I watched the final again lately with an eye for Hoggie part of the reason. Plenty here killing Hoggie that he didnt fire in the final. He scores 2 points from play, hit some clutch frees which were not easy but as you say he made look easy, he also was fouled for a few frees and set up a few points. On the round I would say he made more than a decent contribution. For those that suggest he should go they would want to be sure they have a better man to come in particularly for the clutch frees and the clutch peno that beat Limerick in PUC with the last puck to keep Cork alive in the Munster Championship. No way should he retire
However, me may retire from the microphone, talking pure mule re VAR and it comes across as sour grapes and he was on about Cork having 2 players for every position before the championship. VAR would ruin hurling. It is the pace, not stop nature of hurling that has it rating higher than ever as a spectacle
There wasnt too many Cork fans calling for VAR when Hoggieâs club man Tomas Mulcahy clearly fouled the ball to score a key goal in a Munster final v Limerick in the 1990s
I think Horgan is a long way down the list of issues they need to fix to become a dominant team. He is still a very opportunistic finisher and with pacy lads who like to run at defenders it is always good to have a lad like that coming off the shoulder who can shoot on sight under pressure.
I think there are probably half a dozen spots where they need to upgrade ahead of moving on from Horgan. If they can find three lads to improve any of those six positions they will be a dominant A/I winning side - but the question is whether the talent pool to have those guys in place for 2025/2026 is there or are they the same as what they are replacing? As they will need to replace Horgan and Harnedy after that as well
They need to sort themselves re Connolly too. Hat tricks against Tipp are fine. He didnt set the world alight in other games to have him blown up to Ray Cummins levels this year
I like the lads who they need to replace individually as hurlers and see why they are starting but sometimes balance is needed for a team to function.
Both corner backs are nice hurlers, there in itself is the problem, they need someone they can leave on an island with a marquee forward and at worst consistently break even. I donât think either can currently - I wonder could OâLeary play as a spoiler at midfield?
Coleman is a lovely stickman but is targeted in every game he played due to lack of physicality and defensive instincts. A less flashy but athletic pig of hurler would mesh well with Joyce and Downey.
I really like TOM and he went well in the A/I final but with Darragh Fitz there I think you need either more size or someone who is comfortable covering the half backline and playing deep.
Dalton has helped but I think he has maxed out and teams can nullify him fairly easy now as he is limited in what he offers.
I also think Collins made strides this year but there are definitely improvements that could be made in their puckouts, once the ultra long ones were shit down I donât think he has much else in his armoury, Iâd love to see the stats as Iâd say he is involved in general play more than any other keeper as the cork backs continually use him as an outball but very little ever comes from these.
Clare are far improved from the team they were two years ago by simply unearthing two lads they were able to add to the full backline that they were comfortable putting in any situation as they knew they would hold up. If cork can find a couple of proper defenders it will fix a lot of other issues too.
Itâs amazing cork need to make so many changes and despite playing absolutely terrible in the final they were still an awful wide/missed free in front of the goals from forcing a replay v Clare.
I see the Hoggie defense force is out in full force. Power will start in front of him next year IF Ryan feels confident we can replace Hoggieâs frees. In Pat Ryan we trust.
Clare went from a team who couldnât win league matches shorn of three or four front line players to league champions missing half a team and Limerick up a stick for 55 odd minutes before a bizarre collapse in the first round.
The Munster final was just one of those days.
They won 14 out of 16 games all year. A number of players showed noticeable improvement this year while some key lads maintained form, you are just a poor judge, buddy.
There might be some element of that but Cork tore clare to bits for 15 or 20 minutes in the opening half. Clare had no answer and I think it was Coleman who cocked up a half goal chance which would have ended the game as a contest.
Small margins and every team always needs to find one or two players along the way.
Mayo finally stopped Dublin in 2021 and lost to a bad Tyrone side. Itâs a little similar this year in the hurling.
