Excellent analysis 
The wind was a big factor at the hill end and stymied Galway puckouts. They should have short as they have the skills players to work the ball.
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Obviously Shefflin (and Murphy) didnāt trust Morrissey, Grealish, Macā¦ but yeah, Iād probably agree with you. Morrissey particularly is a player I like a lot and I think he can hurl.
It couldnāt have gone much worse than it was going anyway.
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It was brain dead stuff lads, void of leadership and smarts. Shefflin didnāt seem to have a link to what was happening on the pitch at all. Bringing back Mannion was an obvious move I thought, any change would have helped.
The Shefflin reign has been a bit of a damp squib - a decent showing against expectations in last years semi final aside they have seriously underwhelmed under him.
He also looks like an extremely moany bollocks on the sideline when they are losing
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Did you get your Hurley signed by Henry?
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I can confirm my source (my dad) had this arseways
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Yeah, I could see why he wouldnāt want to do that from the start, I think he even referenced it in his post-match interview. And Galway started really well with lots of movement, etc.
But in the second half, against the wind, couldnāt get out, couldnāt get any sort of ball into the forwards, no options in the middle; then surely it made sense to even sit him in at 6 and letting him dictate the game.
Like, Daithi Burke is a serious defender, one of the best of the last 10-15 years but heās not a great hurling centre-back. Two bad wides and I donāt know if he pucked another ball. When Galway were pinned back, you probably need your centre-back or someone in that line to go look for the ball and ping a few 20-30m passes.
I donāt know how McInerney has been getting his place for the past 3 or 4 years. Bringing one of the best 3s in the game out to 6 for him was mad.
Tyrell is some simpleton all the same. About 5 of that Galway team left and 2 of them are miles past it.
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This has genuinely become a real problem. Heās like an underage mentor. The optics are terrible, it transmits awful spoofer vibes to players, opposition and everybody else.
Galway need Tessio back, aided by Eamon OāShea. Bad cup/good cop. I donāt think MicheĆ”l Donoghue and OāShea would work. Thatās good cop/good cop. Given Tessio obviously isnāt going to come back and Donoghue seems too honourable to give up the dead end job with Dublin he currently has, surely Jeffrey Lynskey/OāShea is as good a ticket as they can get.
When I feared Galway were done for yesterday was when Concannon got a ball in the Cusack/Hill corner when Galway were five or six up five minutes or so before half time. He was being hung out of by two defenders I think and got a shot away but it was a wild pull over his shoulder in the manner of a man who was already shagged, and he had no other options, where three minutes earlier Galway seemed to have lots of options going forward, now they had none. It was the shot of a player and a team who were about to be blown away.
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Gillane got two balls in the first half and got 1-01. Didnāt feed him near enough.
McInerney has been a brilliant player for Galway for many years but Gillane had the legs on him all day long.
Did you head in to watch your camogie lads hammer Antrim?
Todayās game should be interesting too.
It is a hard one to get a read on for a number of reasons. The Leinster Championship is hard to get too much of a read on because KK & Galway donāt have to fight for their lives to get out of it. The Leinster Final was a good game and Kilkenny played well at times. But then youāre looking at Galwayās form since as a potential barometer; they ate Tipp and did play very well against Limerick for 25 minsā¦ but thatās not really going to cut it at the highest level.
I donāt think Clare have been quite as good as they were last year but still a strong side but are their question marks over the fitness of Cleary, Conlon and McInerney? Without trusted back-ups to take up those spots down the spine of the defence. Their full-back line has been exposed all year and Kilkenny love goals. Even if Cleary is fit, that looks like a potential problem. Now, the other side of that is, because they push up and leave that space, it does allow them to get in the faces of the opposition all over the field.
Last yearās game took a life of its own, but is it hard to back against Kilkenny considering how that game went and that Clare have looked vulnerable to goals? Kelly got 3-4 from play the last day without even playing at his top level, but if Mikey Butler does a job on him, will Clare react better than they did in the couple of knockout games last year where Kelly wasnāt flying? Obviously, there was the whole Conlon absence thing too and Cody was over Kilkenny; so itās not like-with-like. Then is Adrian Mullen actually fit? Heās another huge player.
Hard to get a proper read on form, which makes it very hard to call. Iād probably have to edge towards KK based on last yearās game and their penchant for goals.
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Gillanes the best inside forward of the last twenty years.
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Heās unmarkable. One the ball is being delivered anyway right the back is in serious trouble
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His ability to land facing towards goal is absolutely unreal.
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He can play in front or behind. Heās an animal
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Gillane is amazing and is arguably the most important player in the system. It would be interesting to see what Whelan would do in Limerick system and Gillane if playing for Galway.
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We never replaced the Dow but o Neill is beginning to become very good at coming on as a sub and playing well. A long long way to go obviously but he seems to be growing into the role.