No I wouldnât say he has a plan at all Sid. Rumours suggest he mightnât even bother with a pre-match team talk and heâs going to watch it from the stands
Absolutely, but the thinking would be that if you beat Tipp on goals youâll win the match. If you look back through Tippâs games over the last few years the points tally has generally been very close and often theyâve lost it, itâs goals that win games for them. In the '09 final Tipp were probably the better team but Kilkenny got the goals and thatâs what tipped the balance.
blandly hit out of the park Fran I personally think watching from the stand is a better place for a manager to be though.
Sitting deep and letting chipp shoot for points will be the plan. We will try to murder any space in side midefield a la the 06 final against cark.
Having Hogan at centre is a big boost over last year too. Heâs improved as a centre back and I think heâll do well. He got a lot of stick after the 09 final because Corbett scored 4 points when moved to centre forward, but he scored those points while roaming all over the field. Hogan held the centre and, I thought, hurled quite well. I expect him to do the same tomorrow.
One thing I would be worried about would be Jackie Tyrrell getting sent off.
How Henry goes tomorrow is crucial. He is the conductor, weâre lost without him up front as last year showed. If he goes well we have a chance.
Surprised at Eddie getting the nod. Heâll hardly start on the wing. Larkin will come out more than likely. I canât see Fennelly been given a run out there. Heâs not strong enough to compete under the dropping ball. In space and with ball in hand, heâs great but heâll pull up no trees in crowded situations.
Iâd give us a 35-65 chance of winning tomorrow.
Eddie Brennan playing means that KK will go man for man. If youâre playing with spare defenders the forwards you have have to be whippets to close down the opposition backs. Eddie doesnt fit this mould.
Kilkenny will drop back from the half forward line and endeavour to leave an acre of space in front of the full forwards. Tipp play the same game so it will be interesting to see how all the space is squeezed in the middle
The title of these podcasts Newstalk are playing at the moment makes me laugh for some reason. âHurling people talk hurlingâ. It gives me visions of twiceasnice97 and dubliner2 and other âtrue hurling peopleâ bores arguing over who the best under 12 player in the country is and accusing others of not being a true hurling person because they havenât heard of some under 14 in Waterford.
Ger Gilroy just called Henry Shefflin a âquarterbackâ 
Donal Og has grown on me a lot in these pods :unsure:
Iâm going to potter along to this game now too. Enjoyed the last two so makes sense to go again. Still think Tipp will do it with a bit to spareâŚ
This is my post from this time last year.
As I said, it would have been the greatest achievement in GAA history.
It only ended once and it ended at the hands of these guys.
If Kilkenny are short any hunger today I will be shocked.
They have had a year to think about this one in the same way that Tipp had last year and they blew us away.
This is a bit of a continuation of video I posted last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlBcsC1v8wA
âYou did it once, NOW, letâs see you do it again!â
I expect Kilkenny to spring something creative today to minimise the goal threat.
I wouldnât rule out seeing Tommy at midfield either.
Michael Fennelly - Hurler of the year please!
The nerves are setting in.
âHon the Cats!
Iâm pretty sure I heard Michael Duignan say Michael Fennelly was injured on Up for the Match. I wasnât listening that closely.
Im told Kilkenny sent tickets back to HQ in their droves. Not a good sign
Have just heard this rumour and was actually coming into to post it up. Anyone got anymore on it?
WTF? Eddie Brennanâs starting? Is Bonnar Maher?
Cluaindiuic - that is the single most surreal post I have seen on TFK.
Floodlights switched on now and still pissing rain in croke park. Some amount of empty seats about too.
Pissing rain here and freezing with it.
Lovely bit of Dropkick Murphys now.
Astonishing amount of empty seats there. The first All Ireland in a while where you can change your seat if youâre not happy with it,
Tipp lose first battle by showing their softness coming out in tops where as Kilkenny go short sleeved.
Weâre all hurling people lads. Just in case you didnt know it.
Yeah, that should decide it alright