Allianz Hurling League 2011 - Roinn 1

[bottlethrower7]

Was JJ not playing on Sunday?  Dublin were missing players too.

Dublin had everyone available to them that they'll have this year. Boland, Rushe, McCrabbe and Treacy were all on the return from injury so wouldn't have been 100% (though Rushe and Boland were probably close enough).

Kilkenny are missing Power, Comerford, Tennyson, Fogarty, Shefflin, Walsh, Fennelly. Of these Power, Tennyson, Shefflin and Comerford have played no part in the league. Walsh and Fogarty have had poor leagues (many feel Walsh's injury a blessing in disguise as he looked jaded in some of the games he played). Fennelly was the biggest loss.

Dublin were streets ahead in their level of preparedness for sunday's game. They wanted to win that league more than anyone and that was clear to see through how fit, sharp and driven they were on sunday. They've played some of the best hurling in this year's league, but were also prone to some off-days. A measure of their progress is how they managed to pull out victories on those off-days.

But this isn't really a flash-in-the-pan. But for a dropped ball by the keeper in Limerick 2 years back, Dublin would probably have contested that final too. Last year Dublin possibly believed the hype from the previous year a little too much and but for the strike in Limerick they'd have been playing division 2 hurling this year.

2 years ago Dublin clearly gave the league more priority than championship. Last year was a forgettable year all round. This year it remains to be seen. The league victory is a huge achievement and the year can already be considered a success. But, if Dublin don't challenge in a serious way for Leinster honours this year, then I for one will be disappointed. Dublin need to start thinking bigger.

Its no coincidence either that Dublin's emergence has come at a time when the balance of power within the county has shifted more towards clubs that actually want to play hurling. The dominance of certain clubs, both in the local championship as well as representation on the county side, 5/6 years ago, was very unhealthy for the game in the capital. The longer those types of teams stay down the better.

[Declan]

Was away at a wedding in Germany at the weekend so missed this
However I'll savour it, as a national title is just fantastic and great reward for everyone involved. Championship is different alright but I'll enjoy this one for a while.

[johnneycool]

Good win for Dublin and for hurling in general, they played some great stuff, but even with their dominance, kilkenny were within distance (5 points ) for long enough to make sure Daly was sweating right up until the end. The part played by Ryan O'Dwyer during to the middle of the second half cannot be underplayed. He is a real asset to them when the game was still there for Kilkenny.

Dublin's hurlers are good hurlers first and foremost. Their physical conditioning brings them onto the next level, so many counties are trying to hide inefficiencies in the hurling with gym work and it always fails as you go up the levels. If the basics aren't there than no amount of gym work will get you there.
Confidence is a big thing for any up and coming team and to beat one of the big three in a national final can bring them up another step, but they don't have that invincibility with them and the likes of Offaly, Wexford, Laois and Antrim will still fancy their chances in beating them, so they'll need to keep up the work rate. Sustaining that for the whole summer may take some doing.

Where to now for Kilkenny? Its hard to know where they're at in their training and are probably looking to peak around august time, however, its been a while since they've looked so leaderless when under pressure and that's a big concern for Cody. Getting Shefflin, Brian Hogan, Richie Power, M Fennelly and Tommy Walsh back would strengthen any team but if injuries occur to the older players I'm not so sure now there's the strength in depth that we were led to believe.

Tipp would still be my favourites for the AI at this stage.

[stevetharlear]

Brilliant by Dublin this weekend, hopefully as mentioned above they haven't peaked too soon and can give Leinster and the AI series a good rattle.
Tipp still my favourites for AI, KK looked a shadow of themselves and whatever else this game proved beyond all doubt that their squad isn't as talented or as deep as everyone believed. Still if they get their preferred first 15 or close out they'll be as tough a prospect as ever.
Galway, Waterford and maybe now Dublin can be classed as the second tier counties imo. If Tipp struggle post-Sheedy and KK don't improve dramatically with the return of their injured then I think one of these 3 have a good shout at Liam this year, it would be another much needed shot in the arm for hurling if it happened.