They are going at it very hard and had pencilled Limerick in from the off - they ran the bollox of them before the last few games.
I think we are in for a cracking game in 2 weeks time it will show exactly where we are at this year so far,the players should be chomping at the bit to play the AI champions on their own patch in a competitive fixture.Be interesting to see how Galway react to having the bullseye on their back for the first time in years.
Iād be shocked and delighted if we beat Galway. If weāre even competitive iād be pleased.
They are, but it was only a couple of weeks ago . Limerick have an awful lot done .
Fuck that. Anything other than a victory and Iāll be sickened. We have been building since 1999 ffs. Eventually we will to lose this hopeful attitude and actually expect to go places like salthill and win
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Just being realistic, we are starting from a long way behind Galway, we have few if any players performing to the level of the Galway players over the last few years, and we donāt have a full panel to select from.
Should be a much closer affair than last yearās games at any rate. We have definitely physically come on a tonne and look to have a much more cohesive style of play but itās very hard to tell anything really with the calibre of opposition in the last three games.
I feel hegertyās big test will only be in the summer, harder faster ground where his hurling will need to be really quick, he is some worker and a warrior tbf and and well able to win his own ball but its the getting out of tight situations in the forwards Iād be concerned about.
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Good performance Saturday night, Dublin are at nothing but still we looked very impressive when the game was still in the balance, even if we eased off as it went on. My thoughts for what they are worth.
Quaid. Puckouts much better, forwards actually running onto them helped him out. Still reluctant to play an actual short puckout to the corner back even though it was on a lot. It let the Dublin forwards drop deeper as a result. Didnāt matter a jot on the night but will be a factor against better teams. Puckouts reverted to type when the game was won and subs were made, but some progress definitely.
Finn. Excellent throughout, not under much pressure but dealt very well with anything thrown at him. Nailed on to start corner back now for me.
Hickey. Classic Hickey performance, slipped a few times, made a couple of sloppy errors and was generally good other than that. Won a good ball with about ten minutes to go and gave it a big fist pump after even though we were about 15 points up 
He cannot be trusted at FB. Heās a half back or nothing for me. Corner back if we absolutely have to. Worth his place but not at FB, my heart couldnāt handle it. Disappointing that no one else has been given a run at FB this year. Weāll end up having to go back to Richie.
English. Did ok, again not a lot to do. Hooked at half time to give Condon a spin. Not a guaranteed starter with Casey & Condon & possibly Hickey in contention.
Byrnes. Good going forward, limited his long range efforts at least, but on a day when we utterly dominated Dublin his man scored 5 points from play off him. Not good enough. Needs to be a lot tighter than that.
Hannon. Great game. There was one touch when the ball was behind him to bring it back into his hand that was worth the entrance fee alone. He has his mojo back, so hopefully he can stay fit. Our key man this year, because whoever is FB will need minding.
Morrissey. Has definitely put himself in contention, but Iād be worried about his speed. Probably better off in the centre, but not better than Hannon.
Browne. Good outing himself and Lynch dominated the middle. Used the ball well, would have liked to see him bursting forward more and getting a few scores himself. Starter for sure though.
Lynch. Heād drive you mental at times, over playing the ball, trying to force passes that arenāt on and the trademark backwards handpass to no one in particular. But he was absolutely fantastic for me. The space in midfield is ideal for him and he played some fantastic passes to Hegarty in particular to run onto. He makes us tick and was my man of the match Saturday. He can improve further but you donāt want him to stop trying the magic things either, thatās the whole point of him.
Hegarty. My biggest worry is that heās not actually that good in the air. Great scrapper for ball on the ground though, and excellent at running onto ball Lynch plays in behind the defence. He must spend all day practising the flick pick up 
Great pace and loves running at a defence, opened Dublin up a few times. Still very raw, but heās a starter at half forward for me even if Iād like to see him given a spin at HB still. Will continue to improve.
Morrissey. The biggest thing for me is that he has trimmed down a lot from last year where he was overly muscular and could barely raise a gallop as a result. Shooting was wayward enough at times, but a good performance overall. Won some good ball which is always a weakness in our HF line. A starter now for sure.
Reidy. One of the bright spots of the night. Really put his hand up for selection. Weāve got good depth in the forwards now. Great to see.
Gillane. Was actually poor enough from play. Seemed to be carrying himself a bit even before he got a knock. Kiely should be minding him a bit better, should have been hooked straight away once he got the knock, the game was won at that stage.
Flanagan. Great pace and strength. Bit wayward in his shooting but he won some amount of ball. Another great addition this year. How was he not starting for the 21s?
Murphy. Scrapped hard in the corner. Didnāt quite happen for him on the night, but showed enough to be given another look.
Condon. Usual combative self. If he would go way and lose a stone heād be a real option at FB.
P Ryan. Interesting option in the corner. Ran at Dublin whenever he got the chance.
OāReilly. Didnāt see much ball.
OāConnell. Scored one I think? Definitely a possibility at HF.
Overall I thought it was, opposition limitations aside, a very impressive performance. We have a style now. Took us a while to get into the groove but once we did we blew them apart.
Galway will be the first real test. Hopefully weāll see that there are real signs of progress, and not just a false dawn.
Long way to go, but at least we seem to be going in the right direction for a change.
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Yell never win the all Ireland only a bunch of scrapers
Youāve certainly told us mate.
Same goes for wexford and waterford
Heād be a legend down in Wexford.
Heās the best limerick forward since Gary kirby
Who is Kielyās full back room team this year?
Kiely quoted a stat post-match that we played 16 balls into the full-forward line in the first half and won 11 of them.
Now I have no idea whether we were using this as a barometer of success last year, but I would find it encouraging that they are now anyway. Get the ball into them nice and quick and in front of them and they will do damage.
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The big thing that seems to be drilled into the forwards this year is work, work and work some more. Putting huge pressure on opposing defences. So far this year weāve not seen the opposition sauntering out and doing as they liked with all the time in the world.
The likes of DOD, Tom Morrissey & Hegarty are well able to take scores but theyāve a savage work rate too. Kyle Hayes is the same. Kiely type players in the half forward line in that theyāll break their arse putting in blocks, hooks and the unglamorous stuff while weāve (on paper) good finishers inside like P Casey, Gillane & Flanagan.
This early season optimism has me concerned.
Save the optimism until ye get to the big leagueās
I have 500 notes on us to win it out at 16/1ā¦ I canāt see any team stopping us.
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Outright League champions,Munster Champions,Leinster champions and AI champions have all come out of 1B the last few years so itās easy to see which league is the big one my angry little friend!