Kilkenny GAA Thread

Don't get me started on the u20 shambles last 2 years . That u20 team was picked around Christmas time last year. Form, fitness, pace did not matter. Disgraceful carry on, and disgraceful that Dowling is allowed back in, shameful carry on. I suppose I'm not surprised with the carry on and poison politics in Kilkenny the last 10 years

Seen this on Twitter

On the county championships, is there anything to be said for a slight changing the structure of the Senior/Intermediate competitions so that the bottom two sides in the group phase are out after all rounds played, and then the rest are straight to QF's, no league/shield finals?

It would certainly add more bite to the group phase if there was a chance you'd finish outside the top four and be out of the championship. As it is you could lose all your group games and still win the county title (meaning you could in winning the county title lost more games than you've won), surely something more cut-throat would spice it up a bit?

I know the structure has served us well over the years, but could it not do with an update? One of the reasons I think it could do so is we seem to have a fair amount of younger players at club level, which is a good thing, and a more cut-throat competition may be better for their development, and therefore better for the county overall.

It would also give us the added bonus of one less round at Senior/Intermediate, so we could space out the game more so we can go to more of the games.

Obviously Junior is a bit different to the two higher grades so leave well enough alone there.

Thanks for the clarification. I suppose when you put it that way it makes perfect sense.

I wonder if we had it that the 2 bottom placed teams went straight to the relegation play off and not have the first round element and everyone else went straight to the quarter final, it would make the group stages far more important and would cut out some of the bigger teams coasting through the group stages and make the games far more competitive.

I see the Kilkenny Gaa twitter has turned comments off on the announcement of the management.

People aren't happy.

Nobody within the County Board bar a select few know what the manager selection process is or what reviews take place on existing managements each year.

As an earlier poster mentioned the 3 managers are just put forward for ratification by the chairperson, proposed and seconded and life moves on.

It's crazy that the county board delegates don't ask questions even around how these selections have come about, who is on the manager selection committee etc. The whole thing is so bloody secretive.

Things won't change though until clubs start sending in people as county board reps who are willing to speak up and hold the top table accountable. Majority of county board reps have easily been in there 30 years plus.

Surely there was someone in that room who would have raised a question on the whole thing last night?

I know that when some clubs dissented on topics previously, they got very angry calls from the County Board Executive to the chair of the clubs. Telling them x and y proposal to be withdrawn or their club would be in an unenviable position going forward. Whether that was referring to funding or supports I don't know but it's bully boy tactics, divide and conquer and should have no place in the GAA. They don't even want motions tabled let alone discussed.

We can give out all we want on here but did anyone expect anything different from the Co board

The old phrase of if nothing changes nothing changes

And the definition of insanity is doing the same over and over and expecting a different result

Unless the top men of the Co board are cleared out and people are gotten in who put the interests of Kilkenny hurling above everything else including there own interests then we will stay stuck where we are

The current Co board are only interested in self preservation looking after there own interests and keeping the jobs in house and giving the jobs out to there mates

My worry would be that the people doing the good work will eventually get fed up of trying to fight against the tide that is the current Co board and just give up especially the likes of m Fennelly

I’m not defending him by any means but I think that’s a bit harsh did he not get danesfort out of the intermediate grade a few years ago probaly the toughest championship to win in Kilkenny