Evan Niland finds his space after long apprenticeship

Evan Niland’s championship campaign for Galway got off to a dynamite start in April when he shot 0-13, 0-7 from play, in the comeback win over Wexford. It propelled his first season as a regular starter and he is certain to play a more expanded role in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final against champions Limerick than the handful of minutes that he got in the two previous meetings between the counties at this stage.

His career details suggest someone who was always going to impact at senior level: schools success, underage All-Irelands with the county and a high-profile Fitzgibbon involvement with the University of Galway.

Except his size was always entered as a caveat. For all his outstanding free-taking ability, would he be physically big enough for the attrition of senior intercounty championship?

So far so good. He goes into the weekend as the championship’s top scorer with 0-68, of which 0-24 is from play over the course of seven matches to date. More than that, he has made an impression in general play.

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Irish Times hurling analyst Nicky English, previewing Galway’s quarter-final against Tipperary, made the point about the Leinster final defeat by Kilkenny. “Evan Niland’s free-taking was top-class but I was also impressed by how easily he found space for himself.”

He has also earned the trust of manager Henry Shefflin, who has given Niland a major role this season.

There are physical and tactical reasons why the Clarinbridge hurler is thriving at this level. In 2018 he sought advice on how best to prepare for senior hurling and how to attract attention in a county with no shortage of teenage prodigies, shooting the lights out at minor as he had done himself three years previously.

One of the coaches and mentors who knows Niland best is Jeffrey Lynskey, who managed the 2015 minors and has coached University of Galway in the Fitzgibbon.

“He had to get himself ready physically after 2018 when he was told that he needed to improve in terms of his game on the field and what he needed to do off it. In fairness, he really applied himself from a strength and conditioning point of view, and then he used the Fitzgibbon as a stage to hone the skills we’re seeing at present.

“In terms of free-taking and shot execution there’s probably no one better and he’s top scorer in the championship this year.”

The tactical development that has liberated him sees Niland dropping back from corner forward into a second number 11 role, allowing him room to shoot and forcing his marker to follow. This is familiar to Niland from his college days, according to Lynskey.

“The big part for us was developing a role for him. That’s where the second 11 idea came from – but if he was going that far out the pitch he had to develop his link-up play. What you saw against Tipperary, especially in the last few minutes was Evan executing those basic principles – in terms of offloading the ball to Cianan (Fahy) for one point, Cianan gave him one back and Tom Monaghan was another one he offloaded to.

“It was simply winning a ball on the 45 and making a good decision with it. In previous years he might well have turned and tried to break a tackle and try to score himself but the way the game has gone it’s so physical that it’s hard to do that.”

His ability to read the game and his instinctive technique means that he no longer dwells on the ball but can quickly work out the most effective play.

“He’s really good at hitting those spaces between the 45 and 65,” says Lynskey, “and if whoever’s marking him switches off for a few seconds he’s really good at reading that and always a couple of moves ahead in sensing a scoring opportunity.

“He played a different role in 2015 up top for us [Galway minors] than he has now. The key part for me over the past couple of years is how he has developed that link play. He’s now added improved work rate, which is huge. When Joseph [Cooney] came over to him when he got the turnover on [Eoghan] Connolly in the second half, he was saying, ‘this is what senior hurling is about – it’s about working for the team as well as scoring’.”

Lynskey is exasperated by the expectations placed on underage players and believes that the gradual arrival of the 2015 minors at senior level now is a reasonable rate of progress.

“The 2015s are there eight years now. Fast-tracking doesn’t work. You could argue that the Fitz is a better developmental ground than under-20. It’s the next step from senior. You’re playing 23- and 24-year-old men, many of whom are established county players.

“His role is free-taking, which is hugely important, but also it’s drawing an extra back out the pitch to create space for Conor and Kevin at times. He’s creating that space, but he has to be marked because he’s such an effective shooter from 50, 60, 70 metres out, so he gives Galway an extra dynamic.”

He also admires Niland’s ability to analyse his game and look for advice when necessary.

“He’ll talk to you if there’s an issue and he welcomes clarity. He’s smart enough to know himself when he’s not at it but also smart enough to ask for help. Evan has worked extremely hard to put himself in a position for senior hurling, and he’s got his rewards for hard work.”