Cats can go toe to toe with Limerick but they must be ruthless - Tyrrell

Having spent the season watching both sides, Jackie Tyrrell is well placed to run the rule over the two MacCarthy Cup contenders.

And the nine-time All-Ireland winner believes that Kilkenny can stop Limerick’s quest for four in a row this Sunday.

“I think Kilkenny took strength from going toe to toe with Limerick in last year’s final,” said Tyrrell, who is an analyst with the Sunday Game on RTÉ. “They can take belief from that, but they’ll know they have to be at the pitch of the game all the way through.”

The James Stephens man was present at the Kilkenny media day, where he got to speak with Cats boss Derek Lyng ahead of Sunday’s Croke Park showdown. Tyrrell has been impressed with the new man at the helm, praising him for how he had handled taking on one of the GAA’s biggest jobs - taking over from Brian Cody.

“There’s no doubt about it — filling Brian Cody’s boots had to be tough,” said Tyrrell. “I asked him about that and he said he didn’t think about it too much as to do so would be daunting.

“Derek was in the dressing-room as a selector with Brian for six years, so he’d have a good understanding of the environment that was there. He would have learned an awful lot from that. Then, he also has a management team that he was used to working with at under-20 level. He’s a solid guy who commands a lot of respect in that dressing-room. You can see that the players are responding to him.”

While different managers, many people will compare and contrast the Kilkenny of Brian Cody’s last season in 2022 and Derek Lyng’s side of this year. Tyrrell pointed to some small factors which, he feels, have helped the Cats in a time of transition.

“There are a few things that stand out between the Kilkenny of 2022 and 2023,” he said. “Derek has used players like John Donnelly and Tom Phelan, who get through some amount of work.

“The integration of David Blanchfield has also been a huge plus, but I think we’ve accelerated the short ball game,” he said.

Tom Phelan has been a great addition to Kilkenny this year Picture: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

“I also think Richie Reid has been excellent at identifying space,” added Tyrrell. “Last year he would have been more of a zonal marker in the centre, whereas now he cuts out the flank, moving to the left and right and forcing the opposition down a side where Kilkenny want them to go.

“There has been a tactical cuteness that has come into the team, while I also think we’ve a stronger bench than last year.

Great players like Cillian Buckley and Padraig Walsh - Walter Walsh too, he always had it - have been so good coming off the bench. It takes a different mindset to be that type of player and I think Derek has gotten that right with those lads; Cian Kenny is another player, someone who, I thought, played a pivotal role at crucial times as well. I think all those things add up to something tangible for Derek and his team.”

Of course, the familiar trait of a Kilkenny team having a solid work ethic is still apparent.

“That attitude was part of Brian Cody’s culture,” said Tyrrell. “You don’t shy away from work; that’s been taken up by every player that he brought in. If there are 10 runs to make you don’t make nine and a half — you constantly stay going for every ball.

“Players learn that and then they see the likes of TJ doing it at the death in Leinster finals, where he’s fighting for every ball.

When players see that they realise this is the acceptable level that you have to get to. And, if you don’t get to that level, you’re not going to be part of this side.”

That appetite has played a huge role in Kilkenny’s run to the final this year, and was never more apparent than in the All-Ireland semi-final.

“Look at the Clare goal,” Tyrrell recalled. “Billy Ryan had no right winning the ball where he did, but he dispossessed his man and worked the ball on. TJ and Eoin Cody still had a lot of work to do, but the ruthlessness they showed was incredible.

“The goal showed that when Kilkenny get the chance they can take it, but it also highlighted how this side can hang on in there in a game, even when they are being dominated,” he said. “I go back to the first half of last year’s All-Ireland, where we were being obliterated by Limerick, but still we hung on and got points, won frees and held on. Instead of going in six or seven points down we went in with something to play for.”

Limerick are chasing their fourth straight All-Ireland title on Sunday, and have bounced back well from a slow start to their Munster campaign. Tyrrell praised their mental strength, but believes the Cats will offer a greater challenge this time around.

“The first few rounds of the Munster championship opened a lot of people’s eyes to the fact that Limerick might be human, that they can be got at,” he said. “In fairness to them they rallied the troops and came back strongly. I would like to think this Kilkenny team is in a better place than they were last year - think of some of the new guys Derek and his team have brought in, and the bench impact we’ve seen now. That has given Kilkenny a real boost.

“Last year Kilkenny probably travelled to Croke Park with a small bit of hope, whereas this year I get the sense there’s a belief there that Kilkenny can win,” he said.

“Speaking to Derek he mentioned the word ‘brave’ a few times. I asked how that bravery manifests itself on the field and he said it’s at times of tough moments, when Limerick are on top, that the players keep looking for the ball and continue to push up. That would give me great hope that we won’t do what Galway did in the semi-final and drop off after 25 minutes.

“They have the players to do it - Richie Reid, David Blanchfield, John Donnelly and Tom Phelan have all been impressive - while Eoin Cody has really lit up this year. The semi-final will have brought on Adrian Mullen and Mossy Keoghan too,” he added.

“They could have key roles to play in this final.

I feel the team is in a really good place,” Tyrrell added. “Limerick have an unbelievable forward in Aaron Gillane, but we have the best full-back in Huw Lawlor who will go toe to toe with him. Mikey Butler is the best man marker in the country and will probably be detailed on Peter Casey or Seamus Flanagan.

“We know we can stand physically toe to toe with these players for 70 minutes,” he finished. “We just need to be ruthless when our opportunities come up. There are plenty of things that Kilkenny will look at. You have to push this Limerick team, follow them up the field and trust that the defence will be able to stand up to all that is thrown at them.”