One at a time.
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I think people were saying that around 2009 and to be fair at the time they had savage strength and depth and were able to bring on subs like TJ Reid, Cha Fitz and Michael Fennelly.
Then shrewd judges like Ger Lough were flabbergasted as to how they were going for 3 in a row in early 2016 with a middling enough pick. But the 2009 depth wasnāt a myth at all. They had savage subs.
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I donāt know was that really the genius of Jim Gavin, more just the strength of what he had available. He also had lads in the their 30s to phase out as he went. What ages were the fellas coming through too? Coughlan and OāNeill have already gotten a good bit of exposure and will get more this league and weāll be able to share a few starts with the bit of rotation Kiely will do in the round robin. English will get plenty of minutes too. Thereās already been a nice bit of evolution in personnel, positioning and style since 2018. I donāt think weāll be in danger of going stale this year, competition for places will keep things fresh even if the first choice team remains the same. Next year weāll see two or three new players come in and weāll be grand then too. After that thereāll be a few guys with a lot of miles on the clock and we could see some dips in form or injuries necessitating more change.
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Thereās a lot of changes within the team. Lynch in the half forward line and Kyle going from the forwards
To the backs totally reinvented the side. Probably only 9 players started the 2021 final in the same position as the 2018 final. Quad, Finn, hannon, Byrnes, o Donovan, hego, Morrissey, Flanagan and Gillane.
OāCallaghan and Howard were regulars in Championship by 21. Murchan, Small, Fenton were 22.
Gavin also had no issue starting 3x 20 year olds together in an AI Final once upon a time.
Barring injury, Iād safely say both English and and OāNeill will be starting by the time theyāre 21 and 22 respectively. I wouldnāt be a bit worried about us yet anyway.
The full forward line is interesting.
Gillane can blow hot and cold and is probably the greatest example of kielys excellent man management. April wonāt be long coming around so heāll need to hit the ground running very quickly or heāll end up on the subs like last year.
Graeme M is a very good player to have about the place but Iād be surprised if heās starting again. His best days are behind him.
Casey is injured. Not sure of the time frame here.
You then have the king of west limerick seamus flanagan.
O neill and English have an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting place.
Exactly. Itās not just been positional changes for the sake of it, the team has evolved massively. Lynch at 11 adds so much to the forwards and create such problems for the opposition. Especially combined with Nash at the back who is another evolution. Do teams let lynch off or assign a man marker to him and give us Nash as a free man? Itās pick your poison stuff, either way suits us and the opposition is fucked. Hayes at wing back is just another absolute weapon added as well. WOD in midfield is another evolution. Itās a shame we were robbed of Peter Casey after he finally properly arriving.
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Why are you engaging with that two faced rat bastard?
Hopefully Peter is back soon.
Heās a completely different option to Gillane or Flanagan and a total nightmare to mark. Heād have nearly won the man of the match in the final if he stayed on.
If the 2021 side met the 2018 side it wouldnāt be a contest.
Our ability to move the ball is on another level.
Iām gonna kiss the head off you if I see you this summer Tommy.
Calm your tits mate.
Heās Melting down like klopp.
Iām going out in a blaze of gloryā¦
Weāll see whoās melting when I catch hold of you kid. Your big ginger puss will be visible from miles away.
That defeat was probably the best thing for this squad in the long run after some of the incidents after 2ā18
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The other thing about this is a lot of lads seem to question whether or not the required standard us coming through. How many munster minor have limerick won in the last 5 years? Secondly, the cork u20s of the last year are being built up as the next best thing. And yet, they scraped over the line against limerick in the Munster final. A little bit better game management there and I suspect limerick could have got a result. How many of the starting 15 from last Sunday would have been recognised outside the outside the county. Granted the opposition werenāt great but they were absolutely ruthless from first whistle to last.
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Weāre only topping up as well. Cork will need 7 or 8 off that 20s side.
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If they had Paddy OāDonovan playing last year they would have beaten that Cork 20s side
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It makes a massive difference when you donāt need half the u21/u20 team to make the big jump and be the difference in the senior ranks immediately. It also settles the likes of English or O Neill that they donāt have to be the next big thing, rather they can just slot in nicely in an elite, high standard set up. Itāll only improve their performance that way. The opposite is what Lynch effectively was like in 2015 with all the hype and expectation, itās not easy
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