i like that team a lot. there must be a possibility that collins and kavanagh will switch positions?
i believe that his form has being poor this year, laz or KP may know more.
looks average to me, Gantley isnât a wing forward, Donnellan is limited, Skehill is average as the day is long and there is far too much onous on the Portumna lads in the full forward line to put up scores.
far superior to what dublin have to offer in my opinion chewy B)
Possibly but for me they wonât get past the quarter finals for the 6th year in a row, too much brute force and not enough finesse under McIntyre
you maybe right but as you said its all conjecture at this point.
[quote=âfenwaypark, post: 591768â]
Dublin are no where near the standard required to contend for an all ireland yet alone win. The spine of their team is well below the required standard and you simply can not contend unless you have enough star quality in these positions. Let us not forget that they were beaten by antrim in the championship last year and have not improved measurably year over year. They have added oâdwyer and keaney, but they will be found wanting as the pace of championship hurling increases. This was plain to see against offally and i feel that it will be more pronounced as the summer progresses. What dublin do have is a panel of 22/23 players of a decent standard. They will be competitive but thats as far as it goes im my opinion.[/quote]
The one thing Dublin have done over the last five years is improved measurably year on year. The half forward line is immeasurably stronger, Dotsy is back playing his best hurling in three years and Paul Ryan has emerged as a scorer. Other players are a year older and better. There was also the small matter of winning a league. Baffling comment.
Dublin suffered a bit of a hangover against Offaly, who remember are no bad team, they drew with Galway last year and only lost the replay by I think 2 points. This was probably to be expected for psychological reasons blah blah blah. Dublin pulled away to an eight point lead and pulled away with a goal again when the gap came back to two points. That in itself is clear evidence of a tougher streak this year.
I think though that you may be right about the pace catching Dublin out against really good teams in championship hurling. There is still an element of ponderousness, a mechanical, systematic element to a lot of their play. Thatâs good and bad. You can outrun, grind down and outhurl mentally brittle opponents. Dublin are not a big team physically but Daly is clearly trying to develop the kind of relentlessness to their play that Clare had in the 90âs. I donât know if itâs the best comparison in the world but it reminds me of Kildare under McGeeney also. Dublin will get loads of possession and wonât be afraid to shoot. But there isnât enough of a goal threat and on bad days there are too many wides. Dublin lack the real marquee players needed. Thereâs no Eoin Kelly, Noel McGrath, Tommy Walsh or Michael Fennelly. I just find it hard to see Dublin compete with full strength Tipp, Kilkenny and Galway teams when it comes down to it. They will probably reach the quarter finals or possibly sneak into a semi if the draw is good but no further this year anyway.
[quote=âfenwaypark, post: 591768â]
I feel in hindsight that kilkennyâs star is far from waining. [/quote]
I think thereâs clear evidence of regression. As you say it was early season form but Tyrell was utterly abysmal against Wexford and was poor against Dublin. Shefflin (granted he was only returning from injury) was a passenger and I find it hard to see him get his best form back. Hickey, Brennan, and possibly Delaney are past their best. I wouldnât read much into a facile victory against a poorly coached team who were afraid of their shite.
I could actually see a team like Limerick take Kilkenny on a good day because thereâs been a staleness about Kilkenny since the start of the year which I can see become apparent in the knockout stages. Their middle four in Hogan, Fennelly, Rice and Power is exceptionally strong alright and as you say Walsh has to come back.
[quote=âfenwaypark, post: 591768â]
I feel that Galway are greatly underestimated as is their manager. From the outside looking in, they look to have progressed year over year. They could easily beaten tipp last year and that form is head and shoulders better than what many other counties bring to the table. The spine of their team looks good (injuries permitting) with Kavanagh at fullback, Regan at Centreback, Burke (midfield) and Canning (fullfoward). The fact that Portuma were knocked out of club championship early is a big positive as it give Joe Canning the opportunity to clear up the niggly injuries that looked to be affecting him last year. In any team sport, if you are blessed with the best player you always have a chance and in my opinion Joe Canning is ther best hurler around at present. [/quote]
Think Galway are in a nice postion psychologically going into Saturday and a win here can turn their season around big time. I went for them to win the All-Ireland and I still think they have a very good chance. I just donât see Dublin scoring enough goals and I think Galway will. Other people were going on about Galway having no aerial threat yet their two goals in the league match at Parnell Park came from high balls, both scored by half forwards, one directly from a puck out by Donnellan, the other by Ryan after Brady couldnât deal with a high ball. Can see their movement of the ball being too fast for Dublin and I also expect Dublin to shoot a good few wides. Iâd go for something like 2-19 to 0-18.
[quote=âfenwaypark, post: 591768â]
Tipp are still the team to beat, but whether some of their players are as hungry for a second all irealnd as they were for their first will largely determine whether they can win back to back all irelands. this is a question that wont be answered untill the semi final stage.
Its very hard to look beyond the big three of Tipp, Kilkenny and Galway. The best outsider is waterford. Whatever peopleâs opinionâs of davy Fitz are, there can be little doubt that the man is a coach of some substance. The team he has now, is a world apart from the one he inherited.
he has not got nearly half the credit he deserves for this transformation. Their achilles heel is trying to find a full back. Maybe young fives will be the answer here? There is some serious young talent coming through in waterford and they are lucky to have a manager capable of harneshing this talent. I see waterford getting to a semi final at the very least, but an all ireland at this point in time may just be beyond them. I definitely see them winning an all ireland in the next 5 years.[/quote]
Canât see why Fitzgerald gets so much credit. I think itâs mainly a media thing. He gives good copy and praising him helps keep it that way. The way a lot of people go on youâd think Waterford were some kind of ragball outfit before he took over which of course is complete rubbish. They certainly played much better hurling under McCarthy. For me Waterford under Fitzgerald have never looked impressive and have always just about got by. He hasnât sorted out their tendency to concede goals in important matches. In fact I think tactically heâs fairly clueless and has been winging it due to the quality of his players. Bringing through youngsters isnât rocket science. Theyâre there in the club system and the schools system, you bring them into the squad, big fucking deal, they would have been there anyway.
His record is not that great at all on examination:
2008: scraped through to a semi final against opposition Waterford would have been expected to beat comfortably. Beat Tipp in a thriller (the high point of his tenure), annihilated in the final.
2009: Involved in one of the worst matches ever seen against Limerick, well beaten by Tipp, defence a shambles. Outplayed by Galway, somehow scraped through due to Dan Shanahan causing Galway to choke. Comfortably beaten by Kilkenny, only for Eoin Kelly the margin would have been a lot more.
2010: Unimpressive against a poor Clare team, lucky to meet and just about beat a very poor Cork team. Never in contention against Tipp.
2011: Probably should have been beaten by Limerick
They might win an All-Ireland in the next five years but it wonât be under Fitzgerald.
Tipp v Kilkenny
Galway v Limerick
Galway to beat Tipp in the final
what you getting at there? My auld ladâs Saipan esque reaction in the dressing room after the game was what was really remembered by those there.
Itâs an unmerciful shithole, ratio of 15 lads to every Irish traffic controller, prob 30 to a sheila. Always sounds like a good idea at 2am but never is. Discovered an upstairs area in it recently which wasnt as bad. Must be the worst designed bar Iâve ever seen. Just a massive square bar area in the middle of the floor. Though its gas who you end up meeting in there, lads you wouldnt have seen in years.
I was on a stag in Sydney lately and we passed through during the day. Whatever about the local dregs that end up there at night time, there was some load of scum there during the day.
[quote=âThe Runt, post: 591765â]
Iâm exactly the same height as an elf [/quote]
Bit of an over reaction to this hurley throwing IMo. Iâd accept a yellow, but fellas asking for reds. :lol:
Its a last ditch effort and i have seen stop the sliothar before at underage. This is not throwing it at someoneâs head or anything, all the ones ye seem to mention are aimed at the ball or hitting the back swing. In an All-Ireland (or any big game to yourself) its something youâd do when all else has failed.
Whoâs assuming they are good enough, nobody said that. You are moving the posts here. They clearly are good enough as a team on evidence to date as they WON! Thats my point, the confidence they will get from it is hard to calculate but will certainly be positive. Brick Walsh, Mullane, Moran, Molumphy are all leaders IMO and i think Waterford are close to building something special. They just donât have the right man in charge. Having seen planty of Waterford underage in the past 3 years i believe they have individuals as good and better than anything Tipp, Cork, Galway or Killkenny are producing. Maybe not as many as others, but that doesnât really matter when you can only use 20 on any one day at Senior anyway.
You seem to base your conclusions on Cork & Waterford on one league game. However, I disagree slightly with Fenway in that last years championship should be the only thing you judge teams on. The league can certainly give you pointers to the strength of depth, attitude, fitness, young talent etc of a team. But obviously Championship is the real gauge.
All bias aside, i would bet heavily against Wexford being within 3 points of Cork or Waterford in August/September when it really matters.
Some great stuuff on this thread TFK at itâs best. Fenners and Sid have restored my faith in Galway hurling.
Winning Liam is a formality 
[quote=âcaoimhaoin, post: 591779â]
Bit of an over reaction to this hurley throwing IMo. Iâd accept a yellow, but fellas asking for reds. :lol:
Its a last ditch effort and i have seen stop the sliothar before at underage. This is not throwing it at someoneâs head or anything, all the ones ye seem to mention are aimed at the ball or hitting the back swing. In an All-Ireland (or any big game to yourself) its something youâd do when all else has failed.
[/quote]
Jesus christ Kev, you mean you see it as an accepted tactic? Its cowardly cheating at best. Hitting the back swing BTW is called hooking.
KIB Man - whats the PBH?
[quote=âsid waddell, post: 591777â]
They might win an All-Ireland in the next five years
Weâve all been saying that since 1998, no matter who was in charge.
I donât know how the likes of Tony Browne can take Davy seriously. Imagine how embarrassing his performance on the sideline was to Browne and Mullane etc on Sunday, in best Chipmunk voice - âHe retaliated Barry, for fucks sakeâ. Do Waterford matches need a Parental Guidance warning?
PBH is the Piermont Bridge Hotel located in Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW
It is a 24 hour drinking establishment and a favourite among the heavy drinking Irish community in Sydney
That looks on paper anyway a good Galway team. Though Farragher is a loss. He could do serious damage on McCrabbe from loose play.
An in form Joe Canning should destroy that Dublin full back. I thought Dublin looked a team full of average players against Offaly. I know they will have improved from that but they have noone in the class of Hayes or Canning anyway. Dotsy will earn his scores off Moore I would think too.
Oh christ, not that place. Utter shithole.
More proof!!!
[quote=âcaoimhaoin, post: 591779â]Whoâs assuming they are good enough, nobody said that. You are moving the posts here. They clearly are good enough as a team on evidence to date as they WON! Thats my point, the confidence they will get from it is hard to calculate but will certainly be positive. Brick Walsh, Mullane, Moran, Molumphy are all leaders IMO and i think Waterford are close to building something special. They just donât have the right man in charge. Having seen planty of Waterford underage in the past 3 years i believe they have individuals as good and better than anything Tipp, Cork, Galway or Killkenny are producing. Maybe not as many as others, but that doesnât really matter when you can only use 20 on any one day at Senior anyway.
You seem to base your conclusions on Cork & Waterford on one league game. However, I disagree slightly with Fenway in that last years championship should be the only thing you judge teams on. The league can certainly give you pointers to the strength of depth, attitude, fitness, young talent etc of a team. But obviously Championship is the real gauge.
All bias aside, i would bet heavily against Wexford being within 3 points of Cork or Waterford in August/September when it really matters.
[/quote]
Iâm not moving any goalposts Kev; Iâm stating my opinion that Waterford arenât good enough in the grand scheme of things. Winning their first championship game doesnât necessarily mean theyâre good enough in a general sense to mix it with Tipperary and even Kilkenny. My initial comments were in response to HangBlaaâs positive reaction to their display last Sunday whereas I disagreed and thought Limerick were the better side and should have seen them off with a bit more composure. Not disputing they have a few leaders but I think they have weaknesses all over the field and I wasnât impressed with all the debutants. Naturally theyâre going to take time to adjust to championship hurling but I donât think theyâre in a tremendously positive position on the back of throwing them in.
Fair enough, i disagree.
Sid,
Excellent points as always. With regards to my comment about dublin, i should have said that i dont believe that they will improve year over year in championship terms. Yes they are making progress, and winning a national title, albeit the national league, is a fair achievement and something very few could have forseen not so long ago. However, i just dont see them making an impact on this yearâs championship as the pace of hurling increases and due to their lack of a spine up the middle. Paul Ryan is a lad who impressed me during the league, but he disappointed me against offally. There has been many a lad who has looked the real deal in the league, only to be found out by the pace and intensity of championship hurling. To be fair to Ryan, iâll hold judgement on him till after the championship. AS KIB points out, Fergal Moore will be a very good test for him at this level.
Is mccrabbe injured still?
On paper it is a sh1thole but I think itâs perfectly charming. Donât see the issue with the square bar downstairs. Thereâs a jukebox. Can see a telly anywhere you sit. Staff and bouncers are friendly. Pool table upstairs. Leather couches upstairs. Open 24 hours. No Sheilas is a fair comment however I never went there with the intention of scoring.