Justin McCarthy has a proud record as a coach that stretches back to his enforced withdrawal from the Cork squad almost forty years ago. Then, he took on Antrim and guided them to Intermediate success before getting back onto the Cork senior team and winning his only All-Ireland senior medal. Since then, he has continued to coach successfully.

In his inter-county career, he has, in my opinion, been most impressive when dealing with the Waterford senior team. By the time he was finished with them, the Déise had a cohesive team unit made up of individuals with excellent hurling skills and who had confidence in their abilities.

Last Sunday, Limerick were playing a game that was very new to them. One shouldn’t expect much from a season with a new coach, but few would have predicted the routing that they got at the hands of a Tipperary side which, after a shaky start, completely outclassed their opponents, particularly in the all-important skill of hitting the target.

Psychologically, it was very difficult to understand why the Limerick coach had made the choices he made in terms of players’ positions. Perhaps he thought that this would ensure a supply of quality ball being played forward? I don’t know. The effect that it did seem to have was to upset the team and make every one of them wonder just what was expected of them.

Traditionally, Limerick are a team that deal in certainties; of keeping their shape, holding the line and playing within their limits with fire and passion. The mark of Justin McCarthy on the team is that their play is now looser. It’s a style that many individuals on the team have yet to catch up with.

Given another season or two (if he’s given it), I predict that Limerick’s skills level will improve under the precise tutelage of Gormanston graduate McCarthy. In many ways, he’s exactly what Limerick needs and if Limerick are not too impatient, he’ll give it to them. Maybe even if he happens to remain longer than his predicted two-year stint, impressive results at senior level will inspire greater interest and encourage more players into the game at younger levels.

And this is to come to the nub of the matter: Just what can an “imported” coach achieve for a team that has been knocking on doors but is still hungry for success? An imported coach is someone who can bring fresh ideas and a high level of experience and expertise to a county side. With a bit of luck, he can get some success. But what he cannot do is do anything about the fundamentals that can bring about success on any kind of sustained level.

For that, a certain culture has to be engendered over a period of time. You want to win All-Ireland senior finals? Well then, you need to start building those teams ten years beforehand at under-12 level. When was the last time an “imported” coach brought his team to All-Ireland success? In hurling, you have to go back eleven years to pick out a rare exception to the rule when Galway man Michael Bond took over the Offaly senior side mid-season and led them to success against Kilkenny.

In the case of my own home county Waterford, we have arguably benefited from the influence of non-native coaches for over a decade now. While there have been successes, there have been no All-Irelands and I’ll bet that the next time Waterford wins an All-Ireland, it will be with a Waterford coach in charge. Once the altitude of an All-Ireland final or semi-final is reached, you need to have a strong and clear motivation behind your every move on the field. What sort of person are players prepared to fight those extra inches for? Someone from your own county who’s personally known to you; who might have taught you in school, perhaps; with whose cousin you’re best friends? Or someone from a rival county who, for all his expertise, is simply still not your county-man?

Getting back to Sunday’s decider, you’d have to feel for Limerick. It was a humiliating pasting that was similar, on the scoreline at least, to last year’s All-Ireland final. The difference was that Limerick actually kept going all the way through and they did stage what was looking like a remarkable comeback at one point.

That Tipperary managed to find a higher gear after that rally is interesting. It was an impressive display that will have done their confidence a lot of good. How much of it was Tipperary reaching an All-Ireland-winning level and how much of it was just a poorly-organised Limerick is still not easy to ascertain. If they can put in a repeat performance against Kilkenny, however (and I think they will), then my money’s on the Premier County being the new All-Ireland champions.

“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.  Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.