2 days ago
A season of Sundays on a single Saturday evening
As I cycled my bike across Limerick city on Saturday evening the atmosphere could be sensed a couple of kilometers from the Gaelic Grounds.
Drawing closer to the stadium it was easier to dismount and walk in along with the moving sea of green and red.
I parked the bike up safely near a house of God and as I walked down the Ennis Road the flashing blue lights could be seen in the distance followed by a team bus.
That buzz those players feel as they wade through the traffic and crowds en route to a Munster Final is something they will not truly appreciate for years to come until, like me, they are the ones walking in.
Then they will look back and think, wasn't that a magical time?
I worried that the game might not live up to the buzz beforehand, especially after what happened a few weeks previously. But in terms of excitement, tension and drama we got all that and more. Much more.
The hurling probably was not at the pitch we have to come expect with these teams. But then when you consider the atmosphere and tension everywhere how could we expect a flawless display to go with that?
The hits were ferocious, the tackles intense, the anger felt by many was only surpassed by the volume of sarcasm from fans when a free eventually was awarded.
Sportsfile's 'A Season of Sundays' is a review of the GAA year in pictures and is often a great stocking filler at Christmas.
This year I feel they will have to bring out two volumes of this famed book because one could be full of images from Saturday night alone.
Here's just a few examples of such iconic images: Adam English helping out referee Thomas Walsh in the middle of the field with cramp. Darragh Fitzgibbon as he gazes into a sea of green waving arms to nail the 65 to take it to penalties.
The view from above as the world stands still for a brief second for each penalty taker. And finally the sea of jubilant Rebels gathered in front of the Mackey Stand to see the cup of the same name held aloft.
Iconic images from a night that will live long in the memory for all those lucky to be there in person to experience it.
It was a pleasure to be there to call it on radio and I was mentally drained from it all by the time Robert Downey lifted that cup so I can only imagine what way those players and management team were feeling afterwards.
Limerick will need every bit of the three weeks off to get the bodies right after that physical battle and allow the minds time to come back down and breathe once again.
For many players the body will recover quicker than the minds because it can be solved with stretching, pool sessions and cold plunges. But there are no physical stretches for the mind. Only time and space to help yourself to get over it all and get ready to go at it again.
This might mean a few days off completely, then back to some light pitch stuff by Friday. Then, it's back into third gear work by Sunday and you should be ready to go again by next week, both physically and mentally.
So when you think of it the three weeks off allows only one week of proper training, with the week after taken up with the recovery and the third week just fine-tuning before more knockout hurling.
One of the most important people in the room during this period could be the sports psychologist.
Questions will be asked where did it go wrong, what did we get right?
Everything is fine when you win. The right subs came on at the right time, tactically we got it spot on, our match-ups were on point.
When you lose then, you're questioning everything from the way you ate the chicken and pasta to did I put my grips on properly this time?
But it just came down to a literal puck of a ball. The margins are so small that maybe not much, if anything, needs to change in the coming weeks for Limerick.
I fully believe they will be back in Croke Park and will be meeting Kilkenny and that has the potential to be a battle akin to the 2019 semi-final.
For Cork they'll still be walking on air.
Their victory will give them the real belief now that they can finish the job this year but I feel they are there now to be knocked off.
We saw the passion they brought to that game Saturday night because they were hurting from a few weeks ago. Where will the drive and hunger come from next time against Galway or Tipp?
That will be their biggest challenge now I feel over the coming weeks. To get themselves back into a kill or be killed mindset for Croke Park.
Find an angle of hurt or disrespect from somewhere to come at this game and bring that hunger and desire they showed in the Munster Final.
If they bring that fight to Croke Park they will take serious beating - maybe they just won't be stopped now if they do.
I believe Tipp are still involved in this year's championship (or so I read in the paper).
That's nice for us here in Tipp. Not much if anything is being said and it is a lovely way for the Premier lads to be coming into knockout hurling.
I honestly do feel it is a punishment rather than a reward for the Joe McDonagh finalists to be asked to go and play again this weekend.
I mean let's be honest - what is the point of these games?
We're asking both Kildare - who will still be enjoying themselves at the time of writing - and Laois - who won't be over the heartache - to tog out again on Saturday against a top tier team coming into the game after three weeks of rest and are no doubt bursting for road.
The prize for Kildare is next year - not next week.
I think we are doing them an injustice asking them to go out and play again on Saturday.
Some will say, 'oh they deserve a crack at the Liam MacCarthy.' They do and they will get that next year when they are in a much better place to perform for it.
Fixture-makers have constant headaches over the squashed calender. One solution could be to do away with this week of fixtures. Just send the provincial winners into the semi-finals and match up the provincial finalists and the third place team in the province.
We haven't had an upset here since Laois defeated Dublin in 2019. That was a very good Laois team, so arguably not even much of a shock at the time.
But we won't see that happen again for a long time. Partly because the top tier teams are aware of what happened the Dubs that season.
Forewarned is forearmed. No shocks this weekend, Tipp will win, as will Dublin.
But I really do hope the hurling people of Kildare enjoy every second of the day on Saturday as a precursor for Liam MacCarthy hurling in 2026.
What a story and when the Team of the Year or Manager of the Year Awards are being spoken of I really hope this Kildare team and their manager Brian Dowling are in that conversation.
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