Kilkenny are light enough on goal threat without Brennan. Thatâs why he starts.
That would be the argument youâd think but if he hasnât been good enough to make his place itâs still a surprising selection. Obviously the man has put in some superb performances over the years and who knows what he might produce, but I think TreatyExile put it well when he said that 5 years ago Brennan wouldnât get into Nowlan Park on current form. It suggests weakness in the Kilkenny squad to me, but again, theyâve been too good over the years to write any of them off.
I donât think thatâs true. Shefflin, Larkin, Power and Hogan will all go for goal if a half chance arises.
+1 on that fran
How do the Kilkenny lads see the team dealing with the Tipp goal threat? Will there be any plan at all or will it be just go out and hurl away stuff?
Itâs hard to know. Kilkenny will lose a big psychological battle if they start with a defensive mindset. I think theyâe set up to get the upper hand very early in middle third of the field. Starting strong ball winners and hard wokers like Shefflin, Power & Rice in and around the half forward line. The only thing is Kilkenny will also be very reliant on getting big scores out of these players as Iâm not convinced the players in the full forward line will get much more than 1-5 between them
How confident would ye be that ye actually will get on top in the middle third? Tipp were more than able for the hard hitting in there last year. Obviously Brendan Maher is a huge loss but Iâd always be wary of trying to out muscle Tipp.
Bit disapointing that this isnât a sellout. Very lowkey build up as well. Hopefully itâll be a cracker of a match.
A Cork GAA fan that goes to the vast majority of Cork matches� :huh:
I think Kilkenny are a lot stronger in this area than they were last year. A fully fit Hogan, Rice, Walsh and Shefflin will make a big difference. It will be very difficult to outmuscle Tipp but thatâs what I think they have to do
Personally I reckon ye just need to get a better return from the ball ye do win compared to last year. Isolating Cahill and Stapleton and getting forwards to take them on would be a big improvement on last year. Ye probably need someone to get more change from Curran than Richie Power did last year as well. I think youâre right about the difference Hogan, Shefflin, and Rice will make. Hogan in particular will add serious steel at the heart of the defence and will make life much harder for Cummins on the puckouts.
I think someone made a good point earlier on about how kilkenny lost out in this area of the pitch last year and as a result their deliveries to the forwards were one dimensional and reckless. Theyâre are trying to reverse that this year. The only thing is Iâm not sure they have the full forward line to do enough damage
Cahillâs confidence was shot by being taken to the cleaners by a Village Junior hurler a few months back.
Heâll never be the same after it.
TIPP 1-19 KK 1-17
[quote=âsid waddell, post: 593583â]
TIPP 1-19 KK 1-17
[/quote]Brilliant. Iâll have made a killing on the unders.
Surprised that Brennan gets his place even at the expense of a desperately out of form TJ Reid. Shows how weak the Kilkenny bench has become. Brennanâs best days are well behind him and as others have remarked he is carrying too much weight.
Tipp to win by 4+
Cody, like last year, has gone against his principles by picking one dreadfully out of form player and one unfit one. Thereâs no way this kind of thing would have happened three or four years ago. It shows how little faith he must have in the replacements and it certainly shows how Kilkennyâs well of talent is much shallower than everybody thought a few years back.
There seems to have been a consensus that Rice would almost do a man marking job on Padraic Maher the way Bonner Maher did on Tommy Walsh last year. That looks out the window now. Is Cody seriously thinking Brennan will do it instead?
OâKeeffe v Shefflin for me is an absolutely key battle. Kilkenny will surely target that area heavily.
To say it would be a huge psychological blow to Kilkenny to start with a defensive mindset is rubbish. Itâs just dealing with reality, they donât have as strong a team as 3 years ago. Iâve seen plenty of Kilkenny people on forums writing about how Kilkenny should just go out and hurl orthodox man to man. âIt was good enough for us before so itâll be good enough againâ. Talk about stupid. If Tipp hurl anywhere near the standard of the last two years it wonât be near it. If Kilkenny donât start with a defensive plan and instead play orthodox man to man theyâre goosed,Tipp will get goals. Looking at that team itâs hard to know if Cody has a plan at all other than go with what worked before. He has to have a plan, surely?
i think kilkenny will win by 5/6 points plus. As some have already alluded to, they are much stronger this year than last year. Hogan and Shefflin are pivotal players are having these fully fit is a massive boast to their chances. Tommy Walsh was clearly not 100% fit last year and i think we will see a dominant performance from kilkennyâs 5-9 and this will be too much for tipp. Brendan Maherâs absence is huge as i doubt they would have won last year, without his contribution.
Kilkenny made dublin look pretty average in lenister final and i was very disappointed with tipp against the same opposition. Granted daly had his tactics spot on but it was still pretty disappointing.
Richie Power looks a great bet for man of the match.
Good analysis from OâGrady in the examiner today - http://www.examiner.ie/sport/gaa/where-the-final-will-be-won-166351.html - he echoes what Iâve heard a few people say this week now, that the game will be about Kilkenny pulling their lines towards their own goal and allowing Tipp shoot for points.
Thatâs great as far as snuffing out the goal threat is concerned, but Tipp are well capable of shooting 0-23 again in that case.
I had an inkling for Kilkenny, but I dont think so with picking an injury doubt in Fennelly, and a fat lump in Brennan. Brennan was woeful in the final last year, yet outlasted other players around him who were being taken off. from what I have seen of him this year, he has offered very little, so its very surprising to see him start.