Cunningham no longer the man to drive Galway
PLENTY of people have been asking me if Kilkenny can be stopped, next year or over the next five years. Maybe there is a way — pool the other 31 counties together! Because at this stage, the whole country wants to see them beaten. Brian Cody has overseen a golden era, one which we will never see again. Everyone involved in such a success story deserves great credit. For the good of the game, you’d like to see new winners but there is no sign of the era ending. It’s like a river now — it just runs on and on with no sign of it stopping. They have such a winning mentality, it’s remarkable. And they have been on such a high for much of the last 17 years, whichever new guy comes into the team thinks: ‘I don’t want to be part of a losing side.’ Other counties who only reach hurling’s greatest stage every three or four years don’t have that same mentality. They can’t. I thought they were vulnerable two years ago and they’ve won titles back to back. It’s going to be very hard to dislodge them. Can Galway bounce back? Of course they can. It’s going to take a monumental effort. They have some lovely young players coming through, the likes of Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn, and have a nice blend. They say you have to lose one to win one. For the likes of David Collins though, who has been there since the 2005 final defeat, those words are of little comfort. The question now is whether Anthony Cunningham is the man to lead them on. Personally, I think he can’t get any more out of them. Galway have now been beaten in two All-Ireland finals and in this year’s Leinster final. For Galway to go forward, I don’t think he’s the man. Maybe the players need a new voice, a freshness. Ultimately, Cunningham himself will be the best judge. If he thinks he can bring them to the Holy Grail, fair enough. If he does, good luck to him. One thing for sure, to beat Kilkenny, you have to bring the shovel to work. Any 20 players, or however many you bring on, you have to go out with that mindset. Deep, deep down, in the pit of their stomach, did Galway really believe they could beat them? I don’t think they did. Sunday’s final was almost a repeat of the Leinster final. We saw the good and the bad of Galway. In the first half, they matched Kilkenny in every aspect, in terms of intensity, physicality, all in a good sporting fashion. Galway did all the hurling, but I felt that they weren’t far enough ahead at the break. A three-point lead wasn’t enough to take the sting from the wasp. We all knew Kilkenny would come out fighting and in the first seven or eight minutes, they had clawed the three points back. When there was a battle to be won, they won more battles. If you win the battles, you normally win the war. It wasn’t a great game of hurling, but that won’t worry Kilkenny. When it was still in the melting pot, Galway missed a number of crucial chances. Conor Whelan spurned a goal chance late on and Joe Canning was off target from a free. All in all, a missed opportunity.
‘Deep, deep down in the pit of their stomach, did this Galway side really have the belief they could beat Kilkenny?’