Derek really is a lovely man. I know Cheddar couldn’t speak highly enough of him. There must be a great satisfaction from getting to this point with one of your own at the helm.
There is. There is also great satisfaction in having defended him against all manner of luddites and luadars inside and outside the county.
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I called McGrath on here years ago, when at DLS. I really thought he stood out.
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He’ll be shitting himself alright.
Do you even understand what i am saying you dumb fuck
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I thought the team showed great resolve in ousting Scully and installing McGrath and sticking with him and buying into his system when all around them were telling them they had blackguarded Scully and telling them every week to “take the shackles off”. Must have been great for team spirit. Of course Galway have the same dynamic.
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Ya absolutely.
And people scoffed at him having Dan in the position he is in as well though.
They left a few games behind them and he does have to ship the discipline issue, but he has constructed a fine side.
Keeping Brick is very obviously crucial as well. No Brick, No Party.
It took a strong, ballsy confident guy to bring in Hartley and Murphy like he did in June.
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McGrath himself has shown great strength of belief. He should enjoy his moment in the sun as I fear Galway will show up the deficiencies of the system.
I don’t think it would have anything to do with the system.
Galway might win because they have more bigger good hurlers
The blanket defence is easily bypassed by hitting fast long ball diagonally into the FF line. Inside then you need 3 good forwards who can win dirty ball. It’s simple really, but at the moment only Galway and Tipp have the players to do it. I know people will say Waterford have improved since then, and they probably have, but KK are the only team they’ve met this year that play the same style as Galway and they struggled to get past them. As you said bigger good hurlers is all you need. Hard to find them though.
The better team will win regardless of system. Galway have better players than waterford.
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Why play a system at all then?
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Its not that easily by oassed and Waterfords full back line is pretty good too
To get the best out of the players. By the way I’m also not convinced Galway’s system is that great since they’ve stopped scoring goals, something Galway teams always did.
Cork went about it all wrong, high ball dropping on two Waterford men and Horgan. He was never going to win those battles. We’ll see how good Waterfords FB line is in the final I suppose, but I think it’s vulnerable if its moved in quickly. Easy enough play fb when Fives/De Burca are standing in front of you all day and the ball is on top of them. If it’s quick ball to the side of the sweeper it might be a different story.
I think the lack of goals has been over stated. Galway had some very good goal chances in the semi final, which they just didn’t take, so it’s not like the system is preventing goal chances. Obviously we’ll just have to wait and see, but I think Galway could open Waterford up.
The whole point of a system is to get the very best out of your players and to potentially beat teams with better players.
I think their gameplan is flawed. It still needs a lot of refining imo. Have management learned from the mistakes at the end against Kilkenny?
Still, it’s not as if Galway are perfect either. Haven’t scored goals really, and conceded chances to Tipp. Have to be very wary of getting sucked out by Waterford and hit by the runners from deep. It’s something Waterford do brilliantly.
But Galway have been feeding their forwards good ball all year, and I just think they’ll be able to do the same in the final. Waterford will have to put a huge amount of pressure on the delivery, and they also have to work so hard to get their own scores.
I think you are missing the point of their system.
And will the ball be as good with De Burca covering sides?
Questionable