Eoin Larkin said to me once that training games in which you can improve your standing are scarce and you need to make the most of them when they arrive. Cian Kenny, and a few other lads, clearly did so over the last few weeks. I knew from what I was hearing something unusual, and brilliant, was going on.
Fair play to Brian Cody, absolutely. But you could equally say: what happened last year against Cork and the previous year against Waterford? Mikey Butler and Cian Kenny are the only new players.
Fuck ii, it annoys me the more and more i think about it. Watching the final on a miserable day in the still house. The first 15 minutes were awful. Another 5 mins at the end we would have won. Kk deserved winners no doubt. We were too cocky thought we just needed to show up. I believe lesons were learnt that day. No repeats. Get the win today end of
Who called Micheál Donoghue and/or Brian Cody a clown?
The 2022 Leinster campaign by Kilkenny was, at best, mediocre. They lost control of their own destiny when matters most counted by playing shite and losing to Wexford. Fact. Kilkenny only played well-ish against Dublin and were competent in the Leinster Final against a Galway side who refused the fence.
Galway only got competitive after being allowed into leinster. Took long enough to eat at the top table again. We had our famine so no need to try and throw that insult, we are long pat it.
Thw haylon days your on about were the Tipp KK rivalery which had 3 finals in a row between them. It was fanstic as a neutral but also heartbreaking to watch and wonder when it will be us.
Again pre galway getting into leinster they were alway guaranteed a SF or QF. Easy to pull off a shock when there was only 2 teams to compete against
I think they’ll have to end the round robin nonsense now after this year.
That was both teams 7th game of the season yesterday. Hard to expect fans to keep on coming to all the games. 39k was absolutely desperate stuff.
Championship should be ‘must not miss’ but it has become a pick and choose fest. It should be reaching a crescendo now but looks like ending in a whimper.
There was a time when Galway were moaning about the QF being their first champship game. Relax pal. Round Robin works. Split season works. A few tweeks might be needed but they are working as intended
Ah they were in All-Ireland finals in 2001 and 2005. Galway were always a very talented team in the 00’s. The only difference from 09’ onwards was they had a prime Joe and a softer route. Some lads will snigger at the softer route part but it’s better to waltz to a Leinster final and have an All-Ireland quarter-final worst case scenario than go in untested to a knockout qualifier like against Clare and Tipp in 2003 or Kilkenny in 2004.
I don’t think Galway have won as many Leinster’s as they ought to though, is it 3 since 2009? Good enough to have won 6 or 7 at least during that timeframe.
Id agree with you there. Base it on expected attendance, but how to calculate that will be a debate. Yesterday was awfulhalf full. But if the semi was Limerick vs Cork croke park would nearly be sold out as both sets of fans travel in numbers.
Clare brought their fair share yesterday. If it was PUC or Thurles they would have sold it out themselves with more travelling at its not up to Dublin
They were as competitive as anyone. Limerick and Waterford bith got to finals too in the 2000s. The big rivalry was tipp kk. Galway with Joe should have won more in the 2010s.
The dynamics of attendances are strange. Croke Park usually attracts higher absolute numbers because people from the counties involved who live in Dublin will tend to go.
But then there’s a counter effect where other people will stay away because it’s in Croke Park, because they have long experience of Croke Park being a lonely place when it’s not near full.
With attendances there’s a weird snowball effect, a herd effect, like with opinion polls. If people think others are going to turn up and make and event of it, it snowballs the demand and attendances can overshoot expectations.
Then there’s the reverse snowball effect where there isn’t much buzz and people just don’t bother and the attendance undershoots expectations. Yesterday’s attendance undershot expectations.
With Kilkenny involved on final day it’ll be very easy to rock up on the day and get a ticket for under face value.
