All Ireland Hurling Championship 2013

[The Hill is Blue]

Unlikely to be a sellout deiseach. Hard to know how many will jump on the bandwagon. Might depend on round one of the double header on Sat night

Declan, I don't like the implication of your "bandwagon" comment. It seems that if Dubliners don't turn up to support the hurlers they are letting the team down and if they do turn up they are jumping on the bandwagon. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

I'm happy to say that I have already bought my tickets for both the football and hurling games.

[Declan]

Of course deiseach especially the Ardmore lads.
No implications Hill it's just an observation going on the crowds that have attended the previous matches. I'd love to see 50 thousand Dubs in at the hurling no matter if they are what would be generally described as bandwagonners or folks who decide its time to fill the hill for the hurlers

[deiseach]

Declan, I don't like the implication of your "bandwagon" comment. It seems that if Dubliners don't turn up to support the hurlers they are letting the team down and if they do turn up they are jumping on the bandwagon. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

[joking]If you don't like the implication, tough. The last thing the GAA needs is bandwagon jumpers. We don't have them in the other 31 counties.[/joking]

[Denn Forever]

Canning having a mare here.

Fair f**ks to him, beaten, disappointed, blood dripping from his head. Stays signing autographs for the kids.

Also loads of Clare supporters lining up for an autograph.  Fair dues to the man.

[CitySlicker11]

Great win for Cork, they will always raise their game against Kilkenny, and unfortunately for them, their players could not go to the well one more time.

Sad to see Henry playing so poorly, hopefully back next year as said so he does not sign off on that note.

Can't wait for the semi finals.

[Milltown Row2]

What do we think of the quarter-finals anyway?

Cork with Horgan back should be good enough to cause lots of problems for Kilkenny. They should run at the Kilkenny defence any chance they get. Also I think Paul Murphy has become Kilkenny's best defender over thelast year and he's so dominant in his corner that Cork should avoid hitting the ball in there. If Fennelly is back it would obviously be huge for Kilkenny. I think Henry is done - there's only so much a body can take. I fancy Cork to run Kilkenny really close, but the Cats will probably find a way. Hopefully not.

Galway are bizarrely, bookies favorites against Clare, even though very few people fancy them to win, especially in Galway . I didn't like to bet against my own county for the Dublin game even though I expected them to lose but I might this time. I think we'll need to get a couple of extra bodies back into defence to deal with Clare's pace and short-passing style. Some of our backs (Kavanagh, Hynes, Cooney) will get skint for pace if they're left 1-on-1.

Clare are in a much better place than Galway and are great value at 6/5. Galway are 4/5 but I'd make them realisticaly about a 5/2 shot because they've been awful all year and you can't just turn it on. I hope I'm wrong but I'd be surprised if we're not beaten.

Cork probably do have the pace to bother the Kilkenny backs alright, but I'd be concerned with their defenses inability to deal with catching forwards and Kilkenny have a good smattering of them. If Cork don't work out how to stop these lads catching then I expect Kilkenny to find their goal scoring touch again so that'd require a huge effort from the Cork forwards to stay in the game. I think Kilkenny will come out the other side of this one as its still a year or so too early for this Cork team.

If Kilkenny are to lift the AI this year it would be some achievement as they'd have beat Offaly, Tipp, Waterford, Cork, and another two teams to do that not to mention the two games they came out the wrong end of against Dublin.

What of Galway? Who to god knows, they could win by 7 or 8 if they're right but could lose by the same margin if they're anything like they started against Dublin. They played better in the second half of that game and would need to continue that progress to get over Clare. It's really hard to see some of their players being as bad and jittery again, maybe the Dublin game is the kick in the nads they need to push on.
Clare will want it more and go at it from the word go, but may struggle to contain Joe if he gets enough ball into him. They threaten big things but are still falling short. Need another few years to mentally toughen up.

If Galway turn up then I think they'll win by 3 or 4.

I'm going for Clare -2, I really like Galway and would love to see them lift Liam but they are relying way too much on Joe, they have plenty of great players but they struggle to play as a team. Get that sorted then they can certainly beat any team

Hate to blow my own trumpet.........

[Asal Mor]

An excellent post by mscofield on the Galway hurling forum about the state of affairs in Galway hurling:


Dust has settled and emotion has subsided a little.

I said after the Dublin game that we were Dead men walking....we actually got off lightly, two goals flattered us and Clare did not completely expose us.

Only hope of salvaging this season was if Laois had beaten us.

Not only do we not learn the hard way...we never learn full stop.

Players can't perform unless they are completely written off...I referred to an Andy Smith article some months ago and voiced my concerns...THIS SHEITE MUST STOP!!

Are we a Flying column or a hurling county FFS? Out of the bushes on a random day when not expected, empty the clip
of ammo, carnage all around us and head for the hills in triumph. We will not enter into open warfare...We are guerrilla war experts.

We are smash & grab (and ultimately f*** up) experts also....rob a jewellery shop of diamonds only to crash the get away car a mile down the road into the Garda station!

We have classic relapse addict symptoms...loved and adored by the family but just when there is faith in us we fall off the wagon and flip up yet again.

We cant be confident our hurlers will put two halves together...never mind two games or two seasons.

Mgmt completely inept with Junior C tactics. That said I'm not interested in getting new setup next year. Next year will be interesting...if AC got an extension that might actually be a move in the right direction...otherwise they will try some small changes in an effort to land Liam in their final year.

How many leaders on this panel? Moore, Joe and Damien...who else?

Joe is our biggest asset yet other teams use his presence as a way to settle their game plan and on what terms the game will be played. They dictate how we should get the best outta Joe! "long aimless high balls please and plenty of them while we keep the scoreboard ticking over and get outta sight" Joe is like a rose in a field of thistles.

Agree Minors & U21's into Leinster...how about Clubs into Munster!!? Way too much made of underage talent
& titles including Club titles. I do not want to see Galway winning yet another minor this year as the media now see this
as another way to taunt us. "Look at Mattie's little toddlers...aren't they just lovely little hurlers with wonderful careers ahead of them.....surely?!" U21 is also largely meaningless.

What has Mattie Murphy's net contribution being to Galway Hurling? Why does he resist underage entering
Leinster? Who's agenda is he protecting?

Next manager...who cares? Pete Finnerty...Joe Cooney....seriously...?!!

Point re Tennyson is significant and lessons need to be learned here. Tipp, KK & Cork have a similar attitude to Club, means to an end, KK & Cork & Clare & Wford lads would die to wear their county jersey.

Mickey Ned O Sullivan summed up perfectly his attitude to underage development..."Galway is not the
way to do things!"

Can someone start a forum with alternative players that need to be introduced or looked at please?

I'll go back to a post I wrote last year...a disaster if we bet KK in the famous LF...I was lambasted here....I am now going back and standing by this post...foundations built on sand that would be exposed easily....better to make slow steady real tangible progress....not swashbuckle..shot the lights out...crap we have endured since 2001. There are no shortcuts in Senior intercounty hurling. We must get away from the attitude.."they will never see this coming"

2012 LF was a freak. Stunned KK but they outscored us n the second half....I'm back to the Flying column argument again...not sustainable.

Daithi Regan is 100% correct in his article this week. Our arrogance is a national joke at this stage.

Finally how dare players representing the county jersey put their petty grievances and hatred for each other before the fortunes of the county. If they want to concentrate on Club hurling then let them flip off and do that. Have their petty All Ireland win on Paddy's day. Who cares? Pursuing the softest option of a national title.

Club hurling in Galway is not manly anymore. Its mane, sneaky, dirty and cowardly. Management and county board should lay it on the line to lads, any mane belts against each other will not be tolerated. County board need to wake up and get proper referees and linesmen to look after games.

I was at a wedding last year when we were going well and met a gang of lads who had a couple of Club All Ireland medals each. They had absolutely no interest in Galway hurling. They could not have cared less whether we won the final or not. Their club had no interest in supplying lads to the county panel as they said it was a joke and some of their previous players had been badly treated. I was gobsmacked and it played on my mind for a long time. If that is the prevailing attitude then we are doomed and its not surprising why we are out of the championship this year.

We are a county full of average Club Hurlers and overhyped spotty spoilt teenagers, pockets full of insignificant medals.

End of rant...for a while.




Read more: http://ghurlingadmin.proboards.com/thread/1386/galway-clare-28th-july?page=24#page=25#ixzz2aZljNGjX

[AZOffaly]

Probably a lot of truth in the main points, particularly around winning at underage versus developing for senior, but to call Underage All Irelands and Club All Irelands as meaningless is completely ridiculous.

[neilthemac]

Clare are a coming force off the back of minor and Under 21 titles
it can be done
Cork are coming again off the back of, well nothing really. Mushrooms I suppose.

[johnneycool]

Clare are a coming force off the back of minor and Under 21 titles
it can be done
Cork are coming again off the back of, well nothing really. Mushrooms I suppose.

Well apart from this years U-21's they looked competitive in Munster U-21 for a few years, just missed out in 2011 after going into extra time vrs Limerick, doesn't necessarily mean they didn't have good hurlers on those teams, just not enough of them to win out.

UCC and the RTC have been going well in the Fitzgibbon in recent years as well and have a good smattering of Cork players on their teams, but this year their rise was surely unexpected even in Cork circles.

[Canalman]

For me anyway, Galway's underage teams are far too balanced and imvho anyway haven't produced enough exceptional players who glide onto the senior team. All you need is 1 or 2 such "superstars" on each underage winning team and with a few exceptions they are not forthcoming.
To their eternal credit all Galway underage teams have very few weak links and are not reliant on the one or two exceptional talents to win them the titles . Just my personal opinion though. Compare them to the recent Clare U21 winning teams which were powered by individual players who by and large are in the Clare senior set up.

Another thing is the ferocious pressure on the management to produce immediately and the almost inevitable changing of systems when that management team are hounded out after say 2 seasons. A case in point is the fact that some years ago Galway were accused of being "too light" and then introduced alot of bigger players thereby changing the style of play completely. Personally  think they are now too reliant on bulk.

Having said that they could easily have won the AI last year.

They really are a  mystery  though.

[Asal Mor]

Probably a lot of truth in the main points, particularly around winning at underage versus developing for senior, but to call Underage All Irelands and Club All Irelands as meaningless is completely ridiculous.

Yeah, it's going too far to call them meaningless. To the players involved and their families and clubs they mean everything. They are meaningless in the context of Galway senior hurling. If Mattie Murphy leads the minors to another title in September, I think many Galway supporters will throw their eyes up to heaven and shrug their shoulders. Sad but understandable.

It would serve the minors and U-21s well to go into Leinster. If they won less it might teach them how hard they'll have to work to attain success.

It would be nice to see the county board being pro-active on this because it's what Galway supporters want and it might give them some hope that rock bottom has been reached.

[theskull1]

Decent bit of prose there and I'd say a fair bit of it would stand up to scutiny. No harm in exposing the ugly truths in the hope that change is brought about.

[Asal Mor]

For me anyway, Galway's underage teams are far too balanced and imvho anyway haven't produced enough exceptional players who glide onto the senior team. All you need is 1 or 2 such "superstars" on each underage winning team and with a few exceptions they are not forthcoming.
To their eternal credit all Galway underage teams have very few weak links and are not reliant on the one or two exceptional talents to win them the titles . Just my personal opinion though. Compare them to the recent Clare U21 winning teams which were powered by individual players who by and large are in the Clare senior set up.

Another thing is the ferocious pressure on the management to produce immediately and the almost inevitable changing of systems when that management team are hounded out after say 2 seasons. A case in point is the fact that some years ago Galway were accused of being "too light" and then introduced alot of bigger players thereby changing the style of play completely. Personally  think they are now too reliant on bulk.

Having said that they could easily have won the AI last year.

They really are a  mystery  though.

I'd agree with a lot of that . At underage it's all about the outstanding individuals who come through and we haven't really produced any since JC imo. Mind you, we've had lads who have looked exceptionalat minor and haven't progressed. When we beat Clare at minor in 2011 they had a few of their current seniors but Shane Maloney and Padraig Brehony were the outstanding players. They are only subs on the Galway team.

I also agree that we lacked pace all over the field on Sunday, especially up front. Too many big lumbering players.

[johnneycool]

For me anyway, Galway's underage teams are far too balanced and imvho anyway haven't produced enough exceptional players who glide onto the senior team. All you need is 1 or 2 such "superstars" on each underage winning team and with a few exceptions they are not forthcoming.
To their eternal credit all Galway underage teams have very few weak links and are not reliant on the one or two exceptional talents to win them the titles . Just my personal opinion though. Compare them to the recent Clare U21 winning teams which were powered by individual players who by and large are in the Clare senior set up.

Another thing is the ferocious pressure on the management to produce immediately and the almost inevitable changing of systems when that management team are hounded out after say 2 seasons. A case in point is the fact that some years ago Galway were accused of being "too light" and then introduced alot of bigger players thereby changing the style of play completely. Personally  think they are now too reliant on bulk.

Having said that they could easily have won the AI last year.

They really are a  mystery  though.

Ditto my point on Cork coming from nowhere so to speak, they have had very good individuals at various underage levels such as Lehane, Egan and the big lad who opted for the footballers this year, but weakish in the supporting cast and hence didn't win any trophies, but non-the-less had the three or four lads capable of the step up to senior, just as many as you'd expect from a team that would possibly win a competition.

Galway always baffled me, when they last won the U-21 title in 2011, they'd an outstanding fullback in Niall O'Donohue then he lines out at right half back for the seniors and not at all this year, when the fullback berth is one they've struggled to fill for years. Give the lad the league in there along side the likes of Fergal Moore and let players develop into it. Far too much chopping and changing in Galway. Look at Kilkenny, the backs almost pick themselves, they're stable, know each other inside out and every so often a Paul Murphy or Kieran Joyce is dropped into a stable set up where its easier to develop into a senior hurler.
The transition of a team should be gradual, not wholesale every 2 or 3 years like Galway do it.