Mullane sees no reason as to why Davy shouldn’t be Waterford manager next year. In fact he seemed to want it.
Shur who else would take it?
I’m sure it’s been said plenty of times but it’s a total joke all tickets weren’t given to the clubs for the Munster final.
Hard to enough to get volunteers to do tedious jobs like club secretaries and can imagine the anarchy caused by people not getting tickets for the game.
I know on the other hand people in clubs can be idiots for their carry on with tickets but still it just causes an issue for clubs.
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Thoughts so far -
On one hand we are back in a Munster final despite having no Ryan Taylor, missing David Mc for the past two games and only having 60 minutes of Tony Kelly in the round robin. There wasn’t a hope in previous years that we would have been capable to getting three wins on the board missing key players like that due to a lack of depth.
The emergence of Cian Galvin, Conor Leen and Darragh Lohan has been huge in that regard. The latter two especially as I doubt many would have touted either as lads to make am impact at intercounty level two years ago. Galvin has been solid, a very assured striker of the ball. There are still some question marks over pace and strength but has shown he he can be a solid I/C half back at worse. I think we will need David McInerney fit and right if we are to manage to get a win over Limerick though, but Galvin is a solid replacement to bring in with 15 left.
I thought Leen should have started first day v Limerick but it looks like management have done a good job holding him in reserve, he had two very composed cameos off the bench v Cork and Waterford and looked like a lad who had been playing championship hurling for years last week v Tipp. Limerick will be a big step up but there is a lot to like about the lad, big lad with good defensive instinct and composed on the ball. While Lohan looks unrecognisable to the lads from a couple of years ago. Really assured hands and touch taking balls under pressure in midfield, keeping it simple and a willing and aggressive tackler– he is probably a more natural wing back but his sitting presence allowed Malone a lot more freedom to go forward against Waterford and Tipp. Only downside is that he has faded in the second half the last two weeks and Morey and Donnellan are serious downgrades.
While we are going to see a good few lads lads retire from I/C hurling between now and 2026 you would think it is good to see that we have a solid defensive core emerging – at the end of 2024 Adam Hogan is 21, Leen and Galvin 22, Lohan 24 and Diarmuid Ryan 25 and we have a glut of promising defenders in the county between 17 and 21 as well.
Forwards have been a mixed bag this year, when they click they will open any team but they also go through some seriously flat patches – Duggan and O’Donnell have been excellent showing their usual workrate and ball winning abilities. David Reidy has been very busy in every match and I think can count himself unlucky to be the guy consistently being subbed for TK, we miss his ability to tidy up dirty ball and win breaks when not on the field.
David Fitz is David Fitz unfortunately, when things run for him and he can take a ball off the shoulder he is unplayable at times, but all too often it is just too casual or sloppy. There is no real alternative either.
Aidan Mc has been excellent on the frees but I think he is just a bit too one dimensional as an inside forward, he can’t really win ball unless he is barrelling into space away from goal and then outmuscling his man to get a shot off. He is chipping away with scores from play but there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry with him and SOD, you feel there is more to be had there, whether it is from him or maybe Ian Galvin and his clever movement closer to goal.
If TK starts who does he replace? Most likely Reidy as he is playing a similar role, but we need what Reidy offers in my opinion.
Fade outs have been an issue in a number of games, I think a lot of it is simply down to the changes we have been making in the middle third. TK is still clearly minding himself and looking to run into space, which is the opposite of David Reidy. Lohan and Duggan are emptying the tank every game too and we don’t really have options to replace them. Seadna Morey has had three runs off the bench and over 70 minutes game time and aside from a point against Limerick has offered very little with and without the ball in that time. Not much of a surprise to see management try Donnellan ahead of him last week v Tipp. He is a similar stature to Morey and is a busy hurler but again I don’t think he is a lad who will add much at this level. Maybe with the 20s finished up Rynne may well force his way in but I get why management are holding him back as he can be a bit too gung ho throwing himself into tackles but I think he would offer as much as Morey or Donnellan off the bench.
We really could have done with Patrick Crotty taking a step forward in his development and being an option for 10/15 minutes off the bench for Duggan or Fitz late in games but he can’t crack the 26 at present. Ryan Taylor possibly might be an option come the A/I series but it is a big ask to come in at this point of the year with no hurling under your belt.
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I’d have liked Clare to come in 3rd position and plot a course to AI that route. Might have allowed an extra month for players to return from injury and hone a few things. Also it may have allowed players coming back from injury a chance to play their way back in with a sighter against a Joe Mc team and perhaps another step up vs Dublin possibly. If they come up short again vs Limerick in a munster final it could cause some irreparable damage. I know its nice to win these and Clare are without since 1998 but a lot of senior players for Clare will be seeing this as a last chance to add to their AI 2013 medal. Davy Mc back to full fitness is crucial. I have it on good account that a lot of his issues is back trouble stemming from deadlifting in gym preciously. Back pain can be extremely hard to manage and other injuries can stem from it overcompensating but they need to mind him and if hes not right dont play him in a Munster Final.
Overall I feel Clare are not at the same pitch as last year. Their overall trajectory is not where I expected it to be. To reel off 3 wins on the spin after the collapse in Ennis was massive but the manner of the wins were less than impressive. Were they flat against Tipp or was it a continuation of the previous week vs Waterford where they were outhurled for periods. Tipp were only a puck of a ball from snatching a draw at the end while Cork with a bit more nous and discipline should have seen that game out down in the Pairc.
You’d be hoping for Clares sake theres another gear or 15-20% to find from somewhere because they will need it. They’ll need Tony Kelly to hit the ground running now. Jury is still out with Quilligan. He didnt have to answer too many questions in the last 2 games but from here on it will have to be error free and not compound any mistakes. The key for Clare is Shane O Donnell maintaining his HOTY level form but he needs help around him. Its unsustainable for one player to be carrying it on his own shoulders like he’s been doing. Still Clare are in a strong position and have every chance and its good to have areas to work on.
It’s the hope wot kills ya.
Limerick only played 2 meaningful games in 2016. We brought about 15k to the Tipp game and the qualifiers are the qualifiers. What ‘few’ games is he on about…
There was only 18k at the all Ireland quarter final between Kilkenny v Limerick in 2018.
You log in and ask mate. I haven’t posted there since the halcyon days of spending hours in a computer lab in UL in the 2000s
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A Brutal 4k from Kilkenny that day.
I’ve never been on there pal. I wouldn’t give em the traffic
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In terms of ‘bigness’ in GAA, nothing quite comes close to Tipperary Hurling. Its like Collingwood or Carlton in AFL terms.
Premierview for all its faults has nearly 12,000 members and nearly 1,000 logging in every day. Most other counties don’t even have their own specific GAA forum and if they do, it only has about 5 contributors. There was 1,100 posts on the Tipp v Cork match thread alone on PV. There’s only 1700 for the entire Munster Championship so far on TFK.
Do Minor/U20 games get the full commentary works on Local Radio for other counties like Tipp FM does? Hurling not only dominates the sports shows, but the current affairs shows too in Tipp. Even the County Board Draw gets an hour Radio slot on the first Friday night of every month.
Its absolutely BOX OFFICE.
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Of course it has that much traffic on match days, shur they’re at home watching games on tv
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Ouch 
Outnumbered 10 to 1 at home to their so called great rivals and your man crowing about the number of posts they made online… Tipperary hurling is in an awful place.
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That’s just not true.
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Sure they had to return tickets for the 20s final tomorrow, one struggling county will fill Nowlan Park while the other is happy to watch on TG4 but they should get plenty of traffic on the sewer at least.
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