2023 All Ireland Hurling Championship

Should have scored more than he did. Really came into in the second half. You could nearly see his shoulders broadening as the game went on.

Big step up for him on Saturday.

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Keep repeating it there to yourself.

I’m saying it to you chief

Got injured during the U20 championship and I think he missed the first few senior championship games after that. Was always playing catch up after the injury.

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I am not a bit surprised by the 31k figure

Met some very pessimistic South East Galway men today.

If they’re anyway confident they were doing a smashing job hiding it.

Which podcast, thanks?

GAA Social with Tommy Niblock and McConville.

Smaller Fish, I see below. But thanks anyway.

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Thanks still more.

I took up wrong.

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No thats a different thing. He does a bit of punditry there.

This was a personal interview.

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Bubbles was about to go all in on modern hurling but kind of wimped out in the end truth be told.

He didn’t come out well in it. He needs a bit of structure to make sure his opinions are quick & snappy.

Sound. Appreciated.

I like the ‘Kilkenny saving hurling’ line… Obviously.

Myself, I think Kilkenny have it all to do as regards overcoming Clare – and would be pleasantly surprised if Kilkenny do overcome.

Do you enjoy the modern game?

I think they’ll have too much hurling for Clare much the same as they did last year tbh

Cian Kenny and Mullen were very, very good in last years game.

Mullen is injured and Kenny looked badly out of form earlier in the year which levels the playing field a fair bit.

Great question.

I think there are a remarkable amount of really good hurlers around at the moment. And I love watching an excellent hurler. Eoghan O’Donnell and Dónal Burke would be cases in point, as would Dublin’s Shane Barrett when he was going well. Lee Chin and Rory O’Connor are tremendous hurlers. Outside of Seán Finn, Damien Reck is as good as what else is out there. Limerick have been brilliant in so many ways. That Kyle Hayes goal is already an all time passage of play. Tropical run, Arctic bat to finish… Jake Morris is enjoyable to watch and underrated. And many many others I love watching. Austin Gleeson, while temperamentally challenged, is as naturally talented a hurler as ever caught a hurl. Cork have some terrific talent on the rise. A lot of Carlow’s play this year was a breath of fresh air.

So I am level. But I think Dónal Óg Cusack, Davy Fitzgerald and Derek McGrath get a savage easy ride in the media for the shite hurling they have consistently fostered. The best 21st century coaches, by far, have been Paul Kinnerk and Éamon O’Shea. The latter has yet to get anything like his due.

So I enjoy the modern players. Not so sure about the modern game, in the sense of endemic scrums and jennet express-ery. But here we are.

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Thanks for that, you don’t sound as despondent as Bubbles or some others.

On Jake Morris, he has it all as an inside forward but Tipp need to build around him rather than have players in his way.

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While hoping you are right, I wonder. I hear Kilkenny have trained really well, with the camp in excellent spirts and everyone, bar Michael Carey, in the frame for consideration.

Clare really should have learned from last year. And Dublin, unlike Wexford last year, did not take a funk out of them in the quarter final. And Mark Rodgers, out last year, is a serious feckin’ talent. I think MR is terrific – and Clare’s most reliable freetaker.

For Kilkenny, Tommy Walsh is hanging out at corner back. He was got cleaned in the Leinster Final. Centre back and midfield remain unsettled positions, which is worrying.

The core tactical decision for Clare’s management is whether they send out Tony Kelly as a nominal centre forward. As a nominal corner forward or wing forward, TK can be relatively easily man marked. If Clare go with TK as a false 11, Kilkenny will have to sacrifice a forward in order to muster a man marker for TK, since the Kilkenny centre back cannot follow and must sit. You could see, in this circumstance, where Mikey Butler follows TK, a big question mark about who plays at corner back instead of MB.

I would be mildly and pleasantly surprised if Kilkenny win. But looking forward to being in the Hogan on Sunday.

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He’s lethal when you put the ball into his hand. A classic Tipp forward.