Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 3 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

conor05

I hate saying this, but Kilkenny look like half a team these days when TJ Reid and Richie Hogan (came on as sub I know) are not playing.

They score and create so much that I am worried if they got injured later in the year what would we do.

therealdonster

Early days and all but Kilkenny's fitness levels looked very poor. We will struggle in the league and could very well be facing relegation.

Forwards were not great and yet again could not cope with the sweeper system. Kelly was taken off pretty early but any of the other forwards could have met the same fate. We went out of it after the sending off.

No new player put their hand up today IMO.

savannahkat

Ah well when it was pointed out ever before the game this team would not break eggs many took exception to the comment. No need to panic we do have the players to make a go of it just stop trying the same faces who were tried before and are not just up to it.

Village87

conor05 wrote: »

I hate saying this, but Kilkenny look like half a team these days when TJ Reid and Richie Hogan (came on as sub I know) are not playing.

They score and create so much that I am worried if they got injured later in the year what would we do.

Agree fully, Deegan struggled to clear the ball today, had to stop and pivot to his left. Awful to look at, can be read like a book. Wexford would have won by 10 if they had a free taker. Our skilllevels way off . Padraig Walsh, TJ, Maher. Wally are essential. Hopefully Leahy becomes the player he is capable of. We badly need hurlers

Get Malone and Keoghan tried hard and did ok. So many of the lads playing today are getting plenty of chances and not taking them. Cleere , Scanlon and Lennon. All there 3rd r 4th year on the panel.

Cornerback1

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

Interested to hear what conditions were like for the game. 13 points and only 5 in the second half a poor return.

I'd say conditions played its part! Earlyday.

Garyp88

It's the first game of the year and a meaningless one a that without a few players, it's hard to judge at this stage without full squads or fitness let's get behind the lads with some positivity and leave the verdicts until the end of the season. Players like Kelly match fitness and sharpness is the key the result is meaningless

Powerhouse

Garyp88 wrote: »

let's get behind the lads with some positivity and leave the verdicts until the end of the season. /QUOTE]

It’s fair enough to say the game was meaningless but it’s hardly realistic to, in January, expect people to defer their opinions until the end of the season.

brookville

i thought we struggled with there sweeper again it was number 11 and not murphy.very suprised to see kelly going off but wexford csme out a different team in the 2nd half.Blanchfield was a loss and wex drove some terrible wides when on top.
as i said when the team was announced i was confident are backs would be ok and delaney was good.But i was afraid our fowards wouldnt score enough and true enough we struggled badly again especially in the 2nd half.Mossy tried hard and donnelly was better when he came out to the hf line but we desperately need ball winning fowards and with wally,tj etc not available it was going to be hard.Hogan looked frustrated when he came on and there was good bit of niggle in it.

Garyp88

Powerhouse wrote: »

Garyp88 wrote: »

let's get behind the lads with some positivity and leave the verdicts until the end of the season. /QUOTE]

It’s fair enough to say the game was meaningless but it’s hardly realistic to, in January, expect people to defer their opinions until the end of the season.

So the other side is then if we'd have won by 20 points does that mean we're going to win the all Ireland, it's to early after one challenge match to judge and pick fault given the circumstances

KK Supercats

Wexford scored 16 points but only four from play. Was there anything that stood out to people who were at the match as to why we conceded so many scoreable frees? Think KK only scored 5 frees in comparison and had 8 points from play.

brookville

KK Supercats wrote: »

Wexford scored 16 points but only four from play. Was there anything that stood out to people who were at the match as to why we conceded so many scoreable frees? Think KK only scored 5 frees in comparison and had 8 points from play.

yea definitely thought they got a few handy frees but theres no doubt wex were fired up after half time and wanted it more.blanch was definitely a loss and hogan missed 2 feees he'd normally score but wex also drove terrible wides and were the better team.
no real goal chances for either team.

blackcard

therealdonster wrote: »

Early days and all but Kilkenny's fitness levels looked very poor. We will struggle in the league and could very well be facing relegation.

Forwards were not great and yet again could not cope with the sweeper system. Kelly was taken off pretty early but any of the other forwards could have met the same fate. We went out of it after the sending off.

No new player put their hand up today IMO.

Who was sent off? What point in the match?

brookville

blackcard wrote: »

therealdonster wrote: »

Early days and all but Kilkenny's fitness levels looked very poor. We will struggle in the league and could very well be facing relegation.

Forwards were not great and yet again could not cope with the sweeper system. Kelly was taken off pretty early but any of the other forwards could have met the same fate. We went out of it after the sending off.

No new player put their hand up today IMO.

Who was sent off? What point in the match?

blanchfield and jack o coonor after half time there was a few scraps during it i suppose he had to show action becauss it could of got out if hand

brookville

anyone know why kelly was taken off was he just easing him back into action?i thought he looked to be moving well.

conor05

I don’t think we will beat Wexford, Clare and Tipp in the league but I think we can beat Cork in the first match at home and possibly get something out of the Limerick match at home too (they will start late training).

C__MC

These preseasons competitions and leagues are utterly meaningless due to the round robin of championship. Teams have to be cautious. Relegation wouldn’t be the end of the world for any team. In fact Waterford will be nicely cooked come may.

For any one at the game today, how did kk fair with the physical stakes? It’s one area where they have kind of struggled in recent years

dubcat51

Its january and were looking for a full back centre back and a forward at least.the rest will fall in place.so Im more interested to see if a full back and a couple of others appear more than the result.

brookville

C__MC wrote: »

These preseasons competitions and leagues are utterly meaningless due to the round robin of championship. Teams have to be cautious. Relegation wouldn’t be the end of the world for any team. In fact Waterford will be nicely cooked come may.

For any one at the game today, how did kk fair with the physical stakes? It’s one area where they have kind of struggled in recent years

i thought we werent to bad but our fowards lost their shape in the 2nd half and wex seemed to come out with a world of ball.Theres no doubt we struggled with a sweeper again and a few short puckouts were coughed up and points scores but like last year we could struggle in attack untill all our bigger names are back.I said here a few weeks ago im suprised he didnt bring in more fowards in a area we've struggled for a few years

kk1970

brookville wrote: »

anyone know why kelly was taken off was he just easing him back into action?i thought he looked to be moving well.

I thought he was doing ok, was getting onto the ball. Accuracy was a small bit off, but that will come with time. Maybe 40 mins or that was enough for the time being

Village87

C__MC wrote: »

These preseasons competitions and leagues are utterly meaningless due to the round robin of championship. Teams have to be cautious. Relegation wouldn’t be the end of the world for any team. In fact Waterford will be nicely cooked come may.

For any one at the game today, how did kk fair with the physical stakes? It’s one area where they have kind of struggled in recent years

Ok physically. Way off skilfully. Lack of decent first touch led to mistakes and frees. Not an important competition, but lack of lads putting up three hand after being on a he panel 3/4 years is worrying

brookville

i think the fitzgibbon is starting next week going to be a heavy few weeks for lads on their senior panel.I think we have 11 lads involved with colleges.madness when ya stop to think bout it.

Topcat32

brookville wrote: »

i thought we werent to bad but our fowards lost their shape in the 2nd half and wex seemed to come out with a world of ball.Theres no doubt we struggled with a sweeper again and a few short puckouts were coughed up and points scores but like last year we could struggle in attack untill all our bigger names are back.I said here a few weeks ago im suprised he didnt bring in more fowards in a area we've struggled for a few years

I don't know if there are many other forwards that he can bring in, he has the 6 lads who started today plus Richie Hogan who came on and then Richie Leahy, Bill Sheehan, Billy Ryan, Adrian Mullen, Ger Aylward , Walter Walsh, Colin Fennelly and TJ Reid. If we get the experienced forwards fit and a Richie Leahy, Adrian Mullen or John Donnelly finds some form in my opinion we will have a decent forward line, the worry for me looking into the summer is that we currently have only two nailed on starters in the backline, both of them are injured and both have been playing out of their best position for the last few years.

Garyp88

Topcat32 wrote: »

brookville wrote: »

i thought we werent to bad but our fowards lost their shape in the 2nd half and wex seemed to come out with a world of ball.Theres no doubt we struggled with a sweeper again and a few short puckouts were coughed up and points scores but like last year we could struggle in attack untill all our bigger names are back.I said here a few weeks ago im suprised he didnt bring in more fowards in a area we've struggled for a few years

I don't know if there are many other forwards that he can bring in, he has the 6 lads who started today plus Richie Hogan who came on and then Richie Leahy, Bill Sheehan, Billy Ryan, Adrian Mullen, Ger Aylward , Walter Walsh, Colin Fennelly and TJ Reid. If we get the experienced forwards fit and a Richie Leahy, Adrian Mullen or John Donnelly finds some form in my opinion we will have a decent forward line, the worry for me looking into the summer is that we currently have only two nailed on starters in the backline, both of them are injured and both have been playing out of their best position for the last few years.

I'd rather see bolger than Connor Martin

Topcat32

Garyp88 wrote: »

I'd rather see bolger than Connor Martin

That's a fair point, I think a player in Conors position who doesn't start a match like today when so many forwards were unavailable and sees the likes of Ger Malone picked ahead of him faces an uphill challenge to stay in the squad for the championship.

brookville

Topcat32 wrote: »

Garyp88 wrote: »

I'd rather see bolger than Connor Martin

That's a fair point, I think a player in Conors position who doesn't start a match like today when so many forwards were unavailable and sees the likes of Ger Malone picked ahead of him faces an uphill challenge to stay in the squad for the championship.

talking to a few lads below in wexford today the feeling is surely john walsh or chris bolger are ahead of pat lyng and conor martin.
also heard buckley had an operation last month and they wont know the full outcome for a few months but they fear he could miss the whole season.

Village87

Topcat32 wrote: »

That's a fair point, I think a player in Conors position who doesn't start a match like today when so many forwards were unavailable and sees the likes of Ger Malone picked ahead of him faces an uphill challenge to stay in the squad for the championship.

I can name 4/5 forwards not on the panel better than some of the forwards there at the moment .

Garyp88

Village87 wrote: »

Topcat32 wrote: »

That's a fair point, I think a player in Conors position who doesn't start a match like today when so many forwards were unavailable and sees the likes of Ger Malone picked ahead of him faces an uphill challenge to stay in the squad for the championship.

I can name 4/5 forwards not on the panel better than some of the forwards there at the moment .

So why are they not picked apart from stating the obvious? it's bizarre work rate and a certain type of forward is picked ahead of skill and point getting

Topcat32

Village87 wrote: »

I can name 4/5 forwards not on the panel better than some of the forwards there at the moment .

Go ahead then, I would have Chris Bolger, John Walsh Sean Morrissey ahead of Conor Martin or Ger Malone to be fair but they have been dropped and I can only think of one player who was dropped and then brought back onto the panel, so very unlikely that this management are going to bring them back

Marrooned

I was down in Enniscorthy today. First of all I knew it was going to be a bad day when I saw Keenan chatting and shaking hands with all the Wexford lads before the throw in . People on this site are still slating our players, they scored 8 pts. From play in comparison to Wexfords 4 pts from play. We struggled to get frees off of that excuse for a ref. Our forwards in particular were seriously harassed and constantly fouled , this is a regular occurrence with some Wexford players who must be thinking this is within the law when they are getting away with it for so long .anyway I thought Tommy Walsh, Conor Delaney, Enda Morrissey and Mossy were the pick of our bunch . This was a very inexperienced team who went into the lions den and didn't do that bad .Wexford 4 pts from play?

Village87

Marrooned wrote: »

I was down in Enniscorthy today. First of all I knew it was going to be a bad day when I saw Keenan chatting and shaking hands with all the Wexford lads before the throw in . People on this site are still slating our players, they scored 8 pts. From play in comparison to Wexfords 4 pts from play. We struggled to get frees off of that excuse for a ref. Our forwards in particular were seriously harassed and constantly fouled , this is a regular occurrence with some Wexford players who must be thinking this is within the law when they are getting away with it for so long .anyway I thought Tommy Walsh, Conor Delaney, Enda Morrissey and Mossy were the pick of our bunch . This was a very inexperienced team who went into the lions den and didn't do that bad .Wexford 4 pts from play?

This is Kilkenny you are talking about. Wexford had less then half a team too.