Kilkenny GAA Discussion Thread Mod Warning Post # 5885 #4894 & #5202

robwen

RICHIE DOYLE LOOKED set for a long and fruitful stint in the black and amber before his intercounty career was cut short by chronic hip problems.
The Barrow Rangers player, 24, has been forced to call time on his exploits in the Kilkenny shirt and in a remarkable blog, he’s detailed the extraordinary lengths that he goes to in an attempt to continue playing at club level.

http://www.the42.ie/richie-doyle-kilkenny-2294954-Aug2015/

kfrp

Will Ritchie Power start?

We need a big gun up front who will would be likely to get a goal.

ellinguistico

kfrp wrote: »

Will Ritchie Power start?

We need a big gun up front who will would be likely to get a goal.

Doubt it. Who would go from the last day? Walter? I think he will be put in full forward with the other 5 being Alyward, Larkin, Hogan, Fennelly, TJ. I'd imagine he will play a part alright. He played an enormous part in us winning last year. If he wasn't there we wouldn't have won basically.

BORO BILL

By all accounts Richie was flying last weekend when they trained at fota.Sore afterwards, but that was to be expected. Definitely be involved on the 6th.

brookville

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Being honest I've only seen him play for his club a couple of times, and he really didn't stand out especially to me at the time as someone not really familiar with club players in Kilkenny anymore (I wasn't looking out for him either, to be fair), so you might be right, but yeah, Cody saw something in him and that's good enough for me. The problem I have is that even when Tyrell was fit and ready to go, he hasn't looked good this year, so there just aren't really options. People mentioning Cody kind of says it all really. Our main problem won't be Prendergast, it'll be if Prendergast has to come off. At which point my preference would be to bring in someone like Lester Ryan and drop one of the wing backs into the corner.

Shane is a steady club hurler but never really stood out.i remember a few clara people were suprised sean o shea wasn't called in and felt he was a better hurler than shane but he has being on the extended panel a couple of years so he must be doing something right

brookville

BORO BILL wrote: »

By all accounts Richie was flying last weekend when they trained at fota.Sore afterwards, but that was to be expected. Definitely be involved on the 6th.

I've heard richie will almost certainly be involved the question is weather he'll start or better off the bench when it opens up either way it will strengthen the bench especially if jackie makes it .Hopefully there's a reaction from kevin kelly and brian kennedy and they've stepped it up,being dropped could be a wake up call

Charlie69

Heard last night Eoin Larkin out of final, injury worse than they thought apparently. Anyone ?

kfrp

Charlie69 wrote: »

Heard last night Eoin Larkin out of final, injury worse than they thought apparently. Anyone ?

Have not heard that yet, hopefully not

citykat

Charlie69 wrote: »

Heard last night Eoin Larkin out of final, injury worse than they thought apparently. Anyone ?

Heard that the injury is worse than is being said alright. Didn't hear that he was out for definite though...

brookville

Coady said tuesday he'll be okay altho there's going to be rumours doing the rounds it's part and parcel of it.

danganabu

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Haha my apologies. I still dont agree with you though!!

No bother, and I wouldn't expect you to!!

galwaylad14

Starting to get close now. I think how both teams set up their defences will have a huge bearing on the outcome.

I don't think we'll play with a sweeper or anything like that so I'd expect we'll play with 3 in the full forward line most of the time, if we are trying to crowd our defence a little I expect it'll be done by dropping the half forward line a little deeper and in turn pushing the midfield back a bit.

Looking forward to seeing Canning getting another crack at Holden. I thought he had had the beating of him the day of the Leinster Final just that enough decent ball didn't come into him (and leaving him in there for so long without the ball was madness, as we've seen in the last 2 games he can get on to a huge amount of ball in the half forward line)

Murphy I'd be guessing will pick up Flynn and Prendergast will take Whelan.

Down our side no one really seems to know what way our backs will match up. I expect it'll be one of Mannian or Hanbury to play at full back and probably have TJ for company most of the afternoon. I've no idea what we'll do with Hogan, it would be madness to leave Tan on him and do nothing else. If Tan plays at 6 then I expect a midfielder will get the job of keeping tabs on Hogan and Tan will sit deep, otherwise I'd say Tan and Daithi Burke will swap before throw in. This is the most important match up of all I think.

The midfield battle will be huge too as both midfields will be asked to help out their defences big time as well as needing to chip in with a few scores. In terms of scoring I'd say our two are better but in terms of the defensive work and general industry needed in this area it's hard to look past Fennelly and Fogarty.

Both teams would appear to have very well functioning forward lines but in the Leinster final ye were able to shut down ours very effectively and that was the winning of the match. Though I'd argue this was as much down to your forwards and midfielders ensuring that no quality ball was coming into our forwards as opposed to your backs actaully getting on top of them.

I thought something very noticeable that day was the number of "handy" points ye were able to pick up. Obviously at this level there are no handy scores but it just seemed like ye're forwards got probably 7 or 8 scores that came as a result of a player all on his own taking a shot. Any score we got that day seemed like we had to put massive work into getting it. I suppose that shows the intense pressure ye were able to put on us all through.

Against Cork and Tipp we were able to get a lot of these sort of scores (Cathal Mannian in particular). We'll absolutely need to get them again on the 6th.

Obviously our lads hurled superbly against Tipp and Cork and I've no doubt they would again on Sunday week in a similar sort of match but I think the issue is it won't be a similar sort of match, it'll be much tighter and more intense. There won't be space anywhere on that pitch.

On all known form and given that ye have already beaten us reasonably comfortably this year it's easy to see why the odds are as they are. However hope springs eternal and I have a feeling we're going to do it this time.

babyjesus14

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Starting to get close now. I think how both teams set up their defences will have a huge bearing on the outcome.

I don't think we'll play with a sweeper or anything like that so I'd expect we'll play with 3 in the full forward line most of the time, if we are trying to crowd our defence a little I expect it'll be done by dropping the half forward line a little deeper and in turn pushing the midfield back a bit.

Looking forward to seeing Canning getting another crack at Holden. I thought he had had the beating of him the day of the Leinster Final just that enough decent ball didn't come into him (and leaving him in there for so long without the ball was madness, as we've seen in the last 2 games he can get on to a huge amount of ball in the half forward line)

Murphy I'd be guessing will pick up Flynn and Prendergast will take Whelan.

Down our side no one really seems to know what way our backs will match up. I expect it'll be one of Mannian or Hanbury to play at full back and probably have TJ for company most of the afternoon. I've no idea what we'll do with Hogan, it would be madness to leave Tan on him and do nothing else. If Tan plays at 6 then I expect a midfielder will get the job of keeping tabs on Hogan and Tan will sit deep, otherwise I'd say Tan and Daithi Burke will swap before throw in. This is the most important match up of all I think.

The midfield battle will be huge too as both midfields will be asked to help out their defences big time as well as needing to chip in with a few scores. In terms of scoring I'd say our two are better but in terms of the defensive work and general industry needed in this area it's hard to look past Fennelly and Fogarty.

Both teams would appear to have very well functioning forward lines but in the Leinster final ye were able to shut down ours very effectively and that was the winning of the match. Though I'd argue this was as much down to your forwards and midfielders ensuring that no quality ball was coming into our forwards as opposed to your backs actaully getting on top of them.

I thought something very noticeable that day was the number of "handy" points ye were able to pick up. Obviously at this level there are no handy scores but it just seemed like ye're forwards got probably 7 or 8 scores that came as a result of a player all on his own taking a shot. Any score we got that day seemed like we had to put massive work into getting it. I suppose that shows the intense pressure ye were able to put on us all through.

Against Cork and Tipp we were able to get a lot of these sort of scores (Cathal Mannian in particular). We'll absolutely need to get them again on the 6th.

Obviously our lads hurled superbly against Tipp and Cork and I've no doubt they would again on Sunday week in a similar sort of match but I think the issue is it won't be a similar sort of match, it'll be much tighter and more intense. There won't be space anywhere on that pitch.

On all known form and given that ye have already beaten us reasonably comfortably this year it's easy to see why the odds are as they are. However hope springs eternal and I have a feeling we're going to do it this time.

Quite a good post, even if i don't agree with everything you said, for a Galway man!:D
Without wanting to over simplify things i think the two key players in the final are TJ Reid and Richie Hogan. With the possible exception of Seamie Callanan they have been the two best players in the country over the last two years, and are averaging 17 points between them in this years Championship, so how Galway deal with them will have a major bearing on the outcome of the game.

And this is where the problems arise for Galway with Reid and Hogan likely to be positioned in the two areas where Galway are weakest. While the Galway management clearly don't appear to trust Hanbury to handle a marquee forward at full-back can they risk Padraig Mannion, who's confidence must have taken a severe battering after the semi?

With Daithi Burke as an option to pick up Hogan, which he did relatively successfully in the first half in the Leinster final limiting Hogan to one point. However the problems arose in the second half when Hogan dropped deeper,with Burke presumably instructed to hold his position, Hogan went on to score three more points as well as setting up numerous attacks. So what do the Galway management do here? Do they assign Burke to follow Hogan wherever he goes and allow Hogan to create space inside by dropping deep and leave Galway five on five?
Or do they instruct David Burke to pick up Hogan when he drifts, not a game i think he's particularly suited to, or Andy Smith, a player who in the past has had a habit of giving away silly frees and picking up cheap yellow cards? Though the added responsibility of stand-in captain seems to have lead to a more disciplined Smith this year.

While it might be over simplistic to highlight just two players in a thirty man game, i do feel if Galway can limit the influence of Hogan and Reid they will be well on their way to their first All- Ireland in twenty seven years, but can they?

Justice for the individual

Cody does not base his strategy around two or three main players, All fifteen players play their part and develop a game plan to counter anything the opposition tries. That is why you may see Colin Fennelly covering back as far as the Kilkenny goal area. What needs to be done to win the game is an exercise in working for the team.

Any of the Kilkenny players are capable of being a match winner - witness Walter Walsh 2012, and John Power 2014, and now we have Ger aylward (once he cuts out one-handed jabs at the ball, similar to Colin Fennelly) who arrives on the scene virtually unheralded.


The trick is to play to your strengths and let the opposition worry about you, and Cody is the master of that art.

babyjesus14

Justice for the individual wrote: »

Cody does not base his strategy around two or three main players, All fifteen players play their part and develop a game plan to counter anything the opposition tries. That is why you may see Colin Fennelly covering back as far as the Kilkenny goal area. What needs to be done to win the game is an exercise in working for the team.

Any of the Kilkenny players are capable of being a match winner - witness Walter Walsh 2012, and John Power 2014, and now we have Ger aylward (once he cuts out one-handed jabs at the ball, similar to Colin Fennelly) who arrives on the scene virtually unheralded.


The trick is to play to your strengths and let the opposition worry about you, and Cody is the master of that art.

Never said Cody bases his strategy around two or three players but with in any team sport some players are more influential than others, and the influence of Reid and Hogan this season is undeniable.

As regards Ger Aylward being "unheralded", anyone who follows underage hurling in Kilkenny would've been aware of his ability as far back as '09.

blackcard

Any chance of Richie Hogan playing midfield with Mick Fennelly centre forward?

Cornerback1

blackcard wrote: »

Any chance of Richie Hogan playing midfield with Mick Fennelly centre forward?

Possible. I think the players themselves on the pitch make a lot of the decisions, them being closest to the action. Henry was great at spotting a 'weak link' in a team and going to him. Players, at this level, have a great idea of what way to play in regards of who picks up who and what is working and what is not working etc.

It's nearly impossible nowadays to say def. who is marking who as they change positions every 2 minutes whereas years ago it was a straight 15 on 15 and you knew who marked who the whole game.

Justice for the individual

babyjesus14 wrote: »

Never said Cody bases his strategy around two or three players but with in any team sport some players are more influential than others, and the influence of Reid and Hogan this season is undeniable.

As regards Ger Aylward being "unheralded", anyone who follows underage hurling in Kilkenny would've been aware of his ability as far back as '09.

I agree with you that Reid and Hogan are the main go-to players, but if one of them is held or has an off day, others have to come up to the plate.

As regards Aylward, I mean he is unheralded outside Kilkenny and can be the surprise element where opposition teams would not know his style of play.

The other poster who said he sometimes cannot figure who's playing where has a good point, as players themselves are more aware as to the switches in the direction of play and counteract these ploys.

To be honest we would not be as aware of what's going on as the players themselves, who have to make on the spot decisions.

A gameplan may not work out as intended, and then the players have to improvise as they go.

Fort Stranger

Justice for the individual wrote: »

I agree with you that Reid and Hogan are the main go-to players, but if one of them is held or has an off day, others have to come up to the plate.

As regards Aylward, I mean he is unheralded outside Kilkenny and can be the surprise element where opposition teams would not know his style of play.

The other poster who said he sometimes cannot figure who's playing where has a good point, as players themselves are more aware as to the switches in the direction of play and counteract these ploys.

To be honest we would not be as aware of what's going on as the players themselves, who have to make on the spot decisions.

A gameplan may not work out as intended, and then the players have to improvise as they go.

Who will pick up Joe if he goes roaming out around the middle like he did against Tipp?

Realt Dearg Sec

Fort Stranger wrote: »

Who will pick up Joe if he goes roaming out around the middle like he did against Tipp?

I think of this video whenever I hear of people picking up a player, man-marking him, tracking him and shadowing him. The gist of it is that Cody doesn't basically seem to believe in the idea of a back following the forward, for the very simple reason that by definition you'll be a yard behind, and that leaves the forward in control, and you're unlikely to be stopping the ball, which is ultimately the primary job of a back. He all but says a wing back needs to marking his area, not letting ball through. My suspicion would be that he's not likely to radically alter that philosophy for Joe Canning. Obviously he needs to be watched more than your average hurler, but I'd imagine the person to take care of him is whoever is in that area. I'd be happy with any of our half backs, and either of Mick Fennelly or Conor Fogarty to keep him as quiet as possible if he goes into their area. I would expect that a midfielder couldn't go off on the attack and might have to sacrifice his own game to do it, but I don't think any other special provisions will be made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCk_efL50Z8

[as an aside, it's an interesting video anyway, and there's a longer version of it that's well worth watching that includes discussions with loads of people like Eddie Keher, Brian Hogan, Jackie, George O'Connor, and the list goes on and on. Worth a watch if you've some spare time!)

babyjesus14

Charlie69 wrote: »

Heard last night Eoin Larkin out of final, injury worse than they thought apparently. Anyone ?

Well, he still had it in a cast yesterday.I was talking to a doctor friend and she was saying that it depends on what part of the thumb is damaged. The cast would be just to immobilize it and if the damage is towards the top he could play with the aid of strapping and an injection.

I played the Feile weekend myself back in the day with a broken finger but the break was above the middle joint so the doctor just splinted it to the next finger and i played without any problems.

I guess we won't know till about 3 o' clock next Sunday.

Bahanaman

Looks dodgy for Eoin Larkin I think. It's his left thumb and he's a left hand on top hurler. He'd find it very difficult to control the hurl. Like a previous poster said if it's near the tip of the thumb he could have a chance. Hope he gets to play. Be a big loss.

thinlizzy51

does anyond think we have a springer like walter was in 12 to call upon?

babyjesus14

thinlizzy51 wrote: »

does anyond think we have a springer like walter was in 12 to call upon?

Nope, if Larkin and Richie Power don't make it i'd imagine it will be John Power.
The only possibility would be Kevin Kelly but he seems to be well down the pecking order considering he didn't even make the 26 for the semi.

Cornerback1

babyjesus14 wrote: »

Nope, if Larkin and Richie Power don't make it i'd imagine it will be John Power.
The only possibility would be Kevin Kelly but he seems to be well down the pecking order considering he didn't even make the 26 for the semi.

That's who I thought of before the Waterford match but he didn't, for whatever reason, make the cut. Would Lester Ryan be in the reckoning for midfield and push Mick Fennelly further forward?

I think we had just used one sub in semi-final V Waterford - not sure if that tells a story or not!!!!!

babyjesus14

Cornerback1 wrote: »

That's who I thought of before the Waterford match but he didn't, for whatever reason, make the cut. Would Lester Ryan be in the reckoning for midfield and push Mick Fennelly further forward?

I think we had just used one sub in semi-final V Waterford - not sure if that tells a story or not!!!!!

I don't think Lester Ryan comes into the conversation at all and i definitely think Mick Fennelly is wasted on the half forward line. He really struggled there in last years drawn All Ireland final and then had a stormer in the replay when moved to midfield.

Justice for the individual

Fort Stranger wrote: »

Who will pick up Joe if he goes roaming out around the middle like he did against Tipp?

As Realt Dearg says, the midfield with others drifting back will handle that, but the main thing is to stay tight on Canning (he is very good, like Richie Hogan at getting out of a tight situation) and do not allow him to get free for a shot as he hardly ever misses. He uses his strength very well to manoeuvre around his marker/s and they should know enough about him not to be fooled at this stage.

ellinguistico

Justice for the individual wrote: »

As Realt Dearg says, the midfield with others drifting back will handle that, but the main thing is to stay tight on Canning (he is very good, like Richie Hogan at getting out of a tight situation) and do not allow him to get free for a shot as he hardly ever misses. He uses his strength very well to manoeuvre around his marker/s and they should know enough about him not to be fooled at this stage.

Lads, probably highly unlikely but I am on the look out for 2 stand tickets beside each other. 2 people coming home for it especially. Any help or tips gratefully received.

Comerman

ellinguistico wrote: »

Lads, probably highly unlikely but I am on the look out for 2 stand tickets beside each other. 2 people coming home for it especially. Any help or tips gratefully received.

Have a look around here you might be lucky http://www.toutless.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23435&p=141807&hilit=All+Ireland+Hurling#p141807

ellinguistico

Comerman wrote: »

Have a look around here you might be lucky http://www.toutless.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23435&p=141807&hilit=All+Ireland+Hurling#p141807

Thanks yeah, could be a pipe dream dream alright!

babyjesus14

ellinguistico wrote: »

Thanks yeah, could be a pipe dream dream alright!

Wouldn't panic, there will be plenty of tickets to be had later in the week. Neutrals are sick of Kilkenny, there will be plenty returned from non competing counties.

PlayByTheRules

Anyone know where I'd be able to find a copy of that 2013 Tipp-KK Qualifier in Nowlan Park? Been meaning to watch it again for ages but can't find it anywhere online.

babyjesus14

PlayByTheRules wrote: »

Anyone know where I'd be able to find a copy of that 2013 Tipp-KK Qualifier in Nowlan Park? Been meaning to watch it again for ages but can't find it anywhere online.

Have you tried youtube?

PlayByTheRules

Yep, could only find highlights, maybe 10 minutes worth. Was such a great atmosphere and game to be at, would happily buy a DVD recording of it.

kennyball

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I think of this video whenever I hear of people picking up a player, man-marking him, tracking him and shadowing him. The gist of it is that Cody doesn't basically seem to believe in the idea of a back following the forward, for the very simple reason that by definition you'll be a yard behind, and that leaves the forward in control, and you're unlikely to be stopping the ball, which is ultimately the primary job of a back. He all but says a wing back needs to marking his area, not letting ball through. My suspicion would be that he's not likely to radically alter that philosophy for Joe Canning. Obviously he needs to be watched more than your average hurler, but I'd imagine the person to take care of him is whoever is in that area. I'd be happy with any of our half backs, and either of Mick Fennelly or Conor Fogarty to keep him as quiet as possible if he goes into their area. I would expect that a midfielder couldn't go off on the attack and might have to sacrifice his own game to do it, but I don't think any other special provisions will be made.


[as an aside, it's an interesting video anyway, and there's a longer version of it that's well worth watching that includes discussions with loads of people like Eddie Keher, Brian Hogan, Jackie, George O'Connor, and the list goes on and on. Worth a watch if you've some spare time!)

Realt Dearg Sec - do you have link to the longer version of this clip? Couldn't find it on youtube...

citykat

FYI - Wednesday and Friday night this week as normal.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

PlayByTheRules wrote: »

Anyone know where I'd be able to find a copy of that 2013 Tipp-KK Qualifier in Nowlan Park? Been meaning to watch it again for ages but can't find it anywhere online.

As far as I recall that match had the misfortune of being covered solely by TV3 who along with broadcasting a typically poor picture quality, somehow succeeded in completely suppressing any crowd noise, no mean feat considering that it was the match with the best atmosphere that I have ever attended.

An awful shame really, as it was an occasion that many a Kilkenny fan will remember for years and would nice to have a nice HD copy of the match that captured the special atmosphere.

RTE did show highlights on Sunday game that night so one would hope they have a decent quality recording of the match somewhere

Charlie69

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

As far as I recall that match had the misfortune of being covered solely by TV3 who along with broadcasting a typically poor picture quality, somehow succeeded in completely suppressing any crowd noise, no mean feat considering that it was the match with the best atmosphere that I have ever attended.

An awful shame really, as it was an occasion that many a Kilkenny fan will remember for years and would nice to have a nice HD copy of the match that captured the special atmosphere.

RTE did show highlights on Sunday game that night so one would hope they have a decent quality recording of the match somewhere

I didn't think it was shown on TV at all.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

Charlie69 wrote: »

I didn't think it was shown on TV at all.

Yeah, I think it was TV3, I remember raging about how there was no sense of atmosphere in the coverage. See Google search 'kilkenny tipperary 2013 nowlan park tv3'

tbiggertycome

PlayByTheRules wrote: »

Yep, could only find highlights, maybe 10 minutes worth. Was such a great atmosphere and game to be at, would happily buy a DVD recording of it.

I have the full version of the TV3 bad quality on my computer I'll upload it to Youtube tomorrow and post a link here

I also put up this years semi v Waterford and the replayed 2012 final.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBp4FmN7GgxP1orO5-dNQw

PlayByTheRules

tbiggertycome wrote: »

I have the full version of the TV3 bad quality on my computer I'll upload it to Youtube tomorrow and post a link here

I also put up this years semi v Waterford and the replayed 2012 final.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBp4FmN7GgxP1orO5-dNQw

Fair play to ya tbigger, very kind

Realt Dearg Sec

The main thing I remember about watching that game back on live record was that Nicky English had been predicting Tipp all week, and then when he heard the response to KK coming out (which in general our fans are not particularly good for), he actually changed his prediction. He just felt there was something in the air and the atmosphere that it was KK's day. I've always thought he was a fantastic analyst because he not only gets predictions right more often than not, he's also usually correct about the reasons for the result he expects.

Anyway other than that the coverage was awful on TV3, and definitely didn't capture what was the best day I've ever had in Nowlan Park. Unbelievable day.

Fort Stranger

Any word on Eoin Larkin and Richie Power?

blackcard

Amazing how quiet the build up to the AI is.The Mayo Dublin replay is taking the limelight and the hurling final will pass by almost unnoticed. No matter as long as we win.

babyjesus14

blackcard wrote: »

Amazing how quiet the build up to the AI is.The Mayo Dublin replay is taking the limelight and the hurling final will pass by almost unnoticed. No matter as long as we win.

The media coverage is ridiculous, today's Indo, 3 pages on soccer, 2 1/2 pages on rugby, 2 1/2 pages on football and 1 page on hurling.

adrian522

Well the Kilkenny management and players are not exactly blameless in all this given how little access they give to the media, can't expect journalists to produce pages and pages of stuff when there is really nothing to talk about.

babyjesus14

adrian522 wrote: »

Well the Kilkenny management and players are not exactly blameless in all this given how little access they give to the media, can't expect journalists to produce pages and pages of stuff when there is really nothing to talk about.

They did their media night last week when Cody and i assume a few of the players were made available but these interviews probably won't appear til the weekend.

There is plenty they can be getting on with in terms of analysis, canvassing opinions of ex-players, opinions of players from other counties who have played against the two teams this season..

citykat

blackcard wrote: »

Amazing how quiet the build up to the AI is.The Mayo Dublin replay is taking the limelight and the hurling final will pass by almost unnoticed. No matter as long as we win.

Low key is good. Good article with Cody in the Times. The man is practically indecipherable at this stage.

orl

Lads I'm not trying to be pejorative when I reiterate the earlier question. Who would Water Walsh replace in this Galway team? Maybe I will be embarassed on Sunday night when he delivers another MOTM performance.

Not David Burke - nobody had more plays on the field than him against Tipp
Not Andy Smith - if Walter Walsh is half as good a player in his 30s as Andy Smith I will surprised. Won the All Ireland Club for Portumna nearly on his own. Tenacious for a small guy, fit as a fiddle
Not Conor Whelan such composure and will not be pushed around for a young guy. Deadly finisher
Not Cyril Donnelan got through the Tipp defence causing Paudie Maher to take him down, gifting Galway a penalty. Great playmaker
Not Jonathan Glynn - a collosus. very unselfish. unlike walter walsh passes the ball to someone in a better position
Not Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn. they are the future TJ Reid and Richie Hogans of the next decade
Not JC - nothing needs to be said

Walter Walsh is good to catch a ball and he was the surprise ticket in 2012 when he was close to goal with an injured goalie but he has never played as well since. None of the men listed above gets as many wides as him.

My head still says Kilkenny will win but i genuinely don't think Walter Walsh would have made the great Kilkenny teams.

robopaddy2

orl wrote: »

Lads I'm not trying to be pejorative when I reiterate the earlier question. Who would Water Walsh replace in this Galway team? Maybe I will be embarassed on Sunday night when he delivers another MOTM performance.

Not David Burke - nobody had more plays on the field than him against Tipp
Not Andy Smith - if Walter Walsh is half as good a player in his 30s as Andy Smith I will surprised. Won the All Ireland Club for Portumna nearly on his own. Tenacious for a small guy, fit as a fiddle
Not Conor Whelan such composure and will not be pushed around for a young guy. Deadly finisher
Not Cyril Donnelan got through the Tipp defence causing Paudie Maher to take him down, gifting Galway a penalty. Great playmaker
Not Jonathan Glynn - a collosus. very unselfish. unlike walter walsh passes the ball to someone in a better position
Not Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn. they are the future TJ Reid and Richie Hogans of the next decade
Not JC - nothing needs to be said

Walter Walsh is good to catch a ball and he was the surprise ticket in 2012 when he was close to goal with an injured goalie but he has never played as well since. None of the men listed above gets as many wides as him.

My head still says Kilkenny will win but i genuinely don't think Walter Walsh would have made the great Kilkenny teams.

Nonsense. You obviously didn't watch much hurling since 2012. 2013, KKs worst year in many years but Walsh was the one fellah that carried them. Particularly the 2 games in the Leinster championship against Dublin, when those around him were playing poorly. I'm a Waterford man but Id take him over half the players mentioned above and we'd give our right arm for someone like him in our own forward line. Particularly in this years semi against KK, the game he has come in for much criticism for. How one lad is getting singled out for criticism on here for the past few weeks here is shocking. I'll be rooting for Galway myself but hope Walter Walsh has a big game and silences his critics. A player Id have huge time for.