PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for June in hurling, Conor Whelan of Galway, with his award in Eyre Square in Galway. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Having lost to Kilkenny in the Leinster Final and Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final, Galway hurler Conor Whelan is in a good position to run the rule over Sunday’s All-Ireland finalists.
He believes the match will be similar to last year’s hard-fought final, and is leaning towards Limerick completing a historic four-in-a-row.
“It's hard not to edge towards Limerick considering they have three-in-a-row done and came through Munster,” says Whelan, who was today announced as the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for June.
“But you would be very foolish to be writing the Cats off too. I think it'll be a very tight game and maybe Limerick will shade it, but it's fine, fine margins really.
“Both teams bring different challenges. Kilkenny are massively physical. They have TJ, Eoin Cody, and Martin Keoghan up front. TJ is an absolutely amazing hurler who nails all his frees and then you have Eoin Cody who is in the form of his life as well.
“You have other forwards around them then working really hard. Defensively you're not getting much off them and they're very strong and physical.
“Whereas Limerick would have different players stepping up every day and they're very measured in everything. I actually think it'll be a fascinating battle to see how that plays out. I was up at the final last year and it was one of those games where it was tit for tat and that's how I see it playing out again on Sunday.”
Conor Whelan of Galway in action against Dan Morrissey of Limerick during the 2023 GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Limerick and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.
Galway led Limerick by a point at half-time in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final, but were overpowered in the second-half as Limerick dominated them on puck-outs and other contests for possession in the middle third.
“We went in at half-time in a decent position and probably felt we could have been in a better position,” says Whelan.
“We went out very confident for the second half but unfortunately we lost a bit of momentum and Limerick started to get a bit of a run on us and unfortunately we struggled to swing it back in our favour.
“When you're playing any team and they end up getting a run on you it's a very difficult thing to wrestle back into your favour. I think their record speaks for itself in terms of they're going for four-in-a-row and it's obviously something a lot of teams have struggled with.
“It's probably something we'll spend next year when we're back digesting and trying to figure out how we could have done something different.
“On the day we didn't go down for a lack of effort. From our perspective we've gone through a period of transition. We've had some lads like Johnny Coen and Aidan Harte who moved on and we've some young lads coming through and days like that against Limerick are harsh lessons. But, look, they're the standard-bearers at the moment and the rest of us are the chasing pack, really.”
Whelan hopes that Henry Shefflin returns for a third season as manager in 2024, and continues the job of rebuilding a new-look Galway team.
“Yeah, of course,” he says. “I think people probably underestimated the job that Henry has had to do. The challenge at the moment is bedding in those younger lads that are coming through and show them the level it takes to compete against a team like Limerick.
“That's still very much a job that's in its infancy. We've massive belief in Henry and that's something we're looking forward to.”
