Hurling League 2018

Dublin could well end up in a relegation battle from 1B and Leinster this year. I know the Cuala lads are still to come back, but the team tonight offered a deal less than Offaly did two weeks ago. Antrim must be sick they didn’t beat them.

Very athletic, his hurling is limited enough

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Ah it isn’t mate, he gets some outstanding scores. He’s just terrible at frees

Watch it back, besides his frees, technically not the best

Dublin were dreadful . Worst Dublin team I ever saw . Even when the struggled in the last year they were well conditioned . Tonight they were an utter shambles . Get Cunningham did some damage .

Gilroy has a 2 year task to make them remotely competitive at the serious level .

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Yeah limited in that he’s limited to being one of best in Ireland.

Early days.
They are letting a fee of them sink or swim. These fellas are too long in the tooth.

The cuala players are a big loss

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Are you advocating Paudie or Kevin Foley for sweeper? The former pretty much had a deep centre back / free role in Dunne’s last year and the latter was tried in the position in some early season games.

Shaun Murphy’s tendency to fumble/spill a ball or mess up a first touch under little pressure at least once or twice a game leading to scores conceded is frustrating. Distribution could be cleaner/more accurate too. I think it’s concentration more than anything as he’s a skillful, technically proficient type.

How did Firman play? He could in theory solve one of the man marking defensive issues but I still feel we lack depth at the back. Simon Donohoe must be injured as he wasn’t in the 26 last night after having a good start to the league. I’ve seen O’Hanlon being pick-pocketed before when going down to jab lift the ball. Did this happen for a goal?

The freetaking is a bit surreal at this stage too.

Overall, things appear to be looking up - 2 Foleys kicking on, Reck back to full fitness and pushing on, Rory O’Connor returning from injury, plenty of options from the half back line forward, playing well generally and creating lots of chances.

I’m not too bothered at the missed frees and botched goal chances at the moment but I’ll be well pissed off if we lose an All Ireland quarter final by a couple of points after being 5/11 from frees while the opposition has pointed 90% of theirs or something.

Donohoe broke his hand and out for 5/6 weeks

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They didn’t look near fit enough for this level . They looked lightweight . Their basic hurling was very very poor . They lacked a shape too .

I take your point they will improve but as things stand and assuming improvement it is hard see them win a game in the Leinster championship . The Offaly result and last night result are reflective of where they are now .

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Lynch and Browne are not giants but they were towering over their direct markers last night. The two Dublin lads were much smaller and lighter.

Very surprised how poor Dublin were. Clearly not taking the league any way seriously but a risky strategy expecting the Cuala lads to walk back in and for everything to be hunky doory…

It is not going to be. They are just not very good.

Yes . Only Sutcliffe really looked at the level .

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Not sure recalling Keaney at this stage was the wisest move, he was a terrific hurler in his prime but that was a while ago now.

With O’Donnell, Rushe, Sutcliffe, Schutte x2 there is still the bones of a competitive side there. Wouldn’t be surprised if they took a scalp or two in Parnell Park during the summer.

In fairness they are coming off a very low ebb when things just didn’t appear to be right under Cunningham over the past few years.

You’d expect a bit of abounce, right now is the lowest they’ve been in a long long time,

Your not trying to take anything out of last night ye got the win congrats but judging players is a stretch cc @ChocolateMice

Davy will be more driven and focused now

Kevin as sweeper. Half way thru the second half he was put back there and Murphy out to midfield as Murphy had fumbled or made a mess off about 3 possessions in a row. It was a move to preempt Murphy being taken off, but he actually scored a nice point just before he was substituted.

Paudi is better off as a strong defensive half back in my opinion. You need a “knacky” hurler as the sweeper, someone tidy on the ball and good distribution.

Hanlon went to catch a long free on the 14 but it just bounced off his hand to a Tipp player who laid it off to Forde and his weak enough shot was deflected past fanning. The third goal was Hanlon fumbling over a pick up. Debatable as to whether he was fouled or not, but still, need to be strong in possession.

Reck was very good, and could be the sweeper too. Very controlled on the ball. Firman wasn’t great. Coughed up some simpled balls playing suicide passes. Young tho, so will learn. Having O Connor back is good, but I hope he is not being rushed back. His touch was way off, clearly hadn’t hurled for a while, but that wouldn’t concern me at this stage.

The frees whilst now wouldn’t bother me, but if we don’t find a solution in the league, we will have the same problem come championship. O Connor is well able for free taking, but is it too much too soon for a young player to have that responsibility in championship.

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