Kilkenny GAA Thread

They have exceptional backs even outside of Lawlor, Deegan and Butler.

David Fogarty has been excellent and Jordan Molloy wing back has been phenomenal all year for them.

To be honest these are poor comments. Lyng is the manager and if he wants them to contribute and they are willing to do so then that's good. Yes they are there for years but they can still contribute and having their experience around the panel is a positive. Walter can still change a game and even though he won't be an automatic starter he will give 100% for the cause.

"Some poster(s)" have forgotten more about the game than you'll ever know.

That is ridiculous alright, no thought put into it at all. U21 is a great grade as well, pity time of year it is played.

County board has to do something about the Leinster club fixtures also, none of the three teams had a single home game, how could that be the case. Clubs are enjoying the journey but tullogher will have had 4 away games, thomastown 3 and loughlins will have had two and then croke park sunday. That is expense on the clubs and the supporters.

If Thomastown were to win the u21 semi against the village and the Leinster intermediate against Bray, then they will play the All ireland semi final on 16th of December meaning u21 final would be 23rd of December. Very late finish but Village will have plenty to say about that Saturday I'm sure.

Kilkenny please get real. Ye are a good top 5 team and no higher.

Wally was shocking bad in the final. 2 terrible wides and a ball into Nicki Quaid ...and a free against him for pulling Will O Donoghue. He was a liability. I didnt even realise Fogarty was playing until he got dispossessed after a solo in the secondhalf. Both were very very good players for Kilkenny 5 years ago.

I cant even talk about Buckley. Honest as the day is long but he wouldn't be within an asses roar of an All Ireland team. We ll see how it plays out . I think Kilkenny have much better younger options and ye are just holding back for another year the inevitable rebuild.

You're up to speed.

He had injured ribs and didn't start the second half.

Correct

Let the manager do his job as regards the older players , if he deems them good enough he will retain them if not he will let them go, simple as.

Second is the first looser

and as long as Buckley fogarty Walter Donnely Keoghan and billy ryan there that’s all we will be is second

fogarty had a good block in 70 minutes

in 35 in all Ireland he did not puck the ball

I said it last year and how right I was

What are the pros and cons that people see for this discussion? I don't think it's as straightforward as everyone is saying and I can see merit in arguments on both sides so what do you all see as being the rationale to argue one way or another?

For me personally, I'm leaning towards keeping things as is and below are my reasons.

Keep things as it is

Pros:

Players who come out of minor have a team at U19 to play on which is of more benefit to those who would not make the U21 team at the age of 18 (I'm assuming if it is changed back to U18 that the U19 team will be scrapped resulting in a 3 year gap from minor to the next team at U21).

It means there is no more than a 2 year gap between any team up until U21 which, to me at least, gives clubs a better chance of retaining players.

Cons:

17 is a young age to be leaving the juvenile ranks. If the U19 grade is not given a bit more recognition there is a risk that some 17 year olds leaving minor will stop playing at this point.

Change it back to even years

Pros:

Players have an extra year in the juvenile ranks and don't finish minor until they are 18.

Cons:

Only the strong 18 year olds will have any hurling the following year as those not good enough for U21 have no chance of playing on any team. Even those who can make the U21 team may only be able to play a handful of games at the end of the year as we all know the U21 competition at club level is never given much time.

Conclusion

I think the perception is that the U19 grade is not taken seriously currently and this is the real issue here. I feel if the county board are serious about keeping things as they are, the U19 grade should really be taken under the wing of the Bord na nOg and given a proper window in the annual calendar. Obviously the calendar is already squeezed so this is a challenge but the old way (even numbers) didn't exactly excel at keeping players beyond minor grade so to my way of thinking an U19 team has a better chance of retaining more than a jump from 18 to 21 does.

To put it another way, some lads got as many as 7 games at U19 this year. That's 7 games more than they would have got if we revert back to even numbers.

Will that change though? If the vote goes through to change back to even numbers, those same 5th years (you must be talking about 18 year olds here who are no longer U17) will still be asked to step into adult dressing rooms. The vote won't change that.

If I understand your argument for change Village, it's that you believe the U19 doesn't fit anywhere in the calendar so in your view the gap is from U17 to U21 and this is why you would prefer to change back to U18?

Your dead right that every club has adult teams to cater for everyone

Whats yere opinion on the OLG game tomorrow?

Good chance?

If O'Loughlins were playing Naas I'd expect a very close match. Na Fianna beat Naas, so they can't be too bad. Hard to predict.