After Saturday night, Iāve renewed hope for Tipp. Our game v Clare will decide who comes third. Iād Clare tipped alongside Limerick and Waterford to progress all year but think we are back in with a chance
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The round robin is great but it wrecks your head with all the permutations.
Bound to be a draw or two thrown in somewhere along the way too.
So you have it Limerick and Waterford occupying the top two Munster spots, Cork in one of the bottom two spots and between Tipp and Clare for the third spot? Interesting
Whoās actually running the ship in Cork? Is OāGrady still involved? They brought in another couple of coaches this year also didnāt they? What does the Rock do, fling water bottles around the place in anger only?
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Yes. Thatās how I had it in January, and I havenāt shifted since.
I had Cork down as the whipping boys, truth be told, but after the league, I relegated us to that. However, if we concentrate on our home games (Cork and Clare), we could go through as third. Thatās as good as itāll get unfortunately for this Tipp outfit, but itās nice to have the misery of eventual elimination prolonged
The draws could be massive.
Sure in 2018, Tipp had managed two draws, and a win v Clare had them though on the last day, until the late Clare comeback put an end to all that. Tipp played FOUR (4) games without a single victory.
Gary Keegan
The round robin is a load of nonsense.
Give me one and done qualifiers on Saturday nights in Semple Stadium over it any day of the week.
Losing twice and being still in the Championship is an absolute cod.
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The round robin is great. A festival of hurling spread out to different counties and grounds instead of everyone going to that shit hole Thurles repeatedly. Players want games, fans want games ā¦ Win, win all around.
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Thereās bound to be an upset or two in there as well.
KK is the only real member of last yearās management team. Furlong and Mulcahy werenāt involved
Iād say they are
Tipperary will surprise a few yetā¦
The biggest problem with the format is that there is a big disadvantage for the provincial winners in that theyāre of an entire month after winning it.
Over the last two years, there was a huge incentive to win the provincial title. Nobody will not go out and try and win the provincial final but the scheduling definitely doesnāt do you any favours afterwards.
They must be, I just donāt see what theyāve changed or done differently to try to address them.
I think the hype train is in overdrive now with regards to Waterford and not for the first time. Back in 2015 they had a similar performance against Cork in a league final winning by 10 points. While they upheld that result in the Munster championship by a smaller margin they didnāt do much after losing a Munster final to Tipp and exiting at hands of Kilkenny. With Cahill they have ideal man to dampen expectations and bring some pragmatism to the argument but until I see evidence to the contrary Limerick are still the smart money choice for all Ireland. I cannot see Waterford scoring 4 or 5 goals against Limerick and they have a huge gap to bridge. Other teams will make adjustments.
Galway remain somewhat of an unknown quantity and have had a quiet spring. I think they could have a say. Cork are too streaky. On their day they can beat anyone but there is no consistency in performance. They have no full back and while Mark Coleman brings plenty of panache he is not going to lock down the middle of defence. Of the rest Kilkenny are probably ahead of the posse. Wexford probably suffering an identity crisis transitioning from ultra conservative to a more liberal game plan. On account of Waterfords manner of victory against Cork on Saturday maybe people are too quick to write them off after league semi final and they can occupy 3rd place in Leinster. Of the rest Tipp and Clare will be hoping to poach a victory somewhere with a winner takes all clash in Thurles in the hope that 4 points and a healthy score difference will be enough to see them through.
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Round robin is fantastic. Everyone plays everyone. Two home, two away (unless your CB is bankrupt). No excuses
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Iād be fairly cautious about Waterford myself to be honest. Iād wait until after the Tipp game before Iād start jumping to conclusions about our chances. We always struggle in the TUSGG and not just against Limerick and Clare have given us some right hidings in Cusack Park. If we donāt beat Tipp we are nearly gone out of the championship at that stage.
And we have a big call to make as regards Austin Gleeson.
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There is no way on earth Austin doesnāt start.
Monty will lose out.
Iām not sure the Tipp game will be a good barometer in terms of this Waterfords All Ireland credentials. Bonner was given a 3 year term with the task of rebuilding the team. He has a free shot this year but next year there will be a bit more expectation with ultimately year 3 looking to get back to being contenders again. Cahill has to start Gleeson really but keep him on a short lead. The situation could start to resemble Galway in the latter years with Joe Canning fairly quickly with the question being asked if the team would be better off with or without him in it. Waterfords system and discipline is what has them where they are today. Cahill has learned to live without star names from his tenure with Tipp underage sides and still get the job done.