@Fagan_ODowd, I was reminded of something in conversation in Cork yesterday, that Iâd heard before but had forgotten, the short lived Noel Crowley transfer from Roanmore to Ballygunner in 1989. What was all that about?
He missed out on Roanmoreâs first Senior win in 1989, but when they retained the title in 1990, he had transferred back to Roanmore.
Did the Browneâs hurl underage for Roanmore before moving to Sion around that time aswell?
Canât remember to be honest. Maybe Pat Sullivan got him a job. Crowley wouldnât have been a fit for the daughter so Iâd rule that one out. There were a lot of inward short term transfers to try and get Ballygunner over the line. Anthony Cooney from Mount Sion went for a year, John McDonald from Vegas went for a couple of years, there were three fellas from Kilkenny on the team that did get over the line in 92 and I think Pat Murphy from Tallow played for a year (he was seeing the daughter).
There is a very funny story about Noelie and Rio Ferdinand meeting at John o Sheaâs wedding. I canât remember it exactly. Did u hear it?
No but I can imagine how it went. We were in the Beachcomber after the Antrim semi final in the Under 21 in 1992, and we sent two German young wans over to Crowley (Kitty as he was known to his pals) to ask him are you Kitty Crowley ze famous Waterford hurler. Hilarity ensued.
Cork notched two goals against Waterford but there were at least three other occasions when with a little bit of patience, more could have been scored.
Waterford need to be playing with a full deck heading into 2026, including Austin Gleeson having a sustained run of club games. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Wed, 28 May, 2025 - 06:30
âThe secret in my opinion is that we sweat the small stuff more than any other team I have ever encountered. We obsess over thousands of small details that I believe most people would dismiss as crazy, trivial or a waste of time.â (Clive Woodward on Steven Bartlettâs The Diary of a CEO podcast)
Most inter county teams âsweat the small stuffâ - what Clive Woodward described as the critical non-essentials that make the environment a winning one.
The after-match interviews with key players have been a brilliant addition to the post-match TV analysis on RTĂ. Each week we get a sense and a deeper insight into the mindset, focus and joy of our great players.
Brian Hayes was again, like Adam English the previous week a lovely combination of innocence, humour, insight and intelligence. Pointing twice to the fact that their Monday night collective gym sessions are also opportunities to set the agenda for the forthcoming games, Hayes alluded to the fact that they had to move forward immediately after the Limerick game, such was the imminent threat from Waterford.
The time for analysing the Limerick game would be this week. Cork initially might look at two areas directly coming from the Waterford game first:
Given Corkâs artillery, their obsession with goals is no surprise. Chief analyst Peter OâKeeffe, from Lismore, will surely clip minutes 3.51, 31.23 and 74.38 together and pose a simple question to the panel: âWas there anything else on?â On the first occasion, Darragh Fitzgibbon registers Corkâs first wide following frantic exchanges. A quick glance inside, a possible pop to Brian Roche and the ball is on to Brian Hayes in splendid isolation in front of goal.
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On 31.25, Seamus Harnedy scores a point but if he straightens and delays a half second a four-on-two situation is on with a clear run on goal evident. Finally, whilst Conor Lehaneâs decision to opt for a confidence boosting point on 74 mins 38 secs is quite understandable, again a half-second delay and a pop pass to Brian Hayes and itâs another goal for the Rebels.
I wrote some weeks ago about the incredibly gullible nature of Clareâs defending. Brendan Cummins, who with Ăamon Fitzmaurice is the most insightful co-commentator in the game, made a telling contribution five minutes into the Waterford-Cork game, informing us that âCork are sticking to their values, nobody coming back to help, (their) Cork inside line backs are isolatedâ.
Helping each other will be a massive focus area for Cork over the coming weeks. Last year, and for the opening half against Clare this year, their ability to play three inside deep but yet ensure that their defensive shape was aided by the scrambling help of their half forward line ensured that Sean OâDonoghue, Eoin Downey and Niall OâLeary did not have 80 yards of grass left and right of them which was evident last Sunday. I disagree with Cummins assertion that these are the Cork principles and contend that this piece will be addressed over the coming weeks.
WE GO AGAIN BECAUSE WE HAVE TO
Waterford will have a number of months now to ponder and then prepare for the league and championship. I suggested some weeks back that the loss of Jack Fagan, Neil Montgomery and particularly Calum Lyons might manifest itself in some way before the end of the championship.
Fagan and Montgomery fit into the category where pre-season observers mused âah they wonât be two significant lossesâ but talk to their teammates and that mix of athleticism, competitiveness and their understanding of team play was widely respected and appreciated. Lyons would get on any team in Ireland and is a potent attacking weapon from anywhere on the field. A Waterford half back line of Lyons, De Burca and Fitzgerald matches, if not surpasses, any other half-back line in the country and Peter was deprived of that this year.
Add to the mix an injury-free and hungry Carthach Daly and ensure that Austin has a sustained run of games in the club championship ahead of pre-season and Waterford may well be best served arriving to the opening rounds of the league in 2026 with a full deck, fully intent on attacking the competition and reciprocal benefits for the championship may ensue.
In terms of last Sunday, Peter spoke of âsome harsh words at half timeâ. I am guessing that the Waterford boss was hoping to pin Cork in at little more on their restarts , with a full and vicious press which would not allow Sean OâDonoghue to enjoy frequent possessions and ensure that Patrick Collins wasnât allowed to receive give and goes. With the gale, the hope would have been that Cork would have had to flood back deep to help.
Surprisingly after six minutes, Kieran Bennettâs pass into his brother was one of only three deep deliveries into the inside line. With Cork willing to stay one-on-one, Waterford found it hard to get quality ball into the inside line. With Billy Nolan having a booming puckout, it was notable that most of the restarts were mid-range space-seeking efforts and they might have benefitted from a few edge-of-the-D boomers.
Peter spoke honestly and with real dignity afterwards. There was no sense of whinging and he articulated his points about the possible restructuring of the format genuinely. He also spoke of how proud he was of the players and the group. His disappointment was obvious for all observers. When the Sunday Game panel pick their team of the year they will give a nod to the contributions of Mark Fitzgerald, Jamie Barron and Stephen Bennett.
Down here we are like Stephen Bennett said: âsick of being finished hurling in Mayâ. We have no choice but to simply take on board the learnings and go again. Thatâs what we will do. Whilst the current round-robin structure is cut-throat and has been horrible to us (me included) I think the extension of the schedule, running the Joe McDonagh concurrent to the championship, with no preliminary quarter-final involvement for those finalists, would help alleviate some of the issues whilst retaining the tangible benefits that the brutal jeopardy of three only qualifying brings.
NOT VAR AWAY
Beating a drum alone is a rather tiresome occupation. Not as bad a feeling perhaps as the devastation that players and management feel having immersed themselves completely in their county set-ups and to feel short-changed based on decisions, often genuine mistakes made by referees. Such is the detail in preparation now that my contention is that most analysis teams have a referee performance profile built up on each inter-county official. This is what referee A normally blows for, this is how many steps he allows, he plays only a few seconds advantage, he is overly fussy on handling, you wonât cod him too easy if youâre the traditional free winner.
The human element of their commitment is without question, as is their integrity. The simple solutions are based on working closer as a team of officials, getting some help or eventually adding technology to the ticket. Within 10 seconds of Austin Gleesonâs infamous ghost goal of 2018 I was watching sideline footage to disprove the umpireâs decision. Take the non-awarding of a penalty to Stephen Bennett over the weekend. I genuinely thought that Johnny Murphy got the decision correct based on the criteria that a black card must meet. How fast however could that decision be reinforced through the use of smart-watches and often with simple colour-coded messaging.
Most dressing rooms put an emphasis on putting bodies on the line, and one of our greatest traits as a game is the thirst for combat. The blatant disregard for our players safety by wielding hurleys in a vicious manner as per some incidents last Sunday is not written in the rules of combat. Again a simple five-second message into the refereeâs ear that: âHey we have looked at that, clear strike with the hurley, player A straight redâ. The argument that it will stall and delay is not viable. We are talking seconds here.
On a personal level I have noticed a tendency for referees to allow the non-giving of one free to be accompanied by the non-giving of the next within the same play even if both are very obvious. Three minutes into the Cork-Waterford game Conor Prunty wildly crashes into the back of Brian Hayes. It was a clear free but the play goes on as Tadgh de Burca is shouldered into the back by Shane Barrett and Tim OâMahony wildly swipes on a combination of the ball and Dara Lyons.
It also seems too easy for commentary teams to take the against-the-grain line on the handpass. Itâs often easier to agree with officialdom but 14 minutes into the game on Sunday and the hugely impressive Sean Walsh executed a brilliant on-the-floor back-of-the-hand pass. The replays showed the clear separation but âborderlineâ is used to describe it. My persistent insistence is that in these situations (bottom of a ruck, on the ground, in a swarm tackle or falling) our players are making an extra effort to ensure separation. Whilst it can be minimal and quick it is separation.
Ask Eoin Guinane or Robert Loftis about their experience with the handpass application. Cork are four points up in the U20 Munster semi-final and a perfect handpass from Guinane is penalised, changing the whole tide of the game. Similarly with Clare only a goal down with 60 mins 20 seconds on the clock in the Munster U20 final a clearly executed handpass by Robert Loftus is deemed a free. TG4 tell us its âdeacair a rĂĄâ (difficult to say). Thereâs nothing difficult or borderline about it, lads. Piero (RTĂâs analysis tool) will show you the separation.
With school winding down we have been lucky enough to attend and partake in the brilliantly organised end-of-season secondary school hurling tournaments in Limerick (Ard Scoil), Gort (GCS) and Ennis (St Flannanâs). The creativity of Owen Hanley, Colm Madden, Brendan Bugler and Niall Crowe ensures the hurlers of tomorrow have exceptional exposure. As we in Waterford now row in behind our minor squad I was reminded to look not too far ahead when watching The Phantom Menace from the Star Wars series with my son Odhran on Saturday evening. The great jedi master Qui Gon Jinn reminds us all that: âI should be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the momentâ. We have no other choice.
Outstanding
By god. 
He must be absolutely painful as a manager (obviously did well with Doon this year to be fair)
Players love him apparently.
He takes a lot of flak here, some of it probably just for the craic but Iâd say heâs a decent manager. Especially in his first couple of years, he usually gets a good bounce.
Anything from Qui Gon Jinn about playing 4 forwards with a gale at your back?
One for the unpopular (on tfk) opinions thread: thatâs a really good an insightful article.
McGrath is an excellent commentator on hurling, itâs great to have a different voice.
Extra props for quoting Qui Gon.
Derek underhandedly criticises Queallys approach of not going more long & agricultural in the first half with the wind.
Also noted they only hit the full forward line on three occasions.
Cannot understand those who suggest it wasnât a black card. This whole notion that it must be a rugby tackle is silly. Derek lets himself down again with silly quotes and another example of Piero being used for handpassing, the first cork goal came from a fitzgibbon throw which should be his modus operandi.
I think the problem is that was it a blatant/cynical pull down or just a shit tackle with a pull of the shoulder. I would have a bit of sympathy for the ref as it could be viewed either way - they are making the decision in real time on one view of it.
I think the rule needs adjusting - now that we have the 2point arc - anything cynical or with no attempt to play the ball inside it should be a penalty and a yellow.
Iâd do away with the black card and widen the scope for what the ref can award a penalty for. It is punishment enough
Agreed.
While I get the idea behind the black card, itâs such a harsh punishment that basically referees ignore it unless they are absolutely 100% certain. And players will very rarely make it that clearcut.
A penalty should lead to a goal most of the time and if you broaden the scope for that, thatâll cut down the instances imo.
Problem is there will always be an element of subjectivity but any jersey pulls, pulldowns, grabbing the hurley, pushes in the back in the aid of preventing a goal chance should be a penalty.
There was one from the Clare limerick match last weekend where Foudy overhit a pass to Galvin on the sideline about 30 yards from goal. Limerick turned it over and it was moved into CON in a central position 25 yards out. He was static but the defence was out of shape - canât recall who it was but one of the Clare defenders just bundled him over with no attempt to play the ball to simply stop the play and was happy to take a yellow.
If the result of doing that was a penalty it removes that type of defending from the game. Tipp to their credit showed great cynicism in Ennis committing multiple fouls pulling down or taking out Clare ball carriers 25/30 yards from goal but it isnât something that should be seen as a good option either.
I dont like the penalty idea but I cannot understand how defenders arent getting second yellows much quicker. A defender committing 4 personal fouls a game is way too many. Refs are letting them get away with some to avoid having a decision and then you see a corner forward getting a yellow or worse for a reaction. Makes zero sense. If hes on foul 3, he should be gone at 4
Attackers get to take as many steps as they like so a lot of the time a defenders only option is to foul or let them walk the ball in.
I agree the penalty box should be made bigger and the black card should go.
