The Tipperary GAA (Club and intercounty) Discussion thread 2013

ReacherCreature

I think this is a crunch year for Callanan as he has had a lot of criticism over the years and most of it justified. He's got a great skillset and is built well. Fortunately he's having a fine season so I think that will transition to the Championship fairly well and productively so.

buggy beag

ReacherCreature wrote: »

I think this is a crunch year for Callanan as he has had a lot of criticism over the years and most of it justified. He's got a great skillset and is built well. Fortunately he's having a fine season so I think that will transition to the Championship fairly well and productively so.

oh il be saying extra prayers that that will happen haha

Alpha Dog 1

Didn't even realise kieren bergin was in the squad. It will be a tough debut but best of luck to him anyway, was a good minor but kinda went off the rails after that. What club is he playing for these days?

Looking forward to the game but severe lack of pace in defence will most likely cost us. Some strange decisions in defence, i get the feeling that if this goes pear shaped there will be questions of the management.

Looks like there will be a pretty big crowd and weather conditions look good also. Can't wait.

alan27

This match can go two ways. If we win supporters will talk about Tipp for the All Ireland. If we lose supporters will complain about player/positional selections and not a hope in the All Ireland.

ReacherCreature

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

What club is he playing for these days?

Killenaule, Alpha.

premierstone

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Didn't even realise kieren bergin was in the squad. It will be a tough debut but best of luck to him anyway, was a good minor but kinda went off the rails after that. What club is he playing for these days?

Won a Munster u-21 medal as well, don't think it is fair to say he went off the rails either, he emigrated to the states, stayed for 5 years and is only back a year, has played senior inter county football, had a good Fitzgibbon campaign with DIT and will now make he's senior inter-county debut against Kilkenny in a National Final - I wish I went off the rails

Tbf to O'Shea the selection makes plenty of sense, when one looks at the alternatives. Donagh Maher has never fully convinced and was probably the only player in the semi to be beaten by he's opposite number, John O'Keefe is completely out of form and had had discipline issues, Joey McLoughnety is injured, Thomas Hamill is too young IMO, Thomas Stapelton shows promise at times but lacks a tun of foot IMO and if you already have Conor O'Mahony and Paul Curran you cannot afford to have a third 'slow' backman especially against Kilkenny, James Woodlock is an impact player and more suited further up the field.

We really do lack a bit of depth at the back and Im sure its something that Eamon is trying to adress, hopefully one great Killenaule man will finally be replaced by another!

Youngladathome

premierstone wrote: »

We really do lack a bit of depth at the back and Im sure its something that Eamon is trying to adress, hopefully one greIat Killenaule man will finally be replaced by another!

I agree completely that there is a lack of depth in our defensive set-up and I think E.O'S is trying to sort it out and create options for the summer, particularly with regard to P.Curran who is seen as being vulnerable to pacy forwards - and KK have some pacy forwards. Any one of Fogarty, C.Fennelly, or R.Hogan, who will probably be their inside forward line, will present big problems for Paul. I was reasonably confident for Sunday but looking at our defense, not so much now. Can you picture Walter Walsh contesting puck-outs with Conor O'Brien? Also, what a setting for K. Bergin to make his senior debut - a final against KK in Nowlan Pk and marking either A. Fogarty or Eoin Larkin! The management team must have seen something special in him - hopefully he can emulate his clubman, Declan Fanning, who was outstanding in that position in 2010. Cody threw a rookie in at the deep end for an AI final and it worked - hopefully this will work for O'Shea.
I think it was Tipp Gunner who made a point on how Galway made poor use of a strong start against KK in the semi-final. I think our forwards would punish KK more if they got off to a similar start - and that's what gives me hope for Sunday. I feel Lar could go well on B.Hogan who hasn't been up to his usual form so far. He hasn't great pace, getting under the dropping ball is his forte so if Lar can get a few runs on him - who knows. Jackie T will hardly be sent to centre-back if Lar stays there?
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this one - we may not win, but I think our lads will acquit themselves well and continue the rehabilitation following the nightmare of last August.

Alpha Dog 1

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Didn't even realise kieren bergin was in the squad. It will be a tough debut but best of luck to him anyway, was a good minor but kinda went off the rails after that. What club is he playing for these days?

Looking forward to the game but severe lack of pace in defence will most likely cost us. Some strange decisions in defence, i get the feeling that if this goes pear shaped there will be questions of the management.

Looks like there will be a pretty big crowd and weather conditions look good also. Can't wait.

You might be mixing him up with his younger brother Niall who had a spell with his dads club Moycarkey-Borris for a while. Back with Killenaule now. Kieran was apparently called up to the Tipp panel around 05 or 06 but opted to head off to America and enjoyed it so much he was reluctant to come back.

Big GAA family the Bergins. Former Tipp selector Jack of course is Kieran's uncle and his cousin is former Galway footballer Joe Bergin.

I think a person would be extremely harsh to ask questions of the management after Sunday. Id question everything, even the smaller things, the colour in our tea for example, before id question Eamon O'Shea's management. The man is a genius and he has never let us down yet and has dragged Tipperary hurling into the 21st century kicking and screaming. The thing that galls me the most is that in his first spell with Sheedy and Michael Ryan, we were scintillating and people seem to forget just how good we were and look at us now as if we were a flash in the pan back then. The truth we we went from top class management to 3rd world management in the blink of an eye.

Treasure this man while we have him lads because its a scary world without him in charge of the Tipp team as the last two seasons have given us a glimpse into

Alpha Dog 1

Sorry yeah was mixing him up with his brother, good hurler as well.

tippspur

Got my ticket today so here we go,roll on Sunday It could be a great day for Tipp.

Tipperary animal lover

Best if luck tomorrow tipp, hopefully come out of there with a win but most of all hope they can play to there potential. Also best of luck to seamus Hennessy who's going under the knife soon and hopefully we'll see him play again this year..... He's one player you'd like to have as back up if not staking he's clam on the starting 15 which he would if fully fit.

Tipperary animal lover

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

Best if luck tomorrow tipp, hopefully come out of there with a win but most of all hope they can play to there potential. Also best of luck to seamus Hennessy who's going under the knife soon and hopefully we'll see him play again this year..... He's one player you'd like to have as back up if not staking he's clam on the starting 15 which he would if fully fit.

Seamus is pretty much the Abou Diaby of Tipperary hurling in that he is so unfortunate with injuries and the saddest thing of his latest injury is that he was all set to do the cycle against suicide in memory of his late mother until this set him back.

We're pretty much wrote off for tomorrow and if im being truly honest i'm heading in more in hope than expectation myself, but the best way to have Tipperary is wrote off because that's when we are at our most dangerous.

Alpha Dog 1

Cmon the premier!!

ReacherCreature

In Kilkenny right now and there's a fantastic buzz about the place! Also, no joke, I've seen more Tipperary attired fans than Kilkenny! Although it's early in the day yet! Hopefully a good day awaits. Hon the Premier!

digzy

ReacherCreature wrote: »

In Kilkenny right now and there's a fantastic buzz about the place! Also, no joke, I've seen more Tipperary attired fans than Kilkenny! Although it's early in the day yet! Hopefully a good day awaits. Hon the Premier!

I dunno if it's from all the success, but most kk people i know only get excited about them in september!
Any time i've ever been to a KK game our support has always been better. They're the worst crowd for post match abuse too. I've never heard that muck off limerick or cork supporters. I dont think we'll win today, cos I reckon mgmt will be keeping a few cards up their sleeve for later in the season. I'd hope we'll be close enough to them and i expect we will. A trimming would do damage to us psychologically.

Just back from the final and while yes we did lose, it was heartening to see that our spirit and performance is returning. We can only learn and improve from this type of game and there was an abundance of positives to be taken from it.

1. Kieran Bergin's performance was incredible. He battled like a trojan and cleared a world of ball. Superb. God if only we had him straight out of minors to think of the asset we could have had all those years
2. To comeback even after the two goals sent a very positive message. There is terrific spirit and courage in this squad. Another team would have given up and many Tipp teams have done so in the past
3. We closed down alot of the space today. Worked like dogs. Last year Kilkenny went through us like Moses parting the Red Sea

The negatives was our decision making and Padraic Maher will be hopefully embarrassed with himself having unnecessarily surrendered possession for the first goal when he should have been more pragmatic with his clearance. Alot of poor wayward passes and overplaying from a few others resulted in Kilkenny scores.


A sort of positive/negative is the fact that we kept Kilkenny to 3 points today while only having 3 forwards out of the 5 inside anyway in the game.



Lar and Callanan were very poor. S Bourke, Kelly and Bonnar battled hard at the very least and Bonnar should have done better with that goal chance. Noelie was very good today.



Worked hard but what we gained in the middle we lost in the forwards. Kieran Joyce was happy enough to clear ball after ball and perhaps the puckout could have been kept away from him. Some crucial decisions also went against us. Bonnar was done for over-carrying when it looked (at initial view) as if his arm or hurley was been held. Lar's sending off was completely bizarre to say the least.



Imagine taking a few punches on the ground and getting a red?


Otherwise its onwards and upwards and when we do eventually get Kilkenny, we will hit them exactly where it hurts the most.



Up the Premier!!

randd1

Deleted User wrote: »

Imagine taking a few punches on the ground and getting a red?

The ref went to the umpires and they told him what happened, and on their words he made the decision.

I'd have to assume they saw something from both players that warranted a red apiece.

randd1

digzy wrote: »

I dunno if it's from all the success, but most kk people i know only get excited about them in september!

We usually have decent league crowds compared to other counties. And our club games are far more supported. It ain't all about September.

digzy wrote: »

Any time i've ever been to a KK game our support has always been better.

You obviously don't go to many Tipp/Kilkenny games then, especially those outside Thurles. On the whole, there's usually always more home fans whenever the two meet.

digzy wrote: »

They're the worst crowd for post match abuse too. I've never heard that muck off limerick or cork supporters.

You could say the same about yourselves, I got plenty off Tipp fans in 2010. I even got a bit after the league game this year.

Anyway, winners tend to crow.

And wait till Cork or Limerick beat ye in a big match before you make up your mind on them. You'll hear some muck then.

Youngladathome

randd1 wrote: »

The ref went to the umpires and they told him what happened, and on their words he made the decision.

I'd have to assume they saw something from both players that warranted a red apiece.

I was sitting at that end and as far as I can recall Tipp had just been awarded a free and most people were looking that way. When I first noticed it Lar was on the ground being punched by JJ. Murphy, the goalie, got involved then, not sure if he was trying to stop JJ or get a few thumps at Lar as well. I think Lar may have been spouting a bit at JJ - will have to wait for the replays tonight on League Sunday!
Anyway, it was an enjoyable game. KK backs were terrific, but they outnumbered the Tipp forwards most of the time what with N. McGrath operating around M/F for all of the game.
M.Fennellly, I suppose, was the difference between the teams with those two individual goals, the first one was unstoppable, but the second was totally down to Paudie- thought also that Gleeson shouldn't have been beaten so easily on his inside post. KK slackened from time to time in the second half but were always able to get a point whenever Tipp looked like pegging them back.
Anyway, I would regard it as another step along the road to rehabilatation for this Tipp squad. They will improve as the summer goes on.

mags85

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Just back from the final and while yes we did lose, it was heartening to see that our spirit and performance is returning. We can only learn and improve from this type of game and there was an abundance of positives to be taken from it.

1. Kieran Bergin's performance was incredible. He battled like a trojan and cleared a world of ball. Superb. God if only we had him straight out of minors to think of the asset we could have had all those years
2. To comeback even after the two goals sent a very positive message. There is terrific spirit and courage in this squad. Another team would have given up and many Tipp teams have done so in the past
3. We closed down alot of the space today. Worked like dogs. Last year Kilkenny went through us like Moses parting the Red Sea

The negatives was our decision making and Padraic Maher will be hopefully embarrassed with himself having unnecessarily surrendered possession for the first goal when he should have been more pragmatic with his clearance. Alot of poor wayward passes and overplaying from a few others resulted in Kilkenny scores.


A sort of positive/negative is the fact that we kept Kilkenny to 3 points today while only having 3 forwards out of the 5 inside anyway in the game.



Lar and Callanan were very poor. S Bourke, Kelly and Bonnar battled hard at the very least and Bonnar should have done better with that goal chance. Noelie was very good today.



Worked hard but what we gained in the middle we lost in the forwards. Kieran Joyce was happy enough to clear ball after ball and perhaps the puckout could have been kept away from him. Some crucial decisions also went against us. Bonnar was done for over-carrying when it looked (at initial view) as if his arm or hurley was been held. Lar's sending off was completely bizarre to say the least.



Imagine taking a few punches on the ground and getting a red?


Otherwise its onwards and upwards and when we do eventually get Kilkenny, we will hit them exactly where it hurts the most.



Up the Premier!!

From where we were it looked like lar punched a kk player in the face. Which would be a straight red

tippspur

Why would anyone punch someone that has a helmet on?

ReacherCreature

I rewatched the game on TG4 and all they had was Delaney holding Corbett in a headlock and going to town on him. Such a horrific sight. Not sure what Corbett did to set him off but that was absolutely out of order.

randd1 wrote: »

Anyway, winners tend to crow.

Kilkenny fans treat Corbett as a joke and to be honest it's becoming head wrecking. Cork and Dublin fans did it once or so for the laugh. For Kilkenny fans it's a constant thing. It's not winners crowing, it's jeering. No place for that.

On the game, disappointing result and we could have done somethings better but Kilkenny were just the better team in all areas of the game. Their ability to stop incoming ball and return fire was exceptional in the first half. We don't have many ballwinners but the KK back six wolfed up everything. We improved in the 2nd half and got a bit more in there (accurately it seems) but the half was key.

Michael Fennelly was exceptional today. Really really good. His two goals (esp. the latter) were very well-taken. He's big, strong and can do it all. Lester Ryan with another good shift. Whole team was solid.

Our side had a few poor performances. Bonner didn't have any luck and his effort at goal was one to forget. His first touch was nowhere. His season hasn't been the best - apart from when he came on as a sub (against Waterford I think?) so we need him for the championship. Lar was disappointing bar the one excellent hand pass to Noel McGrath who was also quite good today. His points at 32 and 39 minutes were superb. Shane McGrath huffed and puffed and broke up some play but his clearances went to Kilkenny.

Brendan Maher was an absolute force today in a losing effort. His first point was unreal - a racing interception and he tucked it away nicely. Same with his second. Kieran Bergin was a real surprise. He hurled like a seasoned pro and cleared a lot of ball. Some of that ball went to waste but that's expected. He was in on a lot of action and never looked as if he blew anything. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't take over that #5/wing back position. He fared well against what was probably championship pace hurling.

Some observations: that minutes silence today for the 10 year old girl was powerful. Something I'll seldom experience again. ABSOLUTE silence save for the wind and a cough. Both sides (from what I could hear) respected it. 10 years old, training for camogie and that happens. Awful.

Nowlan Park looked a little narrow but that made for a lot of action and we were right beside the pitch. It was kinda cool.

Congratulations to the Cork camogie team beating Wexford. I only caught the second half but there was some nice scores there and a really physical confrontation. Cork's MOTM Orla Cotter looks the tallest camogie player I've seen!

No more inter county hurling for a month now (save for a challenge match) I must find out if there's any club matches in my immediate area to watch.

ReacherCreature

ReacherCreature wrote: »

I rewatched the game on TG4 and all they had was Delaney holding Corbett in a headlock and going to town on him. Such a horrific sight. Not sure what Corbett did to set him off but that was absolutely out of order.



Kilkenny fans treat Corbett as a joke and to be honest it's becoming head wrecking. Cork and Dublin fans did it once or so for the laugh. For Kilkenny fans it's a constant thing. It's not winners crowing, it's jeering. No place for that.

On the game, disappointing result and we could have done somethings better but Kilkenny were just the better team in all areas of the game. Their ability to stop incoming ball and return fire was exceptional in the first half. We don't have many ballwinners but the KK back six wolfed up everything. We improved in the 2nd half and got a bit more in there (accurately it seems) but the half was key.

Michael Fennelly was exceptional today. Really really good. His two goals (esp. the latter) were very well-taken. He's big, strong and can do it all. Lester Ryan with another good shift. Whole team was solid.

Our side had a few poor performances. Bonner didn't have any luck and his effort at goal was one to forget. His first touch was nowhere. His season hasn't been the best - apart from when he came on as a sub (against Waterford I think?) so we need him for the championship. Lar was disappointing bar the one excellent hand pass to Noel McGrath who was also quite good today. His points at 32 and 39 minutes were superb. Shane McGrath huffed and puffed and broke up some play but his clearances went to Kilkenny.

Brendan Maher was an absolute force today in a losing effort. His first point was unreal - a racing interception and he tucked it away nicely. Same with his second. Kieran Bergin was a real surprise. He hurled like a seasoned pro and cleared a lot of ball. Some of that ball went to waste but that's expected. He was in on a lot of action and never looked as if he blew anything. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't take over that #5/wing back position. He fared well against what was probably championship pace hurling.

Some observations: that minutes silence today for the 10 year old girl was powerful. Something I'll seldom experience again. ABSOLUTE silence save for the wind and a cough. Both sides (from what I could hear) respected it. 10 years old, training for camogie and that happens. Awful.

Nowlan Park looked a little narrow but that made for a lot of action and we were right beside the pitch. It was kinda cool.

Congratulations to the Cork camogie team beating Wexford. I only caught the second half but there was some nice scores there and a really physical confrontation. Cork's MOTM Orla Cotter looks the tallest camogie player I've seen!

No more inter county hurling for a month now (save for a challenge match) I must find out if there's any club matches in my immediate area to watch.

Great post.

I think Tipperary fans should be very encouraged by what they have seen today. If we could only cut out the errors and the bit of unnecessary Hollywood stuff and become more efficient with the ball we'd be back to where we want to be sooner rather than later.

So what about not winning the league. Its a pretty meaningless accolade at the end of the day. The big thing to take out of today was the participation in a game of huge intensity ahead of the championship.

We know how good we have to be now to have any chance of taking the prize. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. We're on the right track with a terrific manager and a great bunch of players coming through. The future is very bright.

The big thing is for our forwards to get going in the big games. One or two are just far too whimsical and the two on my mind in particular today, Callanan and Corbett are both big men but they didn't exert enough effort. Its astonishing that we were so competitive with only 5 forwards and two of those completely out of the game.

Dont forget Eoin Larkin didnt score from play today and Hogan, C Fennelly and Rice only got a point each. For all of our worries about the backs they held up very well and lets not forget we did get one more score in the game than the Cats managed even if the currency of the scores wasn't sufficient.

The main damage was done by Michael Fennelly who has been a thorn in our side as far back as that 2010 final. Lester Ryan is very similar in height and build to Fennelly so going forward we need to be able to counteract the threat of their strong runners.
Allowing them possession and space is suicide. Its admittedly worrying that we have to move a third man back there to counteract this as we are losing a man like Noel McGrath in the forwards.

ReacherCreature

Deleted User wrote: »

So what about not winning the league. Its a pretty meaningless accolade at the end of the day. The big thing to take out of today was the participation in a game of huge intensity ahead of the championship.

Eamon O' Shea's stated goal was that he wanted to win the League and then the Championship. It was a pretty big and bold statement (still is) but if you had repeated that statement to me after the Massacre on the Lee back in February, I would have heavily doubted it. We've turned it around after that and after a setback in Waterford we have been effective, victorious (in the very loosest sense of the word) and as a side benefit, entertaining. O' Shea's desire to win the league, remember, comes on the back of a humiliating 2012 semi-final which left the county down and morale in the camp at rock-bottom. To come from that August to a League final (in very stiff and competitive division) is a great achievement. This post is probably hot air (I'm no expert) but it makes me feel good about today. Kilkenny, remember, are still the #1 team in the country, even if the League didn't fully back that up.

I thought the defenders really copped on in the second half after a slightly porous first (Fennelly's first goal shouldn't have happened).

I can't recall Shane Bourke's high tackle but it seemed deserved of a red from what I've read.

I think we have a say in this championship yet but I did notice today though that Johno seems to be gone back a good bit. Pa is just like Callanan and Lar, a fancy Dan who we just cant accommodate anymore. Shane Bourke battles hard but would do well to add a bit of strength. He has the stick work and attitude already.

We need big strong and fast battlers over the next few years. We seem to have plenty of dinky-do type of players but no monsters with speed like a Mick Fennelly.
The next wave of minors are more exciting imo. Josh Keane and Colm O'Riordan in particular have strength and determination which Tipperary need in the future. Jack Shelley is another with plenty of fight in him.

Maybe if Steve Clarke now lent us Shane Long we could reunite himself and Bergin over the summer :P

ReacherCreature

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Eamon O' Shea's stated goal was that he wanted to win the League and then the Championship. It was a pretty big and bold statement (still is) but if you had repeated that statement to me after the Massacre on the Lee back in February, I would have heavily doubted it. .

O'Shea believes in Goal focused Motivation amongst other types and more or less thrown down the gauntlet to his players so i wouldnt think his prediction was too bold but he knew exactly where he wanted the team to be at as a starting base.

The massacre on the Lee was so easy for Cork that i became immediately sceptical of how good/bad either side were. Cork just didnt have to exert themselves too much that night whereas we were bad to the point of it being totally unbelievable. We looked wrecked and had no energy. Eamon will throw a few red herrings to the media but he knows exactly where he wants us at.

The big challenge O'Shea and co have going forward is to cut out the showboating and no shows.

Youngladathome

Here's Cyril Farrell writing about Barry Kelly's refereeing in todays Indo: "He certainly won't be getting any Christmas cards from the Cats on the basis of yesterday "

He doesn't go into specifics - but what in God's name is he on about? The Lar and JJ incident ? - if so Lar is the one taken to hospital in Clonmel with two fractured ribs.

The Lar and JJ tussle was the only major incident that I can recall in the game and nobody seems to know what led up to it. I don't see how KK would have any great grievances with Kelly any more that Tipp.

Hidalgo

From an outside pov, I think overall Tipp can be fairly satisfied with yesterday.
Lots of talk regarding last August being rock bottom, performances like yesterday are hugely important for the healing process.

On the game itself, thought it had a championship like intensity and I think we saw the All Irl pairing and if so hopefully a cracker is in store.
A worry for Tipp I guess would be that they only created 1 goal chance which Bonnar fluffed, that said, Nowlan Park is narrower than Croke Park.
The first goal conceded was very soft, if your CB is going on a run up the field, someone (usually a midfielder) should sit in the pocket to protect the centre. When P Maher lost the ball, Fennelly had acres of open space to attack. Still a quality goal though, great presence of mind to let the ball fall to the ground to avoid the hook and then great wrist work to get the power on the shot.

After the first 5 mins it was looking ominous for Tipp, down 1 02 to 00 00 and playing with the wind, but they settled well and picked off some lovely points.
KK are still ahead of the rest regarding workrate among the forwards imon, its phenomenal the pressure they put on opposition forwards.

Really good game from Brendan Maher, looking back to his best, he needs to keep his mojo for the summer and Tipp have a right good chance at the big prize.

dirtyden

Youngladathome wrote: »

Here's Cyril Farrell writing about Barry Kelly's refereeing in todays Indo: "He certainly won't be getting any Christmas cards from the Cats on the basis of yesterday "

He doesn't go into specifics - but what in God's name is he on about? The Lar and JJ incident ? - if so Lar is the one taken to hospital in Clonmel with two fractured ribs.

The Lar and JJ tussle was the only major incident that I can recall in the game and nobody seems to know what led up to it. I don't see how KK would have any great grievances with Kelly any more that Tipp.

I would not let Cyril's rambling annoy you to much. Since John Denton every Galway man has assumed that referees always favour Tipp.

Youngladathome

Youngladathome wrote: »

Here's Cyril Farrell writing about Barry Kelly's refereeing in todays Indo: "He certainly won't be getting any Christmas cards from the Cats on the basis of yesterday "

He doesn't go into specifics - but what in God's name is he on about? The Lar and JJ incident ? - if so Lar is the one taken to hospital in Clonmel with two fractured ribs.

The Lar and JJ tussle was the only major incident that I can recall in the game and nobody seems to know what led up to it. I don't see how KK would have any great grievances with Kelly any more that Tipp.

He was harsher on Tipperary. Bonnar was done for over-carrying despite being held and having the ball on the hurl and he was being held also.

I would doubt Lar done alot to JJ either. Both were put in the same bracket to even things up and take the sting off the home crowd. Lar probably gave a dig but JJ was alot guiltier.

Another occasion he thrown in the ball when a Tipperary man was well behind it.