Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Deskjockey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389227#Comment_120389227

I'll have some of the mind bending drugs that you're on, if you think the senior game v Limerick is a 50/50 game.

lim4ev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389270#Comment_120389270

I'd fancy limerick but some are suggesting that limerick will cake walk out of munster and I just don't see that as a guarantee.

I genuinely think that Waterford can get out of Munster, when all are fit they have the material to get out. I know there's a downer there at the moment but the shadow boxing is done, from now onwards the real stuff starts.

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120387999#Comment_120387999

crazy attack on him. At least wait until end of the season , if it goes badly wrong then have a go. But writing him off after a few league defeats sounds a bit petty and personal to be honest. Considering skehill won a Fitzgibbon cup under Fitzy you’d expect a bit more respect

washman3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389270#Comment_120389270

Are you basing that on League positions.? Did you learn anything from last year.? It's so so easy to get derailed in Munster, lose your first game and it's a struggle all the way. Home games must be targeted, and won. All things being equal Limerick may edge Waterford, just about. But things can become unequal in the blink of an eye. Expect Waterford to be a complete different animal than last year in Gaelic Grounds, where it was obvious to everyone that something was amiss.

Iecrawfc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120384774#Comment_120384774

Not sure why they need to run these games off so early in the year, they're u17s so will likely not be doing the leaving cert, the most obvious thing to do is have them running concurrently with the senior fixtures. With Galway in Leinster you can have straight all ireland semis so you don't need much time after the provincials

Gardner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120387999#Comment_120387999

PTH I agree boy. Know James personally and he is always off the cuff at the best of times but he took that way too personal. Mark Launders hates Davy also but he keeps his powder dry when on the podcast with Daly. 2 lads are two great pundits but 1 takes it more personally.

Gardner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389485#Comment_120389485

agree lim4ev

I do believe the 3 that will come out of Munster will be Limerick, Clare and Waterford. Limerick will be run close this year in Munster but will come out on top again.

I think Cork will lose their 2 home games. Limerick will narrowly turn us over and Cork will be too naïve to deal with Davy's tactics and the bounce back from us after been defeated by Limerick. Tipp will go PUC and will destroy Cork physically both on and off the ball. What Cork did to Tipp last year in Thurles wont be forgotten. I think it will all come down to the last game of us vs Tipp to get third spot and I'm tipping us narrowly.

blueflame

I only got to listen to the OTB Podcast now and in total honesty I do not disagree with an awful that either Skehill or Paul Murphy had to say for that matter.

I do not have any in-depth know edge of what Davy says in the dressing room,. but agree 100% with comments about he "having to rebuild or redefine Waterford hurling" and "two year plans" reminds me of how Derek kept telling us all we did not understand our weakness or lack of players, which Liam Cahill with the majority of his teams displays proved to be a myth!!! h

We are where we are, and a ball is yet to be struck in the Munster Championship but i fear greatly for our prospects under Davy - so much of what was said on OTB has been already been voiced in pitches around Waterford and the rest of the country. Good Managers accept that ever team, game plan and strategy will have weaknesses , great Managers will plan to ensure that and such weaknesses do not outweigh the positives and will act accordingly. - I have seen nothing to put Davy in the "great Manager category"

Mad about baa baas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120387999#Comment_120387999

I'd be in complete agreement with skehill on this one...I'd say he would have said more but reined himself in..out of curiosity which bit did you find over the top?..surely no one other than Davy can see a reason to bring dessie hutchinson out the field..he is a top class corner forward

Gardner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390749#Comment_120390749

"already been voiced in pitches around Waterford" those same lads in pitches will be patting him on the back if we come out of Munster. this nonsense talk should go in one ear and out he other. April 23rd is D-Day

Giveitfong

It is hard to know what to make of last Sunday’s game in Kilkenny, or indeed of Waterford’s national hurling league campaign in general. Normally, new management would use the league to work on developing a coherent game plan. However, if Waterford’s game plan will involve a reliance on long puckouts, running into blind alleys and playing Dessie Hutchinson in midfield, we might as well throw our hat at it and take up tiddlywinks instead.

Waterford should have won last Sunday’s game comfortably but, as against Tipperary, poor shooting left them down. They hit eight wides in the first half, to just two for Kilkenny, and, even allowing for the poor conditions, I recorded all eight as bad misses. Kilkenny offered little as an attacking force, with half of their scores coming from Billy Drennan frees, many of them of the very soft variety. They also got several scores directly from Waterford errors. 

The final result probably hinged on two incidents within a minute of each other in the middle of the second half. The first was when Tom Barron’s shot from point-blank range, after a very good passing move, was deflected over the bar by a Kilkenny defender. Immediately afterwards, an almost certain Waterford goal was prevented when Pádraig Walsh intercepted Cárthach Daly’s attempted handpass to Patrick Curran.

You would also wonder whether Davy Fitzgerald really wanted to win this game. Just as Waterford were getting a grip in the third quarter, he switched from a primary reliance on short/directed puckouts (which, as in the Tipperary game, were working well for Waterford) to long puckouts, with inevitable results. Billy Nolan hit Waterford’s first long puckout of the second half in the 46th minutes and went long with seven of the next eight puckouts. Of these eight long puckouts, Waterford won just one.

Of Waterford’s ten first half puckouts, six were short/directed and four were long (of which Waterford won two). In the second half Waterford went short five times and long ten times, winning just one of the latter. Overall, therefore, of 14 long puckouts, Waterford won just three. This was the normal pattern in this league, with Waterford doing much better at creating scoring chances by working the ball out from the back. Incidentally, of Kilkenny’s total of 27 puckouts, 19 were short/directed. Of their eight long puckouts, Waterford won five. This is certainly a revolutionary change in culture, given the Cats’ focus on playing long balls in the Cody era.

There was also a lot of carelessness in Waterford’s play last Sunday, even allowing for the conditions. In all, I counted 30 instances where they gave the ball away cheaply (passes going astray, fumbles, running into trouble). The count for Kilkenny was 19. In a two-point game, that probably made all the difference.

Nevertheless, there were some positives to be taken from the game. There were some good passages of interplay which cut the Kilkenny defence wide open and gave a glimpse of what might be possible. Conor Ryan gave indications of getting to grips with the demands of senior intercounty hurling, and Mark Fitzgerald already looks very comfortable at this level. It was good to see Tadhg de Búrca (24 possessions) bossing things again while Jack Fagan also put in a good shift.

Tom Barron had a very good second half (apart from his terrible late miss) and Cárthach Daly also had a useful outing, although we need to make more of his searing runs from midfield. Pádraig Fitzgerald, apart from his excellent free-taking,  also showed an ability to get into good scoring positions, but he will be disappointed at, uncharacteristically, failing to score from four shots at goal from play.

lim4ev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390652#Comment_120390652

I wouldn't go as far as all that but of course it could happen, I believed from the start it would be limerick clare and Waterford that would progress. I'm not sure about cork their young players are really untested I've read their forum and the cork boys are certainly building some of them up big time and to be honest I don't see it with some of them but have to admit I couldn't judge them too much as I haven't seen enough of them.

I think that Waterford having played a game already will stand to ye when ye play them, and just once nothing drastic happens in 1st match injuries etc there's no reason why ye can't take them.

Clare v tipp in 1st match is crucial (as they all are) I think clare will win this but again its just too early to tell what way tipp and Cork will be this yr . I don't even know if we'll know more after this weekend though I do expect tipp to come to the gaelic grounds Saturday night with all guns blazing.

Davys not my cup of tea but I wouldn't be panicking yet if I were a Waterford man.

TheScoringGoal

I'm a bit late to the party as I only got to listen to the podcast today. I don't think it was their finest hour. Skehill clearly has an issue with Davy and took off on that rant against him. Murphy tried to argue that Kilkenny showed structure and Waterford didn't which the stats don't back up. And both felt Wexford and Kilkenny had excuses as they were missing players during the league but that wasn't mentioned as a defence for Waterford.

On a more pressing note, Fraher must be doubtful for tomorrow? It was unplayable Tuesday, they made it worse and it has done nothing but rain since.

Deiselurker

Both teams were terrible last Sunday and there was no atmosphere at the game due to the boring, short passing game which both teams kept doing despite the heavy rain leading to numerous losses of possession. There were very few forwards in opposition half at times. A man behind me said he was at his daughter's under 16 camogie game earlier that day and that was a better game.

Hopefully we will see improvement for the championship as if we don't and are still seeing this short passing game and poor results fans won't be happy with Davy Fitzgerald. Waterford reached the All Ireland in 2020, All Ireland semi final in 2021 and won the league last year so there's no need to be talking about 3 year plans or rebuilding the team or changing style of play.

PTH2009

https://www.youtube.com/live/VXLlHD0aHEc?feature=share

Best of luck to the team and management

JD. 60

Waterford being outplayed so far ; need to stop the rot, fast.

JD. 60

Underwhelming performance ; too many basic errors. Apart from Patrick Fitzgerald, who else stood out. Bizarrely, if Waterford had taken their 3 gilt edged goal opportunities, they would have stolen the game.

5948ai

A lot of handling errors from Waterford and another loss at underage level. After a period where we were competive underage (obviously wonn the AI in 2016) we've fallen to the bottom of the pack in Munster again.

TheScoringGoal

A perfect example of a team of decent individuals with no indication of a game plan. Limerick had runners off the shoulder, movement and cross field balls to create space. Our puck outs were either long where we relied on getting a stick to it and hoping we won it on the ground or else to the full back line but with no movement further up so they had nobody to pass to.

Very similar incident before half time to the Conor Stakelum/Jamie Barron one a few weeks ago. Adam English gives it to Josh Fitzgerald who stays standing. Patrick Fitzgerald gives English a shoulder and English goes down. English also had a couple of other off the ball incidents including a nasty stamp that eventually forced Willie Beresford off.

carter10

Yet another underage loss. Waterfords abysmal underage record continues.

Hopontop

Watching the game I didn’t think the game plan or coaching of the two sides was much different, the difference seemed to be individual errors. Too many times it took a Waterford player 2 or 3 attempts to rise a ball or take two touches with the hurl to control a pass. There also seems to be a psychological issue with the players, they never seemed to believe they were going to win, they would fight to get back in touch and then ease off again. The goal chance early in the second half summed it up, 1 on 1 with the keeper, no pressure and the Waterford player seemed to panic and tie himself up in knots, had he scored Waterford would have lead for the first time since the 8th minute.

TheScoringGoal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120399960#Comment_120399960

I suppose the question that jumps out at me then, what were the Waterford tactics? Limerick's were quite clear.

Though I do accept your point about the individual errors in the first half.

loves_me_county_boy

Tipp giving Limerick a run for their money so far…

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400745#Comment_120400745

Tis not going to be pretty for us in Munster

Both teams very impressive tonight

loves_me_county_boy

Mod Edit

Warning issued.

Cornerstonelad

Limerick some team!

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400860#Comment_120400860

Tipp are a decent side under Cahill as were we but Limerick will eat them up with that direct approach 10 times over as we well know. I wouldn’t be that scared of them in championship if we have our house in order. I think we have as much quality if not more at our disposal.

decies

Yes it only the league but looking at Limerick last night it’s going to be mini league between , cork Tipp and Clare and ourselves to get out of Munster . The scheduling gods haven’t helped us . Our whole season depends already on our trip to cork in second fixture . Yes we should at least try to give Limerick a rattle but if turns south quickly get them out of there and live to fight other battles in Munster .

JD. 60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120401684#Comment_120401684

It's looking ominous for all contenders, not just in Munster. Limerick are savage (in the best sense of the word) and a bit like Kilkenny in their pomp, they have seamlessly introduced some new players into the mix.

Cahill must be sick of getting commiserations from John Kiely, first with Waterford and now with Tipp, starting last night.

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402474#Comment_120402474

He’s no closer to beating them with that group of players than he was with Waterford