Geoff got his knickers in a twist. He thought he was debating a member of the Italian community that canât admit his own counties position at the top table. When he realised I wasnât going to fall for his usual tactic he quickly disappeared.
That Tipp team just happened to be unfortunate enough to come up against a Kilkenny team that were the GOAT by a considerable distance.
The Tipp team of 2016?
The 2009-on team.
The post highlighted was in reference to the Tipp team of 2016 (who Galway beat in 2017) - who were tipped (according to Geoff) to go on to win 2/3/4 All Irelands ⌠please try to keep up.
Kk were nowhere near the standard of 06 to 09 during that period.
Kilkenny didnât have to beat much in those years. The only teams that gave them a game were Cork in 06 and Tipperary from 09 on.
They hammered everybody in their way. They lost to Galway, cork and Dublin between 10 and 13.
Cork are woeful
Tipp were one of two teams that gave the GOAT a good game.
They hammered everyone because there wasnât much competition. Tipp and Galway kept them honest and this resulted in their poor from in 2013. They came back to win it in 2014.
They hammered everyone because they were the greatest team of all time.
The 07 and 08 finals lasted a combined total of 20 minutes. They were good but they werenât up against much.
If Galway beat Clare and Limerick to win this yearâs All-Ireland weâll move up to second place in a particular roll of honour.
Current Standings:
- Tipp 1989
- Clare 2013
2 Likes
Galway will have least beaten Kilkenny. Although they didnât knock them out of championship. Something theyâve failed to do since 05.
There was so much fertilizer spread on Croke Park in the final of 07 that the grounds men havenât had to open a bag of 10-10-20 since then.
4 Likes
No, it was topped up at half time in 2015.
1 Like
Stick to the five a sides mate.
Iâve never played 5 aside in my life, mate.
The championship structure as it then was greatly aided Cody and Kilkenny in his first decade at the helm. They were a great team and would have dominated regardless but maybe not to the extent of winning 7 of the 10 All Irelandâs like they did in the noughties. Both Wexford and Offaly fell off a cliff in Leinster around the same time, year 2000âish. There was zero competition in Leinster for that decade. Kilkenny knew pretty much every year that their first game of any consequence was the All Ireland semi final on the August bank holiday weekend, win that and there was the All Ireland Final four weeks later. That doesnât work for a lot of teams and they can be under cooked, but with the panel depth in Kilkenny, the training culture under Cody and a strong club championship which was still played off during the summer months, Kilkenny invariably always hit the ground running on the August bank holiday weekend.
Another factor that helped Kilkenny was they probably had a 10-15 year head start on just about every other county in terms of underage structures and development squads. Thatâs an even playing field now and even in Leinster, Dublin and Wexford are competing as equals with Kilkenny in the under age grades.
Things slowly started to freshen up in Leinster around 2009 when you had two developments, Galway in the Leinster Championship and Anthony Daly taking over Dublin. Wexford maybe started to show some level of competitiveness again around 2013. This year, Kilkenny played 7 championship games, 6 of them tough games that were in the balance right until the end. After all that hurling, Kilkenny exited on 15 July, which was three weeks earlier than what for years was the real start of the Championship campaign for Kilkenny in early August.
This is the new reality not just for Kilkenny, but for all counties. With extra games, more competition, and a levelling of standards, dominant eras or even back to back All Ireland wins will become less commonplace.
3 Likes