By Kevin Egan

A fascinating hurling match is set to throw in at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening, but an intriguing study into human psychology too.

Tipperary will arrive into Limerick in excellent form, with just one defeat on their record, and that a loss that can be attributed in no small part to playing the full game with 14 men.

Galway, in contrast, are still struggling to find the answers for why they were so far off the pace in both their contests with Kilkenny. After being badly exposed in Nowlan Park, it looked like a run of four victories in a row – particularly an excellent win at Parnell Park – put them back on the track.

Then there was the Leinster final, and as Fintan Burke admitted at the recent All-Ireland SHC launch at the Faithful Fields in Kilcormac, their second meeting with the Cats re-opened many of the same mental scars.

“We were hoping to show up and do ourselves justice from the first day down in Kilkenny and we didn’t really for a finish,” said the St. Thomas’ player.

“We probably hurled alright in spells and probably hit a good 10-12 minutes there going towards the end, but ultimately at this level you can’t perform in fits and starts and expect to get over the line.

“I don’t think it was the opposition that was the problem. I think we went away from what we were trying to do all year and what we have been doing. After the Kilkenny game we kind of played the game on their terms as I said and we didn’t stick to our game plan. I think when we did, and when we did play the game we wanted to play, you could see the difference and that’s probably the most frustrating part of it.

“It’s disappointing because you put so much into it throughout the year, then on the big days to not show up. I don’t know what the reason is behind it but as I said I feel if we had hurled the way we wanted to hurl and if we had stuck to the process for more than the few periods of the game that we did I think, I’m not saying the result would have been different, but I feel like the result would have been a fairer reflection of where we are at.”

Right now, assessing where Galway are at, isn’t easy. Based on form so far, most analysts now consider Limerick and Cork to be front-runners for the big prize, with some upside to Kilkenny and Tipp. Galway and Dublin on the other hand, are deemed to be too far off the pace.

Yet on the other side of the coin, Galway’s road trips to Parnell Park and O’Connor Park this year were fraught with risk.

Does he agree?  “I wouldn’t write ourselves off, I also wouldn’t put ourselves in the picture for it, I wouldn’t. if I was a betting man, I wouldn’t be putting money on it. But we’ll regroup, we’ll train, we’ll put our head down and look forward to Tipperary and see how we go,” he said.

“We know, and I think everyone knows, the hurlers in Galway are there. Certain people outside of the group, whether it be media or whether it be people at home, I suppose they make up their opinion based off maybe one or two results or their opinion can change very handy.

“If you think about it, Tipp are probably on a better roll than we are, it affects the talk around the media and stuff but once the ball is thrown in it doesn’t matter.”

Wins over Clare and Waterford, a draw with Limerick and a defeat to Cork in a game where Tipp were reduced to 14 men before the ball was thrown in, leaves the Premier County in rude health.

Given his own location, right beside the Clare border, Burke could be forgiven for wishing that Galway were part of the royal rumble that is the Munster SHC.

“They (Tipperary) are if they beat us and we’re better off if we beat them. After the game. you can make up your mind on that one!

“In fairness to the Munster Championship, obviously the standard is well up there and every game is very competitive. But you also have to peak a small bit earlier maybe in the championship than other teams. Kilkenny are probably peaking a small bit later than teams down to Munster and we have to find another level too. So there’s pros and cons no matter what way you look at it.”

For now however, Saturday’s game isn’t just about Galway bringing a better hurling performance to Limerick. Burke wants to see an emotional response to the Leinster final defeat as well.

“I think if you don’t have that bit of emotion about you, you don’t really deserve to be out there. We all put in such an effort, you’re training from late November on your own until you can train collectively in December. but you’ve a lot of training sessions, you’ve a lot of mileage, you’ve a lot of gym work done that you wouldn’t be doing if you didn’t care about it.

“Obviously nobody goes out to perform the way we did or no one goes out to get a result like that. We all go out to try our best and I think you do, you have a reaction, you obviously have to because if you don’t, as I said, you don’t have much reason to be out there.”

Pictured: Galway’s Fintan Burke with the Liam McCarthy Cup during the national launch of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Series at Kinnitty Castle in Offaly. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile.