Anthony Daly: Will Kiely and Kinnerk now make some ruthless tough decisions?
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Last week, a busload of farmers from Limerick stopped off at the pub on their way back to west Clare for an educational exercise around reclaiming wet land. Farming was the purpose but the vast majority of them were diehard hurling supporters only mad keen to talk about the game, and everything associated with hurling. There was some good-natured slagging about Clare’s All-Ireland win but one of the main topics of discussion was whether John Kiely was going or staying with Limerick.
The reality, especially when nothing had emerged within a month of their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork, was that John wasn’t going anywhere, but Limerick people everywhere were still waiting for confirmation for full peace of mind, especially with John having taken a career break. Some of that concern around what John may do next was heightened even more with Paul Kinnerk’s future also undecided; if John was going, would Kinnerk have worked with another manager?
Nothing has been stated or clarified, but the word for a long time around the county is that Kiely’s career break is to coincide with him taking over as operations manager ahead of the Ryder Cup in Adare Manor in 2027. Is that true? Nobody knows but John’s relationship with JP McManus, and the trust JP has in John’s ability to forensically prepare a team of people for an elite event does add up.
If Kiely is taking on that role, the Ryder Cup isn’t taking place in Limerick for the guts of three years. If Kiely was to finish up with Limerick after two more years, that would still give him at least 14 months (if Limerick were to reach the 2026 All-Ireland) to fully focus on any potential role for the Ryder Cup. In any case, I’m sure JP would be as happy to see John at the helm in Limerick for the next two years than – possibly – just being focussed on events elsewhere.
It's a no-brainer for Limerick to hold on to Kiely – and Kinnerk. There has been talk of a reshuffle in the backroom team, which is understandable for freshness and new ideas, but this project has always been governed by the brains-trust and leadership of Kiely and Kinnerk.
It’s safe to assume too that neither man would have committed to another two years without the other. If Kiely has been one of the most successful GAA’s manager’s ever, Kinnerk has legitimate claim to being the GAA’s greatest and most influential coach.
I’m not sure if they wanted this announcement to happen when it did but it was ironic that it became public just hours after Kyle Hayes was disqualified from driving for two years after appearing in court on Tuesday. As any PR guru will tell you, the best way to muffle bad news is good news.
Maybe it was John’s way too of putting any distractions for 2025 to bed as early as possible. Nobody can argue that the Hayes case earlier this year was bound to be a distraction as Limerick went chasing history. Nobody knows if any of that stuff, even the chatter around the five-in-a-row, got into their heads but I wouldn’t be surprised if the timing of the announcement was John’s way of saying that the slate is being wiped cleaned long before 2025 even looms into view.
No matter what they have won, there is bound to have been a lot of reflection by Kiely, Kinnerk, the management and the players since the defeat to Cork in July, which was Limerick’s second loss to Pat Ryan’s side in two months.
John and Paul will be the first to admit that they didn’t have a good day on the line against Cork in Croke Park, especially in how they left their best defender – Kyle Hayes – isolated on the wing for so long when Declan Hannon was struggling in the centre.
It was even more baffling again when they had invested so much time and faith in Cathal O’Neill as a backup option at half back during the league and with Darragh O'Donovan sitting on the bench. Given how strong Limerick finished, the feeling amongst most Limerick supporters I’ve met in recent months is that they would have won the match if those changes had been made earlier.
Kiely and Kinnerk and the management are entitled to one off-day (if you want to even call it that) considering how many great days they’ve had as chief orchestrators on the line. At the same time, you can imagine that will have really frustrated them too, and how fired up Kiely will be to make sure those mistakes are not repeated.
I think all of that stuff is a real advantage to Limerick going forward. There’s nothing as frustrating for a manager as feeling that some of your pain was self-inflicted.
When Limerick had previously lost a knockout championship match, their shooting let them down in the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny, but that match still came down to a refereeing and umpiring decision not to award Limerick a blatant ’65 and the chance to draw the match with the last play. That was painful, but that 2019 defeat was as much about what somebody else did on the day, than what Limerick didn’t do on the day back in early July.
Missing out on the chance to create history will have added to the agony. Watching their arch rivals Clare go on the win the All-Ireland will have exacerbated the pain even more. Limerick have Clare – and Cork – in the Gaelic Grounds next year in Munster. How much of a factor was that in Kiely and Kinnerk’s decision?
It will be interesting too to see how Kiely reacts to two defeats in one season – especially when Limerick had only lost once in the previous four seasons. Will he make some ruthless and hard calls? Will some big-name players be dropped to put other fellas on guard?
Limerick will be feeling now, ‘We have to up our game’. And if they do, that spells trouble for everyone else.