GAA’s century of serial success shows no sign of easing

Look at it this way. In the first 120 years of the GAA, four teams achieved an All-Ireland four-in-a-row. Fewer than 20 years later, there have been three more – and the Holy Grail fifth has been secured for the first time in history and for good measure, turned into a sixth by Dublin’s footballers.

Serial success in Gaelic games defines the top counties. It’s often cited but illustrative that the three leading hurling counties, Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary, share three quarters of the All-Ireland total whereas two, Kerry and Dublin, have won half of the football equivalent.

Yet even in this arena where multiple successes are not unusual, what has happened this century is striking. So far Kilkenny have won 11 out of 24 hurling titles, Tipperary four and Cork two. In football it’s similar: Dublin and Kerry have 16 of the 24 All-Irelands between them.

Then in hurling, Limerick have been nearly as dominant as any in recent years. Five All-Irelands in six years and next year, John Kielys’ teams become the latest to try for a five-in-row, which would be hurling’s first.

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It’s no surprise that for many, the quality of players and management is considered foundational to these achievements.

There’s no way of forcing a crop of talented players in the same cohort but are there now features of the modern games which make repeat success easier to attain? Is it simply a matter that resources can now make a material difference to a county’s outcomes?

Michael Dempsey has extensive experience of these factors. For 15 years he was a coach and selector with Brian Cody in the heyday of the Kilkenny hurling supremacy. A former Laois footballer in the NFL winning team of 1986 he speaks both codes fluently.

We can’t underestimate the importance of the pathway in counties with repeated success. Under-age success is a very useful marker

More recently he chaired the Talent Academy Committee, which produced a hugely influential report on the future of games development in 2019 as well as being GAA director at IT Carlow, now SETU Carlow.

He believes that the traditionally successful counties have, in addition to legacy, a practical advantage, as expressed in a kind of formula.

“The overall environment in terms of the quality of coaching plus the influence of tradition and culture. Ultimately when players come into a senior management, their skills are already developed so other aspects of preparation are being looked at: S&C [strength and conditioning], the psychological and the importance of nutrition.

“We can’t underestimate the importance of the pathway in counties with repeated success. Under-age success is a very useful marker. Limerick’s current team is built on two Under-21 titles.”

That’s simple to grasp because it has underpinned the high-achieving counties throughout history. Youngsters grow up in a county that regularly wins trophies and are inspired by senior players. Former players tend to take over teams in their turn and there is a self-perpetuating quality to consequent success.

It comes down to great leaders creating great environments,

What developments though in modern times may have made serial success more prevalent?

Niall Moyna is professor of clinical exercise physiology in the School of Health and Human Performance in DCU. He also has a long association with Gaelic games both in his university and as a member of Pat Gilroy’s management in the 2011 All-Ireland victory – Dublin’s first in 16 years and precursor or trigger to the current dominance.

He highlights the role of management in getting the best from players but also believes that the advancement of sports science has been of great assistance in optimising resources.

“There’s no doubt that sports science has had an enormous impact on the development of hurling and football but at a fundamental level, the role of management is huge. Would Kilkenny have won what they did without Brian Cody – or Dublin without Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin? Or down in Limerick with John Kiely?

“When you are the bullseye for every other team, every year, I wouldn’t underestimate the impact of that. All were charismatic individuals, who changed the dynamic of their teams and the culture of their counties.

“They were also smart enough to realise that doing what you always did would no longer be enough. Average teams thanks to advances in sports science would probably be able to compete with good teams if good teams hadn’t moved on to the next level.

“It’s also very hard for a one-off team to break through anymore. There is so much video analysis that we know all about the opposition.”

Shane Flanagan is the GAA’s national director of coaching. He says that for all the data and science, coaching also has to be an art.

“It comes down to great leaders creating great environments, whether business, politics or sport and motivating and empowering players. These teams manage that.

“Equally there’s an art in coaching and peaking at the right time and that has always struck me about Dublin in the past few years and Limerick as well. They’re fresh and peaking at the right time. That’s getting the balance right between on-field coaching and the engagement of strength and conditioning and also knowing when enough is enough.”

The GAA has probably unwittingly assisted in the process through its evolving structures.

[ Conor Meyler: Meditation, cold baths, stretching, and taping my mouth ]

It’s probably no coincidence that the abolition of knockout championships dates from the same period. The All-Ireland qualifiers were introduced in 2001 and expanded to hurling a year later.

One of the reservations about the new format from weaker counties was that although it guaranteed them two matches – two defeats, according to the more cynical – it strengthened counties who were contenders by allowing them a) recover and b) learn from defeat. It proved a sure-fire formula for counties with prospects and meant that provincial David’s weren’t quite done with Goliath.

Six of the first 10 qualifier football All-Irelands were won by counties, who had lost in the province but hurling was different. Kilkenny rarely had to avail of the indirect route. Just one of the Cody-era All-Irelands came after a defeat and the other 10 were won as Leinster champions.

What the football qualifiers achieved was the creation of permanent powers, teams who constantly qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals and frequently went farther into the championship. The additional training and time together meant that they had more opportunities for development and would build on that the following year.

By the 2010′s, All-Ireland football winners had stopped needing a second chance and there haven’t been champions since Cork in 2010, who have lost a match on the way to Sam Maguire.

Even the round robins of recent years haven’t produced a defeat for eventual winners – Kerry this year came closest.

It’s a significant change since the days when teams were reluctant, almost embarrassed to acknowledge the presence of psychologists

Another intervention by the GAA was the permission to use five substitutes as opposed to three, introduced in 2000. The advantage to counties with deeper panels became obvious and the impact of a team’s replacements became a major factor in Dublin’s successes and also Limerick’s if to a lesser extent, Kilkenny’s.

Aspects of sports science that have proved most influential are strength and conditioning, sports medicine and psychology or performance coaching.

In the third category, high-profile practitioners like Gary Keegan, who worked with Jim Gavin’s Dublin, and Caroline Currid, whose CV extends to four All-Ireland winning counties but most obviously in recent times with Limerick, are indispensable personnel.

It’s a significant change since the days when teams were reluctant, almost embarrassed to acknowledge the presence of psychologists. For Dempsey, however, the nature of the relationship has changed and practitioners are more comfortable and familiar with Gaelic games.

“The area is much more practical. In the early days, maybe there was a lack of openness or appreciation but practitioners now keep it simple and are able to communicate well with the players and make the context accessible to players.

“That’s probably because there is now a lot of experience of working in the GAA environment whereas in the past, people were coming in not really tuned into the environment of Gaelic games.

“They understand the players and the group because they work in it all the time. In the past it was conducted by people outside the group on an ad hoc basis. Players used to laugh at it almost as a form of witchcraft. There’s now a greater appreciation of mental health.”

He pinpoints the easing of pressure as a key function and one with obvious relevance to repeat success.

“Having someone to talk to is hugely important in trying to make sense of the environment. Society has changed as well and there’s obviously a lot of additional pressure from social media and scrutiny from media, making work-life balance difficult to strike.

“It’s trying to normalise what’s not normal.”

The physical preparation has become in ways the least exceptional, in the view of Prof Moyna.

“I think there’s too much time being dedicated to conditioning, particularly strength work. Coaching makes the difference and the right application of sports science. I don’t think there is any great difference in the conditioning of teams. They’ve all caught up. You’re not going to lose an All-Ireland quarter-final because the other team is fitter.

“The longevity of the Dublin players when you think of the mileage they have, something has been done right.

“It’s only a decade since the talk was that your intercounty career was over in the late 20s. Now players are winning All-Irelands in their mid-30s – and early 40s. Age is chronological. It’s the biological age you need to look at.”

Evolution of sports medicine has helped to control the effect of injuries. If players can stay fit and prepared, their careers last longer and the presence of more experienced athletes becomes a cumulative benefit to a team, according to Michael Dempsey.

“The other thing with some of those counties is that the longevity of players and the experience they accumulate at the highest level also gives them an advantage, which can be an important factor.”

Serial success may be multi-factorial from the coincidence of players born around the same time to exceptional management but it is likely that modern science and research is making it more attainable to maximise your resources.