GAA Betting: What Are The All-Ireland Hurling Final Odds?
After four months of action, two provincial Championships and 33 games, we are down to a single match to decide who will be crowned All-Ireland Hurling champions this year and betting sites can’t wait for the throw-in.
Kilkenny and Limerick meet in the 135th All-Ireland Hurling final on Sunday, July 17, at Croke Park in what promises to be a fascinating battle for the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
The last time these two counties met in a final came all the way back in 2007, while they also contested finals in 1974, 1973, 1940, 1935, 1933, 1911 and 1897. Of the eight deciders the pair have been involved in, Kilkenny have picked up five victories (1911’s one coming via walkover).
However, despite their losing record to the Cats in finals, it is the Treaty County who find themselves the favourites on GAA betting sites to win this season’s decider.
After all, John Kiely’s men are hunting a third All-Ireland crown on the spin, but you can never rule out Kilkenny - especially with the sport’s greatest manager of all time, Brian Cody, still patrolling the sideline.
How Limerick And Kilkenny Got To The Final
Limerick only managed to win one game in this season's National League - against already relegated Offaly in the final round of matches - losing to Wexford, Galway and Cork along the way in Division 1A.
However, the old adage that ‘the League means nothing come Championship’ was definitely proven this season by Kiely’s charges.
The Limerick juggernaut looked utterly unstoppable as they rolled over Cork, Waterford and Tipperary to go through their Munster Championship group unbeaten - drawing with their provincial final opponents Clare in the process.
They then won a huge battle with the Banner County to secure a fourth Munster title on the bounce, before going on to get the better of Galway in a nip-and-tuck affair in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Meanwhile, it was hard to know what to make of Brian Cody’s Kilkenny in their Leinster Championship campaign.
You’d have to argue that them making it to the Leinster final by only beating Laois, Westmeath and Dublin was weak form at best.
There had been glimpses of a spark from them - especially in the Dublin and Galway matches - that made you believe there is a big performance in Kilkenny yet and it came in the Leinster final as they defeated Galway by five points to claim their third provincial success in-a-row.
Following that, they showed off their Championship-winning credentials to the world as they battered Clare on a scoreline of 2-26 to 0-20 points in the semi-final to set up Sunday’s showdown with Limerick.
Who Will Win The 2022 All-Ireland Hurling Final?
Given Limerick’s utter dominance of the sport since their first All-Ireland win in 45 years back in 2018, it’s not a shock to see the Treaty County as 8/15 favourites with William Hill to win the game on Sunday.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Sunday’s opponents, Limerick may well be going for their fifth All-Ireland in-a-row this weekend.
Kilkenny’s 2019 victory over the current All-Ireland champions - which came courtesy of a hotly disputed 65’ call - is the only time Limerick have been beaten in a knockout Championship match since all the way back in 2017.
They will be cautious of what Cody’s panel bring to the table though, and Ladbrokes have Kilkenny at 9/4 to win Sunday’s game in the 70 minutes - as they look to end a seven-year drought when it comes to All-Ireland titles.
While Limerick may posses a better all-round squad, there is no doubt Kilkenny can match them when it comes to pure physicality. Betting apps will be clearly wary of a draw in normal time in the final, and you can find 10/1 available on a stalemate.
This Limerick team have answered almost ever question asked of them over the past few seasons though, so beating Kilkenny in a final may just be the last one that remains - and you’d have to fancy them to do just that.
All-Ireland Hurling Final Bets
🗣️"These are the days we dream of!"
— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) July 3, 2022
Man of the match Aaron Gillane of @LimerickCLG is relishing the All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny! pic.twitter.com/mUA3k4eaT0
Where will the goals come from is usually one of the first questions GAA supporters ask each other in the lead up to a massive match, and both counties have some big guns who are ready to fire at their disposal.
It’s no surprise to see Limerick’s Aaron Gillane (11/2) and Kilkenny’s TJ Reid (8/1) topping the market on Betfair.
Gillane was on fire in the semi-final victory over Galway, grabbing six points from play (eight in total) and he has already netted three times this season.
He also found the goal in last year’s final, and if he repeats the trick this year, he will probably firm up his case to win the Hurler of the Year award.
The RTÉ Man of the Match award always stirs a bit of controversy, and you’ll find Gillane - along with his county colleague Gearoid Hegarty – as a 6/1 joint-favourite with BoyleSports to get the nod for that honour.
Reid is next on the list at 7/1, followed by Hayes (8/1) and Adrian Mullen (12/1). But, an interesting outside shot could be Limerick corner-back Barry Nash at 14/1.
He has drawn plaudits from far-and-wide for his performances this season, so don’t rule out a big final from the man from the South Liberties club.
The panel pay tribute to the achievements of Kilkenny boss Brian Cody.#TheSundayGame #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/QxPU9DUA38
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 3, 2022
Finally, for those interested in handicap betting, the margin seems to be set at three points by most bookmakers.
Limerick (-3) can be found at a general 10/11, while Kilkenny (+3) is available at Evens and the handicap draw is coming in at long odds of 12/1.
How Do You Win The All-Ireland Hurling Championship?
Having begun all the way back in 1887, the All-Ireland Hurling Championship was largely unchanged up to 1997.
Until then, the Championship was mainly straight knockout with the four winners of the provincial championships (Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster) meeting in two semi-finals, where the winners of those games advanced to the All-Ireland final. The victor of that decider was then declared the ‘All-Ireland Champions’.
However, the dominance of the Munster and Leinster counties in the competition and the overwhelming popularity of Gaelic Football in Connacht and Ulster meant participation from the latter two provinces was mainly supplied by Galway and Antrim (and to a lesser extent Down and Derry) in the last four decades.
In 1997, the GAA implemented a ‘back-door’ system that gave beaten provincial finalists from Munster and Leinster another shot at making it to the All-Ireland semis. Offaly were the first county to take advantage of this the following season, as they avenged their earlier Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny by downing the Cats in the 1998 All-Ireland final.
The ‘back-door’ system was extended in 2005 and again in 2008 to include qualifiers and All-Ireland quarters finals, and was a largely popular format until it was replaced in 2018 by a round-robin style tournament. The round-robin Championship was paused in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19, but it is back in force this term.
The current format sees the five top tier Munster counties (Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford) and the six Leinster counties (Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Westmeath and Wexford) form two groups where they play every one of their provincial rivals on a league basis.
The top three in the league at the end of fixtures then advance to the All-Ireland Championship, with the leading two counties playing off in the respective Munster and Leinster finals.
The Munster and Leinster champions move forward to the All-Ireland semi-finals, while the provincial runners-up are placed in two quarter-final games.
Meanwhile, the two third placed group teams meet the winner and runner-up from the second tier Joe McDonagh Cup in what are known as the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.
The victors of those two games advance to the quarter-finals proper, with the quarter-final winners moving onto the last four to play the champions of Munster and Leinster (repeat provincial final pairings are avoided here).
Finally, the semi finalists play off for a spot in the final, where an All-Ireland champion is finally crowned.
This year’s All-Ireland final takes place on Sunday, July 17.
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