championship surprise????

cruiserweight

Which team do you think will spring the biggest surprises in the championship?

For example in the football pool some people have tipped teams like Limerick,Fermanagh and Wexford for provincial success.

Personally I think that Wexford have a good chance of winning Leinster if they can gain confidence. Two years ago they had both Dublin and Tyrone on the ropes in games that they should have won only to bottle it. I also expect Limerick to make the Munster Final and once there who knows what will happen.

As for the hurling the big 3 have dominated the last few years will there be any change this year?

I see this years big team as being Clare. I tip them to win Munster even though it will require three games to do it. As for Leinster there could be a big surprise in store. Laois and Dublin will never have a better chance to reach the final, with Offaly seemingly in turmoil. What about Westmeath I think that they could be this years surprise package. I would not be surprised to see a shock Wexford vs Westmeath final.

Also in the hurling as a shock I would tip Antrim for the semi's. Had they played Offaly in the quarters last year they would have been in the semi's

Johnny_the_fox

I have a feeling that Derry will beat Tyrone on Sunday..

They can match Tyrone - man for man. But if they have the balls to do it, i doubt it

cruiserweight

Derry will beat Tyrone

Could be like last year, first time all ireland champions defend crown in preliminary round in Ulster. Could happen. I doubt Tyrone will retain Ulster, no team has ever won Ulster from the preliminary round

laoisfan

being a laoisfan i certainly think laois have a good chance of defending their crown.

however, leinster is wide open, it is hard to know. league results are so misleading sometimes. the championship can kick-start a team into action.

i reckon a laois-dublin leinster final (hopefully laois will win it if they do make it that far).

offaly, meath, wexford, kildare will be no push-overs.

-laoisfan

Imposter

Originally posted by cruiserweight
I see this years big team as being Clare. I tip them to win Munster even though it will require three games to do it. As for Leinster there could be a big surprise in store. Laois and Dublin will never have a better chance to reach the final, with Offaly seemingly in turmoil. What about Westmeath I think that they could be this years surprise package. I would not be surprised to see a shock Wexford vs Westmeath final.

Clare eh. Then why did you tip Kerry here
just yesterday?:D

Offaly won their division in the league. Admittedly it wasn't the strongest but they're not weak. Weatmeath started brightly under Paidi but their league campaign was dismal. I reckon Westmeath will be lucky if thy beat Offaly but will probably lose to Dublin. How they do in the qualifiers would depend on the draw.

spudulike

Surprises... i think Donegal could surprise a few people. I also think Offaly could surprise a few people, i saw them in croker on sunday and they looked handy enough in places - they need to work on their scoring but they were solid in defence and McManus is a class player in midfield - giant.....

I also see Limerick pulling off a few surprises.... they made Kerry work for their win a few weeks back so they could do well. Apart from that i don't see many surprises. Kerry will be in the final in September and will probably win it.... and by the way I'm not from Kerry myself - just my two cents...

cruiserweight

Clare eh. Then why did you tip Kerry here

I think you will find I tipped Clare to be a surprise in the hurling, and that I picked Kerry to beat them in the football. In fact I tipped Kerry to win the All-Ireland football and Kilkenny to win the hurling.

Surprise does not mean that they will win the competition just cause a few upsets and do better than a lot of people expected!

but thanks for taking the time to read all of my posts:D

Imposter

Originally posted by cruiserweight
I think you will find I tipped Clare to be a surprise in the hurling, and that I picked Kerry to beat them in the football. In fact I tipped Kerry to win the All-Ireland football and Kilkenny to win the hurling.

Surprise does not mean that they will win the competition just cause a few upsets and do better than a lot of people expected!

but thanks for taking the time to read all of my posts:D

Oops.. Misread your post!
Anyways Westmeath doing anything in hurling would be a surprise. It's hard to know with offaly though as they don't seem to put much effort into the league of late. What they'll be like in the champinship is anyone's guess,. Can't see them competing with the cats though.

cruiserweight

Westmeath are in the division2 final and could very well be in division1 next year replacing Offaly. It would be nice to see a new team doing well. God knows the hurling needs it!!!

Although Offaly had a load of injuries in the latter stages of the league maybe with returning players they can turn around there seemingly flagging fortunes. Soon the last of their All-Ireland winning teams of 98 and 94 will be gone.

Waylander

My dark horses for the football are Cork. Not sure about classifying Clare as dark Horses in the hurling, they have been in the top six since 1995, albeit a bit behind Kilkenny and probably Tipp. Gakway seem to be doing pretty well in the hurling, but I always think they are at a big disadvantage coming from Connaught where they do not get any kind of action before the All Ireland series itself.

Imposter

Originally posted by cruiserweight
Westmeath are in the division2 final and could very well be in division1 next year replacing Offaly. It would be nice to see a new team doing well. God knows the hurling needs it!!!

I agree hurling needs new teams coming through but for me at the moment those teams would be Dublin and Laois possibly upsetting Offaly or Wexford.

Westmeath will be totally outclassed in Div 1 next year and although we should see the fruits of decent underage teams coming through soon and someone of Tom Ryan's experience guiding us is a help, I still think the gulf between us and the most of Div 1 is too much. Decent performances against the weaker teams would be a success next year, imo.

cournioni

Cavan to win Ulster. Believe me.

laoisfan

Cavan to win Ulster. Believe me.

PORNAPSTER - We do believe you, I would love to see Cavan win Ulster!!

--laoisfan

cruiserweight

Dublin and Laois possibly upsetting Offaly or Wexford.

Could happen to Offaly but Wexford and Kilkenny get byes to the Leinster semi's and play each other then

The Rooster

I don't think Fermanagh have any chance of winning their first Ulster title. Maybe if they had their full team ....

This must be the worst Derry team in 20 years, but Tyrone v Derry is a real derby match, where form goes out the window. So I've no doubt that Derry will play above themselves, but with Geoffrey McGonigle ruling himself out, that for me means any chance Derry had has evaporated.

Down v Cavan is one of the hardest games to predict in the first round of the championship. Whoever wins will have a right good shot at beating Armagh and getting to an Ulster final. But Cavan are one of the best teams at throwing games away (probably the best in Ulster - though Dublin, Westmeath and Mayo would challenge them for national honours!), especially against strong tough teams like Armagh.

Westmeath would have a genuine chance of beating Dublin in the hurling, but only if Dublin continue to play as badly as they have been in most of their league games. But there's no way Offaly would let them beat them. Not a chance, IMO. If there's going to be a surprise in Leinster it will be Laois. Laois v Offaly will be very close, and I believe the winner of that will make the Leinster final, where they will lose heavily to Kilkenny!

cournioni

Originally posted by laoisfan
PORNAPSTER - We do believe you, I would love to see Cavan win Ulster!!

--laoisfan

Likewise with Laois in Leinster, except they have a far better chance of doing it than Cavan.

I'm hopeful, when we have McCabe and Peter Reilly fully fit we should have a decent enough chance. But its a matter of getting individuals to play like a team that is the main problem. We seem to have sorted out a few defensive problems and our main problem this year has been scoring. Which is strange when you have the likes of Larry Reilly, Gerald Pierson, Jason Reilly etc. in your forward line.

I'm hoping we can sort all of it out for the Championship. I think we have a good chance if we do.

watman

What about Westmeath I think that they could be this years surprise package

This is quite possible as they are playing very well at the moment although
I think we should take one game at a time and see what happens . Playing 5 Sundays in a row could take its toll on these young players . Hopefully Westmeath will get a good result against Down, and follow it up against Kildare in the Championship with a win.

I actually feel Tom Ryans Team will go further than Paudi's this year ..

stevemac

laois have a good chance of leinster this year, if they can get there injured players back. Micko said there is 7 players injured at the mo. Some serious and some not so serious.
Clancy
Kevin Fitz
Donal Miller
Barry Brennan
Colm Kelly( i think thats his name, the young lad from the minors)
ian fitzgerald
beano
and a couple of others

think clancy and kelly are the only long term ones though. Clancy needs an op and kelly did his angle ligaments or sumtin.


Other than that, westmeath can't play wexford in the final coz there on the same side of the draw. westmeath, offlay, wexford, dublin,kildare are all on the other side .

cruiserweight

Other than that, westmeath can't play wexford in the final coz there on the same side of the draw.

If you are refering to me I was talking about the hurling:D

Villain

COME ONE CARLOW:D :rolleyes: :dunno: :mad:

The Rooster

Westmeath hurlers brought back down to earth with a bump with a hammering at the hands of Down.

cruiserweight

Yeah I saw some highlights of the game!!! They appeared to start very well and then it all went wrong!!!

Looks like an Offaly Wexford hurling final for Leinster then going by yesterdays display!!

Also if you look on the Paddy Power website they are no longer giving odds for the Leinster hurling championship!!!

Mighty_Mouse

Micko said there is 7 players injured at the mo

lol well now. Why don't I believe that!!

Football - between ros and galway in connaught

Ulster- cant see past armagh/tyrone

Leinster - wow! wide open. Laois, Offaly, Dubs, Westmeath, Meath??? Probably Laois

Munster - Either Limerick, Tipp will be in the final def. Final agaisnt kerry cork. Probably Limerick v Kerry --> Kerry

Dark horses ---> Sligo/Ros, Wexford/Limerick, Offaly, Donegal,

Dont see anyone else outside this. Dont fancy Fermanagh, Down, Cavan etc at all

A big FAT edit above erasing previous stupidity

The Rooster

Munster - Either Limerick, Wexford will be in the final def. Final agaisnt kerry cork.

I'd be quite categoric in stating that there's no way Wexford will make the Munster football final!

cruiserweight

Originally posted by The Rooster
I'd be quite categoric in stating that there's no way Wexford will make the Munster football final!

I agree, they have a chance in Leinster, but can forget about Munster!!! Although Wexford may stand a chance in Connaught as well:D