2013
Tipp are clear favourites to win the All Ireland
Handy Munster semi-final draw and theyâll focus on August from there
Tippâs to lose.
KK are KK - everybody writes them off but they will be there come August and nobody will write them off then.
The rest of the teams (Cork, Waterford, Dublin, Limerick, Clare, Galway) are in a pack - any of them can beat the others on a given day but will need to keep their first choice 15-18 players fit and ride their luck along the way. Wexford could spring a surprise result along the way if they get a home draw in qualifiers
[QUOTE=âSpecial Olympiakos, post: 1116036, member: 366â]Cork can beat everyone bar Tipperary. Tipp can beat everyone bar Kilkenny.
The big 3 are still the benchmark sadly despite all the guff about Hurling being spread around more these days.
Iâd have Clare, Limerick and Galway as the next 3.
Dublin, Waterford & Wexford as the next grouping.
Anyone of the top 6 can win the All Ireland but a lot would need to happen for it to happen[/QUOTE]
Going on 3 years since Tipp beat Limerick either, albeit in the Munster Championship not the All-Ireland series. Tipp have a lot of talent and probably should be favourites this year but theyâre not clearly the best. Kilkenny are always a contender, but they do have to find a full-back.
Cork will beat most teams in a shootout, they have serious forwards for an open game, but will they win when the game gets very physical, more intense and less space. Their collapse against Tipp in the semi-final was awful.
Limerick are still there or thereabouts based on the last two seasons, though obviously not on the league. Are they capable of beating Kilkenny/Tipp/Cork? Yes. Will they? I donât know. Iâd fear for us against someone like Cork, because our backs give up too much space at times.
Iâm discounting Galway completely tbh, maybe theyâll prove me wrong, but theyâre firmly behind Dublin & Waterford in my view, and possibly Wexford aswell. When it comes to summer hurling, they donât have the hurlers up front anymore. Dublin & Waterford both look good at the moment, letâs see how they get on in the summer⌠Waterford have a very young team that are surely only going to get better, Dublin have a few class players but if they can play intelligent hurling to get the best out of their players, I donât see why they couldnât be in contention towards the end. Wexford would need to sort out those fucking wides if they want to do anything⌠so many wides all the time.
Fair enough forgot about that league match but point still stands.
Not far off