Oisin O’Reilly was briefly on the panel in 2019/20?
He was excellent, to be fair. Pinged a few 70-yard pearlers right into Downes’ hand.
Adam English probably 
Again, maybe not a “pure” inside forward, but could definitely be a brilliant inside player. But then Downes has been better out the field in recent seasons.
I think Hanley is definitely the 4th best midfielder in the county but even he is well off WOD & DOD. He’s ferocious, similar to WOD in playing style, just doesn’t have the same physique. I think he’s well clear of the pack in midfield.
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With Casey out, the deeper corner forward position is hard to fill as the likes of Pat Ryan are more suited to direct ball to the corner rather than foraging deep hooking and blocking and intelligently popping up in space for handy points.
There’s a chance we could switch it up with Flanagan taking the deeper forward role which he’s done before. There’s likely to be at least some minor tweaks or evolution as we go along.
Really really disappointing for Casey, he had finally arrived and was playing all star level hurling. He’ll have some battle to even get his starting place back when he returns.
Nix is a smashing corner forward.
Garryspillane had some highly regarded forwards that aren’t in the discussion anymore it seems? Dylan O’Shea and the other fella who’s name escapes me
Ronan Connolly will be very unlucky not to be given a shot - he has the minerals
Dylan O’Shea really underwhelmed both years he played with the U20s, but certainly has talent. Not sure he has the work ethic though.
Bryan Nix has that work ethic. So has Mark McCarthy. But whether they have the potential to reach that level is the question. Serious S&C work needed with those 2 aswell as both are light framed. Both similar players in style to Graeme Mulcahy really, though Mark McCarthy has apparently gotten a bit taller/stronger. Neither Nix or McCarthy lack the fight anyway, 2 hardy boys who won’t shy away from the work needed or the physical stuff on the pitch.
Then you’ve Adam English, Paddy Donovan, Liam Lynch, Aidan O’Connor from recent Minor and 20s sides. English obviously the stand out. I think he’d fit the Casey mould perfectly but he’s only 18 ffs.
Diarmuid Kelly NCW is an interesting one. There’s definitely a few others I’m forgetting too??
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Dylan O’Shea has bags of talent, and has a frightening level of acceleration that could have made him stand out at senior intercounty level. I think consistency of performance is why he’s not there; on his day, he could do everything and he’d have the work rate to match his talent. On another day, things mightn’t go right, the work rate would drop.
In terms of professionalism, gym work, looking after himself, etc; he’d be a fair bit off the fellas who are being added to the panel in recent seasons. I wouldn’t write him off completely as there is so much talent there but it’ll be difficult for him.
Ronan Connolly is a serious hurler, he was a level above everyone else for the 20s in 2019. But he’s been tried in a few different lines now and hasn’t made the breakthrough in any. Again, no real shame when there is such quality there.
Any lads that might be repositioned midfield? Coughlan even?
Connolly
Aidan O’Connor is the real deal IMO. He was impressive in u20 matches against Clare and Cork. Lynch, POD, Nix all massive potential. Would DOC be under pressure to keep his place on panel @Aristotle i just haven’t seen him enough so he could be a serious option for all I know
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Shane O’Brien in a few years as well.
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The Limerick lads would sicken your shit listening to them talking about their pipeline.
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Limerick won’t be going anywhere for a while by the sounds of things.
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We’re fucked. They’ll be calling on the Dow to come back before you know it .
Be very surprised if Coughlan was, but I suppose you never know. I just think in the short term, they’ll keep him in the position he’s most comfortable in, he’s made a pretty good fist of it so far.
Brian O’Grady has been shifted to midfield from corner-back, a more natural position for him. Josh has been dropped, and again, is right up there as one of the top midfielders in the club championship. Connolly was a midfielder and is now backup centre-back.
Kyle had played a few games at midfield in 2020, had started a league game there too. But you’d think it’s unlikely he’ll go back either. Personally, I think they’re happy with DOD, WOD, Hanley + Lynch as real Championship options. If it came to it, would they start Hanley or would they move Lynch back? Hard to know, probably depends on the opposition. I really like Hanley and I think he’s come on again this year. In 2020, he still looked a little lost.
But look at the players you’re trying to replace. You have WOD, a freakish athlete, a player who doesn’t have a whole pile of hurling but can read a game brilliantly, wins breaks, knows his own limitations and just plays with a level of aggression that is only matched by one or two players in the entire country.
And then DOD, an unbelievable stickman. Even when he wasn’t lighting it up, he was irreplaceable (in the absence of Lynch) because nobody else can do that anywhere near as well as he can. While WOD has great positional sense in terms of getting to the breaks, DOD’s positional sense is probably even better, he’s always in the right channel to receive a pass out of the backs. That doesn’t happen by accident, he’s constantly shifting left or right to give him line-of-sight to the player in possession. And then on the ball, he’s got the skill and composure to deliver quality ball wherever it needs to go, while also having the legs to get up and down.
And then Lynch, probably the best player we’ve ever had.
Hanley is probably the closest to WOD in style, Connolly is probably the most similar to DOD. There’s not another Lynch.
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AOC is class.
DOC is a serious threat, an excellent player who I think Kiely likes but obviously any player who didn’t make the 26 is in danger of being dropped if there’s talent waiting in the wings. So yeah, he’ll need a big club championship.
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Lynch is a generational player. You can’t be looking around for a replacement for him and it’s not fair to compare anyone to him. Mackey, Cregan, Carey, Lynch.
What happened Barry Murphy?