Munster Senior Hurling Championship 2023 (Part 1)

They can fair wedge a crowd into those terraces even when they are not too packed they look it as well.

Heard Some story about juicing figures for insurance purposes but I never believed that.

I’d be surprised if we win tomorrow.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t win a game in Munster. We came out of a shite enough league division handy enough so can’t tell much from it.

There are definitely more ‘new’ players on the panel and team this year (first championship starts for Ryan, O’Mara, Tynan and O’Connor tomorrow).

Cahill has had a horrid year with injuries as well.

I think Tipperary will surprise a few people.

2 number 17’s will certainly raise a few eyebrows anyway

:rofl::rofl:

I genuinely haven’t a clue. We could give it a rattle and end up in an AI semi. Or we could lose every match.

Lohan is planning to try and take out Limerick. He knows they can only peak for one day to beat Limerick and I suspect he’s completely undercooked Clare and they could easily get caught out tomorrow. That’s my hunch.

If they sneak through in 3rd they could be very dangerous.

And tipp gave Limerick bags of it for 60 mins last but weren’t fit enough.

Can easily see them beating Clare.

I think Tipp will have goals in them; Cahill sets up his teams to run from deep and go for goals. And Tipp always had forwards who can finish goals off if the chances are created.

It’s a tough game, running the ball from deep and I’d be interested to see if the 15 he named are actually the 15 that start. The likes of Tynan, McCormack, Kennedy, O’Connor will be very important in that regard and then trying to get the ball to the finishers like Forde, Morris, McGrath.

Now, obviously Clare were very impressive in Munster last year and are at home. But I think it should be tight. Clare hammered them last year when coming up against one of the worst tactical setups I have ever seen… I think they took the soundbite of ‘going man-to-man all over the pitch’ way too literally and ended up with 70m of space in front of their full-back line. Cahill will have them way more organised than that.

I’d probably give the edge to Clare slightly but I’d be very disappointed if it wasn’t a competitive game and certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Tipp won.

I think there is every chance Cahill had Tipp primed for a big effort here and they will go for the jugular no doubt. But looking at that Tipp team I just don’t think the raw materials are there for them yet.

There was very little between the sides in 2021 and I believe Clare have improved a decent bit since then while Tipp have lost the two Mahers, Callinan, Bubbles and Barry Heffernan without adding anyone of any real note. It looks like a rebuilding year and Tipp will be the better for blooding lads this year but i think it is a big ask to expect them to jump from last to second in munster in a short space of time with a lot of unproven players in their 26. The team looks a small bit one paced from 8 to 15 for cahill’s style of hurling.

It has been a long time since Clare put together back to back seasons of quality championship hurling - you are going back to Daly’s time, so that is a big question mark against them and I get the scepticism from outside but I think the panel looks a good bit stronger than this time last year. Robin Mounsey started last year in this game and took Cathal Barrett for three points and had only made the Clare 26 due to David Fitz suspension and David Reidy getting injured last week. There are no Cart horses like Domhnall McMahon in the mix for championship minutes now.

I think the match ups suit the Clare backs too. There will be a lot of bodies in that middle third and it will come down to who gets a grip there you would think. Aidan McCarthy is a huge addition, Tony Kelly aside he was probably Clare’s best hurler along with Cathal Malone in 2021 and is just an really good all rounder who can win his own ball, make and break tackles and take scores. Himself and Rodgers should add a good bit extra scoring threat to the forwards.

Maybe Tipp will be completely primed for this and Clare don’t get to the pitch but if all things are equal I think we will win this game.

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Clare are possibly the second best team in the country at the moment. The problem is there isn’t much of a difference between the 2nd best and 6th/7th team (the gulf between first and the rest is massive), and in a 4-team Munster mini round robin, anyone can beat anyone. Home advantage could prove crucial, and that probably tips the favour to Clare. It won’t be the stroll in the park ye had last year though.

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If a team manage to mark TK out of the game, how will Clare fare? That’s a big question mark over them. I would have them down the pecking order because of that.

Tipp totally focused on marking him last year and did okay in that sense but got opened up because their backs got dragged so far up the field.

I’ve a feeling Tipp will win tomorrow on the basis of a complete hunch

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Mise freisin.

It’s Tipp playing against Clare, neither have a standout team, you’d have to back Tipp

I’m backing Clare in Ennis though :grinning:

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Neither are standout but I’d imagine one of them (if not both) will end up in an All Ireland semi.

I thought Clare were excellent last year.

For half the championship.

Clare are probably everybody’s seventh favourite team.