Dublin GAA Discussion Thread: Mod Note - No 'Dublin Dominance' chat allowed!

Ciaran Kilkenny has some mental strength. He is some man to grab a game and make it his. In the first half, Mayo were struggling for scores against the wind. Lads coming to with 20 metres of the goal, and then turning around cause they were afraid to shoot into the wind. Dublin were likewise in the second half. Lots of passing back and forth. Eventually the ball made its way to Kilkenny, and he had only one thing on his mind. He ballooned it over the bar, and there was intent in the way he kicked it.

And that catch he did with 30 seconds left was amazing. It was all or nothing at that stage. And he just got it into his head that he was going to get it. And he did. Some warrior.

The way it is going it is not going to be a hammering by goals for Dublin, but death by a thousand pucks.

I'm not too hopeful either, Dublin will need a couple of goals I think.

Burke hit a wide, Horgan all the time to slot over. Sums up the match! Cork getting scores far easier.

where was that intensity for the first 60 minutes of the game? Honest to god, this team would drive you to drink. Well able to play and get stuck in but only ever do it in fits and starts. Something lacking in the mentality or preparation of this team because they go into their shells for large parts of games which is nowhere near good enough.

There’s just no belief in this team. They were beaten before a ball was thrown in against Kilkenny and could have won today if they really wanted it. We are still a long way from the top unfortunately.

Obviously we needed to show the intensity from the start which we as usual didn't so never looked like winning not sure the team ever believed they could either .The performance in the leinster final kind of colours my view of the season so I would think it was only ok overall ,still nowhere near good enough to hold our own in the big games with the top teams .I always hear we are building towards next year so even with a good under 20 team I will believe we can mix it with the best when I see it ,not holding my breath.

I see the crowd being mentioned a fair bit but what did the GAA expect having on a Saturday at such an early time? The hurling people are probably off coaching or mentoring juvenile teams at this time, like myself.

The skill levels are improving in our players but I don't think we play at that level of intensity often enough. The club game isn't in bad shape at all but it's played at a far lower intensity than the games you see in Kilkenny or Munster. I think we'll get better and Donoghue is doing a good job but I just can't see us competing at the top for a long time.

Wonder if Dublin got a good start would they have been capable of matching Cork for at least most part rather than getting going when the match was more or less done.Think sometimes a lot is made of teams coming almost back into a match when its too late .

Well you look overall he has blooded a lot of players and tried to develop a style. Whether it suits Dublin hurling is another debate. I much preferred the Anthony Daly style which was successful, maybe that is outdated now and won't work over a decade later?

But you have to ask yourself who has O'Donoghue's Dublin beaten in the championship this year worth talking about? The big win was against a Galway team playing with 14 men for most of the match.

Chris Crummey coming back was also a massive reason for any sort of lift in performances in patches. But can O'Donoghue manage to get other newer players playing with the same fire? I am not so sure.

But I think the wisest thing is let O'Donoghue do his thing let the young fellas settle and eventually hopefully they will click together. But the reality is this Dublin team is still heavily reliant on a few stalwarts, plus getting frees. A system needs to found to hide those Dublin weakness against the top tier sides.

But that is very hard to do in hurling. Dublin won't really progress until a forward are found/produced/roped in who has consistent goals/is a threat. And you can't blame O'Donoghue for that if such players do not exist/want to play.

Dublin have not even got a forward that can win most ball like Conal Keaney used to do. Bringing other lads into play / relieving pressure.

In the draw Dublin can't get Roscommon, can they get Louth? Galway and Derry obviously the harder options.

I have the same feeling!

Hardest out of the 2 choices.

I agree, hopefully Derry take care of Kerry too 😉