Kilkenny GAA Thread

People are being too hard, flagellating themselves that Kilkenny hurling is in ribbons. it isn’t

We need to get smarter, and stop being out thought, we had the hurling and hurlers to have maybe won all 3 grades this year but tactically and technically we were found wanting in all 3.

Look at senior team 2024 versus 2023, practically nobody played worse and at least 4 (Donnelly, Kenny, Carey, Blanchfield) all stepped up a notch.

We beat ourselves up like no other county. Eoin Cody scored 3-6 in 4 matches (3.8 per game) but is being dismissed as not a top-class corner forward. Shane O' Donnell has scored 2-12 (2.6 per game) in 7 matches but is hot fav for HOTY? Cody's all time average scoring from play is nearly 3.5 per game. How many players playing today can boast an average like that? Gillane maybe?

Our clubs are the jewel in the crown, and I feel again this year, we will see a standard that won’t be topped in any other county. And hopefully we will see players like Dunne and Shine and Marty Murphy and Neary and Drennan and Wall and Heary really step on the gas with their clubs in coming months and put up their hand. We are far closer to the summit than most people here are saying, especially with Limerick now likely coming back towards the pack.

We just need better coaching and better match tactics. The hurlers to match the best in Ireland are there and our club structure (invariably playing meaningful matches against equally matched teams instead of a series of mismatches) means they are getting better real match practise than anywhere else, which helps counterbalance the advantage other counties have in terms of resources, facilities, back room teams etc.

I agree there's always a huge over reaction to a kk loss but the facts are there it's 10 years without a minor or senior and one u21 In nearly 20 years Is very very poor. Mindsets have to change if everyone thinks this is OK.The county board getting credit for the purchase of land that's at least 10 years over due is also wrong. Kk were dragged down to cw to train for the last few years,this wouldn't go on in any other top county. Don't even get me started on the u20 the last 2 years if that management is let anywhere near that group again then it's time to give up.That team probably not as good as we thought because none of them are able to make any kind of breakthrough. Brian dowling would be ideal for the u20s. Derek is only learning to be fair and comes across as a gentleman but last year's all ireland he set up the team wrong he went on this year and brought on players who had no more to give at this level. He kept Cody's team and failed to even look for replacements in a few positions we have struggled. That's why next year is a big year and maybe he won't want to take the job of trying to blood a few players. He definitely needs to freshen up the whole backroom team and now they should be getting that sorted along with s&c coach. Can't continue penny pinching. The problem is theres people who wont work under the current county board but Tom mullally should be got at all costs. Former great players like Brian hogan and Eddie brennan have done well and I hope these are approached for grades like u17,u19 and u20. The county board know alot of supporters are pissed off with them they way they have appointed poor managers and the way they have carried on re funding. That electronic scoreboard going to tipp pretty much sums up the back ward approach they have. People saying we arent far must be in the county board because we are 10 years away. Our underage is a shambles and don't even try include kierans that's the biggest false reflection that's out there. Cork couldn't wait to run Frank Murphy and they have got their house in order. Won underage titles. Duignan brought a huge freshness and innovative to offally. We need a huge root and branch and not moving lads around. Say what ya want about new quinn he ran a good show. Nothing against lyng but I remember at the time he had no competition. As marooned said candidates should of had a team of lads competing for the position. No other top county would accept this. Mindset has to change quickly.we are already a long time without winning all ireland. Tactically we are years behind.we need to go outside the county if needs be but that won't happen because it will cost money. I said already it would be no harm having someone involved from a different sport like football. It will be interesting to see the appointments later in the year because there should be a few vacancies. The county board needs to win back supporters so they need a couple of high profile announcements. I won't hold my breath though.

looks like work has started already opposite the slip road which takes you up to the Ballyfoyle road.
that ground is a long way from the current pitches in Dunmore so it might not be the county board but.

Everything needs to be looked at. Kk have being fading badly out of games the last few years. I'm sure mickey and John Murphy are good coaches but I think its time kk follow every other county and get a high profile s&c coach with a impressive cv.Let's call a spade a spade they are too mean to spend money. It will be a very interesting few months to see the appointments at different grades. Kk desperately need a few good coaches involved. The senior back room team needs to be freshend up. County board have got alot of criticism they need to get appointments right.

I think sean Kelly is involved in s&c with the underage. There's no doubt our s&c has improved at underage particularly,infact if you look at the u20 team we were too big and slow in certain areas. Tactically we are a long way behind and this is a bigger problem.Minor and senior would of being much better had we people involved that were more tactically astute.i would be slow to be too critical on chaps u17 but management not pushing up and having backs mark each other was criminal.It's up to the county board to appoint managers and coaches who don't use dinosaur tactics. The u20 the team was set up arseways. It was touted here for months about certain areas on the pitch that weren't good enough. This was another year wasted at underage level. The county board need to pull out all the stops appointing u17 and u20 coaches.

I said s&c at senior level because we have being fading out of games the last few years. Like underage our senior team is poorly coached. Retreating and our defence lumping ball up to outmarked forwards is very poor. The older lads have given huge time and dedication to kk but no doubt we will see a lot of retirements this winter. Who do we think will go? Buckley,fogarty,wally, scruff?tj? As one door closes another will open for lads especially lads who have being in around the panel a few years. Next year is a big year for Derek. He had the comfort of going back to the tried and tested this year he won't have that luxury next year but kk need a injection of freshness. He had Shane Murphy,molloy and Owen Wall this year but when push came to shove this year he didn't trust them. He will have to trust them next year. If he is still there.

Not a chance of any appointments being made before September

That would require progressive thinking something the county board seriously lack

The county board will do as they have always done and we ll continue to get the results we ve got the last few years

You can nearly bet that all three managements will be ratified for another year with some minor tweaks in selectors or coaches maybe

Nothing will change regarding the Co board unless there is a complete clear out of all the old heads that won’t happen for a few years no one has the balls to go against the established heads so they ll just keep plodding along taking the easy cheap option there so stuck in a time warp they can’t see that we need expertise from outside the county in relation to every area of the game is needed

We were once the market leaders in how to do do things now were well behind the curve

I didn't mean to make you laugh but I'm glad you find some some of my posts interesting. What I meant was kk have being years behind other counties regarding s&c. It's no secret a few years ago lyng had to fight tooth and nail so that his u20 could have access to better facilities. Underage teams are definitely physically better prepared now. Regarding the u20 it looked like a few of them were in fact too bulky and looked slow.its about getting the balance right. I think kk need to look at the s&c across the board but top priority has to be coaching. As Marrooned said there's no point going after lads in October. The u20 management has to be vacant so now is the time to be going after someone so they can get a backroom team and take in the club and underage. Im sorry but the minor management should be dismissed after that horror showso again appoint someone who can take in all the underage. No point arsing around in october . The county board need to be ruthless. The majority of kk supporters are sick of them now. Standards are standards and this isn't good enough. Senior needs to be freshened up. Selectors and coaches. There was a time years ago kk set standards. Counties came up and took a blueprint of what we were doing. Now we are relying on carlow to lend us a pitch to train. The county board should be ran out the door.

The drawn 2014 final was the best game of hurling I have seen ,credit to two wonderful teams, incredibly Cody managed to get that ageing team of legends to win the replay and further add another in 2015 with a much weakened panel. IMO the Tipp team that stopped our drive for 5 in 2010 was better at that stage than the cork team that did for Limerick are at now. Cork can of course develop to become a great team somewhat like the brilliant Limerick team, we will see. Regarding KK since '15 we have been working off panels that were good but not quite good enough. At the moment it is hard to see much better out there and we may have to wait for the under 19 and minor groups to develop. There is incredible work being done for the game in this county by volunteers at all levels both on and off the field.

Interesting tussle between Boro and OLG in the Senior Intermediate final with Boro winning by a few points. OLG were missing Butler, Lawlor, Deegan and brough on Wall and Molloy late on. Boro were missing Clifford but started Shine and Buckley. Bit of a dust up in the second half, look forward to see them match up when there is more on the line. Owen Wall looked dangerous when he came on, should have been brought on against Clare imo.

Both sides were in good physical shape and will be there at the business end of the championship

Was fionn mackenssey playing for o loughlins?he will be a big addition because he can play in defence,midfield or attack. We all thought loughlins had no superstars last year but a very balanced team but 7 or 8 ended up on the kk panel so they will be hoping Owen Wall,heary and luke hogan will be able to trouble the scoreboard a bit more. They generally don't concede big scores but if they could get more scores from their forwards I'd give them a good chance but there will be nothing handy in that senior championship. It will also be interesting to see how thomastown go at senior. We could do with Stephen donnelly having a injury free run at it. I presume John will have to get that operation on that thumb injury.

Is S&C really a problem, or the reason for fade outs in games in recent years? I'm not so sure, it seems to me that the lack of game plan(s) have been a far bigger contributor to fade outs in games, e.g. gifting possession to teams who thrive on gaining it, chasing shadows as a result, etc. This would drain any team. Our game plan worked in the Leinster final, hence no major concerns about S&C after that game.

All grades have shown how weak they are at playing a proper possession game, and you could get away with that 10 years ago but unfortunately you cannot get away with it in today's game. It's hard to blame players or any particular management teams for this... When an issue is prevalent at all grades you gotta look at the whole system.

It's particularly unfair on the players as they are continually getting criticised, and have had desperately poor support at games, etc. But they've been failed by our poor coaching standards across the board for many years now.

Disagree on TJ, no guarantee the lads will step up when he's gone. He was one of our better players in the semi final and we have a better chance of winning an all Ireland next year with him then without him.