Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 2 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

danganabu

gobo99 wrote: »

I wouldn't condone any of these incidents. If someone wants to mention something that happened at a match fair enough. No point derailing kk thread over a few clowns out of thousands that traveled. If someone wants to start a thread on racism in the gaa go ahead.

My apologies gobo, I wasn't aware of your appointment as a mod, congrats and best of luck with it!!

gobo99

danganabu wrote: »

My apologies gobo, I wasn't aware of your appointment as a mod, congrats and best of luck with it!!

I wasn't aware of it myself.

Realt Dearg Sec

... anyway....

Any further word on what the story is with Hogan? Will he be back by late May? Think once he's back the competition for the remaining positions in the forwards will be very good. Hoping Sheehan gets another run and has another good game next week. Aylward is still having awful trouble finishing so needs to improve or he's by no means guaranteed his place once you've Richie, tj, Wally, and fennelly (not an absolute guarantee but you'd assume as summer gets on and he's up to speed he'll be there or thereabouts) there's only two spots really for Sheehan, keoghan, Donnelly, aylward, blanchfield and whoever I'm forgetting to fight for. That's assuming everyone healthy and on form of course but it's not looking bad in that part of the field imo

blackwave

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

... anyway....

Any further word on what the story is with Hogan? Will he be back by late May? Think once he's back the competition for the remaining positions in the forwards will be very good. Hoping Sheehan gets another run and has another good game next week. Aylward is still having awful trouble finishing so needs to improve or he's by no means guaranteed his place once you've Richie, tj, Wally, and fennelly (not an absolute guarantee but you'd assume as summer gets on and he's up to speed he'll be there or thereabouts) there's only two spots really for Sheehan, keoghan, Donnelly, aylward, blanchfield and whoever I'm forgetting to fight for. That's assuming everyone healthy and on form of course but it's not looking bad in that part of the field imo

It's great that we have a bit of depth in the team as we will need it with the increased games in Leinster squad depth is more important.

Village87

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

... anyway....

Any further word on what the story is with Hogan? Will he be back by late May? Think once he's back the competition for the remaining positions in the forwards will be very good. Hoping Sheehan gets another run and has another good game next week. Aylward is still having awful trouble finishing so needs to improve or he's by no means guaranteed his place once you've Richie, tj, Wally, and fennelly (not an absolute guarantee but you'd assume as summer gets on and he's up to speed he'll be there or thereabouts) there's only two spots really for Sheehan, keoghan, Donnelly, aylward, blanchfield and whoever I'm forgetting to fight for. That's assuming everyone healthy and on form of course but it's not looking bad in that part of the field imo

Excellent performance Sunday, very impressive. TJ and Mossy Keoghan had unbelievable games in the forawrds, Wally , Sheehan & Donnelly also playing very well. Near perfect performance from Kilkenny, very hard to see any changes going forward. Enda Morrissey was immense wing back, his use of the ball was exempt.

Wexford were very very poor on the day. Seemed to forget the basics that made them a good team, there work rate and intensity dropped and they didn't play well as a team,constantly taking the wrong option when shooting and short passes were turned over a lot of the time. Kilkenny really had there number Sunday.

usualstripes

Village87 wrote: »

Excellent performance Sunday, very impressive. TJ and Mossy Keoghan had unbelievable games in the forawrds, Wally , Sheehan & Donnelly also playing very well. Near perfect performance from Kilkenny, very hard to see any changes going forward. Enda Morrissey was immense wing back, his use of the ball was exempt.

Wexford were very very poor on the day. Seemed to forget the basics that made them a good team, there work rate and intensity dropped and they didn't play well as a team,constantly taking the wrong option when shooting and short passes were turned over a lot of the time. Kilkenny really had there number Sunday.

I suppose the one big plus for us is the fact that these younger lads are now beginning to get some confidence.
Each game has its own story but the one from sunday is that we wanted the win far more than wexford.
We still have to iron out some things like in the last 10 mins when we could have taken scores but over played the ball.
These are only minor but still need sorting. We are in a strong enough position at the moment. The only change probably for sunday will be the inclusion of Fogarty at the expense of James Maher.
Fogarty was very good when he came on.
Hopefully Mossy, Sheehan and donnelly continue to improve as they are finding their feet.
Delighted with delaney and morrissey in the half back line and these two work very well with Cillian in the middle.
We still have the option of using Lester, blanchfield, scanlon, pat lyng and alan murphy in the forwards.
You would have to take your hat off to cody as he has turned these lads around but nothing is won yet.
We will still find it difficult as we've introduced a lot of players in a short space of time but the big thing is that they will continue to improve playing together.

Shirleysrumbler

Billy Ocean wrote: »

It was said to them but they weren't the most reasonable of people

If they suggested that Lee fulfil a certain "Fast Food Order" as has happened in the past I'd imagine that it was his dad took offence as Lee wouldn't be too fond of the auld work!!!

Hawkeye6

usualstripes wrote: »

.Each game has its own story but the one from sunday is that we wanted the win far more than wexford.

Nonsense talk.

Prior to Sunday and all the way through the league I was listening to how much Wexford wanted to win the league and get some silverware. Suddenly (after losing), we wanted to win it more.  Ok, anyone with any knowledge of Kilkenny hurling would know a Brian Cody team wants to win Every match they play in. After nearly 20 years, surely all Kilkenny fans know this. But wanted to win it more than Wexford?... How do measure that?... Just because we won, is that it?  I don’t think so. It’s is probably one of GAA greatest clichés.  

Now just because we beat Wexford, which wasn’t a surprise to me, doesn’t mean we should be overly confident of beating Tipperary (which I am now hearing around). The team has been setup to eliminate the sweeper system, which it has now successfully done with our two biggest league wins being against Wexford and Waterford.  Great now we can beat the sweeper system. That should be more of a concern for Davy Fitz and Derek McGrath. Well done management team and players. Now the team has to switch back to beating the traditional style hurling in one week. How easy will that be? Anyone who has coached teams will understand not easy, not impossible either.  I personally enjoy the style of play at the moment, but it is somewhat football based. Whether traditionalists like to hear that or not is another thing. I read somewhere about someone giving out about football and the number of handpasses. Start counting them in hurling now. Anyone count our handpasses on Sunday? 

It is “funny” that less than two months ago, people were calling for the managements head and claiming the production line is broken down.  Those in the know will tell you that there is a serious bunch of players between 17 and 20, although there are concerns after that. Of course those players do need work and that is going on. I understand a lot of people who post here are not in the country and they do have a huge interest and a thirst for updates, but they would have been totally misled by the comments here earlier in the year and last year too. 

One lad I am particularly delighted for is Joey Holden. After the 2016 final, I said he was the best we had in a full back line that day as it was left exposed further up the field. He was also marking their best player on the day. Yet the supporters crucified him the most and probably helped destroy his confidence. He has had a super league with the exception of the Cork game and was involved in one of the bravest management decisions in Kilkenny club history too.  It is interesting watching himself and Paddy Deegan making runs off the ball into the half forward line. I would also have been sceptical of Padraig Walsh at full back. The evidence of the games is making me re-think on this too. There seems to have been method in the apparent madness. 

Looking forward to an interesting tussle on Sunday where the loyal and dedicated Kilkenny fans will be in very early for the Camogie final which will have bit of bite too given the history that has developed between the Cork and Kilkenny recently. 

RayVaughan1984

A seriously impressive performance from Kilkenny.
The workrate was phenomenal given how poor the conditions were.
Wexford may have looked sluggish,but scoring 1-27 is not what I expected from this team with so many new players.It's going to be a cracking Final.I can see KK building on that performance.Keoghan was particularly impressive.The sideline cut pass to TJ Reid and subsequent offload to Enda Morrissey was the score of the game.May the best team win on Sunday!

HughCassidy

Billy Ocean wrote: »

There's no excuse or justification for what i saw yesterday that's for sure, especially with kids in close proximity

Wexford used to throw very personal rude abuse at DJ Carey when he was hurling heard it myself about his family , also the O Conner brothers Willie, Eddie, over a tragedy in there family.

bamayang

Will ye come off yere "I'm so outraged" high horses and go and report it to the guards if it affects you that much, instead of using it as some sort of "our supporters are more civilised than yours" point scoring exercise on an imaginary notice board.

Brilliant win. Brilliant team. Great final ahead.

eoinfitzokk

Hawkeye6 wrote: »

Nonsense talk.

Prior to Sunday and all the way through the league I was listening to how much Wexford wanted to win the league and get some silverware. Suddenly (after losing), we wanted to win it more.  Ok, anyone with any knowledge of Kilkenny hurling would know a Brian Cody team wants to win Every match they play in. After nearly 20 years, surely all Kilkenny fans know this. But wanted to win it more than Wexford?... How do measure that?... Just because we won, is that it?  I don’t think so. It’s is probably one of GAA greatest clichés.  

Now just because we beat Wexford, which wasn’t a surprise to me, doesn’t mean we should be overly confident of beating Tipperary (which I am now hearing around). The team has been setup to eliminate the sweeper system, which it has now successfully done with our two biggest league wins being against Wexford and Waterford.  Great now we can beat the sweeper system. That should be more of a concern for Davy Fitz and Derek McGrath. Well done management team and players. Now the team has to switch back to beating the traditional style hurling in one week. How easy will that be? Anyone who has coached teams will understand not easy, not impossible either.  I personally enjoy the style of play at the moment, but it is somewhat football based. Whether traditionalists like to hear that or not is another thing. I read somewhere about someone giving out about football and the number of handpasses. Start counting them in hurling now. Anyone count our handpasses on Sunday? 

It is “funny” that less than two months ago, people were calling for the managements head and claiming the production line is broken down.  Those in the know will tell you that there is a serious bunch of players between 17 and 20, although there are concerns after that. Of course those players do need work and that is going on. I understand a lot of people who post here are not in the country and they do have a huge interest and a thirst for updates, but they would have been totally misled by the comments here earlier in the year and last year too. 

One lad I am particularly delighted for is Joey Holden. After the 2016 final, I said he was the best we had in a full back line that day as it was left exposed further up the field. He was also marking their best player on the day. Yet the supporters crucified him the most and probably helped destroy his confidence. He has had a super league with the exception of the Cork game and was involved in one of the bravest management decisions in Kilkenny club history too.  It is interesting watching himself and Paddy Deegan making runs off the ball into the half forward line. I would also have been sceptical of Padraig Walsh at full back. The evidence of the games is making me re-think on this too. There seems to have been method in the apparent madness. 

Looking forward to an interesting tussle on Sunday where the loyal and dedicated Kilkenny fans will be in very early for the Camogie final which will have bit of bite too given the history that has developed between the Cork and Kilkenny recently. 

The possession game really comes unstuck when the opposition team put your team under immense pressure, at that point your team strikes the ball up the field in a less than effective manner than if the team stands off you.
If Kilkenny's support play continues with lads running off the shoulder then we can reduce that risk. Expect more running as the space and time that the sweeper brings wont be there. Failing this. we can expect 50/50 long balls as our game breaks down and we are playing to the tune of the opposition.

The forced sweeper system suits kilkenny in my opinion: Buckley and Walsh are great readers of the game and are excellent at manage their positioning to mop up ball. The forwards and are hard working as we saw on Sunday, when they work this hard collectively, the impact of the opposition sweeper is greatly reduced. Walter Walsh tracking back for vast periods and then crops up for a goal
The midfield are running themselves into the ground and popping up for scores from distance.

The cross field ball is effective, taking sweeper/centre back out of the game.

With the running game and with this of all years, 2018 will require a full Kilkenny Squad of players.

WhatsGoingOn2

Tickets for Sunday are €30. That's a bit expensive, isn't it?

eoinfitzokk

25 quid if by in advance in Supervalu/Centra

Village87

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Tickets for Sunday are €30. That's a bit expensive, isn't it?

I have been to Cork, Wexford & Waterford and at all of Kilkennys home games in the league this year. 30 euro is expensive with 2 adults and 2 kids. Might sit this one out in front of the TV.

Any news on Club games, i love getting in the club matches after the league and Championship? will there be 2 rounds be played after the league ? Break from the inter county set up will surely do the players good. After playing a lot of intense matches now and loads more left in May/June. Few weeks break might freshen them up

dastardly00

When the league final is over, it's 5 weeks until the first round match of the Leinster Championship against Dublin on May 13th yeah?

Village87

dastardly00 wrote: »

When the league final is over, it's 5 weeks until the first round match of the Leinster Championship against Dublin on May 13th yeah?

Yaah thats right

WhatsGoingOn2

Village87 wrote: »

I have been to Cork, Wexford & Waterford and at all of Kilkennys home games in the league this year. 30 euro is expensive with 2 adults and 2 kids. Might sit this one out in front of the TV.

Any news on Club games, i love getting in the club matches after the league and Championship? will there be 2 rounds be played after the league ? Break from the inter county set up will surely do the players good. After playing a lot of intense matches now and loads more left in May/June. Few weeks break might freshen them up

The first round is on the weekend of April 14th/15th. I think there is another round on the following weekend too, but not fully confirmed yet.

babyjesus14

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Tickets for Sunday are €30. That's a bit expensive, isn't it?

Well there is two National Finals on so i think it's fair enough, don't forget our girls and get in and support them! And as another poster said it's really only 25 euro when you buy in advance.

HughCassidy

Village87 wrote: »

I have been to Cork, Wexford & Waterford and at all of Kilkennys home games in the league this year. 30 euro is expensive with 2 adults and 2 kids. Might sit this one out in front of the TV.

Any news on Club games, i love getting in the club matches after the league and Championship? will there be 2 rounds be played after the league ? Break from the inter county set up will surely do the players good. After playing a lot of intense matches now and loads more left in May/June. Few weeks break might freshen them up

Got one for the Ardainn the grace for 25euro this afternoon in super value

Comerman

babyjesus14 wrote: »

Well there is two National Finals on so i think it's fair enough, don't forget our girls and get in and support them! And as another poster said it's really only 25 euro when you buy in advance.

I've no problem paying 25e but think it's wrong to have to pay the same for my 17yo.

Cornerback1

Comerman wrote: »

babyjesus14 wrote: »

Well there is two National Finals on so i think it's fair enough, don't forget our girls and get in and support them! And as another poster said it's really only 25 euro when you buy in advance.

I've no problem paying 25e but think it's wrong to have to pay the same for my 17yo.

Could he/she not be '16' for the day? Do they check what age a junenile is at the gate? It's €5 for 16 year olds I think.

danganabu

Is it unreserved seating guys or is their assigned seat numbers?

HughCassidy

danganabu wrote: »

Is it unreserved seating guys or is their assigned seat numbers?

Unreserved

Comerman

Cornerback1 wrote: »

Could he/she not be '16' for the day? Do they check what age a junenile is at the gate? It's €5 for 16 year olds I think.

The fecker is 6'2" and you can only see him from the chin down at the turnstiles, he got challenged before by a grumpy ould git so too nervous now. Even 10 or 15 wouldn't be too bad for juveniles.

Realt Dearg Sec

Comerman wrote: »

Cornerback1 wrote: »

Could he/she not be '16' for the day? Do they check what age a junenile is at the gate? It's €5 for 16 year olds I think.

The fecker is 6'2" and you can only see him from the chin down at the turnstiles, he got challenged before by a grumpy ould git so too nervous now. Even 10 or 15 wouldn't be too bad for juveniles.

Let him hop the stile and sit on your lap.

Comerman

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Let him hop the stile and sit on your lap.

I'd see fekall then, I may leave him at home unless he gets a job in the meantime.

robwen

Anthony Daly on allianz league Sunday said he'd love to be winning the league & be going to Australia in November, what's that about?

danganabu

robwen wrote: »

Anthony Daly on allianz league Sunday said he'd love to be winning the league & be going to Australia in November, what's that about?

League Champions will play Galway in Australia next November

Realt Dearg Sec

danganabu wrote: »

League Champions will play Galway in Australia next November

Jaysus, if you thought Galway complained too much about having to play their matches in Leinster...

usualstripes

Hawkeye6 wrote: »

Nonsense talk.

Prior to Sunday and all the way through the league I was listening to how much Wexford wanted to win the league and get some silverware. Suddenly (after losing), we wanted to win it more.  Ok, anyone with any knowledge of Kilkenny hurling would know a Brian Cody team wants to win Every match they play in. After nearly 20 years, surely all Kilkenny fans know this. But wanted to win it more than Wexford?... How do measure that?... Just because we won, is that it?  I don’t think so. It’s is probably one of GAA greatest clichés.  

Now just because we beat Wexford, which wasn’t a surprise to me, doesn’t mean we should be overly confident of beating Tipperary (which I am now hearing around). The team has been setup to eliminate the sweeper system, which it has now successfully done with our two biggest league wins being against Wexford and Waterford.  Great now we can beat the sweeper system. That should be more of a concern for Davy Fitz and Derek McGrath. Well done management team and players. Now the team has to switch back to beating the traditional style hurling in one week. How easy will that be? Anyone who has coached teams will understand not easy, not impossible either.  I personally enjoy the style of play at the moment, but it is somewhat football based. Whether traditionalists like to hear that or not is another thing. I read somewhere about someone giving out about football and the number of handpasses. Start counting them in hurling now. Anyone count our handpasses on Sunday? 

It is “funny” that less than two months ago, people were calling for the managements head and claiming the production line is broken down.  Those in the know will tell you that there is a serious bunch of players between 17 and 20, although there are concerns after that. Of course those players do need work and that is going on. I understand a lot of people who post here are not in the country and they do have a huge interest and a thirst for updates, but they would have been totally misled by the comments here earlier in the year and last year too. 

One lad I am particularly delighted for is Joey Holden. After the 2016 final, I said he was the best we had in a full back line that day as it was left exposed further up the field. He was also marking their best player on the day. Yet the supporters crucified him the most and probably helped destroy his confidence. He has had a super league with the exception of the Cork game and was involved in one of the bravest management decisions in Kilkenny club history too.  It is interesting watching himself and Paddy Deegan making runs off the ball into the half forward line. I would also have been sceptical of Padraig Walsh at full back. The evidence of the games is making me re-think on this too. There seems to have been method in the apparent madness. 

Looking forward to an interesting tussle on Sunday where the loyal and dedicated Kilkenny fans will be in very early for the Camogie final which will have bit of bite too given the history that has developed between the Cork and Kilkenny recently. 

Nonsense talk?? What a ridiculous statement!! It's a fact that in the match yesterday Kilkenny wanted the win more than wexford. Kilkenny out fought and out hurled them. They won most of the 50/50 challenges which was great to see and didn't give wexford any time on the ball. The hurling they did, which is far less direct than we are used to seeing, is what is needed to negate the sweeper system. It was the best performance from the lads this year and hopefully it will give them more confidence going forward.

blackcard

In the round robin matches in the Leinster Championship, what happens if teams end up on the same number of points? Is it like the league where if there are two teams level on points, it is the head to head that counts and if there are three or more teams level on points, points difference is the decider? It is very likely that teams will end up level. If for example all teams except Offaly won their home matches and the only away wins are to Offaly, it would end up with Galway and Wexford on 6 points with Dublin and Kilkenny on 4 points. Galway and Wexford would contest the Leinster Final with Dublin playing the Munster Final losers and Kilkenny eliminated if it is decided on head to head.

dubcat51

Mentioned earlier but lets get in early to support the kittens.

Realt Dearg Sec

dubcat51 wrote: »

Mentioned earlier but lets get in early to support the kittens.

Uh...are the minors playing?

dubcat51

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Uh...are the minors playing?

Senior camogie v cork(friendly game)😃

greenspurs

dubcat51 wrote: »

Mentioned earlier but lets get in early to support the kittens.

Its ridiculous for people/supporters to call the SENIOR Camogie team "Kittens" ...
Kittens are small/baby Cats, so I don't get the reason for calling Senior camogie players that. Its not a "PC Thing" , it just doesn't make sense really !!
Maybe for Minors and under age hurlers/camogie, it might be more apt ?

Hawkeye6

usualstripes wrote: »

Hawkeye6 wrote: »

Nonsense talk.

Prior to Sunday and all the way through the league I was listening to how much Wexford wanted to win the league and get some silverware. Suddenly (after losing), we wanted to win it more.  Ok, anyone with any knowledge of Kilkenny hurling would know a Brian Cody team wants to win Every match they play in. After nearly 20 years, surely all Kilkenny fans know this. But wanted to win it more than Wexford?... How do measure that?... Just because we won, is that it?  I don’t think so. It’s is probably one of GAA greatest clichés.  

Now just because we beat Wexford, which wasn’t a surprise to me, doesn’t mean we should be overly confident of beating Tipperary (which I am now hearing around). The team has been setup to eliminate the sweeper system, which it has now successfully done with our two biggest league wins being against Wexford and Waterford.  Great now we can beat the sweeper system. That should be more of a concern for Davy Fitz and Derek McGrath. Well done management team and players. Now the team has to switch back to beating the traditional style hurling in one week. How easy will that be? Anyone who has coached teams will understand not easy, not impossible either.  I personally enjoy the style of play at the moment, but it is somewhat football based. Whether traditionalists like to hear that or not is another thing. I read somewhere about someone giving out about football and the number of handpasses. Start counting them in hurling now. Anyone count our handpasses on Sunday? 

It is “funny” that less than two months ago, people were calling for the managements head and claiming the production line is broken down.  Those in the know will tell you that there is a serious bunch of players between 17 and 20, although there are concerns after that. Of course those players do need work and that is going on. I understand a lot of people who post here are not in the country and they do have a huge interest and a thirst for updates, but they would have been totally misled by the comments here earlier in the year and last year too. 

One lad I am particularly delighted for is Joey Holden. After the 2016 final, I said he was the best we had in a full back line that day as it was left exposed further up the field. He was also marking their best player on the day. Yet the supporters crucified him the most and probably helped destroy his confidence. He has had a super league with the exception of the Cork game and was involved in one of the bravest management decisions in Kilkenny club history too.  It is interesting watching himself and Paddy Deegan making runs off the ball into the half forward line. I would also have been sceptical of Padraig Walsh at full back. The evidence of the games is making me re-think on this too. There seems to have been method in the apparent madness. 

Looking forward to an interesting tussle on Sunday where the loyal and dedicated Kilkenny fans will be in very early for the Camogie final which will have bit of bite too given the history that has developed between the Cork and Kilkenny recently. 

Nonsense talk?? What a ridiculous statement!! It's a fact that in the match yesterday Kilkenny wanted the win more than wexford.

So you said in your initial post.
Thanks for the heads up on how you measure hunger. Maybe that explains the problem for the Mayo Footballers.

dastardly00

blackcard wrote: »

In the round robin matches in the Leinster Championship, what happens if teams end up on the same number of points? Is it like the league where if there are two teams level on points, it is the head to head that counts and if there are three or more teams level on points, points difference is the decider? It is very likely that teams will end up level. If for example all teams except Offaly won their home matches and the only away wins are to Offaly, it would end up with Galway and Wexford on 6 points with Dublin and Kilkenny on 4 points. Galway and Wexford would contest the Leinster Final with Dublin playing the Munster Final losers and Kilkenny eliminated if it is decided on head to head.

I've spent a few minutes trying to find the answer to your question online but to no avail.
I guess it will be the same as it is in the League.

danganabu

blackcard wrote: »

In the round robin matches in the Leinster Championship, what happens if teams end up on the same number of points? Is it like the league where if there are two teams level on points, it is the head to head that counts and if there are three or more teams level on points, points difference is the decider? It is very likely that teams will end up level. If for example all teams except Offaly won their home matches and the only away wins are to Offaly, it would end up with Galway and Wexford on 6 points with Dublin and Kilkenny on 4 points. Galway and Wexford would contest the Leinster Final with Dublin playing the Munster Final losers and Kilkenny eliminated if it is decided on head to head.

dastardly00 wrote: »

I've spent a few minutes trying to find the answer to your question online but to no avail.
I guess it will be the same as it is in the League.

Same as that but as far as I am aware the default rule is as blackard describes ; two team head to head, more than two score differnce. So in the absence of a clear derogation in the rules for this new format I assume that general rule applies.

But come on now, it may very well come into play in Munster but there is zero chance of either Dublin or Offaly beating anyone other than each other, the three coming from Leinster is known, but we have to play 11 games to find out in what order, have I said before that I think this new structure (that was voted in primarily by football counties) is a wonderful idea :rolleyes:

dastardly00

danganabu wrote: »

Same as that but as far as I am aware the default rule is as blackard describes ; two team head to head, more than two score differnce. So in the absence of a clear derogation in the rules for this new format I assume that general rule applies.

But come on now, it may very well come into play in Munster but there is zero chance of either Dublin or Offaly beating anyone other than each other, the three coming from Leinster is known, but we have to play 11 games to find out in what order, have I said before that I think this new structure (that was voted in primarily by football counties) is a wonderful idea :rolleyes:

Dublin v KK in Round 1 in Parnell Park isn't a foregone conclusion

danganabu

dastardly00 wrote: »

Dublin v KK in Round 1 in Parnell Park isn't a foregone conclusion

Having seen Dublin thus far, and even accounting for the Cuala lads and the premise that Parnel Park may be worth a 3-4pts advantage to Dublin, I would give Dublin less than a 10% chance of winning. PP currently has KK 1/6, win next Sunday that will be 1/8 and will still be value. A TJ Reid injury and/or a sending off maybe Dublin have a sniff but all things being equal its a nice comfortable start for KK and a good experience for the inevitable debutants.

brookville

danganabu wrote: »

Having seen Dublin thus far, and even accounting for the Cuala lads and the premise that Parnel Park may be worth a 3-4pts advantage to Dublin, I would give Dublin less than a 10% chance of winning. PP currently has KK 1/6, win next Sunday that will be 1/8 and will still be value. A TJ Reid injury and/or a sending off maybe Dublin have a sniff but all things being equal its a nice comfortable start for KK and a good experience for the inevitable debutants.

To be honest id be cagey enough playing dublin.You would expect the few cuala players and liam rushe to make a difference.There apparently training very hard with only their eye on the championship I wouldn't say it's a foregone conclusion.

danganabu

Ah ye're getting worse that than the Kerry lads for the cute hoorism

JJs Left Hand

If we lose to Dublin I'll be disgusted.

Even before the renewed positivity I feel as a result of the league if we'd lost to Dublin I'd have been disgusted.

They're still playing Ryan O' Dwyer and Keaney ffs.

Village87

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

If we lose to Dublin I'll be disgusted.

Even before the renewed positivity I feel as a result of the league if we'd lost to Dublin I'd have been disgusted.

They're still playing Ryan O' Dwyer and Keaney ffs.

Agreed, Dublin are at nothing at the moment. Dublin would have a great chance if they managed to play Con, Kilkenny, Cormac Costello, Mark Schutte, Peter Kelly, Diarmiud Connolly. But the moment Kilkenny are 8-10 points a better team

babyjesus14

usualstripes wrote: »

Nonsense talk?? What a ridiculous statement!! It's a fact that in the match yesterday Kilkenny wanted the win more than wexford. Kilkenny out fought and out hurled them. They won most of the 50/50 challenges which was great to see and didn't give wexford any time on the ball. The hurling they did, which is far less direct than we are used to seeing, is what is needed to negate the sweeper system. It was the best performance from the lads this year and hopefully it will give them more confidence going forward.

"It's a fact that in the match yesterday Kilkenny wanted the win more than wexford". Is it really? How do you prove that "fact"? I would suggest that it's your opinion and i would agree with the other poster in claiming that's "nonsense talk"."They won most of the 50/50 challenges", did they? I assume you have stats to back this up. What's a 50/50 challenge anyway? Surely that's completely subjective.

It baffles me as to why a county that haven't won an national senior title of any description in over 20 years would go out in a national semi final at home in front of a very vocal expectant crowd against a neighbouring county who they have no great love for and decide you know what i can't really be arsed today! They have been training for the previous four months through the worst winter in living memory and they go out last Sunday and decide they can't be bothered! Really??

The "wanting it more" line is the lazy mans way of explaining an outcome when they either can't explain it or can't be bothered trying to explain it! And it's used a lot by so called experts on tv, our own Eddie Brennan is a regular user! My take on last Sunday is that we won because we were/are a better team playing to game plan designed to try and circumnavigate their sweeper system which in the main we succeeded in doing. I think confidence and belief was also a factor, it seemed to drain out of them when we got a run of win assisted scores in the first half and again in the second half when Rory O'Connor missed a free straight in front of the goal, which is understandable with a group who have had no tangible success coming up against a team they probably feel inferior to. We can only speculate on the physical readiness of both teams but we did have a 2 week break from the last game compared to one week in their case so that might have been a factor to.

But to claim we won because we "wanted it more" is both insulting to Wexford in that the implication is that weren't trying their best and insulting to Kilkenny because it implies we only won because they were not trying!

Village87

babyjesus14 wrote: »

"It's a fact that in the match yesterday Kilkenny wanted the win more than wexford". Is it really? How do you prove that "fact"? I would suggest that it's your opinion and i would agree with the other poster in claiming that's "nonsense talk"."They won most of the 50/50 challenges", did they? I assume you have stats to back this up. What's a 50/50 challenge anyway? Surely that's completely subjective.

It baffles me as to why a county that haven't won an national senior title of any description in over 20 years would go out in a national semi final at home in front of a very vocal expectant crowd against a neighbouring county who they have no great love for and decide you know what i can't really be arsed today! They have been training for the previous four months through the worst winter in living memory and they go out last Sunday and decide they can't be bothered! Really??

The "wanting it more" line is the lazy mans way of explaining an outcome when they either can't explain it or can't be bothered trying to explain it! And it's used a lot by so called experts on tv, our own Eddie Brennan is a regular user! My take on last Sunday is that we won because we were/are a better team playing to game plan designed to try and circumnavigate their sweeper system which in the main we succeeded in doing. I think confidence and belief was also a factor, it seemed to drain out of them when we got a run of win assisted scores in the first half and again in the second half when Rory O'Connor missed a free straight in front of the goal, which is understandable with a group who have had no tangible success coming up against a team they probably feel inferior to. We can only speculate on the physical readiness of both teams but we did have a 2 week break from the last game compared to one week in their case so that might have been a factor to.

But to claim we won because we "wanted it more" is both insulting to Wexford in that the implication is that weren't trying their best and insulting to Kilkenny because it implies we only won because they were not trying!

I understand both arguments. On the day Wexford went out looking for a big performance that did not materialise as a result Kilkenny looked like they wanted it more, being hungrier, more intense and aggression and a better game plan. Wexford will learn a lot from that match and the talk leading up to the match about all ireland contenders seeped into their heads. Next day in Nowlan Park will be an entirely different game and Wexford will look to put Kilkenny on the back foot, Lee Chin, Jack o Connor and others wont be as quiet next day.

tbiggertycome

I would give the following marks to our lads for last Sundays match

Eoin Murphy -8- Excellent on the puck outs varied them well and was available too defenders if they got into trouble a very good first game back.
Joey Houlden -9- A very strong and assured performance from Joey and he finally seems to have his confidence back. What you wouldn't have noticed if watching on TV was the amount of runs Joey made in support of our forwards and ended up on the opposition 45 numerous times. I think he only got the ball once but still offered up the run so many times.
Padraig Walsh -8- A great strong and assured performance from him I wouldn't blame him for the penalty at all and I think he did everything right for McDonalds goal it was just a great catch and strike.
Paddy Deegan -8- He gave away the penalty and I'll be honest he's not my favourite option at corner back at the minute, I think he's to reactive and gets caught flat footed too often. Having said that I think he played a great game on Sunday and made great runs forward in support and carried the ball along up the field to set up a good few attacks. Other than the penalty he had his best day in a Kilkenny shirt yet and I'm happy for him.
Conor Delaney -9- I think the best thing about Conors display was you'd hardly think he did anything, especially if watching on TV. He marshalled Chin so well I can only remember Chin hitting the ball 3 or 4 times and nothing came of anything he did. Conor just quietly checked him and ghosted around with him all day.
Cillian Buckley -9- I think he had a great day and supported his fellow defenders all day and was always available to them for a pass and covering for them if their man got through. His distribution to the forwards was perfect almost all day.
Enda Morrissey -10- For me he was man of the match and so many Wexford attacks perished on his wing or where ever he was involved. Again he was always available in support and chipped in with a lovely point.
James Maher -8- I thought he was playing very well, was covering around the half back line and breaking forward with menace. I was surprised when he was replaced with Fogarty. I thought one of the forwards would go instead and either himself or Leahy would push up.
Richie Leahy -8- put in another really hard sift and tracked lads all over the field but still broke forward to cause fierce trouble in the Wexford defence slotting 2.
Mossy Keoghan -8- his best performance since the Waterford game, he hassled and harassed Wexford lads all day and chipped in with a peach of a score too from the wing.
TJ Reid -9- he's just class, as usual so far this year. A completely different and rejuvenated hurler compared to last year and is leading by example.
John Donnelly -7- I'd give him a 8 or 9 for his first half, he was every where. He hesitated when he caught that ball at the start of the match and didn't think his path to goal would be so open, he probably would have scored if he didn't hesitate. Worked so hard but took a few wrong options but still got a nice couple of points.
Ger Aylward -7- Should be a 8 or 9 if he just could have converted a few more of his chances. I ouldn't blame hime for the goal miss he did every thing right the keeper just made a fabulous save in fairness to him. I think if he gets a few scores or a goal or two his confidence will come soaring back and he'll be unstoppable. He tweaked his hammy on his good leg apparently, they only took him off as a precaution he will hopefully play against Tipp.
Wally Walsh -9- I think Wally was imense and tracked Foley down the field so much. He laid down physical markers as well that we weren't going to be pushed around and obviously he chipped in with his goal and point. The goal was particularly crucial to get when we did.
Bill Sheehan -8- I think he had a great game his flick sideways into Aylwards pass was a thing of beauty if Joe Canning or John McGrath had done it we'd be hearing about it all week. Aside from that he played very well and took his point nicely and supported the other forwards really well. Right up to the time he was taken off in the 68 minute he was tracking lads well back into the Kilkenny half and got a few nice hooks and dispossessions as a result.
Conor Fogarty -8- Not on long but he really got stuck in and broke up a good few attacks and set up a good few more
Liam Blanchfield -7- not on long enough to really rate but did put himself around and I'd be happy enough with his effort.
Lester Ryan, Luke Scanlon & Pat Lyng not on long enough to rate.

I would be confident going into the weekend that if we reproduce that performance and Tipp reproduce their semi Final performance, Kilkenny will be eating dinner in Langtons with a trophy on the table. I think Tipps full back line is still a massive area of concern, from midfield forward they will punish every team they play but I think they're full back line is still really vulnerable.

Kilkenny and Tipp are the two teams who have tried the most players in this years league, I think they've both tried 35 players each. I think Kilkenny have found more in areas they needed to find players in than Tipp have. Tipp needed to strengthen their defence at the start of this league and to be honest I think they've only strengthened they're midfield and forwards which is lovely but not what they set out to do, I would imagine. We needed solutions all over the field and I think we've found most of them. We now have a very good back up keeper. Our full back line is getting more solid as the games go on, against my better judgement of it to begin with. We look like we're creating another half back line teams should be worried about feeding too much. We've 3 or 4 options in midfield depending on the opposition. We've unearthed at least 3 if not 4 forwards who can definitely do damage at this level. Ally that with the positioning of our best and most experienced players down the spine of the team Eoin Murphy, Padraig Walsh, Cillian Buckley, Conor Fogarty, TJ Reid, Wally Walsh it's allowed the young guys to flourish around them. I'm not saying we're the finished article or even close to it but we've made a huge leap forward. At the end of 2017 on the boards Hurling ranking page we were 6th and rightly so, now we're 3rd after the weekend and will probably be second if we can win the league final thats a fair turn around for a team in transition. Add in Paul Murphy who's apparently home next week, Richie Hogan who's well on the road to getting back, Colin Fennelly home in mid May, Jason Cleere back hurling in the round of club games and Kevin Kelly at the end of June. We'll have a fair squad to pick from.

brookville

Good post as always.is there a reason murphy would be home earlier than fennelly?

Charlie69

Excellent post tbiggertycome.... agree with all of that...will be up against it to win this Sunday but definitely a lot of reasons to be optimistic.