Yeah, sure, just disregard the concept of experience. Joe Canning being in his first All-Ireland Final is exactly the same as Shefflin being in his 12th!
Teams that lost one to win one:
Kilkenny losing 1998 and 1999 to win 2000.
Cork losing 2003 to win 2004
Tipp losing 2009 to win 2010
You could consider Kilkenny in 2011 and 2006 too.
Everything you are saying there you could apply to Waterford in 2008.
Oh they donât fear Kilkenny. They have never been beaten badly by Kilkenny.
They have beaten them recently in the League/Leinster Final.
Galway havenât been hammered by Kilkenny [much, 2006, 2004] because they hadnât got to even a semi-final during the years of Kilkenny dominance before this year. Their tradition of capitulation has seen them bow out consistently in July or earlier. Summer hurling is not the same as Autumn hurling.
And I wasnât talking about Kilkenny playing at a higher level than their previous matches, I was talking about Galway facing a better standard of competition on Sunday than they have all year.
Westmeath, Offaly, Kilkenny, Cork. Do you think they will face the same Kilkenny that they faced in the Leinster Final performance wise? I donât. The Tipperary game may be the peak for Kilkenny this year. What if the Leinster Final is the peak for Galway? What if the Leinster Final is their peak by far? They will need to play to the Leinster Final level to win. That medicore performance they put in against Cork will not be good enough. They will also need to start fast. If that doesnât happen and the go behind early who are their leaders to drag them back into the game?
It is a massive ask of Galway to win this. Physically and psychologically.
You cannot just disregard the psychological aspect of playing in your first All-Ireland final. It is huge pressure and when playing this Kilkenny team there is always the nightmare scenario that Waterford experienced looming in the background. Nobody wants to be embarrassed like that in front of 80000 people. And that spectre weighs especially heavy on a Galway team with a history of throwing in the towel when things start going against them. If they do match Kilkenny physically and mentally then we really will have a game on our hands and if they win they will be worthy champions. But all the pressure is on Galway to make sure they put in a performance because if they donât we all know what will happen. For Kilkenny, this is just another match.
On a personal note, I will be attending my 13th All-Ireland Final. Pretty good going seeing how I didnât get to one until I was 12.
Are ye seriously not worried about being cut wide open twice in one year? I mean ye were a shambles in the first half of the Leinster final. Where did that performance come from?
True ye have recovered some form since but the jury is out on the resistance that Tipp provided in the semi final. I would suggest that Limerick offered a bigger test.
A team that goes out afraid of being cut open are the type of team that KIB man is describing above.
I have no fear of us being cut open like that again. This Kilkenny team has a history of making sure they donât make the same mistake over and over.
Do you expect Galway to perform that well again?
Performances like that are not a light switch that you can turn on and off when you please.
I canât see Kilkenny playing that badly and I canât see Galway playing that well again.
