Waterford GAA Discussion Thread - **MOD NOTE POST #1**

robopaddy2

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/derek-mcgrath-i-was-too-candid-over-pay-issue-449687.html
Another candid interview with Derek.

PTH2009

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=270062

no rift it was toms decision but it sounds like he might not come back into the squad as his medical career might take preference.

heard its positive news on the injury front, Connor Gleeson is not as bad as feared, Barry Coughlan is improving

enoughtaken

Minor team for tonight

Waterford

1. Eoghan Browne (Mount Sion)
18. Dan Booth (Colligan)
3. James Flavin (Ardmore)
4. Tadhg Foley (Ballygunner)
5. Mairtín Power (Clonea)
6. Tom Barron (Fourmilewater)
7. Luke O’Brien (Mount Sion)
8. Sean Whelan-Barrett (Abbeyside)
9. Edward Cullen (Mount Sion)
10. Conor Whelan (Brickey Rangers)
11. Iarlaith Daly (Lismore)
12. Ian Beecher (Tallow)
13. Tom Looby (Abbeyside)
14. Thomas Douglas (De La Salle)
15. Billy Power (Clonea)

PTH2009

enoughtaken wrote: »

Minor team for tonight

Waterford

1. Eoghan Browne (Mount Sion)
18. Dan Booth (Colligan)
3. James Flavin (Ardmore)
4. Tadhg Foley (Ballygunner)
5. Mairtín Power (Clonea)
6. Tom Barron (Fourmilewater)
7. Luke O’Brien (Mount Sion)
8. Sean Whelan-Barrett (Abbeyside)
9. Edward Cullen (Mount Sion)
10. Conor Whelan (Brickey Rangers)
11. Iarlaith Daly (Lismore)
12. Ian Beecher (Tallow)
13. Tom Looby (Abbeyside)
14. Thomas Douglas (De La Salle)
15. Billy Power (Clonea)

Best of luck to them but Limerick is a hard place to go and we have really struggled in our last 2 games

Deise Vu

PTH2009 wrote: »

If the new championship structure comes in next year it will mean that Walsh Park could host Munster senior championship games

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/0507/873226-plans-for-new-round-robin-structure-for-hurling/

Strange this proposal comes along at the same time as a new PuC.. :cool:

Next watch out for the very sensible proposal that the home team keeps the gate.;)

danganabu

Deise Vu wrote: »

Strange this proposal comes along at the same time as a new PuC.. :cool:

Next watch out for the very sensible proposal that the home team keeps the gate.;)

The proposal was first mooted in 2012 and is a direct result/reaction to the Super 8 being introduced in Football, but don't let that get in the way of a good conspiracy theory!!

Pairc Ui Rinn would also be more than adequate to host the games being proposed here.

Deise Vu

danganabu wrote: »

The proposal was first mooted in 2012 and is a direct result/reaction to the Super 8 being introduced in Football, but don't let that get in the way of a good conspiracy theory!!

Pairc Ui Rinn would also be more than adequate to host the games being proposed here.

Lighten up will ya! Everyone knows the Don is retiring in October (again!).:D

PTH2009

Bad night for the minors beaten 0-19- 1-7 by Limerick

robopaddy2

PTH2009 wrote: »

Bad night for the minors beaten 0-19- 1-7 by Limerick

Bad year all round. The three results speak for themselves. Feel bad for the players and management who have given a fair effort, but it has to be said this has been the poorest minor group we've had in a long long time. I never remember us being so far off the pace in Munster. You would expect maybe Kerry these kind of results but not from one of the traditional counties
Wouldn't be overly concerned given how competitive weve been in this grade over the past 10 years, the conveyor belt should be good for another while. But its definetly an eye-opener, another year or 2 like that we wouldnt be long slipping back at senior level.

Cake Man

Not ideal alright, three games lost fairly convincingly. Definitely the poorest year we've at this grade in many years, even more disappointing knowing we had 3 chances and couldn't take any of them. Infact not even close in any game. Yes, it didn't help having no home game which might have made the lads a bit more comfortable playing in front of a home crowd (probably unlikely in any case, seemed like we were well off the pace in each of the games).
Not going to be hugely concerned, the hope is it was just a generally average crop and still manage to identify a few lads capable of progressing (Tom Barron, Iarlaith Daly, Thomas Douglas, Gavin Dalton).

PTH2009

If Cork beat Tipp (which could easily happen) would the semi be a bit of a false dawn for us as were all secretly gearing up for a showdown with Tipp ???

If Cork can beat Tipp in Thurles than they will be no pushovers and will give it 100% to try and get to the first Munster final in there brand new stadium

hopefully we give a good performance on Sunday against Limerick in the challenge game

hurler on de ditch

robopaddy2 wrote: »

Cringeworthy stuff from Mullane, haven't come to expect anything else from him at this stage. How he gets air-time as a pundit i'll never know. Apart from the fact that his incessant brain-farting keeps the public in stitches.

i think if Waterford win the All Ireland ,ill volunteer to be the horse ,not a hope in hell,

mickmackmcgoo

Good to see Daragh Fives starting this Sunday versus limerick

PTH2009

Iggy is very much in with a chance at starting in goals for the championship

mickmackmcgoo

Team versus Limerick on Sunday

I o Regan
Connors. S Fives. S mcNulty
Philip Mahony. Austin Gleeson. Darragh Fives

J Barron. Stephen Roche

K Moran. M Shanahan. B o Halloran
Stephen Bennett. Mikey Kearney . T Ryan

robopaddy2

PTH2009 wrote: »

If Cork beat Tipp (which could easily happen) would the semi be a bit of a false dawn for us as were all secretly gearing up for a showdown with Tipp ???

If Cork can beat Tipp in Thurles than they will be no pushovers and will give it 100% to try and get to the first Munster final in there brand new stadium

hopefully we give a good performance on Sunday against Limerick in the challenge game

After seeing what happened Tipp in the league final, they're not all their cracked up to be. I wouldn't write Cork off at all.

HatchetMan7

In regards to the minor teams results this year, i would agree to some extent about not being overly concerned about it as a supporter but i think that this is the time for the county board to act and look into what the reasons behind the sudden drop off. Since winning it in 2009 and runners up in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 we've been very competitive so to get well beaten this year in all 3 games i think the county board should be concerned and act now rather than later. The fact is if the coaching of under age teams is not improving year on year then we are going backwards in relation to other top teams.

JesusRef

robopaddy2 wrote: »

After seeing what happened Tipp in the league final, they're not all their cracked up to be. I wouldn't write Cork off at all.

Me either - and getting to play a final in the new Pairc is huge for Cork

PTH2009

congrats to the senior Ladies footballers who beat Kerry 2-9- 1-9 in the Munster Championship today

mickmackmcgoo

Hurlers beaten by 2 points by limerick having been 7 points ahead with about 12 minutes to play. Only scored one point in the last 15 minutes. We have a great habit of throwing leads away, challenge game or not it's all about a winning mentality

mountgomery burns

Ah give it a rest.

fowlerDgrowler

Ah they had the match won just chilled the beans for the last few minutes

PTH2009

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

Hurlers beaten by 2 points by limerick having been 7 points ahead with about 12 minutes to play. Only scored one point in the last 15 minutes. We have a great habit of throwing leads away, challenge game or not it's all about a winning mentality

Any stand out performers for us ???

I knw it's so frustrating we can't finish off a game but who's too blame Derek, The players ???.

mickmackmcgoo

Just like they had the league quarter final against Galway won and last year's all Ireland semi final against kk and league final against Clare etc. It's all about attitude and mentality, doesn't matter if it's a competitive game or a challenge match .

PTH2009

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

Just like they had the league quarter final against Galway won and last year's all Ireland semi final against kk and league final against Clare etc. It's all about attitude and mentality, doesn't matter if it's a competitive game or a challenge match .

Hopefully history don't repeat itself on the 18th June and it's a case of same as those listed matches

Can see us his year being a bumpy one and could be an early summer for us

Aussie started full forward and we made 12 subs at HT according to twitter.

Gavlor

PTH2009 wrote: »

Hopefully history don't repeat itself on the 18th June and it's a case of same as those listed matches

Can see us his year being a bumpy one and could be an early summer for us

Aussie started full forward and we made 12 subs at HT according to twitter.

I can't understand why people are reading anything into this. It was a good blow out for a few players and a good opportunity to try different things. I couldn't care less if we won or lost by 20 points in a Mickey Mouse pitch opener.

If we throw away big leads in the summer then serious questions have to asked but not after any of the games we've played so far this year.

Some "supporters" love having a pop at the management and players (not referring to you pth)

mickmackmcgoo

Gavlor wrote:

If we throw away big leads in the summer then serious questions have to asked but not after any of the games we've played so far this year.

Gavlor wrote:

Some "supporters" love having a pop at the management and players (not referring to you pth)

A 2 point loss in a challenge match isn't the issue. You're missing the point, we don't have the ability to kill off matches and that's the thing that holds us back .
As for me having a pop, what's wrong with with offering opinion and constructive criticism? I want the present team and management to have success as much as anyone else . I see a flaw in this team and have no problem saying it ,

Gavlor

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

A 2 point loss in a challenge match isn't the issue. You're missing the point, we don't have the ability to kill off matches and that's the thing that holds us back .
As for me having a pop, what's wrong with with offering opinion and constructive criticism? I want the present team and management to have success as much as anyone else . I see a flaw in this team and have no problem saying it ,

You're basing your flaw on a league game that the management had no interest in winning and a challenge game that was nothing more than a glorified training session.

Constructive criticism needs to have a basis of sense about it. You're not the only one waiting to have a pop by the way so don't take it personally!

debok

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

A 2 point loss in a challenge match isn't the issue. You're missing the point, we don't have the ability to kill off matches and that's the thing that holds us back .
As for me having a pop, what's wrong with with offering opinion and constructive criticism? I want the present team and management to have success as much as anyone else . I see a flaw in this team and have no problem saying it ,

Your right up to a point but challenge game where 12 changes were made at half time wouldn't have me to worried bout not finishing it out. No matter what level that amount of changes and limerick probably made just as many changes makes the result meaningless and game more about fellas getting a good run in. Your right though in that come championship we have to start pushing on and increasing leads rather than sitting back and hoping to win

mickmackmcgoo

Gavlor wrote:

You're basing your flaw on a league game that the management had no interest in winning and a challenge game that was nothing more than a glorified training session.

Gavlor wrote:

Constructive criticism needs to have a basis of sense about it. You're not the only one waiting to have a pop by the way so don't take it personally!

I'm not taking it personal at all , There is a basis of sense, I gave you 2 from last year . We blew both of those matches

Gavlor

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

I'm not taking it personal at all , There is a basis of sense, I gave you 2 from last year . We blew both of those matches

I'll give you the League final, Kilkenny just got lucky!

You'd hope that the players and more importantly the selectors have learned from those games.
My point remains, I wouldn't read anything into this season until mid summer

PTH2009

Long story short

We're making a bad habit of losing big leads in matches no matter what importance they are ???

I wish a journalist would ask McGrath ' your team has a history of losing big leads in games how are you going to combat that' ???

Not sure if this is a big conspiracy thing and the Waterford players and management team are fooling everyone and we're going to be an unstoppable force starting on the 18th June ???

robopaddy2

Gavlor wrote: »

I'll give you the League final, Kilkenny just got lucky!

You'd hope that the players and more importantly the selectors have learned from those games.
My point remains, I wouldn't read anything into this season until mid summer

The 'basis of sense' in his argument is that challenge match or not there is a continuation of a common theme in it, letting a lead slip. If they have learned from those games as you say, there was no evidence of it yesterday. Why are any concerns raised nowadays brushed off as a wtch-hunt against McGrath? Sounds to me like your the one taking it a little personal ......

Gavlor

robopaddy2 wrote: »

The 'basis of sense' in his argument is that challenge match or not there is a continuation of a common theme in it, letting a lead slip. Why does any concerns raised have to be deemed a wtch-hunt against McGrath? Sounds to me like your the one taking it a little personal ......

Fair enough..... if it wasn't an ongoing theme through the thread.

Nothing personal on my part either, it just gets a bit boring after a while. Lads overreacting after pointless challenge games just highlights how irrational some supporters can be.

mickmackmcgoo

Gavlor wrote:

You'd hope that the players and more importantly the selectors have learned from those games. My point remains, I wouldn't read anything into this season until mid summer

Gavlor wrote:

I'll give you the League final, Kilkenny just got lucky!

Kk didn't get lucky, we couldn't close it out .

PTH2009

Any report of the match ???

If something similar happens in our next challenge game then questions have to be asked before the serious stuff starts. I imagine we won't play a match next Sunday as the Tipperary vs Cork game is on ???

mickmackmcgoo

PTH2009 wrote:

If something similar happens in our next challenge game then questions have to be asked before the serious stuff starts. I imagine we won't play a match next Sunday as the Tipperary vs Cork game is on ???

Playing offaly next Saturday and that's the last challenge match

gobo99

Gavlor wrote: »

... Kilkenny just got lucky!

Yeah and the more they practice the luckier they get...

robopaddy2

mickmackmcgoo wrote: »

Gavlor wrote:

I'll give you the League final, Kilkenny just got lucky!

Kk didn't get lucky, we couldn't close it out .

That is exactly how they got lucky

PTH2009

http://limerickgaa.ie/limerick-hurlers-get-confidence-boosting-challenge-game-win-over-waterford/

So it was a below strength Limerick team with players who played club championship this weekend

Giveitfong

Waterford 2-19 Limerick 0-27

Pre-championship challenges such as this have very little value from a hurling point of view. However, they can generate value in other ways. The gate receipts of €7,640 (indicating an attendance of around 800) will make a useful contribution to the training fund while Pieta House benefitted to the tune of €850 from programme sales.

Managers are not going to show their hand in games like these while for most players, the key objective is not to get injured (although trying to avoid injury can often be the easiest way to get one). We are unlikely to see Shane McNulty playing at full back and Darragh Lyons at centre back as was the case tonight, although to give him his due, Lyons played well in the position while McNulty also had his moments.

Almost all of the Limerick players played in club championship over the weekend (mostly on Friday night and Saturday, although a couple played earlier on Sunday). They were therefore largely going through the motions here, fulfilling a fixture to which they were committed from some time back (it was originally due to be played a few weeks ago but had to be postponed). However, when push came to shove, they were able to raise their game late on to get their noses in front of a Waterford outfit which had almost disappeared from view at that stage.

Incidentally, isn’t it interesting that Limerick are able to run a complete round of their senior hurling championship just three weeks before their Munster semi-final against Clare whereas Waterford can’t do this, five weeks before their semi-final? And why are these two semi-finals two weeks apart? In my view they should be played on the same weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The intercounty championship is far too drawn out.

As for tonight’s game, Waterford lined out with Darragh Lyons in for Darragh Fives and Stephen Daniels in for Mikey Kearney from the published lineout. Playing with the breeze in the first half, Waterford started with Stephen Roche in midfield alongside Jamie Barron and Kevin Moran leading the attack. They initially placed Austin Gleeson at full forward but despite having the breeze they played hardly any ball into him, even though he was alone with a single marker much of the time. This for me is reflective of the clueless hurling Waterford play nowadays.

Waterford then started rotating the forwards around the place which for me just confuses the forwards themselves and the players further out the field. Waterford shaded the early stages and were two points up (0-7 to 0-5) midway through the first half. They got a somewhat fortuitous goal in the 21st minute when Austin Gleeson’s shot for a point from out on the wing came back off the upright and Tommy Ryan was on hand to finish first time to the net. Ryan had a good first half, adding two points to his goal.

Limerick were unlucky in the last minute of the half when Ronan Lynch’s sideline puck went right through the defence with Iggy Regan just getting enough on it to deflect it onto the crossbar and back into play. This left the half-time score Waterford 1-10, Limerick 0-9. Shane Fives was Waterford’s star player in the first half, clearing up all over the backline. It is an injustice that this player did not get an All-Star over the last three years.

Waterford put out an almost completely new team for the second half, with only Darragh Lyons, Stephen Bennett and Maurice Shanahan remaining of the starting 15. Limerick made some changes themselves, replacing three of their forwards.

Waterford managed to keep their noses in front in the third quarter, thanks largely to another fortuitous goal in the 28th minutes, when Limerick goalie Barry Hennessy collected a long ball in from Mark O’Brien but, under pressure from Shane Bennett, he lost control with Bennett forcing the ball over the line. The goal probably should have been disallowed for a tackle on the goalie in the square. That it wasn’t was typical of referee Joe Larkin’s (Cork) eccentric officiating throughout the game, with obvious frees repeatedly being ignored.

Halfway through the second half, Waterford were still five points ahead, 2-15 to 0-16, with Limerick heavily dependent on Shane Dowling frees to stay in touch. However, in the last quarter, Limerick found the reserves to lift their game considerably, with Waterford failing to respond. In the last 20 minutes Limerick landed eleven points to just four from Waterford. We will probably be told that Waterford put in a heavy training session earlier in the day to explain their late flat-footedness, although they had almost a completely new team for the second half.

Overall, it was a rather toothless, flat game, reflected in how frequently players were caught in possession or were blocked down. A lot of passes also went astray on both sides, and there was a lot of bad striking.

At least the home supporters had the rare pleasure of seeing Brick Walsh score two good points, while the highlight of the game was a brilliant solo point late in the game by Maurice Shanahan, who worked his way right through the Limerick defence to score a great point off his stick. Darragh Fives did make his comeback when brought on in the 53rd minute and, while understandably he looked a bit rusty, he did see a fair bit of ball in his 20 minutes on the pitch.

Another positive feature was a storming third quarter from Seamus Keating, including a good long-range point, having been introduced at half time at right half back. However, with Limerick getting totally on top in defence and midfield, he faded from view in the last quarter.

Waterford: Ian O’Regan; Shane Fives; Shane McNulty; Noel Connors; Philip Mahony (0-1); Darragh Lyons; Stephen Daniels; Jamie Barron; Stephen Roche (0-2); Maurice Shanahan (0-5, four frees); Kevin Moran; Stephen Bennett (0-1); Tommy Ryan (1-2); Austin Gleeson (0-1); Brian O’Halloran.
Subs introduced at half time: Stephen O’Keeffe for Ian O’Regan; Kieran Bennett for Shane McNulty; Ian Kenny for Noel Connors; Seamus Keating (0-1) for Shane Fives; Tadhg de Búrca for Stephen Daniels; Mark O’Brien for Philip Mahony; Jake Dillon for Jamie Barron; Colin Dunford (0-2) for Stephen Roche; Patrick Curran (0-1) for Kevin Moran; Michael Walsh (0-2) for Brian O’Halloran; DJ Foran (0-1) for Brian O’Halloran; Shane Bennett (1-0) for Austin Gleeson.

Other subs: Darragh Fives for Stephen Bennett (53 mins); Tommy Ryan for Maurice Shanahan (64 mins).

Limerick starting team: Barry Hennessy; Richie English; Seán Finn; Tom Condon; Gavin O’Mahony; Dan Morrissey; Seamus Hickey; Paul Browne (0-2); Pat Ryan (0-1); Aaron Gillane (0-1); Cian Lynch (0-4); Tom Morrissey; Colin Ryan (0-1); Ronan Lynch (0-3, all frees); Barry Nash (0-2).

Limerick brought on Shane Dowling (0-7, six frees, one 65), Peter Casey (0-3) and David Dempsey (0-1) at half time and Darragh O’Donovan (0-1) and Alan Dempsey (0-1) in the second half.

Waterford play Offaly in Ballysaggart next Sunday.

robopaddy2

Is McNulty being groomed for fullback?

blueflame

Was in Fraher Field last night and totally accept that you cannot read too much into challenge matches but that being said they are played for a reason, to try things out and once again last night i saw much more negatives than positives.

On the positives - of those on the periphery of the team thought the game was quite positive, with solid performances from Shane McNulty, Darragh Lyons, Stephen Roche, Tommy Ryan and Seamus Keating. D. J. Foran had one or two good moments also. Good also to see Darragh Fives return.

On the negatives however, once again we saw the experiment of trying to isolate Aussie at full forward fail miserably - can we please dispense with this experiment. I also wonder about all this training and bonding together because i wonder is it possible to change peoples habits, you watch Brick and Stephen Bennett every time they get a ball their head is up and they are looking for a teammate, compare that with Maurice and his head is down and just running into traffic most of the time,. yes he got a great point last night, but if he got his head up and slipped a pass inside we were in for a goal, and this is something that is all too common in his game - one woud feel that this is something that should be drummed into guys at this level of training.

Most worryingly for me last night was the last 15 minutes and the reasons behind our collapse. We brought Darragh Fives into the game, and according to management this morning they didn't want to put him marking anyone - so we played him as a "deep" lying sweeper. Sorry I do not buy this - if Darragh is going to play in the championship he needs to get up to pace very quickly, his hurling understandably was very rusty and there is no point wrapping him in cotton wool between now and the Tipp game because it will just be a waste of time - he is either fit to return or not end of.

Personally i believe it was another attempt to see if we can shut out a game because as soon as he went in as a sweeper we once again we all but emptied out the forward line and returned to mass defence where nobody was picking up anybody. As soon as Limerick backs realised this they started t run out of defence with the ball creating momentum running past players drawing others out, had loads of time and space to play good ball into their forwards who were running into space, and picked off scores at will. Our collapse in my view had nothing to do with changes in personnel or players getting tired or anything else, it was as a result of a flawed system and tactic, that management are trying to persist with and it is crazy because the system is flawed. Opposition have copped onto it and Limerick did to us last night exactly what Cork and Galway did to us in the league, and that is only this year and it is so obvious to see.

For those who think this is just another swipe at management, maybe it is, but is made not because of any personal agenda but for a genuine valid reason. How many times do we have to try something before we realise it is doomed to failure. As Einstein said the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I wish I could believe it was just another challenge and it means nothing but we are only a 5 weeks from the championship and we seem to have no structure or clue where we are going - maybe it is all part of a big surprise and if come championship we up our game considerably, I will be the first to take my hat off and congratulate management - until then I remain a very concerned supporter.

Giveitfong

Following on from blueflame's post, one incident I forgot to mention in my match report came with a few minutes left when Waterford were still one or two points in front and got a sideline about 45 metres from the Limerick goal. When Tommy Ryan's sideline puck arrived in the Limerick goal area, Shane Bennett was the only Waterford player in there, accompanied by no less than five Limerick defenders.

It could be that at that stage the other Waterford forwards couldn't be bothered making the effort to get into position. More likely, as blueflame suggests, this was Waterford adopting the default Derek McGrath setting of sitting back late in the game trying to defend a narrow lead. We should have learned by now that you can't do this in hurling. But there appears to be no learning process in the current Waterford setup.

PTH2009

Giveitfong wrote: »

Following on from blueflame's post, one incident I forgot to mention in my match report came with a few minutes left when Waterford were still one or two points in front and got a sideline about 45 metres from the Limerick goal. When Tommy Ryan's sideline puck arrived in the Limerick goal area, Shane Bennett was the only Waterford player in there, accompanied by no less than five Limerick defenders.

It could be that at that stage the other Waterford forwards couldn't be bothered making the effort to get into position. More likely, as blueflame suggests, this was Waterford adopting the default Derek McGrath setting of sitting back late in the game trying to defend a narrow lead. We should have learned by now that you can't do this in hurling. But there appears to be no learning process in the current Waterford setup.

yeah were not learning from past mistakes which cost us big. It could be an early summer as this is prob the most competitve championship in years and about 80% of teams can beat one another on any given day. 1 forward vs 5 forwards whats the most likely sanario ???? the forward has no chance of getting anything from it

WE NEED TO GET SORTED OR ITS GOING TO A MISRABLE SUMMER

danganabu

robopaddy2 wrote: »

After seeing what happened Tipp in the league final, they're not all their cracked up to be. I wouldn't write Cork off at all.

JesusRef wrote: »

Me either - and getting to play a final in the new Pairc is huge for Cork

Ye seem to be ignoring the fact that the current Cork team is an absolute shambles and their style of hurling is tailor made for Tipp.

PTH2009

danganabu wrote: »

Ye seem to be ignoring the fact that the current Cork team is an absolute shambles and their style of hurling is tailor made for Tipp.

Cork beat them in the league this year and Cork also hammered ourselves at home. Cork have improved a lot from last year

Next sunday should be interesting. I think Tipp will shade it but Cork wont go down without a fight

danganabu

PTH2009 wrote: »

Cork beat them in the league this year and Cork also hammered ourselves at home. Cork have improved a lot from last year

Next sunday should be interesting. I think Tipp will shade it but Cork wont go down without a fight

Cork beat them when Tipp had already topped the group, and it was the league, completely irrelevant and meaningless.

KK and Galway have shown that the way to compete with/beat Tipp is by being physical and in their faces, I cannot think of a team less likely to do that than Cork. We beat them by 9 points last year and 10 points the previous championship meeting, I can't see what has changed to make it any closer this year.

Deisedozzer

Would agree with all those who are concerned about the team's lack of ability to close out a game and our tactics of retreating back the field in order to so - regardless of whether the game is a challenge, this is clearly a management tactic and as we all know it is doomed to fail come Championship. I am genuinely concerned that this management set up do not know how to get the best out of this group of players.

This persistent tactic of putting Aussie at full forward is borderline madness. Anyone who knows Aussie's style knows that he needs to have space to run into and to me that means centre back or centre forward. Raining aimless high balls down on top of him is an insult to the talent which Aussie possesses, Cork and Tipp must be in stitches hearing about the stuff we're trying.

robopaddy2

The only possible reason I can see for putting Aussie full forward is that he is the only player in the country with any chance of winning possession on his own with 3 / 4 defenders around him.