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Its amazing to me that some people still judge John on an incident that happened 13 years ago and ignore all the good work he has done since - all the help he has given others. It's a miserable bastard who thinks that way. Have ye people gone out and lived lives at all? If so I'm sure ye've made a few big mistakes too. Maybe not the same mistakes as John Leahy but big ones all the same. What have ye done to put it right?

People change. Try to look for the good in people. There is a lot thats good about John Leahy.

Who is Joe? 
Joe Bergin?

Who is the messiah?
Aodan O Se? 

This is about the Cork players wanting to win the All Ireland in 2009. Nothing else. Throwing digs that this is about money is pretty childish.

Deiseach  -  It doesn't matter if 100% of delegates are behind McCarthy. Delegates can't field puck outs ike Ronan Curran or score points like Ben O Connor. If all these guys retire Cork won't be winning anything with their B team.

What we are hearing from Cork players in the press is that they have lost 5 championship games in 2 years under McCarthy. Is it unreasonable to want to give themselves the best possible chance of getting back to the top? Second place is unacceptable to these guys. That is why they want change.

These players took a brave stance in 2002 and it paid off spectacularly. They are hugely talented, intelligent sportsmen who are not afraid to speak out, but people seem to think that just because they took action previously, that they should put up and shut up on this occasion. That they spoke out,  shows me these guys still believe they can win All - Irelands. Judging by some of the stuff being fired at them on this board, you can't blame them for thinking "shag this, i'm walking away, enough is enough", and the big loser in all this will be hurling. No more Curran, no more Tom & Jerry, no more Sean Og, no more Ben O Connor etc. I'm a Galway man with no allegiance to Cork, but i LOVE hurling and these guys have given us so many amazing days. That is what is important, not the CCB, "administative processes", "player power" or all that bullsh1t. The 2009 Championship will be a much poorer one  for their absence.

I think the players should have an input into the selection of the manager, especially when 26 out of 28 don't want McCarthy. In fairness, after the strike in '02 the Cork hurlers responded with 3-4 years of excellence. To catch Kilkenny you need both the right man in charge and huge sacrifices in training. This team has gone backwards under McCarthy. That is not an opinion, its a fact based on the results. That fact along with his unpopularity in the dressingroom( which the CCB must have been aware of) means he should never have been reappointed anyway.

What puzzles me most is that McCarthy hasn't just walked away. What on earth can he hope to achieve at this stage, apart from starting a Civil War on Leeside?

Cusack, O Sulivan, Curran, Gardiner, Tom & Jerry, Ben O Connor and Sean Og are all - time great hurlers. They are looking at how they can bridge a big gap to Kilkenny - the greatest team of all time. They fought with everything in the all-ireland semi last year, but 9 points is a long way off. Change is required. "Player Power" has acquired very negative connotations in the GAA, but why should players just shut up and blindly do whatever they are told?

Just watching some clips of The Pecker on youtube. I can't believe I've never heard this music before now. It's really moving stuff - Sullivan's John, t**ker's Lullaby, Portlaoise Jail etc. - these songs are classics. I only came across them because of Damien Dempsey's brilliant new album "The Rocky Road". Makes you so proud to be Irish when you listen to this music which has been forgotten for far too long. Fair play to Damo for bringing it to a new generation. I've been to see him 3 times live and he lifts the roof off - singing it loud and saying it exactly as he sees it in a thick dublin accent - listen to songs like colony, patience and serious, and see what you think. IMO he's the best thing in music today.

Other Irish songs I've come across recently that are unbelievably good are "The Foggy Dew" - Sinead O Connor's version is my favourite, and "The Contender" sang by Christy Moore. That one was written by Jimmy McCarthy about his fellow Corkman Jack Doyle, the great boxing talent and singer nicknamed "The Gorgeous Gael", who sadly became a chronic alcoholic and died penniless and homeless in London.

The more I think about it, the more I think Henry should not get an all-star this year. He had an average Leinster Championship, but was back to his brilliant self in the semi-final and final. You could argue that, as always, he was superb when Kilkenny needed him most, and I would fully agree, but the all stars are supposed to be awarded to those who have performed best over the course of a season.
Given that criterion you can't justify his inclusion over Eoin Kelly(W'ford), Ben O Connor or any of the other 5 forwards in the above line - up. He is the best hurler I've ever seen and I imagine he will receive an All - Star, but the other main contenders have been more consistent.
Of course, the reason for his relatively poor Leinster campaign was that he was not long back from a long lay-off. Had that not been the case he'd probably have been  challenging Eoin Larkin for hurler of the year.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Gary Connaughton of Westmeath for the No. 1 jersey. Great year - very few goals conceded, some brilliant saves, very safe hands and huge kick outs.
Up front I wouldn't give Donaghy an all-star. He had a couple of good games though I felt his influence was overstated. Yesterday though he didn't get a sniff in spite of a huge amount of high ball played into the Kerry full forward line in the first half. Caught one ball in the second which led to a gooch point and that was his total  contribution for 70 minutes. Tommy Walsh did a lot more and was unlucky to be taken off. Can't understand people who rate Donaghy above Gooch. IMO not fit to lace the boots on his sweet chocolate feet.

Reillers you keep going on about how the Munster teams have it so tough and Kilkenny have it so easy!! anytime a munster team played a Leinster team this year they either lost or were damn lucky to win and when they did play Kilkenny they were hammered like the rest of Leinster... truth of the fact is throw Wexford, Offaly or Dublin into the current Munster Championship and they would be well able hold their own, throw Kilkenny in and they would walk over everybody and their hardest game would be against Cork who they would beat by 10 or so points. Simple fact is since Cork and Waterford have slipped back all hurling counties apart from Kilkenny are pretty close.

Well said Eddie. I agree with every word of that.

Good team Jinxy but as rrhf suggested - did Whelan do much in the nineties? Wouldn't be an expert on Leinster football in the 90's myself but would have went for Niall Buckley there. Would any Laois men get close to that team - just wondering as they are my second county- Mick Lawlor maybe?

[You get 2 jersies normally for these games. Some lads like a fresh jersey at half time. Some lads like to wear one, and swap one.]

This weeks Munster Express Newspaper features a pic of Eoin McGrath presenting the proceeds of a raffle of the jersey he wore against Tipp to Bridget Roche of St Patricks Hospital. Either somebodys paid a few bob for a dud or else we have one non-story doing the rounds, take your pick. Fitzy was in the pic as well as a matter of interest.

You get 2 jersies normally for these games. Some lads like a fresh jersey at half time. Some lads like to wear one, and swap one.

In Derry your lucky if the county board gives you 1 jersey for a game.

Maybe he was giving away the proceeds of the one he sold on eBay. If he was selling them for charity fair play to him. If he was doing it for personal profit, it does seem a bit tacky. Mind you, i'd probably sell my own jersey's if I thought anyone would buy them. Unfortunately St. Vincent De Paul won't even take them off me.

In fairness Reillers I agree with you about the great job Justin did in charge of Waterford. They have been the most exciting team of the past decade and my own favourite team these past few years. It was obvious though, that the spark had completely gone this year and I believe the players did what they had to do in getting rid of him. It could have been handled a lot better by the players and Big Dan was wrong to do what he did in the Clare game, but I understand that Justin never really developed much of a personal relationship with the players, so he can't have expected them to get too sentimental over his departure.

I don't know what you've got against Davy though Reillers. For them to beat a Tipp team that had been hugely impressive all year in the All Ireland semi was unimaginable in the aftermath of that Clare game a few months earlier. Davy put the spark back and Waterford maximised their potential to get to the final. Unfortunately they couldnt get near Kilkenny - physically, skill - wise or in terms of handling the pressure. The manager may deserve some flak for that but what exactly could he have done? Please explain what you would have done as Waterford m anager, because I've watched that match twice and I still have no answers. Yes, Waterford players panicked, and even Ken McGrath seemed to lose his nerve, but when you are engulfed by a tsunami that tends to happen.

Also Reillers, that remark that Waterford were so bad that they allowed Kilkenny to play to perfection, sounds like a cheap shot at an amazing Kilkenny performance. Almost sounds like your jealous of a county thats just won its 31st All Ireland.

[Posted by: Reillers]

Posted by: Reillers

McCarthy probably would have got them to the final, and while they mightn't have beaten KK they certainly would have put up a better fight, and wouldn't have gotten humiliated like they did.

I cant agree there Reillers. The whole thing had gone stale under McCarthy. The performance against Clare was the worst ive seen from this Waterford team - they didnt even try.

A lot of players that played under Davy at LIT and Waterford have great things to say about his preparation. Conor O Mahony put his personal success down to his time at LIT with Davy.

I agree that Waterford's performances were better last year than this year but then Big Dan was heroic last year scoring about 1-5 per game. This year he was like a traffic cone and Seamus Prendergast was on a par. Davy got as much from them as he could.

Then again, McCarthy is a corkman, so I suppose that would automatically make him the better manager Reillers.

Fair enough dodo. I would have thought that some of those guys were older. They just seem to have been around a long time. I still think Waterford are starting on the downhill slope though. They remind me of Offaly around 2000. I just don't see anything special coming through - Molumphy, Kearney, Kennedy etc. - Decent hurlers but not in the same class as the guys heading out the door - Flynn, Shanahan, Browne etc. Davy has great ambitions and unreal appetite for the game as a manager. If he thought there was an All - Ireland in Waterford he'd be staying.

I'd agree with most of that Team. I'd put PJ Ryan in ahead of Cusack and Ben O Connor in for Callanan. Ryan did not let in a goal in 4 games in what was a very mediocre year for keepers. The reasoning for Cusack's selection is very strange. Getting yourself sent off before half time and then making a good speech at the break is not a good day at the office.
Selecting Ryan makes it 10 Kilkenny players but given the level of their performances and how far ahead of the rest they were, thats not too many.

No, It was Mike Mac's first year in charge and he did well with Clare so he'll be staying on. i think Davy has a great future ahead of him as a manager but knows the talent is not there in Waterford to win an All - Ireland. The heroes of the past decade - Flynn, Shanahan, Prendergast, Browne, Bennett, Kelly, Mullane, Mcgrath x 2 will be starting to depart the scene and there is a fairly mediocre bunch waiting to replace them. Its sad to see this great team go but all good things must come to an end. I would be very surprised if Waterford got back to an All - Ireland final in the next 10 years.
Davy has said he would love to be involved in the set up that stops Kilkenny but id say he feels the raw materials he needs lie elsewhere. I'd love to see him get the Galway job, and Id say the flow of underage talent could pesuade him to take it. Whether the Galway county board share my high opinion of Davy is another matter.