The Covid all Ireland hurling championship 2020/21

[johnnycool]

Read somewhere that more than 50% of the hurlers playing in the AI semi-finals were 6'2" or over.

If that's true that's some stat.

Still room for the Tadgh De Burca's and the likes though.

[imtommygunn]

I see Brian? Gavin wrote an article and was talking about the amount of fouling Hegarty got away with for Limerick. Have to say I thought the same myself - between that stroke on Canning (which to be fair to him I don't think was intentional though was a bit dangerous) and the amount of fouls he gave away he should probably have been off.

That's a serious stat jc. Some of them even don't look that huge but are. I always thought Conor Whelan  was quite small but he's 6'1'' plus and TJ Reid never looks like he's 6'3'' or 4 or whatever he is as he has a bit of a turn of pace and a skill level you'd expect of a wee fella.

Cian Lynch wouldn't be huge either but is some hurler.

[johnnycool]

I see Brian? Gavin wrote an article and was talking about the amount of fouling Hegarty got away with for Limerick. Have to say I thought the same myself - between that stroke on Canning (which to be fair to him I don't think was intentional though was a bit dangerous) and the amount of fouls he gave away he should probably have been off.

That's a serious stat jc. Some of them even don't look that huge but are. I always thought Conor Whelan  was quite small but he's 6'1'' plus and TJ Reid never looks like he's 6'3'' or 4 or whatever he is as he has a bit of a turn of pace and a skill level you'd expect of a wee fella.

Cian Lynch wouldn't be huge either but is some hurler.

In terms of fouling, one of the Kilkenny corner backs got away with a blatant pull back and never got carded for it.

No point gurning about cynical fouls, black cards and the likes when one of the most obvious of carding offences isn't being implemented.

[imtommygunn]

Yeah I think the same happened for KK against Galway too. It doesn't happen that much or black card would come in I suspect.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/jackie-tyrrell-every-corner-back-is-an-island-now-1.4426738

The six-two-six is long gone, clearly. Watch Limerick with their tactics board at the water breaks - their ideal set-up is to start with the three players in the full forward line in a straight line down the middle of the attack, with huge canyons of space either side for the ball to be sprayed into. Most teams try this tactic but Limerick do it better than anyone else.

None of this happens by accident. All these changes have come about by careful design and repetition on the training field. Natural evolution has always been part of the sport. Cork with their running game in the early noughties. Kilkenny with their deep-lying robust half-forward line to combat it. Tipperary with their emphasis on creating space in their forward division. Clare with a deep-lying sweeper. And now Limerick with this model.

Every one of these set-ups have been hugely effective. The flipside is that they never last for long. They are too hard to sustain over time due to the in-depth analysis the other counties carry-out after each one wins a Celtic Cross. We always say that the All-Ireland winner dictates the new way forward for the game but I don't think that's exactly the case.

It's more that the process of defeating it, of analysing it CSI-style and finding a way to pull it apart - that's what really shapes the next bit of tactical evolution

[johnnycool]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/jackie-tyrrell-every-corner-back-is-an-island-now-1.4426738

The six-two-six is long gone, clearly. Watch Limerick with their tactics board at the water breaks - their ideal set-up is to start with the three players in the full forward line in a straight line down the middle of the attack, with huge canyons of space either side for the ball to be sprayed into. Most teams try this tactic but Limerick do it better than anyone else.

None of this happens by accident. All these changes have come about by careful design and repetition on the training field. Natural evolution has always been part of the sport. Cork with their running game in the early noughties. Kilkenny with their deep-lying robust half-forward line to combat it. Tipperary with their emphasis on creating space in their forward division. Clare with a deep-lying sweeper. And now Limerick with this model.

Every one of these set-ups have been hugely effective. The flipside is that they never last for long. They are too hard to sustain over time due to the in-depth analysis the other counties carry-out after each one wins a Celtic Cross. We always say that the All-Ireland winner dictates the new way forward for the game but I don't think that's exactly the case.

It's more that the process of defeating it, of analysing it CSI-style and finding a way to pull it apart - that's what really shapes the next bit of tactical evolution

Limerick seem pretty rigid in their tactics and who can argue with it as they've looked near on impossible to beat this year. Galway went at them physically and that seemed to be working, but slowly Limerick turned the screw and Galway ran out of puff. Maybe too many games week on week took their toll on Galway, who knows.

Defensively Limerick create a wall of huge men, dominant in the air so puck outs and balls into that area need to be deadly accurate and low or it'll be gobbled up. Limerick don't necessarily put much pressure on the ball coming out as they're light numbers wise but once it gets to the midfield area they clamp down hard on all channels in there and TBH only Waterford has shown that running at pace in there and avoiding contact with support runners off the shoulder can reap a reward. Getting the ball into Hutchinson and Gleeson will be a challenge, but if they can manage it I'd give Waterford a punchers chance on Sunday. Gleeson will need to be fired up in a good way on Sunday for that to work.
Hoping for a battle royal irrespective of the winner!

[Milltown Row2]

I think Waterford like Galway will take the fight to Limerick. Waterford need to find 2 goals to beat Limerick, limericks point tally is impressive and they are happy enough to tag on the points, the saying "points good" has never been more used than Limerick.

Waterford ain't bad at taking scores and breaking lines. If they get momentum in the last quarter they could win this, forcing Limerick to change tactics will be difficult.

Hoping to have 'dinner' somewhere for this game, the pints and substantial food will keep me safe from Covid

[Hurler on the Bitch]

I think that the 'big' counties have brought the tactical game to the extreme and it will change the game forever. The hand-passing game 10 years ago was beset by an error rate of about 50% ("ah, in the name of Jaysus, just clear the feckin' ball!"), but Limerick have moved the success rate up to about 80%.  The other factor is the physical presence of the players and the "nippy" corner back or forward is a thing of the past. Realistically, the returns points-wise is phenomenal and we live in a different era. However, the main factor that has contributed to hurling entering a different sphere boils down to the design of the stick (IMHO) .. basically it's a glorified soup spoon that takes the notion of ground hurling out of the equation. Just go to YouTube and look at the games/hurls in the early 1990s, it was a different game. Prime case being - nobody today rolls, lifts and strikes a free today, it's all scoop and shoot. Sunday's double header gives everyone a chance to contrast the A and B league .. should be interesting.

[johnnycool]

I think that the 'big' counties have brought the tactical game to the extreme and it will change the game forever. The hand-passing game 10 years ago was beset by an error rate of about 50% ("ah, in the name of Jaysus, just clear the feckin' ball!"), but Limerick have moved the success rate up to about 80%.  The other factor is the physical presence of the players and the "nippy" corner back or forward is a thing of the past. Realistically, the returns points-wise is phenomenal and we live in a different era. However, the main factor that has contributed to hurling entering a different sphere boils down to the design of the stick (IMHO) .. basically it's a glorified soup spoon that takes the notion of ground hurling out of the equation. Just go to YouTube and look at the games/hurls in the early 1990s, it was a different game. Prime case being - nobody today rolls, lifts and strikes a free today, it's all scoop and shoot. Sunday's double header gives everyone a chance to contrast the A and B league .. should be interesting.

There's something in what you say in relation to the hurls. Look at Guillane taking a free, he can stand with his arm down fully and his hurl doesn't touch the ground. He's a big man, but that hurl must be 34" at best.

I'd still like to see the ball changed to deaden it to prevent points sailing over from 100 yards out with almost no effort. Change the PU core and that'll give us more hurling per score if that makes sense.

[Milltown Row2]

I think that the 'big' counties have brought the tactical game to the extreme and it will change the game forever. The hand-passing game 10 years ago was beset by an error rate of about 50% ("ah, in the name of Jaysus, just clear the feckin' ball!"), but Limerick have moved the success rate up to about 80%.  The other factor is the physical presence of the players and the "nippy" corner back or forward is a thing of the past. Realistically, the returns points-wise is phenomenal and we live in a different era. However, the main factor that has contributed to hurling entering a different sphere boils down to the design of the stick (IMHO) .. basically it's a glorified soup spoon that takes the notion of ground hurling out of the equation. Just go to YouTube and look at the games/hurls in the early 1990s, it was a different game. Prime case being - nobody today rolls, lifts and strikes a free today, it's all scoop and shoot. Sunday's double header gives everyone a chance to contrast the A and B league .. should be interesting.

There's something in what you say in relation to the hurls. Look at Guillane taking a free, he can stand with his arm down fully and his hurl doesn't touch the ground. He's a big man, but that hurl must be 34" at best.

I'd still like to see the ball changed to deaden it to prevent points sailing over from 100 yards out with almost no effort. Change the PU core and that'll give us more hurling per score if that makes sense.

Is the ball and hurl within the required standard? Is there a required standard to be met?

If Croke has allowed this to happen and teams have adopted this to suit themselves then it needs to be regulated properly.

As for the actual length of the hurl, will that's up to the player, I remember playing with a 36' ! WTF, I'm five foot nothing and that what we were encouraged at the time, I moved to a 34' very quickly and made life so much easier..

Joe Deane always played with a smaller stick, or certainly his hand was a lot lower down the stick when he used it

[johnnycool]

I think that the 'big' counties have brought the tactical game to the extreme and it will change the game forever. The hand-passing game 10 years ago was beset by an error rate of about 50% ("ah, in the name of Jaysus, just clear the feckin' ball!"), but Limerick have moved the success rate up to about 80%.  The other factor is the physical presence of the players and the "nippy" corner back or forward is a thing of the past. Realistically, the returns points-wise is phenomenal and we live in a different era. However, the main factor that has contributed to hurling entering a different sphere boils down to the design of the stick (IMHO) .. basically it's a glorified soup spoon that takes the notion of ground hurling out of the equation. Just go to YouTube and look at the games/hurls in the early 1990s, it was a different game. Prime case being - nobody today rolls, lifts and strikes a free today, it's all scoop and shoot. Sunday's double header gives everyone a chance to contrast the A and B league .. should be interesting.

There's something in what you say in relation to the hurls. Look at Guillane taking a free, he can stand with his arm down fully and his hurl doesn't touch the ground. He's a big man, but that hurl must be 34" at best.

I'd still like to see the ball changed to deaden it to prevent points sailing over from 100 yards out with almost no effort. Change the PU core and that'll give us more hurling per score if that makes sense.

Is the ball and hurl within the required standard? Is there a required standard to be met?

If Croke has allowed this to happen and teams have adopted this to suit themselves then it needs to be regulated properly.

As for the actual length of the hurl, will that's up to the player, I remember playing with a 36' ! WTF, I'm five foot nothing and that what we were encouraged at the time, I moved to a 34' very quickly and made life so much easier..

Joe Deane always played with a smaller stick, or certainly his hand was a lot lower down the stick when he used it

There's a standardisation of the ball alright, size, weight and bounce IIRC. Bounce needs reduced.


Hurls are purely a personal choice although I thought the boss could be no more than 5 inches (13cm) at its widest point, keepers included. That's never enforced.

[reillycavan]

Will Gillane but fit for Saturday lads?

[reillycavan]

This is great experience for Galway. I'd take a loss here for an all Ireland next year.

Galway like footballers too soft.  Won handy All Ireland against Waterford in 2017. Will be long time before win All Ireland in hurling or football again at senior level.

[Milltown Row2]

This is great experience for Galway. I'd take a loss here for an all Ireland next year.

Galway like footballers too soft.  Won handy All Ireland against Waterford in 2017. Will be long time before win All Ireland in hurling or football again at senior level.

In all my years watching Galway I'd never have them as being soft

[sid waddell]

This is great experience for Galway. I'd take a loss here for an all Ireland next year.

Galway like footballers too soft.  Won handy All Ireland against Waterford in 2017. Will be long time before win All Ireland in hurling or football again at senior level.

In all my years watching Galway I'd never have them as being soft

You mustn't have seen them playing against Waterford in 1998 or Cork in 2008 or Waterford in 2011

The current Galway team is far from soft though, they've been involved in and come out the right side of some great battles

But it's defo a criticism that could be aimed at the current Dublin team