Why Limerick win and why someone needs to cry foul on modern hurling…

The general narrative peddled out by the media following Tipperary’s 1-28 to 0-25 loss to Limerick was a positive one, this was a good game, a GREAT game, a “RIP ROARING” contest was one quote attributed to by a high profile analyst. The truth is that it was the best of a very bad lot and our standards as hurling spectators have fell off a cliff. 

Then again, some like this hybrid mish mash of Olympic handball and lacrosse. 

Some people enjoy the following aspects of Modern Hurling: 

• A game played with zero goal threat and a shot from the middle third every minute. 

• A game where players take unlimited steps whilst breaking the tackle.

• A game where there is constant use of the illegal spare hand tackle.

• Where throwing the ball up the field is a skill, a foul that occurred clearly 50 times last Saturday.

• Where Aaron Gillane gets his first possession after 46 minutes as Limerick refuse to hit the ball in.

The HOTD will continue to watch the sport, but the reality is, like many supporters, its not worth travelling and spending money or time as regularly to watch a filtered version of what was once, without question, the greatest sport of them all. 

There are some Limerick supporters who will say this scribe smacks of jealousy, but the truth is this Limerick team would win All-Irelands under any rules. They are an exceptional outfit with every asset needed to win akin to the Kilkenny vintage of yesteryear. The question is will we look back on their victories with the same nostalgia?

And yes, every other team is following the above checklist in the battle to reign supreme. The same boring template of stepping, pulling, throwing, and running. That makes it acceptable so? 

Chaos 

What made hurling brilliant was the chaos. The duels. The Battles. The Contests. The roar of the crowd. The Clash of the Ash. 

Inter county hurling in 2023 is anything but that. 

As coaching improved and stats team came on board it was only natural that the importance placed on possession and efficiency would arrive. The Cork team of the 00’s adopted the Newtownshandrum approach pioneered by Bernie O’Connor to run the ball up the field incorporating short passing and puckouts. Donal Og Cusack’s meticulous attention to detail further exasperated this. 

Ironically, the great Kilkenny team closed this space akin to Limerick yet did it whilst adopting many of the most fundamentals of the game. Yes, there was Eoin Larkin dropping back during different stages of the game but their gameplan was centred around fielding of the dropping ball in the half back and forward line, another brilliant skill lost in the modern game. 

They killed you with goals… exciting, fast, lightening goals. Shefflin, Larkin, Power, Brennan, Fogarty, Comerford, Hogan and Reid. Bang Bang, Game over. 

It took Eamonn O’Shea’s use of space along with an exceptional Tipperary minor team to join up and eventually end their reign.

Like Limerick, Kilkenny also bent the rules, and their physicality and abrasiveness was also called into question. The difference being, their hurling was so thrilling to watch. The final of 2009 was the day hurling peaked. 

What has gone wrong? 

The problem is that the rule makers have allowed the modern coaches to define the game. The coaches have also been ably assisted by pundits who either champion throwball or else simply accept that this is the way of the modern world.

It always seems to be the way of the hurling world to smile, be happy and accept the status quo. Whether its All-Ireland quarterfinals being played at 1.30 on a Saturday or no live game on the final weekend of the league or more importantly not applying any realms of the rule-book, the Hurling man can say no bad about the game. 

Compare that to Gaelic Football who are always looking to improve their sport, they have fought for better structures and God forbid they show Hurling first on the Sunday game. 

In recent years, our Gaelic brothers have changed their kickout on 3 occasions, banned the Maor Foirne, introduced the mark for the kickout which has been welcomed, introduced the black card to attempt to combat cynicism and the forward mark which although receiving mixed reviews has increased the percentage of traditional balls delivered into the inside line. The current version of the game is a much better product than the mid 2010’s and some of this must be attributed by such efforts by the rule makers in Croke Park. 

Puckout, pass, shot, How Limerick scored more than Tipp

The modern inter county game is very easy to break down, its actually amazing how few have successfully illustrated this online unlike our Football counterparts. The game is basically played in 15-30 second intervals. 

It generally starts with a puckout (Team A) with 3 distinct results. 

• Team A attempts to retain possession and get a shot off at the other end. 

• Team B wins the opposition puckout and gets a shot off. 

• On the other occasion a there may be one or more turnovers which lead to a shot for the opposing team. 

Most of the play is centred in the middle third where roughly 20 players mush into one. It is here where the shots also occur. It leaves inside forwards like Aaron Gillane pulling wildly in frustration on 33 minutes as he has yet to feel the weight of  the ball from play. Would you blame him? 

First Half

Tipperary led by 0-16 to 0-12 at half time. What was scarcely mentioned was the strength of the wind which was worth approximately 6 points on the HOTD wind meter. A vital phase of the game in which Limerick held this lead to 4 was from minutes 21-36 in which they outscored Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 thus leaving only 4 between them at the break. 

The importance of Cian Lynch was seen during this half as Limerick scored 0-7 off their own puckout. Lynch a constant foil for Nickie Quaid arrows. Cathal O’Neill scored 0-2 also from restarts.

0-4 came from Tipperary turning over the ball, mainly from poor retention of deliveries to our inside line. Tipperary only retained 3 of 9 such deliveries, with Jason Forde scoring 0-2 (0-1 from a free he also won). The only traditional Limerick score came from Donnacha Daly. They only struck the ball in on 5 occasions during that half. Gillane anonymous as the sprightly Daly used as the first receiver. 

Tipperary had similar success on turning Limerick over scoring 0-6. The real success story was the brilliance of Barry Hogan who gave an exhibition of puckout precision during the first half. Tipperary managed to outscore Limerick 0-7 to 0-0 off their own puckout during that first half. 

Nature of score	Tipperary	Limerick	Differential
Total	0-16	0-12	0-4 Tipperary
Turnovers	0-6	0-4	0-2 Tipperary
Limerick Puckout	0-2	0-7	0-5 Limerick
Tipperary puckout	0-7	0-0	0-7 Tipperary
Balls in (traditional inside play)	0-1	0-1	Draw

1st half

***Note: On occasion, a turnover may also be a ball in and overlap in two such categories. 

	Tipperary	Limerick
Shots	22	24
Scores	0-16	0-12
Wides	6	7
Throwballs	11	10
Throws penalised	1	1
Retention from balls in	3/9	3/5

Tipperary have also adopted the throwball tactics, on numerous occasions Tipperary decided to use the throw to offload that split second quicker. Gaeroid O’Connor who played very well on Saturday night gave two such assists that should have been penalised. On the Limerick side, Nickie Quaid’s underhand throw has been highlighted online but their star thrower is Will O’Donoghue who opens his fingers expertly before throwing to retain possession. Sean Finn and the Morrissey’s are others that practice this poison more regularly than most. 

To give Cian Lynch credit, he appears to have made a huge effort in showing a clear striking action after being highlighted by James Skehill on “the Hurling pod” some weeks back. He has joined Ronan Maher and Declan Hannon in the star handpass award nominees. 

Its hard not to write with some sarcasm such is the joke this rule has become. And no, a gap of 0.3mm does not suffice as a handpass. The solution is simple with three distinct options: 

1. Allow the throw as Derek McGrath has murmured

2. Adopt the Conor O’Donovan ruling. 

3. Enforcement of the rule to the strictest possible standard. 

Option 3 could mean 10 throw balls in games being given which will lead to critique by hurling pundits “looking to let the game flow” therefore Derek McGraths throw will continue to be adopted. In reality, Hurling will have to either adopt the current throw full time or go nuclear for option 2. 

The problem with throwing is that it allows teams to illegally keep possession and this reduces the contest for the ball, this turn hurling into lacrosse. If you stop throwing then we will see far more actual hurling. An irony lost among some Treaty fans is they have the best stick passers and flickers in the game so if the rule is enforced then they will likely increase their margin of victory. 

Some of their players will also be forced to hit the ball, often to a contest, but Limerick are lucky to enough to have Gillane lurking at the edge of the square. Gaeroid Hegarty could be driving off the shoulder to unleash a rocket into the roof of the net, that is the hurling we should be seeing. 

Tipperary led by 4 at the break but it was unlikely to be enough. 

Second Half

To say Limerick took over in the next 25 minutes would be an understatement. It was complete and utter domination as our puckout which had served us so well faltered under the intense Green wave and Limerick killed us on turnovers. From minute 35 to 60 Limerick outscored the Premier 1-14 to 0-4. 

Limerick withdrew their full forward line forcing Tipperary to go short to our full back line or else go long to a half forward line that were outnumbered under a ball held up in the wind. Barry Hogan could not get his mid-range puckouts off successfully. 

When Tipperary attempted to go through Limerick they were forced down blind alleys and turned over the ball. In Total Limerick scored 1-13 off either turnovers (1-7) and Tipperary puckouts (0-6) in the second half.
From a Tipperary perspective, it was eerily similar to previous leads surrendered to Limerick especially the Munster final of 2021 where we could not repel the Green wave. 

Nature of score	Tipperary	Limerick	Differential
Total	0-9	1-16	1-7 Limerick
Turnovers	0-4	1-7	1-3 Limerick
Limerick Puckout	0-3	0-1	0-2 Tipperary
Tipperary puckout	0-2	0-6	0-4 Limerick
Balls in (traditional inside play)	0-2	0-1	0-1 Tipperary
Throw in	/	0-1	0-1 Limerick

2nd Half

**Note: On occasion, a turnover may also be a ball in and overlap in two such categories. 

This dominance was also helped by faultless accuracy in front of the posts by Limerick, shots taken on the front foot or from placed balls. It would be remiss of this scribe not to question the nature of some of the modern frees, won by players who are running at full tilt taking 6+ steps before crashing into a helpless defender and the referee adjudging it to be a foul. Barry Nash and Colin Coughlan drew such frees during this period. 

Steps seem to be ignored nowadays unless a player hesitates, in the other league semi final between Cork and Kilkenny, Eoin Downey gave away a free on Mossie Keoghan, only after the Kilkenny attacker had taken 10 steps. Kyle Hayes also scored a goal against Wexford in round 5 of the league after another 10 steps. They were two of the most obvious examples but like throws, there are plenty of examples of this rugby like version of carrying the ball. The solo not been practiced or celebrated. 

These runs are generally preceded by an illegal handpass. Tipperary out-threw Limerick in the second half by 14 throws to 11, but what is frustrating about the Limerick “handpass” is like Tipperary Gaeroid O’Connor’s in the first half they have ample time to execute the pass with a clear striking action but refuse to do so in case of error.  

Many (not all) of the Tipperary throws are often as a result of Limerick using the spare hand meaning a throw is then used. Every team is attempting this strategy, but none are as adept at it, the sheer natural size of Limerick also helps.

The impact of support (or lack of)

Another odd footnote on last Saturday night was the constant aggravation among the Limerick supporters towards the referee. It seemed to be fed from the stand which was copying the protests of the Limerick coaching staff and players. 

At half time, they led the free count 9-7 yet many Limerick supporters around the HOTD spent the whole half complaining. On one occasion, Ronan Maher received not one, but two high tackles from Tom Morrissey and Barry Murphy yet both pleaded their innocence. The crowed somehow seemed incensed. A knowledgeable Limerick fan sitting beside this follower said he was baffled by these protests. Of course, successful teams are bound to draw the Munster rugby type bandwagon fan that may not know the difference between breaking ball and the break down. 

In fairness to Limerick, the core Limerick supporters have always followed in numbers. The same cannot be said of Tipperary. It was another pitiful attendance in the Gaelic grounds. It is gone to the stage that when Tipperary supporters decide to go to games, they are afraid to shout as they feel like a piranha among our rivals’ fans. At €15 a game for the Munster round robin, its great value by the Munster council so the same excuse can’t really suffice. Then again, it’s hard to stomach many facets of the modern game. 

Limerick restarts

There has been much rightly made of Nickie Quaid’s accuracy on puckouts but Tipperary continued to perform well in the second half on the Limerick restarts. It was turnovers on next phase ball plus our own puckout malfunctions described above that hurt. 

An overused phrase in Football is “kick it dead” (wide or over but not short) and this could not be truer when describing Kinnerk’s Limerick. The ball into Quaid’s hands struck short is either transitioned through the lines or moved long like Tom Morrissey’s point after Noel McGrath’s point effort dropped short. 

	Tipperary	Limerick
Shots	13	17
Scores	0-9	1-16
Wides	2	0
Throwballs	14	11
Throws penalised	0	0
Retention from balls in	4/9	2/5

Keeping the ball in play is a definite no-no and teams like Tipperary need to devise ways of minimising the rush. Seamus Kennedy did the typical tactical injury but your only entitled to one of those before the brave and faithful support cop on. Getting the ball deep into the corners and either winning the ball or defending from there is a must. 

When the rush comes on down the line, can we manage to go back or switch the play altogether? If one Tipperary player is being rushed by 4 Limerick men, then there must be an overlap elsewhere? 

Are Davy Fitzgerald’s whacky formations and tactics all being practiced with Limerick in mind in the first round in 4 weeks’ time? The HOTD highlighted the complete lack of inside penetration by the Deise, but most teams Limerick are also only putting a handful of balls inside. Limerick only had 10 last week, 5 in each half.  If you can’t beat them, join em? 

Goals don’t win games anymore.

From a Tipperary perspective, we have placed an emphasis on green flags yet failed to work Nickie Quaid. We had a handful of half chances during the first half to take on the man but the point was taken by Seamus Kennedy and Jake Morris (albeit after a slip). 

The cynical foul rule that had been introduced seems to have been abandoned by officials meaning that there is no reward for the likes of Kennedy or Morris attempting to beat the inside back (obviously using only 4 steps). In the dying moments of last weeks game, John McGrath was hauled down by Will O’Donoghue in what was the definition of a penalty and black card yet Liam Gordon ignored despite the pleas from Tipperary captain Noel McGrath. 

The rule was unlikely to be taken seriously given that it has not been adapted at club level. Most club games, especially at the higher level have at least 2 of these fouls in the game, often in the final ten minutes as teams attempt to create a 3 pointer. 

Leaving Barry Nash as a spare defender for much of the game makes it even more difficult to break that line and score goals. Kilkenny kept the Liberties man busy when placing TJ Reid on him in last years All-Ireland final, could Tipp use one of their own marksman inside in such a role? 

The only goal chance in last Sunday’s game came off a mis struck shot by Colin Coughlan. Otherwise, both goalies could have had a mug of tea in between puckouts. 

Some, like Liam Sheedy has suggested 4 points for a goal but with an average of 25+ points per game, this would still not be a reward heavy enough to change the current scoring trends. The problem lies around the basis that possession hurling means shooting from outside is the order of the day. Throwing and Steps facilitate this. The spare hand, another ugly by-product. 

To some, this is fascinating, to many, this is simply boring. 

Apply the rules and let’s see a contest again. 

And Limerick will probably win, probably my more, this time though, they’ll do it in style.