This actually strengthens @Malarkey argument. Heās right it seems.
Heās also dead right about 2019. Everyone knows who the best team in the country were that year. Iād to laugh at a Sheedy article earlier this year, about how they managed to turn it round in 2019 after the Munster Final and he never mentioned once the big green elephant in the room and how big a factor that was in winning that All Ireland
Iāve heard it referred to as the Cuckooās All Ireland 
Has Cahill made a balls of Waterfordās prep this year?
In 2020 they werenāt too far behind Limerick in terms of conditioning and were able to stay with them for close to 60 minutes in both the Munster and A/I finals before gassing. Iād give them the benefit of the doubt on last years performance as they emptied early but it was their 4th week on the trot and had expended a lot of energy the previous few weeks.
Was noticable how early they emptied against Limerick a month or so ago and a real lack of kick against Cork despite a three week lay off. Did we give Tipp too much credit for that opening round performance? They have gone back in terms of energy levels and conditioning compared to the previous two seasons.
Has he gambled on the assumption that he thought they would find their way out of Munster and come into high gear in the A/I series or are they overtrained or struggling with the expectations after the league win and solid performances of the last two seasons. Or maybe it just diminishing returns from their approach.
Serious two fingers to Hotpoint
They were absolutely lifting in the league, were well ahead of other teams energy and fitness wise. I would say they peaked too early altogether. Itās difficult to maintain that standard.
Yeah and it is a fairly hard running/high energy game plan. If you donāt have the legs to execute it then it goes to shit
Dictionary Dereks solo run after the league win didnāt help their cause
Pure raimĆ©is in fairness. Did he proffer a reason on how Liam Cahill could be more likely to be Colm Bonnars successor by tripping up Cork in his āspool this thoughtā. Again the āfortunateā 2019 All Ireland makes an appearance. Totally rent free in his head at this stage not that there would be much real estate in the form of a brain occupying space there. Iām surprised the nuances between a flick and a pull didnāt make an appearance.
With the cost of living the way it is at the moment and 4 round robin games you pick and chose your battles in terms of which games you can attend or not. With club activity the way it is in Tipp with various divisions and leagues in full flow you could be gone 4 nights of the week. It is not practical to attend all these games. In reality the championship is morphing into a clear demarcation between home and away fixtures much like you see in any other sport like rugby and soccer. Before with neutral venues you could have a 50 50 split in support but now people are happier to attend their home games for a myriad of reasons. How many Waterford supporters made it to Limerick or Kilkenny to Salthill? Limerick bring a huge support no matter where they go in good times and bad but they are the exception rather than the rule.
I think you summed it up in your last paragraph. Heād expanded the panel during the league and really developed options but it wasnāt clear what his best team was going into the championship and that was compounded by players not being fully fit or on form. At the end of the league it would have been fair enough for him to expect theyād find their way out of Munster and have their best team coming together for the all Ireland series. They also have been motoring in high gear all through the league and thatās hard to maintain, especially when youāre strong favourites.
Smallish things went against them too, like Cork finally giving a shit and Tippās one good performance both coming against them, the tight pitch etc. Bit unlucky.
I donāt think things like that exist in a vacuum. Maybe both those teams had their best performances against Waterford because they were allowed to.
Heās right that 2019 was a lucky all Ireland but itās also pure sour grapes coming from a Kilkenny man given they were no less lucky to even be in the final.
Perhaps thatās a part of it too but I donāt think those two teams brought the same energy or attitude to their other games.
This is probably a fair enough summary of the whole thing
It has always been so.
The argument about thrown handpasses and handpassed scores (you could handpass a point, all have forgotten that other than the older Denise supporters) was a thing in the 1970s/1980s as well
Sports evolve in how they are played.
Even rugby went from 13 forwards to 8 forwards to loosen up the game
Itās always been close to ungovernable sure. Itās just the way it is
That is a very good piece.
When did newspapers start letting women write about sports? Is it a recent thing?
I was very surprised how few fans from Waterford were at it. A huge crowd but no more than 1,000 from Waterford I would imagine.
You are correct on most of your points bar the fact Waterford weāre not within an asses roar of Limerick at any point of the game, at half time it was a one or two point hammering.
Anyone who went for the league is flahād now.
Cork, Waterford, Wexford. KK the only ones of the 4 semi finalists going okay and they, with all respect, basically had two handy weeks at the start of the champo to ease into it.
Dublin also went for the league and they look bollixed too.
Some teams mistimed it this year, which with it being the first year in this format is perhaps understandable. But I think it was pretty obvious early doors and widely commented on, that you probably didnāt want to be in a league final.
Limerick got it right again 