Not one to nitpick, but Finn has been playing the full back role of late, is well suited to it imo.
He may turn out to be a good FB in time but he’s yet to be properly tested
DJ was well able look after himself, in his prime he’d land Finn on his hole.
Ah no, Finn would have him in his pocket
He’d pick up the breaking ball about 35-40 yards out, head down bee-line for the goal, there’d be a gasp from the crowd as they knew exactly what was coming.
And invariably take 10 + steps to have the opposition fans hopping like sausages in a frying pan
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Properly bi-handal (cc @Batigol) in an era when some fellas could still barely hit the ball. Watching back his highlights reel he was miles ahead of his time really.
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DJ was the ultimate pro while the game was still amateur.
DJ was truly the joe cooney of his era
DJ had 30+ goals in the championship in his career, a remarkable goalscorer.
He wasn’t in an overly great Kilkenny team either.
One team has one of the best centre backs to play the game, the other has paudie puck it anywhere.
No contest.
Like strawberries in a punnet
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Almost a mullocker! 
though to be fair to him this last season or two he has tried to deliver better ball
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I think Finn is a terrific hurler. Still young and still learning but he’ll give the very best of attackers a hard time. DJ might still be too crafty for him
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This is the way I see this.
We will win our battle in the full back line. In Reale, Connors and Finn there are three very able markers in the rear-guard who can mix and match it any number of ways. While DJ will always have the potential to do damage, Finn will have no real issue with Prendergast. BMM wrote a lovely paragraph about Griffin earlier in the week, I’m sure it will have come as a nice reminder to many on here that he once played intercounty hurling before going off backpacking in South East Asia or wherever. It’s far from the strongest full forward line we will face this year, all told.
Richie Power vs Paudie Maher is the highlights reel battle in the half back line. I think there is an element in these latter days of Paudie carrying on too long and sullying his reputation. Tommy Welsh catches the ball and lamps it and is lauded as an all time great. Paudie catches it and lamps it and it is singled out as a weakness, probably, in all fairness because Éamon O’Shea had to come up with some complex geometrics so his forwards could actually get their hands on this ball. At the end of the day, teams have had to set themselves up to counter the Paudie effect, which is a great tribute to any player. Mr David Breen-Healy (nearly) made a career out of it.
Kerins was a decent if unglorious forward from an era when Galway were parachuted into quarter or semi finals to invariably lose and I think Fanning can break even here at worst.
Rushe will knock lumps out of Rushe and keep Rushe scoreless. Rushe is definitely better than Rushe facing the ball, who is worse than Rushe with his back to it.
Midfield is an interesting battle. Mike Houlihan really is my indulgence pick, but there is just a beautiful symmetry between Iron Mike’s overlooked hurling and mobility and Cian Lynch’s overlooked donkey work that one couldn’t ignore. I think we’ll edge it in the physical stakes here, aided manfully by the brawn of our half back line. Galvin is a fine hurler but won’t be suited to this kind of game and is bested by Lynch for technical ability and vision also.
Half forward lines have been a weak spot in this competition, with a lot of lads hoping that their donkeys will win this derby. I have again aimed for balance. I think I’m the only person that picked Ollie Moran - he was picked at wing back for a good few years in the mid 00s when Limerick were crying out for a player like him in the half forward line to lead, win ball, and score. His great games for Limerick imo were in the forwards and in particular in 2007 he was our best player. I presume at some stage in the early 00s he and McMahon marked each other in some godforsaken league game; I think it’s one of the more intriguing battles in the tie and I would fancy Moran to keep McMahon honest and get on the scoresheet. With Lehane and McCarthy either side there’s a decent balance of scores and workrate - I urge voters to set aside their concerns about Lehane’s performances in the last 18 months and think of his pacey, free scoring exploits before this.
Ultimately, the full forward line is where the damage is going to be done. Plenty has been said about DJ Carey in this thread already. Richie Power is one of those players that could really play anywhere in the front 6, a throw-back in some respects, not the most graceful but deadly effective and the bargain of the entire tournament imo. He will make Frank Lohan’s afternoon one to forget. With the big, but mobile Seamie Prendergast in between them to do the donkey work, there is a hatful of goals to be plundered, especially when you consider my Seamie Prendergast is marking a gamey but limited Liam Ryan, whilst BMM’s Prendergast is marking all-time-great-in-the-making, Seán Finn. In fact, it’s exactly the kind of tie where a kicked, dribbly goal will prove the difference.
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Another closely balanced tie and I’ve swung back & forwards about it. In the finish I decided it’ll be about scores (imagine that!) and I reckon DJ will score more off Reale than he will off Kavanagh so Spuds to Ducks for me
Did lads here stop watching hurling in 2013 or something? Paudie Maher hits very good ball into the forwards for the last five years or so
It’s like diarmuid byrnes. If he get 8 balls he’ll use it well 7 times. The one he flails at then you get the ah ya, that’s Byrnes again now
*I’m guilty of that myself
Paudi is consistent, ever present and a very good leader and hurler. But I think 10 points is too much to pay for him when you can get Ronan for 4 who is a better striker of a ball and while isn’t as dominant as Paudi in other factors he is very solid all round hurler.
Put Ronan in Phattpike’s team instead of his brother and use the 6 points to upgrade two of Houlahan, Timmy Mc or Prendergast and it would be a much stronger team as a whole