A middling junior A team.
They would have traditionally lost decent lads to mellowes or rahoon but the Trojan work Eamon O Shea has put in means they are growing underage. Itās a massive club with big numbers.
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Iāve an idea they won some type of junior championship in the last year or two inspired by O Shea. I know they previously struggled to field an adult hurling team.
Kilcommins has wheels and a serious engine alright. I think he played rugby to a high level at a younger age
Who do you think will make if from KK? A few of those lads havenāt kicked on in recent years like Kelly and Brennan who looked very good at minor and for Kierans. I havenāt seen tonights game yet but I really like Kenny and Staunton.
Young Cooney is actually very skillful. But has the build of a hod carrier which disguises how skillful he actually is. Looks like a lad who will need to seriously trim down to make it at senior as he wonāt have the gas tank carrying his current build. Still very young though. Heās still U-20 next year so he has some time to get that house in order.
A lot of the Cooneyās seem to have that build that holds weight unless they work hard to keep it off them.
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You could apply the same theory to 3,/4 of the population
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I was probably a bit harsh but he seems onesided to me and rather āuprightā in style and will have a running battle, as you note, with his weight.
The situation in Kilkenny is worrying to very worrying. Obvious talents at Minor are not training on at U20 ā even lads with a (strong) Senior club, such as CiarĆ”n Brennan, Conor Kelly and Cian Kenny.
Kenny remains a prospect, of course, and Shane Staunton looks an excellent hurler. David Fogarty is good and Peter McDonald has promise. So does Liam Moore, even though he did not get going this evening.
Placing PƔdraig Moylan at midfield was a quite mad decision. He should have been centre back, with Staunton and another pacy wing back beside him, with CK and LM in midfield. Paul Cody and TomƔs Dunne clearly should have started up front.
But hard to see Kilkenny winning, which or whether. Too much darning to do.
Of the 2020 Minors, Mark Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond (who declined an invitation to join the U20 panel) and Cathal Beirne have promise. Joe Fitzpatrick might be the best prospect on that team. Am undecided about GearĆ³id Dunne ā but we will see. Am underwhelmed, for quite a while, by Timmy Clifford and Harry Shine. Local comparisons of HS with DJ Carey and Richie Hogan seem to me bizarre. Killian Doyle could be a right talent but is hampered by being with a Junior club. Same for Billy Drennan. Paddy Langton, who did his cruciate before AIF with Galway, is a fine hurler in the making.
I believe ZBH is gone done the soccer route. Signed by Wexford Youths.
Kenny and Guilfoyle looked very good in club games Iāve seen. Kenny especially so.
Agree about Moylan. Never a MF. Seemed a forced pick.
Have yet to Shine in the flesh but those who have rave about him.
Meant to say as well: Aidan Tallis could well end up an outstanding goalkeeper.
Yes, ZBH gone to soccer for moment.
Kenny has been excellent with James Stephens. Guilfoyle is really skilful but does not do enough, as yet, from play. Bit light too.
I find the premature canonization of Shine very odd. So do quite a few others, increasingly. I hope he does come really good, of course, but I find his body language on the field a bit suspect.
How big an issue do you think this is for a player in the modern day? I know elsewhere some big clubs go after county prospects from junior clubs suggesting this, but with most of the training done with underage county teams and University I donāt think its much of an issue at all. I think a lad who has to carry his club team on his shoulders develops more character than just being another good hurler on a senior team.
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Didnāt do Hego or Seamus Flanagan any harm
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A couple of fine examples. With so many development squads now at underage Iād expect to see more players from junior clubs feature at intercounty going forward. Galways centre forward and full forward last night are both with junior clubs. But I believe a recent minor All-Ireland winner has transferred from his junior club to a senior club who told him it would improve his chances with the county side.
Coaching that goes on in schools and third level aswell. Plenty of examples of lads from Junior Clubs playing intercounty in Cork.
Iām always interested in your opinion on hurling, thanks. When I saw Cody up in the stand, I thought Iād love nothing more than to sit and watch the match with him, and get his thoughts on players of both sides. A platinum mine
Nearyās family are lovely folk. Solid hurling down one side and the kindest people youād ever meet.
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Fuckers are aiming for a reverse takeover of RHN. Were trying to get planning for a complex about a hundred yards down the road, failed I think. As long as hurling stays trendy with the sharp elbowed middle-class gaelscoil types Salthill will have huge numbers. Competition from soccer, football drinking and hooring as always though.
I know nothing of him personally. Iāve never seen him pull a dirty stroke. I just donāt think he has the turn of pace for senior IC. Iād like to be proven wrong as you know his stock.
Welcome to our world.
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His motherās side are the kindest gentlest people youād ever meet. Heād have no dirt in him Iād imagine (Iāve never met him nor seen him play in the flesh sadly)
Cathal Malone is an interesting case study with regards to this. He was on the minor and 21 sides with Kelly, Galvin et al but wouldnāt have been seen as a lad who would make an impact at senior. He spent 2014 to 2016 on the periphery of the senior panel without really being close to ever making a match day squad.
He then had a controversial transfer to sixmilebridge in 2015 and has been their main man ever since being a driving force on them winning multiple county titles. Without said transfer and performances at senior club level Iād say there was a strong enough chance he would have drifted away off the panel. Now he is one of the more consistent hurlers in the country. Question is would it have happened without the transfer? Maybe but the transfer did him no harm whatsoever and he got his opportunity in 2017 off the back of strong club form.