The big problem for Waterford is that some of their big players from the 2017 team like Brick, Moran and Connors are all probably past their prime and they donāt have lads of similar calibre to replace them.
They have a lot of similar hurlers in the forwards who are busy players like Ryan, Dunford, OāHalloran, Prendergast, Kearney et al but they arenāt all that skillful and pretty lightweight in a relative sense while Pauric Mahoney free taking aside doesnāt offer a huge amount at half forward. The likes of Foran and Devine gave them a bit of power but neither was all that effective a summer hurler while Austin Gleeson is an utter enigma.
Very hard to build a consistent side if that is the raw materials you are working with. De Burca and Barron are excellent hurlers and Waterford normally play their best hurling when those two are to the fore but they lack others who can step up now that the likes of Brick, Connors and Moran are on the wane.
In 2007 Waterford had a forward line containing Dan , mullane , prendergast , Paul Flynn , Eoin Kelly , molumphy . Eoin McGrath . The current list donāt cut the mustard
3 years is a very long time. The vast majority of the Limerick team wouldnāt have made their debut in championship in 2016. In counties bar Kilkenny success is usually built around 2-3 successful underage teams. Youāll notice a lot of similarities between Clare 2013, Waterford 2016 (lost final) and Limerick 2018. Large percentage of squad young, no real commitments and probably still in college. At the time of their success they are almost full time hurlers. With plenty of time for rest and recovery. General sense is theyāll improve with age but in fact real life kicks in and then canāt fully commit time like they used to. Kids, wifeās and work become distractions and the set up simply becomes stale. If you want to keep winning multiple all Irelandās you need 2 or 3 new players every year to improve the team and refresh it the team. In the smaller counties thatās unlikely.
I agree, the point I was trying to make is that every successful team has at least one marquee forward thatās consistent and puts scores on the board every game - Waterford have none (Aussie Gleeson should be but heās absent, inconsistent and likely to lose the plot). Waterford had 3/4 ten years ago.
Tipp have Bubbles and Callanan before that
Cork have Horgan
Clare have Tony Kelly
Galway have Joe
Kilkenny have TJ
Limerick have Gillane
The amount of times two Waterford lads went for the same ball and ran into each other stank of junior level coaching. Cost ye the second goal and a sending off. There were one or two other occasions.
I counted three line balls either hit to a Tipp player or drove back out over the sideline which Tipp turned over and scored. I lost count of puck outs straight to Tipp fellas or out over the sideline. The pass that Moran gave straight to the Clare fella towards the end of the first game that was a point. As you said, fellas running into each other, no movement in the forward line, no puck out strategy all points to poor coaching and preparation
Brick is finished and Moran at 32 after 13-14 seasons of inter-county hurling looks like heās well past it too. Same could be said for Noel Connors. Only 29 but in his 11th season now and has looked very poor in first two matches. Those three provided most of the leadership over the past few years for Waterford.
Yeah that looked bad alright and does indicate there isnāt a plan in place that is clear to the players. Maybe the players have to take on a bit more responsibility when they cross the white line regardless of how they feel about the plan or their relationship with the manager. Unfortunately Waterford looks like they will be playing for pride for the next couple of games. They may not be as talented as the groups of players that went before them but they are surely good enough and have enough heart to put in a big effort regardless of the ultimate direction their season is going
Fanning has tweaked the style and probably has a slightly weaker group of players, the first year was always going to be difficult. Iād judge him next year.
Unfair to blame it all on poor coaching, defenders following opposition forwards who are constantly on the move will have that issue.
Look at Horganās goal last Sunday, he had dragged Casey way out into a crowded area and a brilliant piece of skill from him made the goal opportunity.
Again I would argue that as harsh, the scores in the first half from Waterford were very good and based on the forwards making excellent runs into space.
Why they got into space & got the scores was down to the lack of pressure applied to the passers by Tipp forwards.
Once Tipp started to pressure the delivery from Waterford backs the quality of the ball into the forwards dropped dramatically.
You essentially had Waterford defenders clearing ball under severe pressure and not looking or having no time to make the pass highly accurate.
Sheedy has turned the Tipp Forward Unit into a very good defensive platform in that sense. It gives his defenders a minor advantage when trying to turn over ball.