Munster Senior Hurling Championship 2024

The spare arm comes in straight over the man’s shoulder. It’s a yellow all day.

You’d love that you dirty bastard

Donal O’Grady in the later days when he coached Cork warned them not to shoulder full stop. It was too easy to mistime a shoulder and once that happened you were on a yellow and possibly a red.

Sounds about right. Probably advised them to use their Corkness instead.

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Its all about the game.

The game has become a mathematical equation now with just a load of big lads running into contact taking about 8 steps and then firing off a throw to the next man coming off the shoulder. Every game now feels like its about 20 a side with all the rucks and mullocking going on. Its supposed to be a game for stickmen but has turned into a game of runners.

I think the rules are fine if they were just enforced and I’d be in favour of blowing 50 frees a game for steps/throws until fellas get the message.

Could you imagine if soccer and rugby let handball/knock on’s go because they just want the game to flow?

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Tipperarys record in the championship since 2021 including the MF that year makes for stark reading, I’m excluding the Offaly game last year as that was just a farce.

P12 W1, D2, L9.

Only win came against Clare last year.

But the real issue is runners dominating not stick men, rules not being enforced, nerds with lap tops running mathematical equations.

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That’s grim reading.

How many managers in that time?

Tipp should consider moving to Leinster really.

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The talk of running or physicality dominating the sport is laughable. The game has never been more skilful. The tipp definition of skilful is the “snipers in cooper helmets” rifling over points while the opposition stand up and admire them. But they’re not skilful enough to perform any of the skills under pressure. Passing not good enough, first touch not good enough, striking not good enough. Nevermind defending. There has never been a team as skilful across the range of skills of the game, in particular all of the basics, as Limerick are now. Limerick perform all the skills of the game under pressure to a level no other team has gotten near.

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Why would you include the 2021 Munster final defeat but not include the semi final victory? Not that it makes for much better reading but it is an arbitrary place to start

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The Tippo’s lack of acceptance is amusing.

You’re proposing to allow more spare arm tackles and blocking off of runs to “encourage more attacking play”?

Nope.

Seanie McGrath: What has happened to Cork cuteness?

On Sunday, it was Clare who brought the smarts and leadership.

Cork are becoming increasingly associated with Munster championship classics. Sunday was another entry onto the list to go with last year’s breathless clashes against Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick.

The common theme running through them is that Cork did not win a single one. That’s not a criticism, that’s reality. But why is it our reality?

I’ve always associated Cork hurling with on-field cuteness and players who demonstrate leadership at the right moment.

On Sunday, it was Clare who brought cuteness and leadership. They responded to a seven-point deficit, and that was before they were given numerical advantage.

When Patrick Horgan got his second goal to cut the gap to a score on 66 minutes, it was Clare who manufactured the next two points through Diarmuid Ryan and Mark Rodgers.

When the game was still in the balance even later on than that, David Reidy was cuteness personified. He had no hurley and seemingly no options. Another forward might have kicked the sliotar wide, which would have created a restart for Patrick Collins, but instead, Reidy kicked the sliotar out for a sideline in the corner where the North Stand meets the Blackrock End - probably the most horrible position on the field for a Cork player to have to take a sideline from at that moment.

Reidy’s actions were instinctive of the game-management Cork lack at the moment.

Shane Barrett’s blocked goal effort aside, we don’t seem to go for the jugular when we are in pole position. When we need to slow proceedings down and suffocate the opposition, we don’t seem to be ticking that box either.

As mentioned at the outset, we are becoming associated with classic games but not associated with winning them. Do we lack the required cuteness and leadership to do so?

Leadership comes in different shapes and sizes. It can be a gut-busting run to get in a hook when there is threat of an opposition goal, as evidenced by David Fitzgerald’s green flag. He ghosted in so easily. If someone had stayed with him or come across then maybe the goal wouldn’t have materialised to lift Clare five in front.

There was frustration at the same Blackrock End in the opening half over the insufficient supply going into Alan Connolly. Cork didn’t take advantage of the fact that Connolly had the beating of Conor Cleary.

Around Connolly, Horgan and Harnedy produced massive scores in pushing Cork ahead at the beginning of the second period and in pushing Cork back into contention in the final quarter. Darragh Fitzgibbon too.

At 1-18 to 0-15 up on 42 minutes, Cork held a commanding position. But thereafter, it became kamikaze hurling. Clare outscored their opponents 3-11 to 2-6 over the ensuing 35 minutes.

From play, Clare’s six forwards got 1-1, 1-4, 0-2, 0-2, 1-1, and 0-3. Cork’s comparative numbers read: 0-1, 0-0, 0-3, 0-0, 0-2, and 1-1. So while the defence will again be criticised for conceding far too large a total, the attack wasn’t as joint-up as Clare’s.

Another stat the Cork camp won’t be raving about is two red cards and a black from their last two outings. Discipline has to be better when the champions visit.

Goalkeeper Patrick Collins will be hoping for better distribution when the champions visit. No team is better equipped than Limerick to read a puckout and push up.

May 11 is so early in the GAA calendar. May 11 is D-day for Cork. May 11 cannot be the end of our hurling year.

The challenge for Pat Ryan: how do you pick morale up off the floor?

If Pat succeeds in getting Cork out of Munster, it would be the greatest achievement by a Cork manager going back over the last number of years. I say that because morale is everything in the dressing-room.

When you are winning and players feel good about themselves, you win games you shouldn’t be winning. Limerick were an example of that against Clare. That is what a winning mentality does. It gives you that extra spark of creativity and the courage to do something.

Will Cork go cautious against Limerick because of how the opening fortnight has gone? Will they lack that courage? They need to be brave. It will be a challenge because two defeats drain confidence.

From Limerick’s perspective, they’ll see May 11 as a massive opportunity to take out one of the big teams in the competition.

Last Sunday in the Páirc had all the ingredients. The weather obliged. A carnival atmosphere. A crowd of almost 37,000. The surface immaculate. The roar early in the second half when Cork began to open up a gap on their guests. The place had the look and feel of a colosseum.

The game itself lacked for nothing. Spellbinding from start to finish. Outrageous scores, superb last-ditch defending.

One of my favourite movies is Gladiator, and Sunday reminded me of the scene when Russell Crowe turned to the crowd and said, ‘Are you not entertained?’ The Cork hurlers certainly entertained. But again, they did not execute. They did not deliver a fatal blow.

The Cork hurling public are baying for big days. We got one on Sunday, but again, no victory to go with it. Against Limerick, we have to claim that scalp. The players must do whatever is necessary.

Are we good enough? That is the prize money question. But we can’t have that mentality going in. We have to assume we are good enough. We are close. Cork have to take advantage of the colosseum in their backyard. The whole setting is made for Cork. The whole thing is ready to take off. I hope they come with the required confidence, cuteness, and leadership on May 11.

We live in hope.

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Cork have never been the same since the strike.

Wow :flushed: when it’s broken down like that you can clearly see him drag the cork man down. Excellent work mate.

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How many times were they blocked down on Sunday? You’d take off an u14 if he got blocked down as often as Jake Morris.

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Tipp alwyas looked a bit unfit but could they hurl.

Now they still look unfit but they can’t even hurl.

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Finally spoke to the auld lad today.
“Worst Tipp team of my lifetime”. He’s been going to games since the 50s. He expects us to get zero points this year.

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Jesus ye were surely worse in the late 70s and 80s. How many years in a row did ye go without a win?
I think Tipp’s demise is exaggerated. I still believe they have several excellent players. There seems to be a bit of an identity crisis in Tipp with the way hurling has evolved though. The playing styles of Cahill and Fintan O’Connor coached teams are incredibly divisive within the county.