Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Rrrrrr2

Ropaire wrote: »

It's nice to see well wished and messages from other counties support here too, that's as much a testament to how the team is playing and the entertainment they're giving as anything. If we were bludgeoning our way to 0-10 to 0-9 wins I doubt many people would want to see us go too far!

It’s never easy lose but Waterford deserved that no question the better team. Kilkenny did not look like a team that would win an All Ireland. Waterford’s scoring in the second half was savage, accurate and extremely skilful.
There is no other team (other than us lol) I’d like to see won an AI- just sit a pity people won’t get to go in person. It’ll be interesting to see what today brings!

Mastermcgrath

Lads as a poster on this board with 10 years (been through a number of different pseudonyms) I cannot recall a greater half of hurling from a Waterford team than I witnessed last night. It’s well up there with Munster finals in 02 and 04 and AI semi finals in 08 and 17 and beyond even.

Second point, as much as we’d all like to be on the road to Croker in 2 weeks, the lockdown might work to our advantage if the players are not exposed to the big public hype about the 60 year wait, and there is no pressure of having to deliver in front of 80000 people. Let’s be honest We haven’t dealt with it well in the past and at this stage I don’t care how or where we get over the line. I just want to see these players do it

Rrrrrr2

I did think that actually, the low keyness of the no crowds means the teams can just focus on the game without all the emotional baggage. I think that suited even yesterday- the weight of expectation is surely a bit lessened

puzl

Even the way they celebrated speaks volumes. Clearly delighted and relieved and all but they didn't look like lads satisfied with their season going into a nothing to lose finals...they looked like stone cold killers with a singular focus. Whatever was said in that dressing room at half time must have been magic


It reminds me of two previous occasions. I think it was Joe who spoke about the 2017 league match Vs Waterford where they came from 10 points down at half time to win it. He said that the half time team talk was the moment that gave them belief. They came out after the break with conviction to win the game and the result gave them the belief that no matter how bad things got they could always turn it around. Fast forward to the ai finals and when Waterford went one point up I watched Joe canning jog back to his half back line to have a chat with Burke and a couple of others...you could see it in their body language. This was not going to be another "what might have been" for Galway. They were going to win and that was that and anyone who disagreed was simply wrong.


Similarly in the 2018 semi finals when Limerick won an unbelievable battle with Cork afterwards the celebrations were heartfelt but not crazy. Dowling in his interview summed it up "were not turning up just to march behind a band". That team had decided in their heads and hearts that they were going to win and it was up to everyone else to stop them. There was no distraction, there was no ticket tape parade, no talk of nothing to lose now that they had proved themselves. They were going to win the all Ireland and that was that.

That's a self belief that you can't buy and I think our lads have it now. Cahill needs to manage that and use it effectively and if he does they will win the all Ireland.

Deiselurker

Fantastic 2nd half and a great win. I thought we were beaten at half time. It must be a long time since Kilkenny conceded 2 17 in a half if ever. Kilkenny pulled it back to 2 points heading into injury time to make it tight again but those 2 late points from Dr Burca and Gleeson finished it off. It will be a great buzz now for next 2 weeks but without the usual hype of tickets.

deisedude

Got a good laugh off of this lads


https://twitter.com/Stephen_Long/status/1332803425961205761?s=19

Mad about baa baas

Deiselurker wrote: »

Fantastic 2nd half and a great win. I thought we were beaten at half time. It must be a long time since Kilkenny conceded 2 17 in a half if ever. Kilkenny pulled it back to 2 points heading into injury time to make it tight again but those 2 late points from Dr Burca and Gleeson finished it off. It will be a great buzz now for next 2 weeks but without the usual hype of tickets.

Well done lads..fantastic second half from ye.. I was quite content st half time but ye completely took over after the break.. I actually think the lack of a crowd in the final will take a bit of pressure in the final and give ye a great chance. Best of luck

Cake Man

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

Second point, as much as we’d all like to be on the road to Croker in 2 weeks, the lockdown might work to our advantage if the players are not exposed to the big public hype about the 60 year wait, and there is no pressure of having to deliver in front of 80000 people. Let’s be honest We haven’t dealt with it well in the past and at this stage I don’t care how or where we get over the line. I just want to see these players do it

Was thinking the same myself, on one hand it’s heartbreaking the lads won’t really get the big day out they fully deserve as well as the fans. The crowd, the minor game before, the 25 year finalists (which ironically would have been Davy and Co. Clare 95 winning team), the parade and Artane band, the pre game entertainment etc. But on the other hand, as you rightly pointed out it’s probably a good thing to not have any of those distractions. Especially for the younger/newer lads like Lyons, Prunty, Dessie it reduces the chances of being caught up in the occasion. It certainly won’t feel like a normal AI final.

JD 60

PTH2009 wrote: »

https://www.gaa.ie/hurling/news/bord-gais-energy-to-raise-20-000-for-focus-ireland/

Waterford Xmas jumpers going on sale Monday. Jesus this is a great feeling i knw its a different championship in a very different time of the year but Waterford are still in an All Ireland final. Pity the buzz will be very much different. I bet Up for the match will be on the Late Late show the Friday night. No big screen or open training session sadly

"Up for the Match" ... don't think so this year and lets hope Tubridy isn't allowed to preview it either.

4Ad

Thrilled ye won, great 2nd half.Hopefully ye go all the way...from a Clareman.

Pudz2180

What a great feeling to be waking up this morning and have an all Ireland final to look forward to.Our second half performance yesterday was everything you would want from a team. 7 points down at half time in an all Ireland semi final things just not happening for you and you do that in the second half just brillant.
Taught our half back line were exceptional what a find Callum Lyons has been. Jamie must have covered every blade of grass in that second half.
Jack fagan caught some great balls especially when he dropped back to our half back line on the kk puck outs. We all knew the exceptional hurler Stephen Bennett was and it’s great to see him delivering on the senior stage he has really stepped up this year and become the leader of our attack.
Great to see Aussie put in that performance in the second half after the first half he had. His work rate was unreal and hopefully he has got his confidence back. Even though dessie didn’t score a lot yesterday he keeps full back lines on their toes with his movement which creates space for our runners from midfield. also his work rate when full back line have the ball is great which can cause them to rush their clearances resulting in poor ball coming out
As was the case last week our bench were excellent especially Montgomery and darragh Lyons. Also Our fitness levels are off the wall.
Whoever in the county board decided to pursue Cahill fair play to them. The job himself and bevans have done is incredible. It’s great having a management who have 100% belief in there players and allow them go and express themselves but also hurl as a team and work their socks off for each other
It’s great to sit down today and watch the other two slog it out knowing we are there already.
Any way roll on this day two weeks
Ps hopefully the extended panel and the players families will be allowed attend the final.

Motivator

puzl wrote: »

Even the way they celebrated speaks volumes. Clearly delighted and relieved and all but they didn't look like lads satisfied with their season going into a nothing to lose finals...they looked like stone cold killers with a singular focus. Whatever was said in that dressing room at half time must have been magic


It reminds me of two previous occasions. I think it was Joe who spoke about the 2017 league match Vs Waterford where they came from 10 points down at half time to win it. He said that the half time team talk was the moment that gave them belief. They came out after the break with conviction to win the game and the result gave them the belief that no matter how bad things got they could always turn it around. Fast forward to the ai finals and when Waterford went one point up I watched Joe canning jog back to his half back line to have a chat with Burke and a couple of others...you could see it in their body language. This was not going to be another "what might have been" for Galway. They were going to win and that was that and anyone who disagreed was simply wrong.


Similarly in the 2018 semi finals when Limerick won an unbelievable battle with Cork afterwards the celebrations were heartfelt but not crazy. Dowling in his interview summed it up "were not turning up just to march behind a band". That team had decided in their heads and hearts that they were going to win and it was up to everyone else to stop them. There was no distraction, there was no ticket tape parade, no talk of nothing to lose now that they had proved themselves. They were going to win the all Ireland and that was that.

That's a self belief that you can't buy and I think our lads have it now. Cahill needs to manage that and use it effectively and if he does they will win the all Ireland.

I think the fact Cahill has managed Minor, U20 and U21 players to win all Ireland’s will be a great benefit for Waterford. Giddiness in the younger lads will be tempered and look at the experience we have in SOK, Moran and Barron. They’ve 40 years combined playing experience and have the 2017 final in their back pocket to look back on. Yes this will be a different final without the usual fanfare but a final is still a huge occasion and media/social media will be in these lads faces and heads for the next two weeks.

Cahill is certainly on a mission and he looks dialled in on the sideline in each game. Unbelievable turnaround for this panel and what a win would do for Waterford heading into Christmas and the new year, it almost doesn’t bear thinking about. The next couple of weeks will be great, it’s just a pity things aren’t back to normal imagine the buzz around town? I do think there’s something special about this Waterford team and even last night the determination was evident on the players faces and in their body language. They never looked like winning the Munster Final and Stephen Bennett admitted they probably didn’t have the belief. I think they have it now.

deiseach

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

I just want to see these players do it

I just want to see it done. To coin a phrase, everyone else is doing it so why can't we?

paddy13

awaywithyou wrote: »

Waterford have really brilliant Hurlers... real off the cuff players... who are expressing themselves thru their hurling.. there like a bunch of lads having the Craic the way they are playing the game... like Clare iN 2013 or Limerick at the moment..... I could watch Jamie Barron and Stephen Bennett all day. How is it only now we are seeing that guy fulfilling his potential??

Waterford could have been playing like this with years if it wasn’t for the guy on the sideline having such a dose of small man syndrome....

Derek McGrath wouldn't play him enough and when he did like all our forwards, he didn't get any back up. Also he had serious hip injuries early in his career. I am absolutely delighted for all these lads but I have always had massive gra for Stephen Bennett since the underage success. Delighted this year he is showing what what he is capable of.
This year feels so much different, hopefully we can drive on now and take it home.:cool::D

Speakerboxx

PTH2009 wrote: »

Going to be an exciting 2 weeks and lets hope our heartbroken cousins Mayo make the football final and we end our heartbreak together

All Ireland IC season with Christmas trees up how amazing

Hope both Waterford and Mayo reach the promised land. Long overdue.

Motivator

I hope they have Derek on the Sunday Game tonight and I hope they have someone opposite him who sticks it to him. For years we had to listen to Derek justify his approach with that smug smirk on his face.

redlead

We won the game so it doesn't sound like sour grapes when I say this but I watched the game back again and Fergal Horgans performance was absolutely shocking. In the final quarter he gave three frees in a row to KK to bring them into the game where there was no foul committed. Thats game changing stuff. I just for the life of me don't understand how he keeps getting these big games.

Mastermcgrath

Speakerboxx wrote: »

Hope both Waterford and Mayo reach the promised land. Long overdue.

Couldn’t give a rattlers about Mayo, sorry. Being everyone’s second favourite county gets you nowhere.

mountgomery burns

That first goal was just absolutely unbelievable, heroic stuff.

spaceCreated

Thought it was a great game from a Waterford point of view, in the first half some sloppy play and very inconsistent(?) refereeing gave Kilkenny a massively flattering scoreline. We played pretty much the same in the second half but cut out the mistakes and were more clinical, just tidier and mroe confident in general. Our defence cleaned out their forward line and won almost every high ball coming in. Great to see the players actually using their skill, like how wasted was Barron the last few years when he was running around with sliotar being lumped over his head, now he is allowed to run at the other team.

Have to say some of the "pundits" commentary was laughable. At half time it was Tadgh De Burca not being a natural defender and Calum Lyons being good going forward but not defensively. Have they watched these players before? At the end of the game was it jackie tyrrel who said we got in their faces physically? He just couldn't accept the fact we were just better with the sliotar. Not saying the team dont bring a lot of intensity but fk off with your second rate compliments.

Some small things to note, hitting the sliotar in to an empty hill and how little the players played in Croke Park showed in the first part of the match. I think we had 10 points and 10 wides just after the second half. As soon as we found the range it was like a training practice for the team. We look like we've another gear or 2 in us and the team is growing by the minute not just the match atm.

The most important thing to take from the match is that we're now able to beat Kilkenny and the ref. maybe we might start getting some calls going forward against Kilkenny.

McBurgermacs

redlead wrote: »

We won the game so it doesn't sound like sour grapes when I say this but I watched the game back again and Fergal Horgans performance was absolutely shocking. In the final quarter he gave three frees in a row to KK to bring them into the game where there was no foul committed. Thats game changing stuff. I just for the life of me don't understand how he keeps getting these big games.

I thought he was appalling. After the 2nd half water break there was a string of easy frees given against us for very little, kept them in the game. A free count of 13-6 says it all to me, I would not say we were in anyway physical or over physical either

spideyman92

Wish I had set the Sky Mix version to record to rewatch it with the different commentary.

spaceCreated

spideyman92 wrote: »

Wish I had set the Sky Mix version to record to rewatch it with the different commentary.

I'm surprised rte didn't mention tony kelly's injury during the match, I thought it was all they could say after last week.

carq

Rewatched the second half again.
Have to agree on the commentary , pretty bad all round. You know you are in trouble when its left to brendan cummins to bring the enthusiasm!

Horgan again was awful.
Free count was well slewed and really gave kk a right chance back into the game.
Kk may have their own complaints that barron stayed on the pitch.
please god horgan wont be anywhere near the final.

Deskjockey

carq wrote: »

Rewatched the second half again.
Have to agree on the commentary , pretty bad all round. You know you are in trouble when its left to brendan cummins to bring the enthusiasm!

Horgan again was awful.
Free count was well slewed and really gave kk a right chance back into the game.
Kk may have their own complaints that barron stayed on the pitch.
please god horgan wont be anywhere near the final.

Is it correct to say that Hogan can't ref the final after doing the semi final?

PTH2009

Looking like its Limerick again

Think the Kilkenny ref will get the final or maybe the Cork guy

paddy13

PTH2009 wrote: »

Looking like its Limerick again

Think the Kilkenny ref will get the final or maybe the Cork guy

That game was poor, loads of mistakes by both sides. You would have to think Limerick will be better in the final though.

PTH2009

paddy13 wrote: »

That game was poor, loads of mistakes by both sides. You would have to think Limerick will be better in the final though.

No doubt they will

Hopefully we learnt from our mistakes in the Munster final

Stacksofwacks

Limerick can be got at if we can keep up the intensity for the 70 mins, playing unbelievable for 35 mins wont be enough

BloodyBill

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Limerick can be got at if we can keep up the intensity for the 70 mins, playing unbelievable for 35 mins wont be enough

Totally relieved after that match. Limerick will hardly miss as much again. They were shocking misses. Waterford wouldn't have missed as much. But I suppose its great to be there in the final with you guys. Its 50/50 after that performance from Limerick