The Reale thing
September 03, 2010On Sunday at Croke Park, history will be made one way or another. Either Kilkenny will become the first team to win five senior All-Irelands in a row or Tipperary will become the first team to defeat the Black & Amber in the championship since 2005. The 2010 All-Ireland SHC final promises to be quite a thriller and who better to weigh up the possibilities than Damian Reale, who led Limerick into battle in the 2007 final?
On that occasion, Kilkenny proved too strong for the Treaty men as they captured a second successive title. Limerick had stunned Munster champions Waterford at the semi-final stage (just as Tipp did this year!), but found the Cats too hot to handle on All-Ireland final day. Will Tipperary suffer a similar fate or can Liam Sheedy's young side reverse the result of last year's All-Ireland final?
Limerick's 2007 captain is a huge admirer of Kilkenny: "They will probably go down as the greatest hurling team of all time, especially if they win on Sunday. The worrying thing from a Tipperary perspective is that Kilkenny look even better than ever and it would be no major surprise if they went on to win six or seven in a row. They look stronger, hungrier, fitter and fresher than I've ever seen them before, and that's ominous for everybody else."
Like every other hurling man in Ireland, Damian can't wait for the sliothar to throw in on Sunday afternoon. And he admits it will bring back memories of three years ago - Sunday September 2nd 2007 - when he led Limerick on the famed Jones Road pitch: "I suppose it was a bad day for us in Croke Park as far as the result went, but I enjoyed the experience and it's just a pity we didn't come out on the right end of it."
That was the year of Limerick's incredible three-game Munster semi-final against Tipp, which the Shannonsiders eventually won before being beaten by Waterford in the provincial decider. But back-door victories over Clare and the Decies at Croker propelled Limerick into a first All-Ireland final in eleven years. Damian remembers the excitement in the run-up to the final, how 10,000 Limerick fans turned up at the last training session in the Gaelic Grounds. "We were signing autographs and meeting the fans and we didn't get out until 11pm. There was a real buzz in the county and it would be great to get back to an All-Ireland final again."
Of course, in order to do so, the difficulties that plagued Limerick hurling in 2010 will have to be remedied and the absent players will have to re-join the county panel. Can Damian see this happening? "It all depends on who comes in as manager but I can tell you I would love to be involved with Limerick and to give it a lash again for another year."
Damian featured prominently on the Limerick senior panel from 2001 until 2009 and played in an All-Ireland final, two Munster deciders and a national hurling league final, unfortunately coming out empty-handed on all four occasions. He notes: "It's been a bad decade to be playing intercounty hurling, in many respects. Cork dominated the first half of the decade and then Kilkenny have come along to dominate since 2006. It has been very difficult for everybody else."
Is it fair that Kilkenny get to play just four championship games per year? It doesn't sound like a lot… "That's because they go through the front door every time and make it as straightforward as possible for themselves. Everybody likes to go through the handiest route but not everybody is good enough to do so. Kilkenny can only go out and win the matches that are put in front of them. I certainly wouldn't be saying they have it easy. The same path is available to everybody else. You can win an All-Ireland from Munster in four games as well.
"Kilkenny have tremendous strength in depth. We saw that in the semi-final when John Tennyson and Brian Hogan were injured and they brought in James Ryall to do a job at centre back. They also coped without Henry Shefflin for most of that game. Any other team would be decimated without their centre back and centre forward but it was business as usual for Kilkenny.
"They have so many players they can bring in. This year they've brought back 'Cha' and Richie Power and Aidan Fogarty. They have serious men on the bench and more lads ready to come through from minor level. Other counties just don't have that. Cork didn't have it and their team gradually got older, while Kilkenny have managed to keep things fresh.
"Tipperary have transformed their team. They are a newly-shaped side and it will be interesting to see how they fare against Kilkenny this time…"
Obviously, Kilkenny will go into the final as clear favourites. There has been nothing about their demeanour this year that suggests they're ready to relinquish their All-Ireland crown just yet. And their display against Galway last time out was highly impressive. How demoralising is it for other teams watching them in action? "They have raised the bar and every county has to come up to that standard now if they are going to win All-Irelands. It's a tall order. Kilkenny won't lie down and it's up to every other county to come up to their standards.
"That's going to be very difficult because Kilkenny have the strength in depth with 30+ quality players and then more again outside that - as we've seen with the minors this year. And they all seem to be playing the same brand of hurling from underage level right through. Every other county in Ireland has to look at the Kilkenny model and work at it from underage level through."
Damian Reale plays his club hurling with Hospital/Herbertstown. He won an IHC with the club in 2000 and a JHC in 2005. He lines out alongside his brother Brian in the club colours. Damian works as a health and safety officer with Pierse Contracting, who are currently involved in school-building, motorway and service station projects as well as the erection of replacement masts for RTE.
So we'll all get to see the All-Ireland final, even if we're not among the lucky ones who get tickets for Croke Park. Tweet
