Latest news with #AdamEnglish
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
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. YT:
The 42
2 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
So what is it we want? Do we want lawless hurling, or just light-touch hurling?
BEFORE WE START, let's do what Jim Gavin did with the Football Review Committee and ask not what we want from hurling refereeing, but what kind of game we want and go from there. The latest game under the microscope is the Munster hurling final. If we were to apply rules strictly, it would have been a mess. Left as it was, it was a free-ridden contest, minus the frees. At the very start, Ethan Twomey and Tim O'Mahony were up against Will O'Donoghue and Adam English. Before referee Thomas Walsh threw the ball in, O'Mahony and O'Donoghue were going at it. A big shoulder. Another. Another. O'Donoghue put his two hands on O'Mahony, trying to shove him out of the way. Almost everyone in hurling believes this kind of start to a game as a 'good thing.' A means to get the blood flowing and the dander up. And almost without fail, the referee throws the ball in fast. Because the repercussions would have it that the referee 'lost control' by not throwing the ball in. The fight that broke into a hurling match is a trope as old as time itself. But take a step back. Is it not a bit mad that most games start in this way? That because of mayhem breaking loose the referee needs to make the game alive? So much of hurling is visually gorgeous. But the prolonged rucks that flare up if a puckout is not caught clean are a wart on the Mona Lisa. Because in that jungle anything goes and what goes on is maybe hard for the naked eye to see. But there's a world of players holding each other's hurls and chopping down. Advertisement Is hurling lawless, or just laissez-faire? If it's the second, then it causes problems when you pass the game on to children. Here's a typical coaching pathway; you start with the grip of your hurl/hurley. Then move on to moving the ball on the ground with dribbling and pulling on it. The next stage is where you get the big wins; lifting and striking. In generations gone by this could take time and become a frustration, but the amount of equipment now available to juveniles along with the various shared coaching methods and wall balls makes it a pleasure. Then comes coaching the tackle. And one of the first things you do is to rule out all chopping. That's because a child that gets a rattle on their knuckles in their first weeks of hurling coaching might never be seen again. Yet one glance at a top intercounty game will see numerous abuses of this rule. Darragh Fitzgibbon lends a hand to Adam English. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Back to events in the Gaelic Grounds. After three and a half minutes, Diarmaid Byrnes sent a ball down the right wing to Aaron Gillane. He cut inside his marker and headed for goal until Rob Downey chopped down on Gillane's upper arm around his bicep. The ball squirted loose. The crowd cheered. 'No foul whatsoever,' whooped Marty Morrissey on the television commentary. On the ground, Gillane tried a roll lift and Downey stepped across him, using the free hand to push Gillane in the chest while he scooped the ball up for himself. 'Listen to the roar from the Rebels,' trilled Morrissey. Yeah. I get it. A man's sport. Yadda yadda. Referee 'Tyler' Walsh's style of game management left both managers fuming by half time. Both sides went to state their cases and in the mayhem, some backroom members got a little over-zealous towards the other. HT - Limerick 1-10 Cork 1-14 Cork management unhappy with some of the referring decisions, Limerick management unhappy that Cork sought to let referee Thomas Walsh know at the whistle, lead to this. Strong wind with Limerick in the second-half. #GAA — Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) June 7, 2025 Not everyone was displeased. Henry Shefflin, Donal Óg Cusack and Liam Sheedy were all for it. This is only a scattered and far from exhaustive list, but you'd have to ask if they were happy with the incident prior to half-time when Brian Hayes had Mike Casey's hurl wrapped around one hip, while Casey had a firm hold of his jersey at the other hip. This play ended with David Reidy scoring a point to trim the margin at half-time. Diarmaid Byrnes has a hold of Diarmuid Healy's hurl. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Were they happy when there was a sniff of a goal for Aidan O'Connor only to have the sliotar ripped from his hand? That it took 16 minutes for the first free for Limerick? Or the Brian Hayes bodychecking that finished with Gearoid Hegarty taking a quick free for a Shane O'Brien goal? We could go on, but a debate such as this is a landmine. Supporters of either county grab a nib and a ledger and record the checks and balances, eager to find a conspiracy against their team. Just over ten years ago, the former Kilkenny hurling great Eddie Keher put together a document and forwarded it to the GAA in which he outlined a case that red and yellow cards should be dropped entirely from hurling. Among his reasonings was an eye-catchline line that cards awarded in hurling were, 'Totally at variance with the ethos, physicality and manliness of the game of hurling.' Not much Keher said would have found many objections within Kilkenny. That very week, the manager Brian Cody was asked for his opinion and said, 'It made an awful lot of sense. You're talking about a person who has adorned the game. He's speaking as a man who has a passion and a love for the game. His thoughts would be worth listening to I would think. 'I think that there is absolutely an over emphasis on cards, without a shadow of a doubt. I don't want to start getting into a whole rigmarole again but it can't become a non-contact sport and there's an absolute emphasis on heading that direction.' Nowhere will you find self-interest quite like you will find it in the GAA. Related Reads So, just how serious are we about hurling promotion? 'The fact it went to penalties is a bit mad' - Cork's Munster win with a difference John Kiely: 'I think they got a really good rub of green in that last piece' A decade previous, then Armagh captain Kieran McGeeney was suggesting that the tackle in Gaelic football was poorly defined. He wouldn't be alone in that of course, but having played a lot of International Rules in his time, he felt that a full-on rugby/Aussie Rules tackle would eliminate the grey areas. In fairness to McGeeney, he has along with other long-serving managers such as Mickey Harte, been consistent in their insistence that consistency has been lacking. But then… It suited the Armagh team that McGeeney played on to allow full-contact tackles, given their physical profile. And it suited Kilkenny a decade ago to oppose cards, as they – like all other heavily scrutinised champions – played the game right on and often over the edge. At the start of the second half of the Munster final, the two midfields lined up against each other. It descended into a festival of pulling and dragging with hands on helmets and all sorts of jostling. It only ended when the ball went live. Repeat ad infinitum. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Brian Gavin: Injury to Munster final ref underlines need to support officials
The image of Adam English trying to help a cramping Thomas Walsh is one of the abiding images from Saturday's Munster final. It comes only a week after David Gough was forced to pull out of officiating the Down-Louth game with a hamstring problem. I won't say referees are dropping like flies but the pains and bangs they are picking up is a symptom of the scheduling when games are coming so quickly after another. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual €120€60 Best value Monthly €10€4 / month Unlimited access. Subscriber content. Daily ePaper. Additional benefits.
