Strange looking Galway side but a lot of players unavailable at the moment. Hard to see many scores in that side. Three rookies included amongst the forwards.
Wonder what tipp will put out. Would they want to lay down a marker, or zero interest?
The Morrissey at fullback experiment was a lovely one game trial
Six from Clarinbridge involved.
Theyâll win an All Ireland Club within three years once the younger Niland stays fit.
Theyâll have to get out of Galway first. Thatâs no gimme.
Ah the door should start opening for them now. Thomasâs dont look like theyâll win any more and we saw last week that while Loughrea are good, they arenât that good.
No Kevin Cooney, Liam Collins or Anthony Burns this year apparently.
Based on the last two years youâd have to say not good enough. Burns was average against Ballygunner, Cooney has pace but lacks finishing, Collins is gifted but very light.
The future is Burke, Rabbitte, Niland, Fleming and hopefully a few more.
Burns seems to be a corner forward who gets his scores from punishing corner back mistakes, a handy lad to have in local club championship but you need more than that against intercounty defenders in the summer. Collins is suffering from the same thing as Adam Screeney, the modern style of hurling has no place for these sorts.
Iâm not sure when this golden age was where slow corner forwards who canât win their own ball thrived.
The likes of Screeney would have been ate alive in the 20th century.
Joe Deane, SeĂĄnie McGrath, Eanna Ryan, Charlie Carter, Kevin Broderick all thrived in the 20th century. You can try to argue that some of them were faster, some of them stronger etc but who are the modern equivalents. If you canât see that a fella like John Fleming having a better chance of making it than a Screeney or Collins is a poor reflection on the state of the modern game then there is little point debating it further.
All the above mentioned were hardy out and well able to look after themselves.
Seanie McGrath and Broderick were absolute speedsters as well.
They all would thrive in modern inter county hurling.
Peter Casey would be a modern day equivalent in my opinion.
Neither Screeney or Collins are soft, itâs just now apes of cornerbacks are allowed to pull and drag them all over the field. Joe Deane played his first game for Cork when he was 18 - you reckon he was bench-pressing similar numbers then to what Peter Casey is doing?
Old school corner backs like Eddie and Willie OâConnor would have done a lot more pulling and dragging than their modern may equivalents. Theyâd have eaten the likes of Screeney without salt.
Do you really think the likes of Screeney and Collins would have survived the vicious Galway club scene of the 90s?
Youâd fear for the future of hurling when there doesnt appear a place for a hurler like Screeney. This is similar to the way football was going when all they wanted was 6ft gym monkeys who can pull out of players with the spare arm. Weâll lose the stickmen to the game, that is until they see the light and bring in a Hurling Review Committee.
Of course they would. Eugene Cloonan was Athenrys main forward from the age of 17 - Cloonan was hardy but you reckon he was better able look after himself at 17 than Screeney or Collins are now? There was wild pulling and cheap belts but good hurlers were able to hurl regardless of size - the modern game doesnât allow that.
This is the same conversation as we were having about football for 20 years - eventually it was recognised the best footballers were leaving the game and action was taken. Hurling canât afford to dither like football did, pretending that there is no problem as the spectacle gets worse and worse.
I actually disagree, we wonât lose the stickmen, we will lose men who arenât both stickmen and very strong. We will lose light stickmen. You can be small, but need to be both fast off the mark and muscly (and a corner forward probably).
Screeney will be one of the great casualties of this if he doesnât or canât bulk up, and it will be a tragedy for sport.