Galway
hurlers’ near-death experience against Laois on Sunday was symptomatic of the county’s experiences since moving into the
Leinster
championship five years ago last weekend.
The county has swung between the extremes of battling with Kilkenny – and two years ago blitzing them in the provincial final – and on the other hand struggling against the less highly-rated counties.
Although the first match in 2009 ended in a big win over Laois, the two more recent matches against the same county have been seat-of-the-pants stuff.
Offaly forced a replay a year later and in 2012 put three goals past them – shortly after Westmeath had stuck four – and they’ve yet to beat Dublin after two encounters.
Former Galway All-Ireland-winning captain Conor Hayes, who also managed the county to the 2005 All-Ireland final, was one of the strongest advocates of making that move into the eastern province. He remains convinced that it was a beneficial move for Galway hurling.
‘Fairly well’
“What it’s really doing for Galway is finding their real worth in the championship. Up to this we’d do fairly well in the league and then we were automatically into the latter stages of the championship.
“We became favourites every year which gave us false hope on the basis that we were one of the top three or four in the country. Going into Leinster has found a level for them – that maybe is the real level.”
He also believes that the county’s Jekyll and Hyde existence in Leinster is partly due to their strong tradition of under-age success. Galway’s migration covers only senior championship and as a result there is no provincial title to win in the age grades, which fast-tracks teams to an advances stage of the championship.
“It’s one of the problems we have in Galway. It’s great to have that success at minor and under-21 but they come along to senior then and think, ‘we should be getting to All-Ireland finals as well; didn’t we get to one at minor and under-21?’
“They can’t get their heads around having to play games early on against Laois or Westmeath and teams like that. There’s a certain psyche in Galway that doesn’t lend itself to that and that’s one of the problems.”
The mental readjustment from under-age championships, which are built on a couple of high-octane fixtures to senior level where counties have to plan campaigns hasn’t come easily. Even before the Leinster move, Hayes remembers the lack of urgency at what for other counties would be considered critical stages of the championship.
"Another problem I came across was when I was manager and we came across Waterford in Waterford in the qualifiers. I found it very hard to convince the lads that this game defines our year.
“They were almost thinking, ‘Waterford in Waterford; what’s all this about?’ We don’t really play championship until we get into Croke Park!
“We lost and that threw us in against Kilkenny. We need to know that championship is championship.
“It mightn’t be in Croke Park or it mightn’t be an All-Ireland semi-final but it may well define your year.”
