Kingstonās comments after the game yesterday were bizarre and a flashing amber light to the state of the set up.
He was saying how difficult it was for the players since the Limerick game dealing with the criticism. Any management set up worth its salt would have insulated the group from all that and used it to get a reaction.
Instead they came out and found themselves 11 points down within about 25 mins.
True, but they have a lot of light, quick fellas around midfield/half-forward who love to run with the ball but arenāt going to come out with dirty ball, they donāt really want to. Now, I guess that can be taught but winning that kind of ball is a skill in itself that some players have honed over a long, long time.
Sam Quirke is the only Cork player on the panel that Iāve seen come out with those types of ball regularly.
They wonāt go outside the county. Its either Declan Kidney or Ronan OāGara at this stage
No ye donāt have the players, who are they? If they were there theyād be picked at this stage.
You forgot to mention Waterford were in an AI final in 2017 and could have won it, Cahill wasnāt starting from scratch
Is Gary Keegan (previously involved with amateur boxing) part of Cork set up?
A lot of those cork players look anaemic out there, they are severely lacking in the physical stakes. That team needs massive work to be competitive in general and it wonāt happen overnight
Yes, or at least he was earlier this year
They should spend between now and the end of the year in the gym beefing up. Even some of the Tipp u20s looked more physical than them in the Waterford and Clare games. Its one of the main reasons they donāt win dirty ball. They get horsed out of it
Ryan Taylor looked like Mike Fennelly in his pomp out there yesterday when contesting for dirty ball
Ryan Taylor isnāt that big really though, and that proves itās more about attitude and willingness to work than anything (as well as the actual skill of contesting for the dirty ball).
Dropped uncremoniously
He is one fella who would have the bit of cutting that was needed yday. Heād also be a better keeper than Collins
He would need an e scooter to get around the pitch though. He has great hands but zero pace
I donāt really know why I bother talking to you about Cork hurling but as usual, your point completely disregards what I said. By your logic Cork also made an AI final last year, and could easily have won it in 2017 and 2018. Both years I would say we were quite unlucky - red card fucked us in 2017 and Waterford were brilliant on the day and in 2018 the bench cost us. Not to mention we have reached 4 u21/u20 AI finals in a row and have won 2 of them. You can talk shit all you want, but the players and the talent is there.
In fact, I think when Cahill goes, Waterford are fucked. They havenāt won an U20/u21 game in years. If anybody else was there now, I seriously doubt they would be able to graft the most out of that panel. The likes of Jack Fagan, Shane Mcnulty, Patrick Curran etc. have grown exponentially under him. My point being that in the modern game, the coaching ticket is as important as the pool of players.
Correct on both counts. Unfortunately, hard work and a bit of physicality is not valued by those in situ.
Certainly, but he has a great hurling iq. Whether the latter is sufficient to compensate enough for the lack of pace at intercounty is the question. They have to play him to find out. Id play him in goals myself.
Iād agree, from the limited viewings of him he is a very assured keeper. I donāt think he is anything more that a last 10 minutes off the bench option at I/C as a forward unless you play him as a 14 target man and I donāt think that is his main strength
Judging by what I saw from the Waterford u20s last Wednesday night theyāll be OK. I was impressed. They had improved hugely from Minor level as a group. Theyāll get 2 or 3 from that crop. The physicality, work rate and aggression from them was superb. Their Minors similar. Thatās a good sign that the right things are being focused on. Whether they win any championships or not is irrelevant to be honest, the players coming out of their underage structure are being set up for Senior level through good S&C (they were physically strong) and have a very good work ethic instilled in them, which was very evident. Waterford are doing things right.
Are Cork preparing their underage hurlers to play Senior Hurling in the modern era? Or are they preparing them to win Minor and 20s championships? Because there is an absolute huge difference between the two.
Hard to assess where they are at. Theyve had a plethora of good underage teams, but then they failed to beat Tipp 2 years in a row who havent produced a lot to senior and neither Galway or Dublin who they beat at u20 level in last yearās finals appear to be throwing up extraordinary talent.
I do think theyāll make some of that group into seniors in time and their minor teams are good but there are 3 real challenges for Cork to ponder now:
Yesterday wouldnt be the trigger for me in this debate about where Cork are going. I felt we were ordinary last year and we should have beaten. Yet they survived. Whatever about the Dublin game, they collapsed against a poor enough KK team and were dragged to extra time.
I think the story told itself since that date. Some of these lads are, at this stage(wasnt always the case), grand in some game - particularly league, but when a battle presents itself in any match they arenāt able for it. If you were to ask me when this malaise manifested itself first however, the way they lost to Tipp, and Kilkenny in particular in 2019, was a huge eye opener. Bar Horgan they were destroyed all over the park in that KK game. About 12 of that team have played some part this year and since.
I dont feel theyve recovered. Iām not sure they believe in themselves, many of the same mistakes are being made and we exploited those weaknesses in 2019 and 2022ā¦we should really have done it last year too.
Before Cork can answer 1-3 above that malaise needs to be sorted. Tactics, systems or otherwise dont matter when the personnel need to ask themselves / be asked where are they mentally. My assessment - Cork have a rebuild on their hands unless they get the source and eradicate those demons before Waterford.
Iām certainly not saying weāre miles better either, we gave up enough chances to lose and our bench is a worry. But we are playing with fight despite some gaps in our hurling. Weāll improve again for yesterday