Kilkenny's positional tactics

mickmcl09

Everybody these days seem to be analysing tactics of teams more and more. Everybody has something to say about the tactical abilities of all the managers out there, except Cody. I say this in the sense that because KK are the top dogs (cats ) pundits seem to focus on what tactics to deploy to try to beat them rather than start with the KKs tactics first, figure out how they work and then come up with a plan.

I've been living in KK for the last 4 years and while I enjoy going to games, they are starting to get tactically predictable ie all clubs in KK try to set their team up exactly the same as the county team. The problem for most of them is they don't really know why it works and nearly all of them don't know how to combat it. Basically when done correctly an average team is capable of beating a vastly superior team, it happens in the club scene week in week out and you'd be tearing your hair out watching it.

I have an opinion on how it works, the reasons for when it doesn't work and ways to combat it. But I reckon either by fluke or design that's what happened against Galway. Because Cunningham has a good football brain as well. I'd like to think he's figured it out. What do ye think?

Henno30

Kilkenny's superiority has never been based on tactics as such. Indeed no long term success can be based on tactics, and tactics are more easily imitated that other aspects of a sport and as such don't lend any long terms competitive advantage.

Kilkenny's superiority has been based on their technical excellence, the ball winning capacity of their forwards, and the physical intensity with which they play the game. The hurlers Kilkenny produced over the past decade would have won All Irelands in any era, but the dominance they achieved was a product of the intense physicality which Cody trained into the team.

They quite simply were capable of playing the game faster and harder than anyone else. They worked harder, they hit harder, and they had the technical excellence required to take advantage when the opposition wilted. That's why they would blow so many teams away after 20 minutes, when that first wave of tiredness hits.

The aerial superiority they had in attack, i.e. the ability of the likes of Shefflin, Comerford, Larkin, Brennan to win ball in the air facilitated this high intensity game, as their half-backline could deliver any sort of ball forward and they would win it anyway. No team around today can compete with them in that respect, and I doubt there have ever been many that could.

The majority of teams need to create 2-3 seconds of time on the ball between their '45 and '65 to deliver accurate ball to their forwards, because their forwards just won't win the ball if they don't. For Kilkenny it's just not an issue because of the type of forwards they've had.

Tactically, they've never been especially innovative because the massive technical and physical advantages they enjoy make it unnecessary. The only noteworthy thing about them is their persistence with the rigid positioning of their defence, that is they don't like their backs to ever leave their traditional positions and leave space there to be exploited.

The team that really took advantage of this was Tipperary, who made an art form of a perpetual motion approach to positioning their own forwards. The fantastic understanding of positioning, movement, and distribution developed under Eamon O'Shea tore the Kilkenny defence apart in 2010. Unfortunately for them, they've returned to a less imaginative, direct approach under Declan Ryan's management and they really have never looked as spontaneous as they did in the 09/10 seasons. Their one sparkling performance under Ryan, the 2011 Munster final, really came about as a result of Waterford being badly outworked in the middle third and their defence being woefully confused about how they were going to deal with basic, long ball deliveries.

To get to Galway then, yeah I would say that the football background played a part. But really and truly, Galway's astonishing domination of Kilkenny was achieved in a two ways. The first was a physical intensity of their own the likes of which Kilkenny had never been met with before. The second was their absolute domination of the Kilkenny puckout in the first 30 minutes of the game, something that has never, ever happened to this great team before.

This is a good video on the intensity they brought:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb52kJeCzoA

And this is a good video on the puckouts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxKACzM4lv4

For me, the physical intensity is something Galway could well repeat against other opposition. And if they do manage to do so, it's hard to see too many sides living with them.

The puckouts however, I think might be something of a one off. Galway brought a lot of players back around the break for all Kilkenny's puckouts, and they made sure that they were never outnumbered around any break in their own half. When they won the ball back, they broke in numbers giving the ball carrier a variety of options in terms of how he was going to distribute the ball.

The physical power they have developed under Cunningham, plus the much more consistent support play, gave them that crucial time on the ball all teams require to deliver an accurate pass that exposes the opposition defence.

As ever, Kilkenny tried to retain their shape at the back, but such was Galway's dominance at the puckout, they just worked the ball short to create scoring chances from distance for their unmarked half-forward line players, or they played the ball clean over the heads of the Kilkenny half-backline right into the hands of their roving forwards. They even ran at Kilkenny which is something few teams do effectively, but again they so dominated Kilkenny in the middle that they had the platform to do whatever they want.

The reason I don't believe that they'll ever have it this one sided again, is that I think they took advantage of the raw and inexperienced midfield that was Buckley and Hogan. If Rice and Fennelly were there, I find it very hard to believe that Smith and Tannian would have dominated the breaks from the Kilkenny puckout in the manner that they did.

Nevertheless, what Galway did was an astonishing achievement, because they actually went and did what everyone always says you have to do against Kilkenny. What's more, they went beyond it. They physically steamrolled Kilkenny, doing to them what they've been doing to everyone else for the last five years.

I think that's why this defeat will rankle a lot more with Kilkenny than even the 2010 final. When a team prides themselves on something, and if Kilkenny pride themselves on anything it's on the intensity and workrate they bring to the field with them, well then it really hurts when someone totally destroys that illusion. Galway took everything Kilkenny thought was good about themselves, and they did it better.

rebel girl 15

Cody played the wrong tactics in the last ten minutes of the half - space is the key for the forwards, leaving inside forwards isolated man on man in there. The KK corner forward had come out as a third midfielder, and two scores came from that fact - Tommy Walsh being forced to cut the ball into the middle rather than up the wing to where the corner forward should have been. I'd have to watch the match again to be sure, but Galway did the two man full forward line, brought the man out to around midfield, with KK doing the same, but not bringing their half forward line back, like they normally do. This allowed Galway to control the middle third, and for some inexplicable reason, the other corner forward for KK also came out the field to look for ball, leaving 1 man FF line against three Galway backs

KK also continued to play their gameplan, hitting ball into their full forward line, when only Shefflin was there against 2 if not three Galway defenders. There were a number of balls where a Galway defender came away easily with the ball, and was able to pick a man. Cody rectified it in the second half, and the KK goal came from 2 KK forwards being isolated on two Galway defenders

Thats my take on it anyway at first glance - if I watched the game back, I'd probably spot other things.

mickmcl09

Great analysis of the Leinster final Henno. I completely agree that that game wasn't just about positional tactics, no game is.

Cody does not like his GKs using short puck outs and he insists on puckouts being landed down on his half forwards at training. KK half forwards know that for them to get their place on the team, that they must be able to get primary possession from puckouts - info source, former KK panelist.

KK play a straight 15 for the most part, sometimes you will see Colin Fennelly being deployed for short periods out the field and that's about it.

But just isolate their positional tactics from everything else (Strength, Skill, Stamina, Speed and Style - Babs keatings version of the perfect individual player).

I've observed this at KK inter county games and alot of KK Club games.

Defensively.
FB line never move out the field , even to combat the oppositions corner forward being deployed as a 3rd midfielder.
HB line tend to play 35 metres out - they will always be directly under puckouts.
Midfield - Cha Fitzpatrick was the first guy they deployed with this tactic of sitting in behind their own 65 and cutting the breathing space of a half forward line.
For the oppositions puck outs. Centre field and the HFs are on the way back and hoovering up breaks. You'll even see them let a ball beat them, so their HB can break it back to them (and that is being done under instruction). The oppositions HB line are in limbo when this happens because until the Galway match most HB lines would come out to their own 65 and next thing they're caught in the middle, leaving hugh space for KK FF line and the WF on the opposite side of the pitch. How many times do we see them use the diagonal ball to great effect in this situation.

The oppositions HBs have 2 options follow the HF so he doesn't get the break or sit deep and smoother the space and that's what Galway done.

Easier said than done I know.
Because KK are rarely chasing a game the FF line are always inside the 14 as a starting point. This has a number of advantages.
-closer to goal when the run out for possession.
-less traffic for their HF line to contend with when the HF wins their own puckouts. How many times have we seen KK break the oppositions HB defensive line and result in a goal and it is in this situation that Rice and Fennelly are most effective.

For teams copying the KK system, the problems arises when you are chasing the game and your FF line starts coming further out the field looking for ball, because it's not coming in to them and all they achieve in doing is to further congest the KK half back line, creating traffic for their own players to deal with and at the end of it all, because the FF line is further out the field, they become less effective.

Galway didn't fall into any of the positional traps at all and while they probably played way above themselves individually and more importantly as a unit, I felt their positional sense and positional decision making contributed in a big way.

Tombo2001

Henno30 wrote: »

Kilkenny's superiority has never been based on tactics as such. Indeed no long term success can be based on tactics, and tactics are more easily imitated that other aspects of a sport and as such don't lend any long terms competitive advantage.

Kilkenny's superiority has been based on their technical excellence, the ball winning capacity of their forwards, and the physical intensity with which they play the game. ..............

Galway took everything Kilkenny thought was good about themselves, and they did it better.

Dont think I've ever come across an analysis of a game/ team as good as this in any national newspaper or any episode of the Sunday Game.

dastardly00

Very good thread so far.
I'll try and get a bit of time later and give some opinions too.