Leinster Championship (Proper)

[AZOffaly]

Thank god we've been added to the pot for the money. That was embarrassing.

[BartSimpson]

Those defending the provincial championships need to think about it - farce.

Munster is much better
Ulster v competitive in fuball too

What would you do? Play champions league with the cats getting a bye to the semifinal ?
Offaly have serious structural issues but they'll be back at some stage.

could be 50 years before they are back if the GAA dont take the bull by the borns and invest money in Offaly. Hurling cant afford to lose them

Slight exaggeration?

[orangeman]

The referee screwed Offaly. Kilkenny got all that was going.

[neilthemac]

Hurling has moved on a lot from 1998
It appears Offaly have not, nor their star manager.

the few times they handpassed the ball short and ran from midfield Kilkenny looked less comfortable.
Raining the ball aimlessly down on that Kilkenny backline only leads to one outcome.

[Tony Baloney]

Seems unfair that Antrim topped the round robin and Laois finished well ahead of Offaly in div 1b yet both will be in round robin in 2015 will Offaly get another bye!

Especially given the performance Laois put in last week!

I don't think either Laois or Antrim would have been 20 points down at HT. Offaly are no longer even close to dining at the top table and I don't know why people are so keen to protect them as some sort of heritage project.

[Asal Mor]

Seems unfair that Antrim topped the round robin and Laois finished well ahead of Offaly in div 1b yet both will be in round robin in 2015 will Offaly get another bye!

Especially given the performance Laois put in last week!

I don't think either Laois or Antrim would have been 20 points down at HT. Offaly are no longer even close to dining at the top table and I don't know why people are so keen to protect them as some sort of heritage project.

Offaly could benefit from the round robin games as Laois and Antrim have. Getting a bye straight into Nowlan Park wouldn't do any of those 3 teams any good. Better off getting close championship games against teams at the same level - London, Carlow, Galway etc.

[Asal Mor]

Kilkenny v Galway this weekend. Honestly can't remember being less optimistic in my life before a Galway match, even though Kilkenny aren't what they were.

[johnneycool]

Kilkenny v Galway this weekend. Honestly can't remember being less optimistic in my life before a Galway match, even though Kilkenny aren't what they were.

why so, is the soundings coming out of the camp not good?

I don't think there was a whole pile of optimism before the 2012 Leinster final either though!

[cicfada]

I am another pessimistic galwayman here . You can talk about our recent history of beating the cats in 2012, you can talk about the new lads brought in, you can talk about kilkennys invincibility waning but the simple fact is,  marquee Galway players out of form and the minimum we need is these lads and I refer to joe canning and David Burke specifically here. They are not playing well and yet have been left on in matches when playing badly. The new lads, r Burke , daithi Burke , brehony and mannion have done well so far this year. Tis clutching at straws to expect Galway to beat kk on Sunday and for me if I saw the out of form lads playing well and a performance from the team, it would do me . It might be something to build on then. Either way, against Dublin in final (who we have never beaten in c'ship) or against Clare, tipp or Waterford (who we have never beaten either) it's going to be hard. You never know what might happen, as long as they give it a lash on Sunday, that might be a launching pad!!

[Asal Mor]

Kilkenny v Galway this weekend. Honestly can't remember being less optimistic in my life before a Galway match, even though Kilkenny aren't what they were.

why so, is the soundings coming out of the camp not good?

I don't think there was a whole pile of optimism before the 2012 Leinster final either though!

I won't claim to have any knowledge about what's going on in the camp Johnney but what I've read hasn't been positive. Apparently Cyril Donnellan isn't coming back either which is a bad sign and a considerable loss. A lad with a bit of pace who was huge for us in 2012, though obviously looks hopelessly awkward at times too.

I was fairly optimistic after the league but the Laois performance was a disaster. Laois were brilliant and should have won comfortably but it was alarming for Galway. We knew our attack was slow going into that game, but for them to get destroyed in the air by the Laois defence as well, makes you wonder whether we can be remotely competitive against Kilkenny. I think our defence has improved this year with the Burkes coming in, but only Conor Cooney looks like doing any damage up front. Canning and David Burke are both in very poor form and shouldn't be above being substituted or dropped, but it seems that they are. Like cicfada I'd be delighted if we get a performance but I'm fearing annihilation.

[Asal Mor]

I see on PP that Galway's odds have shortened slightly from 5/2 to 9/4 so someone out there must think we're gonna do it. Hope they're right.

[Derrybrien Forever]

Ah jesus lads, pull the heads up please.

This Galway panel have the hard work done, they have found new blood and this championship is wide open.

Galway will beat Kilkenny on Sunday and beyond that anything is possible. 

[Derrybrien Forever]

Laois were brilliant and should have won comfortably

But they didn't. Galway won the game, thats all that was asked of them . Remember Clare struggling to beat Wexford last year?

[Asal Mor]

I hope you're right Derrybrien. This is the Galway team according to a poster on Hoganstand.

1- Callanan
2- Moore
3- R Burke
4- Collins
5- Harte
6- Tannian
7- D Burke
8- Coen
9- Brehony
10- N Burke
11- Cooney
12- D Burke
13- Mannion
14- Glynn
15- Canning

Surprised Jason Flynn didn't get a start.

Our biggest worry will be the attack and whether they can even make life difficult for the Kilkenny backs. We live in hope.

[Asal Mor]

It'll be interesting to see how the Laois minors go against Kilkenny today. They seem hopeful enough about it, even though they've a young team (9 underage again next year, 3 of them are under-16). It would be fantastic to see KK out of the u-21 and minor( not meant in a bad-minded way) if Laois could pull off a shock.