All Ireland S.H.C Semi-Finals

[muppet]

I'd say there isn't a striker who regrets all that happened during that period.

There were no winners.

Don't expect balance here. The witch hunters are guilty of everything they accuse the strikers of. You'd have to wonder about the persistent agenda of a few here.

Kilkenny aren't winning because of a Strike of Cusack's book, it is because they are the best hurling team ever and will win the final even without the best hurler ever, simple as.

They are obsessed. Heffo/Dowling/..etc. if not all of the same, and in their obsession of putting down Cork they refuse to give Kilkenny any credit. Cork this, Cork that..nothing to do with Kilkenny at all. They couldn't even wait a day to give Kilkenny their due credit before they started moaning about big bad Cork.

Up until last Sunday you have consistently claimed KK are not a great team and have succeeded as much as they did due to the strikes in Cork, having a handy Leinster run, being dirty/playing on the edge and any other excuse you can give.

This KK are the greatest hurling team of all time - if you need further clarification please let me know.

Back to the Strikers - was the strike justified Reillers?

Has Gerald stayed out of controversy since?

[Reillers]

Leave you for dead anyway.

You just don't get it do you.
If you actually play or knew anyone who did you'd know the difference. Players know, they know when they loose a yard of pace, they know when their time is almost up or is up, and they certainly know if they loose their appetite for the game because it is something only they know, they physically might be able to continue and skill wise they might be able to go on, but if you don't have the stomach for it..it's an entirely different feeling, and a different thing than loosing a bit of your pace/skill or whatever. Players know when they're finished, and they are the only ones who know if they have the stomach for it, it's an incredibly personal thing, it's when in the pit of their stomach they know they don't have the fight left in them, that they, in reality know that they are done. A player may know that they're past their best but may want to continue because they still have that fight left in them. It's two very different things.

And in my experience 99% of players know when their time is up. You thinking that a supporter like yourself knows before a player.. like I said, probably never played a day in your life.

[heffo]

Leave you for dead anyway.

You just don't get it do you.
If you actually play or knew anyone who did you'd know the difference. Players know, they know when they loose a yard of pace, they know when their time is almost up or is up, and they certainly know if they loose their appetite for the game because it is something only they know, they physically might be able to continue and skill wise they might be able to go on, but if you don't have the stomach for it..it's an entirely different feeling, and a different thing than loosing a bit of your pace/skill or whatever. Players know when they're finished, and they are the only ones who know if they have the stomach for it, it's an incredibly personal thing, it's when in the pit of their stomach they know they don't have the fight left in them, that they, in reality know that they are done. A player may know that they're past their best but may want to continue because they still have that fight left in them. It's two very different things.

And in my experience 99% of players know when they're time is up. You thinking that a supporter like yourself knows before a player.. like I said, probably never played a day in your life.

I agree with your point in a general sense, but sometimes other things cloud a players judgement of when to call it a day.

For every Ollie Canning or JBM who got out at the right time, there is a Martin Storey or many other players who stayed too long and perhaps diminished their reputation.

[dowling]

Of course you're not wrong in what you say Heffo. Not only do some players call time because they're aware of creeping limitations but others also call time too early. On a personal level they may not be what they were but still be able to contribute something to the team. At the end of the day that ultimate decision has to rest with the manager.
Take Sean Kavanagh. Last year he said he was fine. Mickey Harte thought otherwise. That's not to say managers always get it right and I've seen occasions when managers brought people back for a particular match because they thought they could do a job against a certain player or team only to find their faith misplaced. So nothing is black and white. But for players still playing it has to be the manager to decide where they're at regardless of the player thinks.
As for the Cork team Reillers and as I've already pointed out, most of us on here knew the Cork players were past their best, doesn't mean they're not still great players but they're not the players they were. Regardless of whether we're all players, spectators or both we could see that two years ago. Welcome aboard.
There must have been delusion for those boys to think a change of manager would bring improvement, or else there was duplicity. Or maybe both. But after the match in interviews they were saying they travelled up with confidence. I'd say they were the only ones in Ireland. And let's not kid ourselves Kilkenny let them off light!

[seafoid]

Who will win between Tipp and Waherford ? With Henry out the situation for the final looks slightly less dire.
Can we have a repeat of the 1982 football final? That would be ideal.   

[johnneycool]

Any team news from either camp?

[AZOffaly]

I think Waterford will really put it up to Tipp. Waterford's strength is probably the half back line, and I think that's Tipp's weakest line (half forward).

If Waterford can get scores out of more than just Eoin Kelly's frees, I think they will win. A scoreline of 2-14, 3-14 I think will win it for the Deise.

[orangeman]

Waterford almost 4/1  Tipp 4/11with the Handicap betting at 5 points.

[johnneycool]

I think Waterford will really put it up to Tipp. Waterford's strength is probably the half back line, and I think that's Tipp's weakest line (half forward).

If Waterford can get scores out of more than just Eoin Kelly's frees, I think they will win. A scoreline of 2-14, 3-14 I think will win it for the Deise.

I can see this being a low scoring game if Waterford revert to type and play very deep leaving just two forwards remotely within scoring range. I always thought it's a big ask of Mullane to plough alone against two defenders as he did for large parts of the two Cork games and you can see the frustration building in him.

As much as I'd like to see Waterford do it and get to the final I think Tipp may have more firepower but mightn'd like the tight confines the Waterford defence will put them in.

1-12 to 0-13 to Tipp.

[AZOffaly]

Waterford are 4/1? That's a great outsider bet.

[ha ha derry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNtvqzmsS6k

Sums up the spirit on this thread. 

[Gallybander]

Unbelievable odds to to be had on Waterford.
We're the Munster champions having beaten the team who beat Tipp by 10 points.

Get yer money on!

[imtommygunn]

I fancy Waterford for this too.

I think if Tipp won it'd make for a better final but I fancy Waterford all the same

[Zulu]

I expect Tipp to win this by 3 or 4 points. The Tipp/Cork game has no relevance here, Tipp weren't at the races that day for some reason and I haven't been impressed by anything Waterford have done this year. They will play defensively and will be hard to beat but they have little enough going forward and I don't see them getting the scores to win it. It should be a close game and probably not the best spectacle but I feel Tipp will be ahead most of the game and will pull away in the last 5-10 min to win by a few points.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Expect a tight low scoring game, Waterford will draw bodies back to keep the score down & Tipp will ensure they reduce the goal opportunities they offered the last day. Both teams will have to significantly improve on their recent outings if they're (a) to win the match and (b) to have any chance against Kilkenny in the final. The winners will need a head of steam behind them when they take to the pitch on the first Sunday in September. Hard to know who that team will be but I think Tipp have more room for improvement in them. Waterford have huffed and puffed against Clare and a Cork team coming back down from their early peak against Tipp whereas Tipp have addressed some of the issues raised in that game and have been steadily improving since.

Anyways, hope it's a decent game, an early Tipp goal or two would encourage Waterford to come out of their defensive shell and could really open the game up. Hope to head to this if I can get some decent tickets, only got the very ends of the Hogan on sale at the moment. Has anyone picked up some central Hogan/Cusack tickets from them ticket vans/shops around Croker on the day of a match before???