The half back line is nailed on. There will be no switches. Hickey will be given a man marking job. Casey is well behind English and finn.
If Hickey is named in the corner Bubbles or John McGrath will clean him out.
1 Like
If and it is a huge if Hickey was to start it would be for Dan Morrissey. If I was doing that I would move Hayes or Hegarty back and just make way for a scoring forward like David Dempsey in the half forwards. I am 99% sure he will play Hickey:
Thereās literally no chance of hickey starting half back. Kiely had a richie all league and didnāt use him at all. Even after the galway game when he done well he was still dropped. Brynes and morrissey both had iffy games in the league and were never dropped. If kiely had any interest in trying hickey at half back he had plenty of opportunities to do it during the league. Iām hearing English will be 3 or at least always in the full back line. I suspect hickey will follow any roaming full forwards.
Hickey isnāt suitable for half-back in this setup, certainly not instead of Morrissey. One of the main reasons weāve looked better this season is weāre actually trying to give our forwards a chance- moving Hickey to half-back would be a severe backwards step.
Hickey was in a bit of bother against Tipp but he was picked every single time when available. Surely if Kiely was going to play English there, heād have tried him. I wouldnāt mind Hickey at corner-back as a man marker but I think heāll be full-back. Unless Kiely thinks Casey is the answer but I really donāt think he does.
As for moving Hayes or Hegarty back, it just wonāt happen lads. Maybe it should, maybe it shouldnāt but he has stuck to his guns throughout and thereās no way heās going to second-guess himself at this point.
1 Like
Weāre going to playing teams that regularly have two man full forward lines which is why hickey will be shifted to 2 And English at 3. Talk of hayes or Hegarty moving back is crazy. The whole team is set up around their ability to win ball in the air and run with it. 1000/1 either turns up in the half back line.
I would agree, it is too late in the year in Kielyās mind to change it. I think if he took the risk and put Casey in full back and moved one of Hayes or Hegarty back for Morrissey and Hanley to midfield as Browne or Malachy wonāt cut it we will be a far better side. It wonāt happen.
You are right there also. Look we have to give Kiely the benefit and see how things go against Tipperary. I can see very few changes for the Tipperary game.
If Hanley is on the panel, I still think itās a bit much to expect him to play any part from the start. Iād imagine he is naturally super fit but heās still probably a bit off the rest of the panel and itās hard for any player coming back into a panel. I know the Na Piarsaigh players are in the same boat, but I imagine the ones who are most likely to start are ones who were part of the panel last year too whereas Hanley wasnāt.
If he impressed in training, he could be an option from the bench.
William OāDonoghue could have a chance in midfield as a physical presence beside Lynch.
I think Hegarty is more of a scoring threat than David Dempsey. Hayes wouldnāt be that far behind either
The one thing that makes us a little bit of a danger to teams is the physicality of our half forward line, Hegarty has improved no end and Hayes is returning to the form he showed last year. We can actually compete physically in our half forward line now and those two are chipping in with scores every game, why in the name of fuck would we change that?? Its the same with talk of moving Hannon out of 6, ridiculous stuff
5 Likes
Yep itās mental. Hegarty and hayes are probbaly the most important forwards we have. Two absolute units of men that are willing to work their socks off for the whole team. Chippping in with scores and creating goal chances. Crazy talk. On hannon against clare and Waterford heāll must likely be the free man. Thatāll suit him more too. He done fine in the league overall but think weāll see a lot more from him in championship.
1 Like
I think he has done very well at 6 since moved in there, he mops up some amount of ball and I think his delivery into the forward line is good. While heās no GearĆ³id McInerney aggression-wise I think he gets harshly criticised in that regard, he puts himself about a fair bit. Skill wise there isnāt too many in the position better than him. Heās just not the type to physically impose himself on a game like others but does so much other good stuff that goes unheralded. Personally I think heās a class hurler
1 Like
For all of the speculation, the championship team will show only two changes from the team that started the league semi-final.
Iād be amazed if anything different happened.
Browne and P. Casey in. Only other possible switch is tom m and d o donovan
Malachy and Barry Murphy wonāt start. Peter Casey is carrying an injury and will have little hurling done with the squad prior to championship. I would expect Paul Browne to be restored to midfield for the opening game.
Bear in mind that Limerick will have to set up against 4 different opponents in 5 weeks. OāDonovan will not play against Tipperary but will be in the mix for the Waterford and Clare games. The half-forward line of Hegarty-Hayes-Morrissey will be in place for the Tipp match.
If Casey doesnāt start Iād be surprised if murphy isnāt starting unless they put David Dempsey in the corner. Iād agree 12 places are absolutely 100 percent nailed on from the league.
Byrnes for Brynes is another definite change.
2 Likes
Voyeur
Yes. My SLA Agreement requires me to read every single post committed to TFK.
4 Likes