter and are playing to a structure that is maximising the potential in the group.
There is a great feeling and excitement about this group in Tipp and I just pray the people do the talking with their feet and turn up in their droves to shout them on this Sunday because, have no doubt, the Limerick crowd will and always have travelled to support their team.
There has been a world of hurt inflicted by this Limerick team on the majority of the current Tipp group. They lost the Munster final in 2019 and it still stings to mention the provincial decider in 2021. Add on championship defeats in 2020, 2022 and the league semi-final defeat this year and there in no extra motivation needed in the Tipp dressing room this weekend.
As a manager, Liam Cahill has proven himself a winner against every top team in the championship, except for one – Limerick and John Kiely. Is now their time? Will Tipp be brave like the Banner men were and go man on man and put that trust in their full-back line?
Will they prevent Limerick from building from the back and feel they’re strong and ruthless enough on the breaking ball from long puckouts? Time will tell. I have a feeling Limerick are coming with something different too – that hurling brain of Paul Kinnerk's takes no time off so watch this space.
Someone asked me during the week if I thought Tipperary will go for this, with the Waterford game still to play. For all the reasons outlined above I think there can be no doubt that they will. They are ready for the battle, both physically and hurling wise, and will relish the challenge.
Every team wants their destiny in their own hands and not to be relying on anyone else to do you a favour because in the Munster Championship there are no friends when it comes to making the top three.
I can’t wait. The tinfoil and the finest of ham will be ready for the sambos – even though we’ll have the notions of coffee beforehand too, such are the changes in modern times. The place will be buzzing. It’s real championship hurling. It’s what we love.
We’ll all remember a day from the past going to these games with a loved one still with us or gone to their eternal reward, the sweaty cars, the bottles of red lemonade and the rush to get home for The Sunday Game.
It’s sad to think our best player from last year against Limerick isn’t with us any longer and I’m sure many will remember that on Sunday and think of Dillon Quirke, who left us too soon but whose memory and legacy will live on with the great work his family are doing.
