Noel Connors has some butt chin.
Galway will be there or thereabouts again. If they are more ruthless in front of goal in terms of working goal chances they could hammer anyone on their day. Tipp were hanging onto their coat tails a bit last year and I thought the scoreline flattered us. If Cathal Barrett was playing though it might have been a different story. They timed their run to perfection last year without ever reaching full throttle. They will have a much sterner test in Leinster this year.
Kilkenny will be a big danger again. They have 5 or 6 players who are in the top 20 in the country. They have enough young talent and functional players to act as a more than adequate supporting cast as well. Their full back line will be their achillies heal though. On summer ground Holden, O Shea, Lennon are sitting ducks.
Tipp are no closer to nailing down positions 1, 3, 6, 9 and 11. Thats a lot of question marks but there is plenty for Mick Ryan to work with. Form of Bonner Maher is worrying but he will be better on harder ground. Tipp will need Callinan firing on all cylinders to win Liam as we are still susceptible to conceding high scores. Paidi Feehan and 2 corner backs have been decent finds but its early days yet to assuage their true potential.
Cork have been very disappointing to date. Some of the younger lads have not stepped up and there is still a huge reliance on Horgan, Harnedy and Lehane to post a winning total. I thought they were abysmal against Clare. Eoin Cadogan has plugged a hole at full back and O Mahoney has done well at centre back but there hasnt been too much cause for optimism. They have a lot of mediocre hurlers who would be no better than panellists on most other intercounty teams with aspirations of winning an All Ireland. John Meyler has his work cut out.
Wexford have moved up a level since last year and are a formidable opponent. The most eye-catching components of their play are their physicality and athleticism. The Foleys have been huge additions. Aidan Nolan has gone up a couple of levels and they have 2 decent specialist corner backs in Reck and Firman that they didnât have last year. Rory O Connor could be the missing piece of the jigsaw though. McInerney is one of the best centre backs in the game and O Connor was able to find space to fire over 3 points. Lack of goals could be an issue but a resurgent McDonald might solve that piece of the puzzle. This writer would not be surprised to see them in the AI final.
Waterford are caught between a rock and a hard place with their game plan. It is outdated without ever having proved to have been operational. I always thought if you had a very strong disciplined half back line and Waterford deployed those tactics against it they would die by a thousand cuts. Tipp and Galway have and Waterford never had anything other than a punchers chance against those 2. McGrath simply has too many talented players to persist with this madness. We have seen the movie before of Austin Gleeson taking 100 yard pot shots on goal and Maurice Shanahan having to break his bollox to win a free. Even the individual brilliance of Moran and Barron will not be enough to get back to AI final this year. They could find themselves behind Clare and Limerick in munsters pecking order.
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The Cork County Board initially said that the pitch was not to be touched during the redevelopment of the PĂĄirc. Made life very awkward for the engineers/planners/construction company in that they had to work around it at all times. Eventually they decided to redo the pitch, late in the process. Laid down a sand carpet which is heavily reliant on quick drainage from slit drains. The surface thats there now is shocking, and has been since the opening. Was it rushed along I wonder? And for such a surface to work is the drainage compromised by the fact that itâs beneath the level of the river outside it?
Imagine Tfk with a limerick v Wexford All Ireland final boom
Wexfordâs physicality seems to be getting mentioned a lot by opponents and the media. Not physicality in the sense of the traditional filth lovingly associated with us but instead power, strength and generally being formidable.
Itâs interesting because (though we have a handful of big and aerially dominant players) weâre hardly different from any other team in that regard.
Yesterday we had 3 players who did their Leaving Cert last year (Reck, Firman and ROC) along with a group who arenât really physically imposing (Fanning, Murphy, OâKeeffe, K Foley, Morris, Dunne).
I guess Ryan, OâHanlon, P Foley, Nolan, Jack OâConnor, McDonald and Chin is a strong core but I still fear our backs in particular can be overpowered and are susceptible to allowing clean possession to be won in the air outside that central Ryan and OâHanlon channel.
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I think reference to wexford being a big, âphysicalâ team is ridiculous and really weak analysis.
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Official confirmation that all matches this weekend are now postponed.
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The final of this was supposed to be on Saturday March 24th, wasnât it?
That wonât be happening now.
Whoever came up with the idea of league quarter finals in the hurling is some thick cunt
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To be fair the top brass wanted to ditch them but it was the counties themselves who voted to keep the quarter finals, presumably for financial reasons.
I think counties make more from the league than from championship, where most/all of the cash goes to the provincial councils and central council AFAIK.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss. I should be able to make the rearranged fixture, but I was going to miss Sundayâs game in Nowlan Park as my life partner is making me attend her twin niecesâ 5th birthday party (cc @caoimhaoin).
If ever there was an over analysis of the league and not reading up enough on whatâs going on with all these counties this is it.
The bottom line is every team is behind Galway and Tipp.
Since I saw the game in cork I have felt KK would close the gap and now more and more I think they will be a dark horse 3rd ranked team. But nobody has the hurlers, the forwards or the build up of Conditioning of Tipp or Galway.
The Munster teams need a different approach. They are going to be whacked by end of round Robin. Whatâs left of them after that may well decide who wins All Ireland.
While not easy the Leinster is less rough.
Wexford have improved obviously but are way off the mark of a top side. Take Chin out and itâd hard to see any of their players replacing a Galway or Tipp player.
Cork and Waterford have clearly and openly thrown the league. The managementâs have been very open about it and the need to find new players.
Limerick is a funny one. Going well and playing decent hurling. Largely unchanged but having built up this head of steam what will the incoming NaP players have on it. That will take some crafty management.
Clare are looking decent but are still lightweight and not particularly deep squad wise. They potentially could be in tatters come end of Munster.
The new championship means having a very logical and science tific approach to recovery, selection and conditioning is key.
Tipp, Linerick, KK, Waterford, Clare and Galway seem well served there.
Cork have a bit of depth. The injuries are still an issue.
Wexford will have issues there by July. I think they will be burnt out early this year. Suggesting Mcdonald is the answer to anything at the moment is bananas.
Itâs interesting this year. But the bottom line is the 2 most talented and best conditioned teams are Tipp and Galway and well out in front
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You must be typing that all morning, I wouldnât have bothered.
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Fenway is still rattled.
The mask has slipped there
Stop deflecting from your ridiculous post, pal.
Is galway limerick rearranged??
Break it down it fella.
What do you not agree with and why.
Nice test here now to see if you can actually debate a point or more or are you just a time waster trying to score points
They are confirming the refixtures on Monday but almost certain that itâll be on Sunday week now.
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I havenât seen that suggested anywhere to be fair.