These reporters are very slow. This shit was all floating around here well before christmas.
edit: and for the last 5 years - amarite, eh, eh?
TW is the older TW’s second cousin. Was left corner back on Kilkenny 2020. Was same position on Kilkenny 2019 but lost his place after Galway round robin tie.
Basically a rewrite of yours now you’ve provided cover. Jaysus.
Not really true. One debate in Kilkenny is whether so many lads from Junior and poor to middling Intermediate teams making Minor teams in 2000s and 2010s is wonderful meritocracy or proleptic burden.
Of the 19 players used in the 2019 Minor AIF versus Galway, four were from a Senior club (all Dicksboro), nine from an Intermediate club and six, including the captain, from a Junior club.
The same breakdown for 2020 Minor game versus Wexford: six/seven/three.
Ah… So what… Par for course.
Rud eile - three Kk clubs won the 2020 all Ireland finals .
That said I am not sure about the depth of strength in senior grade .
Well, Ballyhale Shamrocks could and should have been beaten by Erin’s Own in 2018 semi final, could and should have been beaten by Clara in 2019 quarter final, could and should have been beaten by James Stephens in 2020 semi final.
So…
A big problem in KK is the schools. You have lads from Thomastown, Castlecomer, Johnstown and Ballyhale on many of the Kierans teams.
They are huge losses from their nearest school while at the same time taking away from the fella in Kierans who is a very good hurler but can’t get a game. The CBS are gone back a bit too compared to ten years ago where they were more competitive.
There are three very strong clubs in Kilkenny city who are all very well organised and producing strong underage teams but there is definitely space for another club in the city. It doesn’t fester much of a space for the late developer in either Kierans or in any of them three clubs.
For some reason as @peddlerscross said, they still seem to be behind technically with an awful lot of fellas with gangly mycro helmets and cack handed grips.
Kilkenny are always going to be very strong at intermediate and junior as they only have 12 teams in each grade
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I accept that
It didn’t stop taggy, Wally or Willie Connors for that matter
Willie Connors isn’t cack handed
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That is fair enough and the BS v JS game was brilliant this year .
That said the 2 teams you mentioned there in 2018 & 2019 haven’t backed it up . BS utterly hammered Clara this year . Clare seemed to take advantage of a couple of BS “gap years” in the Last decade
Yup he was, the KK Willie, Eddie’s brother
O’Connor
Yeah, Connors
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O’Connor and Connors are different surnames
No, not correct. Both AF and WW are a gripchanger: rhot and lefthanded for fetch, rhot to solo, lhot on top to strike.
WO’C was mainly orthodox. Watch footage. He took a free or a sideline rhot off his right side.
His quirk was that he occasionally would strike lhot off his right side. I always inferred he was a lad got out of ‘catching the hurl wrong’ as a youngster, a lad who sometimes relapsed in heat of battle.
Around ten years ago, I asked Willie about the issue. He laughed and said my inference was correct.
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Ok, so he did hold the Hurley cack handed from time to time then?
When I was in Kierans you’d have lads coming in from a far to play primarily hurling there. Eoin Kelly was on our bus so that’s about 15 miles from the city. Can’t remember too many from Castlecomer but you’d have lads from Fethard, Ballingarry, Durrow, Graiguenamanagh. I played football with a lad from Tramore. You’d have a lot of those lads boarding in fairness.
Point being they came for the high standards of hurling and the chance to win All Ireland’s.