Kilkenny

[manfromdelmonte]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

[Kilkevan]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

It's been a good two years since Hogan was anywhere near being the heartbeat of the Kilkenny team. He's been less than useless since 2015.

What surprised me was how weak Kilkenny are physically. They got bullied tonight. Cody's teams were always so strong that Kilkenny fans relished a team going physical against them. Tonight, a good few times during the league and in the All Ireland last year Kilkenny were made to look like little boys trying to be men.

[stew]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

It's been a good two years since Hogan was anywhere near being the heartbeat of the Kilkenny team. He's been less than useless since 2015.

What surprised me was how weak Kilkenny are physically. They got bullied tonight. Cody's teams were always so strong that Kilkenny fans relished a team going physical against them. Tonight, a good few times during the league and in the All Ireland last year Kilkenny were made to look like little boys trying to be men.

Great to see the hoors struggle, their fans in the states were a shower of entitled arrogant hoors.

[Kilkevan]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

It's been a good two years since Hogan was anywhere near being the heartbeat of the Kilkenny team. He's been less than useless since 2015.

What surprised me was how weak Kilkenny are physically. They got bullied tonight. Cody's teams were always so strong that Kilkenny fans relished a team going physical against them. Tonight, a good few times during the league and in the All Ireland last year Kilkenny were made to look like little boys trying to be men.

Great to see the hoors struggle, their fans in the states were a shower of entitled arrogant hoors.

Would they be the fans who never go to matches? Well done on drawing stupid conclusions from your experiences with them.

[From the Bunker]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

It's been a good two years since Hogan was anywhere near being the heartbeat of the Kilkenny team. He's been less than useless since 2015.

What surprised me was how weak Kilkenny are physically. They got bullied tonight. Cody's teams were always so strong that Kilkenny fans relished a team going physical against them. Tonight, a good few times during the league and in the All Ireland last year Kilkenny were made to look like little boys trying to be men.

Great to see the hoors struggle, their fans in the states were a shower of entitled arrogant hoors.

Would they be the fans who never go to matches? Well done on drawing stupid conclusions from your experiences with them.

With success comes arrogance and entitlement. That is a fact of life. Can happen to any set of fans! You might just experience it some time.

[Kilkevan]

couldn't believe how bad Richie Hogan was. He is usually the heartbeat of that team

It's been a good two years since Hogan was anywhere near being the heartbeat of the Kilkenny team. He's been less than useless since 2015.

What surprised me was how weak Kilkenny are physically. They got bullied tonight. Cody's teams were always so strong that Kilkenny fans relished a team going physical against them. Tonight, a good few times during the league and in the All Ireland last year Kilkenny were made to look like little boys trying to be men.

Great to see the hoors struggle, their fans in the states were a shower of entitled arrogant hoors.

Would they be the fans who never go to matches? Well done on drawing stupid conclusions from your experiences with them.

With success comes arrogance and entitlement. That is a fact of life. Can happen to any set of fans! You might just experience it some time.

He's from Armagh so I doubt it...

[Bord na Mona man]

Leinster hurling at its finest.
It might be too easy to dismiss Davy Fitz as the loony jumping around in some hidden box, but he has done a hell of a job in Wexford. I didn't think he'd get to do a number on Kilkenny twice in the one year. Put it another way, if Liam Dunne was in charge, his primary objective would have been to send Kilkenny home with splinters and actually winning the game might have been given scant consideration.

It shows how much the landscape has changed, a few years Kilkenny would have given Wexford a spanking with a bit of extra sauce on the side having lost to them in the league.

Pity the Sunday Game highlights were so scant that's it was hard to read how the game played out in the closing stages. Lee Chin's acrobatic catch and score immediately after the 3rd Kilkenny goal was only shown in the analysis, yet it was a huge moment by anyone's reading of the game.

[AZOffaly]

I'm mildly surprised rather than being shocked. I think when Davy joined Wexford I said he was a good fit for them, as Wexford (like Limerick who he would also be great for) can only really compete when they are operating at a manic level. Saturday was that, because they won almost every ground battle and ruck. Davy brings that, and plays on that. The problem for Davy is that whatever he is going to do, he has to do in year one or year two, because come the end of year two, his approach becomes wearisome, and lads get tired of operating like that.

They'll not be an easy match for anyone this year. It's a great championship already.

[johnneycool]

Leinster hurling at its finest.
It might be too easy to dismiss Davy Fitz as the loony jumping around in some hidden box, but he has done a hell of a job in Wexford. I didn't think he'd get to do a number on Kilkenny twice in the one year. Put it another way, if Liam Dunne was in charge, his primary objective would have been to send Kilkenny home with splinters and actually winning the game might have been given scant consideration.

It shows how much the landscape has changed, a few years Kilkenny would have given Wexford a spanking with a bit of extra sauce on the side having lost to them in the league.

Pity the Sunday Game highlights were so scant that's it was hard to read how the game played out in the closing stages. Lee Chin's acrobatic catch and score immediately after the 3rd Kilkenny goal was only shown in the analysis, yet it was a huge moment by anyone's reading of the game.

The very short highlights reel took away from the excitement, from the missed frees from McDonald to the various opportunities missed by Kilkenny, Bolgers in particular, but there were a few other moves that fell down for KK as well which would have had a telling effect if they'd put one away. Never mind the quality, feel the excitement.
Wexford played the better hurling, but there's plenty of room for improvement and they'll need to against the winners of Galway and the Biffos' (hard not to see it being Galway). Galway won't be bullied the same way a lot of the Kilkenny lads were (whoever thought they'd see that said) and have a bit more pace about them in their defence to handle the spaces in Croke Park.

As for KK, a load of lads with hat-fulls of AI medals didn't turn up yesterday and Colin Fennelly (push in the back just before the penalty!!) and Buckley shoring up the defence were the only two to come out of it with pluses to their names.
TJ battled away but was well shackled, Paudraig and Walter didn't stand up to be counted and both got withdrawn, Hogan was poor, Paul Murphy seems to be struggling with the positional changes and maybe No2 has to be his lot until a bit of form comes his way. They badly need Michael Fennelly, probably at 6 to tighten the whole thing down but that may be the plaster covering a gaping wound for a few years until a No 6 and No 3 are found.

Tipp, Limerick and now KK in the backdoor, all the more incentives for Waterford and Cork this weekend to avoid that particular vipers nest for as long as possible..

[Kilkevan]

Leinster hurling at its finest.
It might be too easy to dismiss Davy Fitz as the loony jumping around in some hidden box, but he has done a hell of a job in Wexford. I didn't think he'd get to do a number on Kilkenny twice in the one year. Put it another way, if Liam Dunne was in charge, his primary objective would have been to send Kilkenny home with splinters and actually winning the game might have been given scant consideration.

It shows how much the landscape has changed, a few years Kilkenny would have given Wexford a spanking with a bit of extra sauce on the side having lost to them in the league.

Pity the Sunday Game highlights were so scant that's it was hard to read how the game played out in the closing stages. Lee Chin's acrobatic catch and score immediately after the 3rd Kilkenny goal was only shown in the analysis, yet it was a huge moment by anyone's reading of the game.

The very short highlights reel took away from the excitement, from the missed frees from McDonald to the various opportunities missed by Kilkenny, Bolgers in particular, but there were a few other moves that fell down for KK as well which would have had a telling effect if they'd put one away. Never mind the quality, feel the excitement.
Wexford played the better hurling, but there's plenty of room for improvement and they'll need to against the winners of Galway and the Biffos' (hard not to see it being Galway). Galway won't be bullied the same way a lot of the Kilkenny lads were (whoever thought they'd see that said) and have a bit more pace about them in their defence to handle the spaces in Croke Park.

As for KK, a load of lads with hat-fulls of AI medals didn't turn up yesterday and Colin Fennelly (push in the back just before the penalty!!) and Buckley shoring up the defence were the only two to come out of it with pluses to their names.
TJ battled away but was well shackled, Paudraig and Walter didn't stand up to be counted and both got withdrawn, Hogan was poor, Paul Murphy seems to be struggling with the positional changes and maybe No2 has to be his lot until a bit of form comes his way. They badly need Michael Fennelly, probably at 6 to tighten the whole thing down but that may be the plaster covering a gaping wound for a few years until a No 6 and No 3 are found.

Tipp, Limerick and now KK in the backdoor, all the more incentives for Waterford and Cork this weekend to avoid that particular vipers nest for as long as possible..

In fairness, putting Padraig Walsh in the forwards was a terrible tactical choice and when you consider the calibre of the manager who made that decision it was lunacy. Full back is the most important position on the field and to train a lad all year to play number 3 only to throw him up front when it counts most was wreckless bordering on stupid. Throwing on a sub goalie, who yes hurls outfield for the Shamrocks but in the half back line, compounded that original mistake. Not taking anything away from Brian Cody, who I believe to be the best manager the GAA has ever seen, but he hasn't been the same since Martin Fogarty left. A strong man needs another strong man to bounce off and I just don't think the staff Cody has now have the same level of courage Fogarty has to say "hang on a second Brian, that's crazy" when needed.

That said, we simply don't have the players anymore. Five to ten years ago the bulk of the starting fifteen wouldn't have got anywhere near the panel. I think Cody has made a huge mistake staying on because there's absolutely nothing to be got from most of our players now. I also think next year will be the correct time to make a break with a new manager. I don't believe for a second that Cody deserves anything less than to be able to carry on if he so wishes after all he has given but things are going to be hard anyway when he does go. Better to have the few bad years which are coming after he retires when there is nothing in the panel anyway than have somebody come in under all the pressure that following Cody is going to put on them when there is a panel which could go places.

[seafoid]

Without a FB and CHB any team would struggle.  It's mid June and the top 2 favourites and winners of 10 out of the last 11 are in the qualifiers. Hopefully they will draw each other.

[seafoid]

Apparently the only teams the cats have beaten this year are Cork and Dublin

[Kilkevan]

Apparently the only teams the cats have beaten this year are Cork and Dublin

Lol, do you have a name for that chip on your shoulder?

[manfromdelmonte]

too many ex Kilkenny lads in the media telling the current players why they should be up for the battle

[Kilkevan]

too many ex Kilkenny lads in the media telling the current players why they should be up for the battle

Always the way with any county that's enjoyed success. For the group of players you're noticing doing it now, there were the John Powers, Charlie Carters and Willie O'Dwyers saying it to them. The reason you didn't notice then was (a)not as much was expected of Kilkenny when they went through transition in 2004-5 and (b)the players saying it then didn't have All Irelands coming out of their ears.