The Munster Championship will be an absolute bear pit next year. You could very easily end up with Cork and/or Limerick not qualifying out of it.
The amount of drinking the limerick boys will do after August 19, they’ll do well to be fit to hold a hurl come 2019.
The concept of a big 3 is finished mate, the new format has put an end to it.
I’d have great time for that clare squad and no a fair few of them fairly well. They are very sound skins but I just wonder at they almost jaded. 8 or 9 of that squad is from the 2012 under 21 team. They’ve been on the go a good while now and most of them are finishing up with college too so gets tougher to commit.
Cork are coming big time mate. Tipp have a fine 21s team and the talent there on paper and Kilkenny wont be down too long either.
Many a good man struggled outside The Big Tree
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This will either galvanise Clare or they’ll throw their hat at it. They really left it behind them yesterday with referee an all in their arse pocket.
Cork are probably in a similar position although the run the 21s are after getting will give them a bit of momentum
Less of this puketalk please.
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This old defeatist talk needs to stop mate. There has been no big 3 since the mid 60s, a big two granted from then to the early 00s, and a big one after that.
Hurling has never been stronger or more even across so many counties. The new format will just even it out more. There’s fuck all between Galway, Limerick, Clare, Cork, Kilkenny and Tipp at the moment, any of them could beat each other on a given day.
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Development squads and underage coaching also a massive factor as well. Cork and Tipp no longer dominate at underage level to the extent they used to
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… and lads going to college from 18 to their mid twenties.
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Ooooooft they won’t like that.
Cork have done fuck all at underage level in 30 years. Their only three senior wins in the near thirty years years since 1990 were backboned essentially by one successful underage team. That is admittedly likely to change very soon as Cork have got their house in order at underage level over the last few years.
Cork have had a big problem over the last 20 years . The big city clubs have weakened due to demographics and more sporting choices . The new areas with big population growth like mallow , carrigaline and Ballincollig have not produced good hurling clubs .
At all Ireland level I was referring to the Munster provinces and Munster minor championship. For the bones of 80 years Tipp and Cork utterly dominated the Munster minor championship routinely hammering the other three sides barring a handful of sides from those counties which managed to win Munster titles.
Over the last decade since development squads came into being this is no longer the case and the championship has become far more even. The introduction of the round robin will continue to level the standard as well as lads are noe guarenteed 4 games
The odd one out there being Limerick. All the others have won an All Ireland this century.
Only reading coverage of James McGrath’s retirement now.
What. A. Fucking. Gobshite.
I suspect himself and Gavin will try to host some kind of radio programme.
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They haven’t really.
The development squads are a farce and the standard at club hurling at Premier level is awful.
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McGrath is on course for the Harry Kane claiming goals treatment on Twitter 