Clare GAA Discussion - 2024 All Ireland Hurling Champions

BloodyBill

Treble double wrote: »

I'm no hurling expert, but what I loved about Clare hurling back in the day was the physicality, in more recent times we seem to have gone for less physical more skilful hurlers which obviously has led to avoidance of physical battles, creating space and tippy tappy type hurling which just leaves me cold.
I would love to see Lohan picking a big physical 15 and going to war with Limerick in October conditions now that would get the juices flowing, I'm probably just being nostalgic for the nineties and we probably don't have hurlers like that anymore but at this time of year the big man will have an advantage and speed and skill will be negated slightly. Conor Cleary should thrive

Id agree..the aggression of Clare was what set them apart in the 90s. Realistically we don't have the players to put it up to Limerick Physically. Theyve got massive size and Power..we've got some size but no real power like Hayes, Dan Morrissey, Hegarty...all centre backs for their clubs..
But I think Lohan will have us primed and we will play well.. jez if we won it would be great.. A league cup and into a semi with a get out if jail card

Gael85

Treble double wrote: »

Exactly, if the shoe was on the other foot that's how Fermanagh would react.
Let them whinge away in the media and say nothing, not our decision.
I know it's a different county but Armagh were directed to play us at a neutral venue for breaching training camp protocols a few seasons ago. The "neutral" venue we got was Newery which is further away than the Athletic grounds. The game was played on a frozen pitch and Dermot Coughlan suffered a horrific injury in the first play an injury that is probably still haunting him. McGeeney wouldn't acknowledge after that the pitch was a factor in the injury, he just whinged about not being allowed play at home with the usual big dour head on him. Clare should bring Armagh back to Cross for the game Sunday week, they don't have to worry about catering for supporters��

I'm sure Gabriel Keating could organise that :D

letowski

BloodyBill wrote: »

No t, unning into a tackle is pointless. That was coached about 4 years ago. You don't have to go into an unnecessary tackle to go forward. Limerick don't do it. You can pass it back or forward before taking contact..

I disagree. I think the purpose is to move the ball as fast as possible in front of your inside line. If you have good support running, you can take the contact and lay it off to the midfielder to put the ball in front of Rodgers or whoever is playing inside. The team has be physically well conditioned and keep moving forward. Unless you have no support in front of you.

From watching the minors and u20s, the way Cork and Tipp were driving out with the ball, good support running and playing the ball into space in front of the likes of Bowe, it was lightyears ahead of what we were trying to do. They were getting the ball from 21 to 21 through speed and movement.

I don't know what we are trying to do, but were definitely trying to find an extra pass or two in the backs so a free man can get on the ball. It's too slow and risky for me. Limerick have their own thing the way they use their wing forwards so deep, they use them like an outlet ball for their back to get it out to.

Clareman

If you want to play the possession game and work the ball through the lines you have to win the contact area, in an ideal world you'll pass the ball to a guy on the run, he takes possession, engages a defender and passes the ball to the next guy on the run, it's almost like a relay game and a GREAT tactic in training as you can control everything, call frees and reset it loads of time. It's also a great tactic when you are playing a sweeper system because it means that you can move the extra player from defence into attack.

In a game however it tends to fall apart quickly, especially this time of year oe when you are against a physically bigger team, it falls apart when players get tired and aren't running onto the ball, they are taking static ball which means the defender can swarm them, it also breaks down when the player in possession is knocked back by the defender, now instead of playing the ball to the player on the move the pass goes astray so the guy on the move has to break stride or stop or go backwards to get the ball.

Clareman

Another point to make about the short passing/possession type game is that goals are very hard to come by as players will tend to take their points when in space out the field rather than take on a full back line that often would have extra players due to the sweeper system.

Figerty

Clareman wrote: »

Another point to make about the short passing/possession type game is that goals are very hard to come by as players will tend to take their points when in space out the field rather than take on a full back line that often would have extra players due to the sweeper system.

With the short passing, and the sweeper , players are being drawn out the field and away from the danger zone. Tipp badly exposed our full back line, which was weakened, for pace and the use of space, where we depending on the excellenace of Rogers to win ball.

Clareman

Figerty wrote: »

With the short passing, and the sweeper , players are being drawn out the field and away from the danger zone. Tipp badly exposed our full back line, which was weakened, for pace and the use of space, where we depending on the excellenace of Rogers to win ball.

Agreed, the who short passing does depend on forwards to win ball, for the seniors we were reliant on Conlon and Duggan as the ball winners can't see who's going to do it for us now.

letowski

Figerty wrote: »

With the short passing, and the sweeper , players are being drawn out the field and away from the danger zone. Tipp badly exposed our full back line, which was weakened, for pace and the use of space, where we depending on the excellenace of Rogers to win ball.

Tipp are excellent they way they use space. Bowe is a top class talent for Tipp, but you could see that when he got the ball, he got it in space.

At the other end, Rodgers was creating alot of problems too for Tipp, but with nothing close to the service Bowe got. Alot of the scores and chances he created was from winning high balls or running onto the breaks.

BloodyBill

Clareman wrote: »

If you want to play the possession game and work the ball through the lines you have to win the contact area, in an ideal world you'll pass the ball to a guy on the run, he takes possession, engages a defender and passes the ball to the next guy on the run, it's almost like a relay game and a GREAT tactic in training as you can control everything, call frees and reset it loads of time. It's also a great tactic when you are playing a sweeper system because it means that you can move the extra player from defence into attack.

In a game however it tends to fall apart quickly, especially this time of year oe when you are against a physically bigger team, it falls apart when players get tired and aren't running onto the ball, they are taking static ball which means the defender can swarm them, it also breaks down when the player in possession is knocked back by the defender, now instead of playing the ball to the player on the move the pass goes astray so the guy on the move has to break stride or stop or go backwards to get the ball.

Id agree with all that. I dont want to sound pedantic but its the details we fall down on. The method of engaging the defender is the important part. You can engage without getting wrapped up and stopped or dispossessed by a giant like Kyle Hayes. Release the ball ,get it away before he swallows you. No need to run into him and hope you get around him..its already slowed down at that stage. Anyway Lohan doesn't advocate it and I'd agree with him. There's enough contact without going looking for it. When you have to foul or take contact ...take it on your terms. If your getting a yellow make sure the guy your tackling or stopping is gonna feel it. That's for backs...
There's an issue in Clare with the accuracy of our hand passing . Its never been good..in todays climate it needs to be perfect. And of course the Air.. if we see improvement in our fetching then we ll be onto a winner.

Feenie

bit late to the part but I only saw that second half in the Tipp game. It's a common problem you see. Players just waiting there for the ball, instead of running onto it. every single time you'd say "oh yeah, now we're in possession, we'll score from this, something happens. the ball gets flicked, they drop it, something stupid gets in the way. Sloppy is the only word I'd call it.

Clareman

Feenie wrote: »

bit late to the part but I only saw that second half in the Tipp game. It's a common problem you see. Players just waiting there for the ball, instead of running onto it. every single time you'd say "oh yeah, now we're in possession, we'll score from this, something happens. the ball gets flicked, they drop it, something stupid gets in the way. Sloppy is the only word I'd call it.

Sloppy is the perfect word for it, but in the players defence they normally start off flying it and it works perfectly, it's when they get tired or the opposition get up to speed with the tactic is when it falls down, the amount of times the ball goes to ground and the player has to go back to get it highlights the problem and just makes eveything slower.

Figerty

Clareman wrote: »

Sloppy is the perfect word for it, but in the players defence they normally start off flying it and it works perfectly, it's when they get tired or the opposition get up to speed with the tactic is when it falls down, the amount of times the ball goes to ground and the player has to go back to get it highlights the problem and just makes eveything slower.

Look, we were short 3 key players to injury and would have struggled. By half time they were out of gas, not from lack of effort, but the fact that three strong talents were missing. Galvin was outstanding in the first half, but he was doing the work of two players. That couldn't be sustained. You had young lads then where picking up the mantle and it's too big an ask. The tactics rely on full fitness and subs to come in and pick up the pace. Wing forwards these days are sacrificial, they should last 40 minutes and be replaced.

The water break has also changed the game into four sprints,, and this is where subs are needed to pick up that speed.

One solution would be to reduce the number of subs to four and a goalie!

Clareman

I've noticed that the water break in almost every game is a benefit to the team loosing as it gives them an opportunity to change their tactics whereas the team winning won't change.

Yes we were missing players, yes the players that were there gave it their all but the tactics weren't adjusted to the fact that we were missing 3 players and that we'd have players doing the work of 2, it was clear as day that we couldn't sustain it but we didn't have a plan B which meant we were destroyed in the second half. I don't blame the players, I blame the management for not adjusting and continuing with tactics that were bound to fail and not having an alternative.

benji79

Will Tony kelly be hitting frees at weekend?

Feenie

In fairness to the forwards the backs were just taken out of it, the backs were just all over the place, the worst part to me. Tipp's back showed the complete opposite and were on alert and ontop

letowski

benji79 wrote: »

Will Tony kelly be hitting frees at weekend?

I would think so, he took them for all 5 games during the league.

benji79

letowski wrote: »

I would think so, he took them for all 5 games during the league.

He was good on them from what I recall.

Will David Fitzgerald be starting in forwards? Presume with the injuries and Duggan not around options are limited

Clareman

I never thought of the frees, Kelly is an OK freetaker but I wouldn't says he's an intercounty level freetaker, he isn't even the best freetaker for his club

Clareman

Feenie wrote: »

In fairness to the forwards the backs were just taken out of it, the backs were just all over the place, the worst part to me. Tipp's back showed the complete opposite and were on alert and ontop

Our backs were being dragged around the place because the Tipp backs had time to place every ball their were clearing whereas our lads were trying to run the ball out, getting turned over and being exposed.

letowski

benji79 wrote: »

He was good on them from what I recall.

Will David Fitzgerald be starting in forwards? Presume with the injuries and Duggan not around options are limited

He did well in the league but has been inconsistent in seasons before this year. I taught he was hitting his frees with better technique last spring, so hopefully he keeps within that 80-95% conversion rate this winter.

Fitzgerald was playing well during the league at center forward. I think it suits him being further up the field as he is good at carrying the ball. He was never a natural defender.

Feenie

letowski wrote: »

He did well in the league but has been inconsistent in seasons before this year. I taught he was hitting his frees with better technique last spring, so hopefully he keeps within that 80-95% conversion rate this winter.

Fitzgerald was playing well during the league at center forward. I think it suits him being further up the field as he is good at carrying the ball. He was never a natural defender.

Fitzgerald was always crying out to be a half forward to me. he always made rash decisions man marking. His height and speed make him one of the ideal centre forwards in the country.

letowski

Feenie wrote: »

Fitzgerald was always crying out to be a half forward to me. he always made rash decisions man marking. His height and speed make him one of the ideal centre forwards in the country.

Agreed, the same I think could be said for David McInerney, who was having a fine league also at midfield. I think the way the modern game is going, you need athletes with size in the middle third who can also hurl. We were blown out of it by Limerick last year in that area.

letowski

I imagine the team this weekend will be something along the lines of:

Tuohy
Corry - Cleary - Browne
Malone - O’Connor - O’Halloran
Kelly - McInerney
Ryan - Fitzgerald - Reidy
O’Donnell - Shanagher - Taylor

I’m hearing Aaron Cunningham, Seadna Morey and Jason McCarthy pushing for places.

Feenie

letowski wrote: »

I imagine the team this weekend will be something along the lines of:

Tuohy
Corry - Cleary - Browne
Malone - O’Connor - O’Halloran
Kelly - McInerney
Ryan - Fitzgerald - Reidy
O’Donnell - Shanagher - Taylor

I’m hearing Aaron Cunningham, Seadna Morey and Jason McCarthy pushing for places.

I can definitely see Jason McCarthy and Aaron Cunningham, too big lads with a great space. I can't see Reidy being played. Too small to play a team like Limerick.
Ideally we're putting every piece of muscle behind this squad.

LuckyGent88

letowski wrote: »

I imagine the team this weekend will be something along the lines of:

Tuohy
Corry - Cleary - Browne
Malone - O’Connor - O’Halloran
Kelly - McInerney
Ryan - Fitzgerald - Reidy
O’Donnell - Shanagher - Taylor

I’m hearing Aaron Cunningham, Seadna Morey and Jason McCarthy pushing for places.

Swap Cunningham in for Taylor and I’d say that’s it. Wouldn’t be too confident in Corry at corner back.

Feenie

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Swap Cunningham in for Taylor and I’d say that’s it. Wouldn’t be too confident in Corry at corner back.

I couldn't see Corry being relied to mark a lad like Graham Coxon, Aaron Gillane or so on.

letowski

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Swap Cunningham in for Taylor and I’d say that’s it. Wouldn’t be too confident in Corry at corner back.

I was reading also in the Examiner that Quilligan will start in goals ahead of Tuohy. Clare were supposed to have conceded alot of goals (10) in their last two challenge games.

Feenie

letowski wrote: »

I was reading also in the Examiner that Quilligan will start in goals ahead of Tuohy. Clare were supposed to have conceded alot of goals (10) in their last two challenge games.

Donal Touhy might be a safer bet considering we've been playing him for the past 3 years, Brian Lohan may take the shot though. It'll either end very well or very badly.

letowski

Clare Senior hurling team to play LImerick in the AllIanz League final and Munster Senior Hurling Quarter Final

1.​ Eibhear Quilligan​ E. O Cuileagain,​ Feakle
2. Jack Browne​ ​ ​ S. DeBrun,​ Ballyea
3. Conor Cleary​ ​ ​ C. O Cleirigh, St Josephs Miltown Malbay
4. Stephen O Halloran​ S. O hAllurain,​ Clarecastle
5. Seadna Morey S. O Mora, Sixmilebridge
6. Pat O Connor​ P O Conchuir Tubber
7.​ Aidan McCarthy​ A MacCarthaigh, Inagh/Kilnamona
8.​ David McInerney D MacAirchinnigh,​ Tulla (Capt)
9. Tony Kelly A O Ceallaigh, Ballyea
10. Diarmuid Ryan D. O Riain, Cratloe
11. David Reidy D. O Riada, Eire-Og, Inis
12. David Fitzgerald D. MacGearailt, Inagh/Kilnamona
13. Ryan Taylor​ R. O Tailluir, Clooney/Quin
14.​ Cathal Malone C. O Maoileoin, Sixmilebridge
15. Shane O Donnell S. O Donaill, Eire-Og, Inis

Some surprises there. I didn't think he would pick Malone over Shanagher at full forward.

Light enough half back line would worry me against Limerick. Although, I'm worried about them pretty much all over the field. I think Limerick should beat us comfortably. That's not a strong Clare team.

Feenie

letowski wrote: »

Clare Senior hurling team to play LImerick in the AllIanz League final and Munster Senior Hurling Quarter Final

1.​ Eibhear Quilligan​ E. O Cuileagain,​ Feakle
2. Jack Browne​ ​ ​ S. DeBrun,​ Ballyea
3. Conor Cleary​ ​ ​ C. O Cleirigh, St Josephs Miltown Malbay
4. Stephen O Halloran​ S. O hAllurain,​ Clarecastle
5. Seadna Morey S. O Mora, Sixmilebridge
6. Pat O Connor​ P O Conchuir Tubber
7.​ Aidan McCarthy​ A MacCarthaigh, Inagh/Kilnamona
8.​ David McInerney D MacAirchinnigh,​ Tulla (Capt)
9. Tony Kelly A O Ceallaigh, Ballyea
10. Diarmuid Ryan D. O Riain, Cratloe
11. David Reidy D. O Riada, Eire-Og, Inis
12. David Fitzgerald D. MacGearailt, Inagh/Kilnamona
13. Ryan Taylor​ R. O Tailluir, Clooney/Quin
14.​ Cathal Malone C. O Maoileoin, Sixmilebridge
15. Shane O Donnell S. O Donaill, Eire-Og, Inis

Some surprises there. I didn't think he would pick Malone over Shanagher at full forward.

Light enough half back line would worry me against Limerick. Although, I'm worried about them pretty much all over the field. I think Limerick should beat us comfortably. That's not a strong Clare team.

do you have a source on this?
also Seana Morey, Pat O'Connor and and Aidan McCarthy in the half back line? yeah I have no clue what Brian is at.The rest of the team seems strong though, I'm thinking that full back line would hold well enough. Forwards looking to be in top shape aswell from the looks of it.