The issue with making the ball heavier is if you get a really wet day does the game completely turn to absolute shit?
Surely putting a thicker rim on the sliotar is a no brainer.
It shouldn’t - it might make things a bit more interesting as a team would have to look at adjusting it’s normal game.
No. You’re thinking about the good old days when the ball absorbed water.
Agree with this. A simple elegant fix.
1 Like
We need to go back to the halcyon days when the core of the sliotar was a ball of twine
That’s a great idea
Could we have a form of hurling like what gridiron does with Arena Football? The same game just a few differences. Puck out frees, 11 or 13 players a side, sideline cuts from the corner instead of 65s.
With the spilt season we could have it by county or region, split Dublin and KK in half, Limerick in quarters obvs, join weaker counties like Carlow and Laois together…
Donegal were a bit more attacking in 2012. Wasn’t the famous goal that cracked Mayo early a long ball into Murphy.
The new Derry thing of loading around the square is interesting.
Twould be attritional, dogs of war stuff. People would probably love it. Ball would probably be in play more plus more duels which is what people seem to want.
Limerick are well equipped any way they want to do it, whatever.
Waterford under Derek McGrath came close to it at times.
1 Like
On the last point, I think an Ulster province (cc. Donal Og) especially and merging countie is worth a shot. Brilliant players in some places that never have the chance to be competitive. Saw a post earlier about a lad Keegan from Kildare who would walk on any team in the country. I want to see that man get a real shot.
With looking back on it, nearly the most talented panel in the country.
I don’t think an Ulster team would ever work nor would the players up there want it
Too big a geographical area, disrespectful/disregarding history, or just no meas in the concept? Probably all 3! Could see it being a nightmare to administer alright, who would pick teams etc.
I’d have thought players might go for it. Dunno, if they played as their own counties first and had a chance to make a quarter final if knocked out. Maybe a 2nd tier selection of players play a match for a cut off a quarter final instead. I don’t know.
In truth Cody had a nightmare in terms of tactically preparing Kilkenny in the final. He’s an unbelievable man to keep a team competitive in or around the top table but cutting edge in terms of tactics he is not. Kilkenny had little idea what to do with their own puckouts and were opened up easily on Limerick’s. The values Cody has instilled kept Kilkenny fighting to the last but the basic set piece tactics screwed them.
1 Like
Looking at the Galway puckouts against Limerick. Henry would’ve made a big difference.
Looking back on it it’s more galling every time you look it. Galway and Clare to an extent had given a template on how to disrupt the Limerick puck out and get joy on your own. It shows a level of arrogance or ignorance for Kilkenny to not look to implement something similar
1 Like
For it to have any chance to work all the players would have to put in as much effort training, physically, tactically as the top intercounty teams which logistically couldn’t work IMO.
Neil McManus was on a podcast at the start of the year and very against it IIRC
2 Likes
At one point in the first half Kilkenny’s puckout strategy was reminding me of Waterford against them in 2008 it was that bad.
It comes back to Cody being hurling’s Mickey Harte. A giant who post the great team kept his county near the top at pretty much all times due to his tried and trusted principles - principles which will never go out of fashion - but had fallen slightly behind the game tactically, while at the same time trying to slowly modernise.
In saying that, if he’d had another two weeks to prepare, who knows - but in saying that, it was hardly unforeseeable many months ago that Kilkenny would have to beat Limerick if they were to win the All-Ireland.
1 Like