The Polish trainer helping to get Galway physical

Among the many unexpected twists to Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League final is the now humble scramble to both spell and pronounce Lukasz Kirszenstein.

As puzzling as the final score turned out to be, it was nothing compared to the apparently sudden shift in strength and conditioning: instead of Tipperary setting that standard, as expected, Galway appeared to give them a lesson in absolute physicality, both on and off the ball.

Tipperary’s 16-point defeat certainly reflected that, manager Michael Ryan describing it as the “flattest performance we’ve ever produced”. Still, that Galway won so easily and pulling away is not easily explained.

Until perhaps Kirszenstein is taken into account: last October, just two weeks after Tipperary’s emphatic All-Ireland triumph over Kilkenny, it was announced that Kirszenstein was stepping aside as their strength and conditioning coach.

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The Polish native, who has also worked with the Irish women’s rugby team and for a while the Munster rugby academy, had been with the Tipperary hurlers since November 2012, when Eamon O’Shea succeeded Declan Ryan as team manager. Kirszenstein left on good terms, essentially looking for a new challenge.

Not long after that it was announced that he’d joined the Galway hurlers. Galway manager Micheál Donoghue had seen for himself what Kirszenstein brought to the table when working in an advisory role with Tipp, alongside O’Shea, in 2014 and 2015, and the deal was promptly struck.

Described at the time as a bit of a coup for Galway, Kirszenstein’s switch of allegiance is certainly beginning to look that way now. Among those to pay tribute to Kirszenstein in the aftermath of Sunday’s win was Galway captain David Burke, one of their towers of strength at midfield alongside Johnny Coen.

“Look, he is a top-quality strength and conditioning coach,” Burke said of Kirszenstein. “And he wants to win, like everyone in this set-up, they want to win. He has brought that level, brought it to another level again.

New ideas

“Maybe lads have got a small bit bigger and stronger. He has brought some new ideas, and lads are maybe a bit fitter as a whole in the panel.”

Not giving all the credit to Kirszenstein, in other words; not that Kirszenstein would want it. Still there was no denying Galway’s superior physicality on the day.

“We wanted to bring that,” added Burke. “That was the message all week. They won those stakes against us last year, maybe. Look, there is nothing in it between both teams. I think the scoreline flatters us a small bit. We came down here with a plan and it worked, but they [Tipp] will go back and shake things up again.”

Kirszenstein, who is based in Limerick, and has also worked with Limerick under-21 hurlers, had been well liked in Tipp, hurler of the year nominee Pádraic Maher among those to credit him with the improvement in his physical conditioning last year.

Tipperary have since taken on Ciarán Keogh as their new strength and conditioning coach, who also brings considerable experience to the table, having worked with several Paralympic athletes since 2005.

A graduate of Setanta College, Keogh is a current lecturer at LIT Tipperary, having previously worked with senior hurling champions Thurles Sarsfields

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s final, Tipperary’s Noel McGrath was quick to point out that despite Kirszenstein’s departure the team were perfectly content with their level of conditioning.

“He [Kirszenstein] had been with us a few years, wanted to go and challenge himself with something different, and moved on to Galway,” said McGrath.

“We got a new strength and conditioning in, in Ciarán Keogh, who has really helped us on this year and pushed it on. It was a new voice for us and something different to challenge us again. You have people changing in jobs all the time outside of sport and it’s no different in sport; you just adapt and move on.

“Lads have been around for a few years now and I think even if you are not playing GAA or playing sport these days everybody is going to the gym, looking after themselves, and keeping themselves right, health-wise.”