Eamon O'Shea: It ain't the hope that kills. It's the hope that thrills

Irish Examiner

17-07-2025

Leaving Croke Park after the All-Ireland football quarter finals I was a little uneasy, not only because Galway footballers had lost, but because the quality of the play in both games was so good. I had not been physically present at a football game under the new rules, and I was thrilled by the experience.
The reason for my disquiet coming out of Croke Park was my certainty that evolutionary theory and economic obsolescence through creative destruction would ultimately lead to the decline of hurling. The main existential threat for hurling was not global anymore. More prosaically, football had suddenly become easy on the eye. The appalling vista had unfolded before my very eyes.
That is, until Cork and Tipp came to town the week after and said, 'you want to be entertained we'll show you entertainment'. And it was thrilling. As hurling is meant to be. For a while I have been concerned that the game has become too academic, too bound up in structures, systems and data. The game is meant to be thrilling, emotional, unpredictable, joyful and passionate. As Billy Joel might have said to play hurling you have to be in a 'hurling state of mind'.
In 2010, when Tipperary beat Kilkenny, Liam Sheedy and Michael Ryan epitomised a Tipperary confidence, spirit and passion that should never be under-estimated. So too does Liam Cahill. Cork, as a county, has these attributes too, so our expectations should be high for a game for the ages.
Hurling at its very best must take players and spectators to another place, making them forget and remember in equal measure. A hurling match without passion is a Beckett-like experience where nothing much happens slowly. What Gaelic Football used to be like!
Hemmingway was consumed by the thrill of the bull ring, but for hurling followers it is the search for delightful uncertainty and the chaotic feeling that anything can happen and often does happen in the game. Meanwhile, the modernists know a lot about the game, probably too much, but they can only understand the game backwards by taking anticipation, jeopardy and passion out of the actual spectacle itself.
Net gains
Goals then. How to create them and how to stop them? That is the question on supporters' minds as we look forward to Sunday's All-Ireland final. Do you go for a shoot-out or a shut out? First a confession. Back in 2014 in the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork in Croke Park we went for a shutout, helped by a puck out master class from goalkeeper Darren Gleeson. The final score of 2-18 to 1-11 reflected this strategy, a far cry from the current stratospheric scoring rates. Sometimes needs must and maybe we will all be surprised by what unfolds in the final but on the evidence of both semi-finals, I think not.
Goals reflect your overall philosophy on the game and the confidence within the team at any given time. I was sitting in the stands for one of my all-time favourite Tipp goals scored by John O' Dwyer in the 2016 All Ireland final - a precise long delivery from Cathal Barrett, Bubbles appeared at the bus stop at the right time, a turn and then a shot that finishes a millimetre inside the post – a team at the height of its powers.
Both Tipp and Cork know how they want to play – both comfortable in their skin and willing to go with the ebb and flow of the contest. Expectation is different to pressure and the team that expects the most will win. The former 'Hell's kitchen' for Tipperary has moved from the full back line to the full forward line. And Cork always threatens goals from the minute you see those red jerseys appear out of the tunnel. Ring's legacy runs deep while John Fitzgibbon's genius still resonates after all those years. And Pat Ryan has allowed his team the freedom to play in a delightful and authentic Cork way, with players encouraged to express themselves and showcase their skills, not just their power and physicality.
Scoring goals is a collective experience. Mentality is the key, and it must be shared across the whole team from the goalkeeper up to the man who puts the ball into the net. People often ask me for goal scoring drills, as if there is some magic potion that helps transform attacking play. If only that were true. The truth is that goal scoring is more jazz than coaching magic. Any aspiring goal-scorer would be better off listening to jazz trumpeter Myles Davis than listening to a coach explaining how to score goals. The art of goal scoring requires improvisation, immersion, observation, heightened awareness, bravery and co-operation to create flight paths, triangles and space leading to opportunities for the strike. And make sure to turn up in the right place at the right time – think Jason Forde's dink from Darragh McCarthy's pass in the recent All Ireland semi-final.
Before the 2019 All Ireland semi-final I met Seamus Callinan in the Ragg for a chat on when it might be appropriate to attempt a ground strike for a goal from within the square in the modern game. He had missed from the ground in a previous game, so we went through different scenarios on the pitch on best practice and ultimately my advice was to thread carefully and to generally avoid the strike off the ground. Thankfully Seamus ignored my advice and scored a beautiful first-time ground shot from a Niall O'Meara pass the following Sunday in Croke Park against Wexford. Most times the coach needs to stay out of the player's way.
Every goal is different, but to score goals the ball and the play needs to be focused on what happens inside the 20m line. I understand the current fascination with dominating the middle third, but it's asking too much of forwards and taking attacking players away from the opposition goals. Sometimes you need to play through the lines, but other times you must be more direct. That is what Cork and Tipp do best and why they are contesting the All-Ireland final. I hope this is the legacy of this year's championship.
Variation and improvisation are what the game needs and spectators rightly want entertainment and excitement. Use your short game and long-range shooters to provide variety and draw out the opposition defence. But get the ball as quickly as possible towards the opposition goal and rely on the movement, skill and fight of your inside men to do the rest, supported by at least two players from the half forward line. Attack, attack, attack. Sure, it helps if you have a Brian Hayes at 14 who doesn't mind what way the ball comes in, but if you are a goal scorer you will always find a way, particularly if you work as a collective unit, without ego. Goals are scored by individuals, but are created by the team for the enjoyment of family, supporters and the wider hurling community. It's not the hope that kills, it's the hope that thrills.
*The author is Professor Emeritus in Economics, University of Galway.