We have. In fairness Waterford did do a good job on our puckouts in the first round. Clare pushed up on us as well and were just ravenous for the breaking ball. We got a good handle on it at times but its certainly been studied by everyone and its certainly not as effective. Early days yet though. I donāt think thereās any need to panic. Tipp and Cork will be a different challenge than Clare were.
I think it was a better overall team performance vs Clare than Waterford even though we lost. Iām confident they will improve again for Thurles against Tipp. We will have to. Finnās injury is a huge blow though.
ā While author of plenty of things that I regret, I have never been convicted of assault. Or of anything else.
ā I have a low (and an extremely low, quite often) opinion of journalists. But nearly all of said cohort have never been convicted of assault.
ā Woolheadās questioning of John Kiely was pitched as no more than shit stirring, which is precisely (and lamentably) his level. I agree that questioning of Limerickās discipline, pitched correctly, is perhaps the presentās most important line.
ā What relevance has Damian Lawlorās (non) hurling career to anything significant?
Thereās plenty of people who have been convicted of various offences and recovered to be functioning members of society. This is surely a good thing.
Wooly aside, it was probably the first time I have heard this line of questioning, this shows the low standard of those tasked with asking the questions.
Finally, @BruidheanChaorthainn maintains he hates hurling. You agreed saying he didnāt play the game. I cannot see how this would make any difference. Very few sportās presenters or journalists have played to a high level.
**[quote=āendakenny, post:445, topic:37658, full:trueā]
Thereās plenty of people who have been convicted of various offences and recovered to be functioning members of society. This is surely a good thing.
Wooly aside, it was probably the first time I have heard this line of questioning, this shows the low standard of those tasked with asking the questions.
Finally, @BruidheanChaorthainn maintains he hates hurling. You agreed saying he didnāt play the game. I cannot see how this would make any difference. Very few sportās presenters or journalists have played to a high level.
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Woolie and Malarkey used to have it out on twitter anyway.
Parkinson. The loudest mouth in the room, lacking between the ears and haplessly short on decency, he announces his shortcomings with every unspoken thought.
We are sort of at cross purposes here ā unnecessarily, really. I agree with you that Limerickās ill discipline is a significant topic and therefore a perfectly legitimate line of enquiry for the media. No problem there. You are quite correct in saying too little has been made of this factor. Precisely this factor made even madder those preview pieces stating 2023, hurling wise, is a foregone conclusion.
My point about Woolheadās conviction for assault is mostly that his interest in this topic is so obviously trumped up, clickbaitery in action. Woolheadās intervention has no credibility, twice over. His activities are deeply cynical. Woolhead once urged me to write fluff about Brian Cody because I would āget more workā. Which or whether, I detest his narcissistic shit stirring approach. His take on Limerick is of a piece with the populist guff about Covid lockdowns and the like. Woolheadās afflatus is a childish dislike of authority in any form. His favoured mode of behaviour? A slow release tantrum.
We are also somehow at cross purposes on Woolhead and hurling. I did say ā based on many comments by him on the subject ā he hates hurling. Woolhead comes out with the typical chippy stuff about āhurling snobsā and āfootball is meant to be an inferior gameā. I interpret this hatred as part of Woolheadās narcissism. I did not say anything or agree with anything or anyone ā unless I am going doddery ā about him not playing the game. I consider whether or not he played the game irrelevant. Some of the people I know who most love hurling never played the game ā many of them because they hail from an area where playing hurling would have been difficult or nigh impossible. I am talking about people from Donegal, North Galway, Mayo and so on. Some people from hurling areas never played the game for a variety of reasons. I did hurl into my early twenties. But so what if I had not? The fact that I cannot dance like Michael Clark does not lessen one whit my reverence for his genius as a dancer and as a choreographer.
I have never met Woolhead or had any dealings with him. I just detest him. I do know people who know Woolhead well and they detest him, nearly to a person, as well. They tell me the media guff is not an act and that Woolhead actually is an odious little creep.
Best wishes on his recovery. Sean Finn is a brilliant player and defender and will be sorely missed by Limerick. At his best he can completely lockdown his opponent.
Apologiesā¦ I see now where you are coming from. I was a bit loose in how I phrased something.
You are spot on. Why? Because he never hurled. A complete pot plant narcissist.
I did not mean, here, Woolheadās views are invalid because he never played hurling. To me, as I said, that factor is irrelevant. I meant Woolhead hates hurling because he is the sort of narcissist who hates anything outside his own narrow purview.
I think many are missing the point on the discipline issue with Limerick.
A neutral observer of the game made a good point to me recently, his train of thought was that Kiely & Co are using physical motivation to lift the panel in lead up to games.
That edge is fine and dandy he remarked but when macho behaviour leads to ill discipline itās a worrying sign. Plus that also puts doubts in younger panellist minds.
He also commented that Kiely was especially ratty when questioned on this and it was perhaps a sign of him feeling guilty about it?
He felt regardless of the result by seasons end that John was probably going to walk away. Iām inclined to agree with that sentiment. When youāre being questioned on disciplinary issues youād wonder is it worth when you are a School Principal.
Brian Cody was a school principal throughout his tenure of a team that continuously pushed the boundaries of discipline. Im sure when Brian was addresing a parents evening he wasnt too worried that Tommy or Noel Hickey had nearly killed a lad the previous weekend. Colm O Rourke a school principal was part of one of the most ruthless teams you could up come against.
Limerick have a great pool of talent at the minute. But this truth ā especially when the group has won four All Irelands ā is far from the only significant one. As regards winning matches, the two main negative factors have long been obvious: their discipline and wides.
Last weekend, I was behind Nickie Quaidās goal in the first half because I wanted to spend one half looking at exactly what goes on with his puckouts. Clare pushed up hard and reaped rewards. I cursed all the more Kilkennyās naivete last July.
When did Tommy Walsh ever ānearly kill a ladā?
Noel Hickey clipped Mike Fitzgerald in the 2007 AIF, as was later well documented, thanks to Jackie Tyrrellās book. But if you spoke to hurlers who played on NH they would tell you he was largely a notably fair and clean hurler.
The dirtiest and sneakiest hurler during the 2000s was from Cork.
So Brian Cody or Colm O Rourke could have a clear conscience when addressing parents but the stress of defending Hego and the lads is going to force poor auld John to give up his role? That kilkenny team were every bit as ruthless and on the edge than the current Limerick team