There’s probably a top tier there that you could pick for various different attributes. Mackey,Ring,Whelehan,Shefflin,Canning and Carey are probably the best hurlers that have graced a hurling field
1 Like
I think I saw that on Buffs snaps, didn’t he hit 10pts from play or around that against Cratloe too?
I didn’t see the game, I think it was a group game and the other team were limited enough. Everything must have fallen his way but his range makes shots from his own 65 a scoring opportunity if given space. He has an incredible engine
1 Like
Shoehorned in
You forgot DJ.
3 Likes
No I have him there
Jaysus Mike 
1 Like
Showing your true colours there Mike!
True but Ken McGrath was the pick of the waterford hurlers of the last 40 years for me
1 Like
JC retirement has sparked some debate
What year was the all ireland QF in Thurles v Galway where DJ Carey resurrected Kilkenny ?with 2 super goals and a few points to come back to claim a win. DJs finest hour.
He was on the wind down in 2002 when he played ducks and drakes with Clare in the all ireland final, his 3rd minute goal was class and put Clare on the back foot straight away and he finished the match with the off the hurley point no catch leaving Ollie Baker and a few others in a heap
He was favourite anyway, such skill, class and pace , whether he better than some of the aforementioned is another matter
The Children of Joe
If Joe was as good as lads make out he would have won more than one all Ireland medal.
They fell in that day against Waterford too.
1 Like
- 24 years ago this week.
ah sure Maurice Fitzgerald has only 2 all irelands and he was as good as any of those kerry forwards that have 8, sure are all ireland medals a real measure
Ken McMcGrath, Ciaran Carey and Pat Horgan has none and as good as the kilkenny 4 in a row team was , this trio would have got a place on it
2 Likes
DJ was good that day
I have only seen him play live once in '02, yet I struggle to see how you can compare any hurler from the past to post 01/02 players. He played his best before that.
The game changed with the Clare team of '97, it was a real transition and led the game onto a new path with fitness being a prerequisite added to real hurling ability from 1-15. The comparison between aif games before and post '97 is stark, it has evolved regularly since but that year set the baseline in my mind. A real infusion of intensity and skill. I could be wrong but that’s where I stand on it. It ratcheted up again in '01, '04, '06, '09, '14, '17 and probably '20. The day of carrying a player died in '97.
DJ was a remarkable player in his own right but his abilities pale in insignificance to what came around the turn of the century with the advances in every facet of the game. That point he scored off the Hurley is a run of the mill score now that you will see in underage club games. Not to undermine anything that came before but gaa gold has really exposed those older championships as pedestrian
2 Likes
days of carrying a player died in 1997?! some would say it invented it! Clare carried a few in attack! there was a lack of the real hurling ability you refer to from 11 to 15 , Jamsie was at 10.
Ah yeah hurling was more pedestrian back along but forward like DJ, Nicky English were subject to more timber
It’s a fair comment and I’m cognizant of being caught up in the whole Clare invented hurling bit but the game really did move forward leaps by '97. Every county had much angrier, better prepared (relatively speaking) teams with a more broad spectrum of scorers. That final was light-years ahead of anything that came before
1 Like
Clare 1995 pushed things on fitness wise
was the 1997 all ireland hurling final much better than the munster final hurling replay between tipp and cork for example?