Dublin v. Tipperary, SHC QF, Semple Stadium, Thurles 4.00 pm

My own 2c on the Dubs. They are not what i consider a poor side but definitely lack sharpness. They are an up and down side in terms of form. They lacked the tenacity today that they normally bring to games and sometimes they look like a team that dont work enough on the actual hurling drills. It seemed to be all stretches they done in the pre-match warm up and nothing with the hurl and ball. They certainly dont lack the fitness or athleticism for sure but need to get more accustomed to that sliothar. Their footballers by contrast are excelling because they have an abundance of men who are comfortable on the ball. What if all Bernard Brogan and co done consisted of mostly fitness?

Since Daly's first championship as manager they have varied from year to year

2009 - Lost Leinster final by a mere 6 points and unlucky in the quarter final against Limerick but made great strides overall having beaten Wexford in the semi

2010 - Got a tanking against Kilkenny in the Leinster semi but after beating Clare they then lost to Antrim in the qualifiers.

2011 - League champions and unlucky in the All Ireland semi final

2012 - Relegated to 1B and exited championship after two games. Heavy beating by Kilkenny in Portlaoise followed by a defeat in Ennis.

2013 - Leinster Champions and perhaps unlucky in the AI semi against Cork

2014 - Lost Leinster final heavily to Kilkenny and another heavy defeat to Tipp in the qualifiers

Given that they yo-yo in form there is something going awry in between each season. Whether Daly is overthinking things or there is still perhaps a niggling inferiority complex within Dublin remains to be seen.

I think the perfect appointment for Dublin would be if they could get Donal O'Grady on board for one season. He places big emphasis on getting the skillset right whilst also getting the balance of stamina and skill like he did with Cork.

Past30Now wrote: »

Funnily enough I was watching the Tipp warm up and thought the exact same thing about them. They started warming up at about 17/18 minutes to four and didn't use the sliotars until 7 minutes to four. I couldn't see all of the Dublin warm up due to people standing in front of me, but Dublin had already used the sliotars earlier, but were all stretching by the time Tipp started their ball work.

Id imagine though that Tipperary would have done alot of hurling drills in Dr Morris Park across the road earlier on. Alot of Tipp's training would consist of ball work and Eamon O'Shea to his credit is a martyr for this. Dublin to me just seem to lack that sharpness on the ball. Dotsy who is a fine hurler normally, had a great chance in the first half and miscontrolled it. Alot of their play looked very sloppy and lacklustre and they drove alot of bad wides. No doubting there is brilliant sticksmen on that Dublin team but until a time where they start embracing the arts of the game that bit more they will continue to be bridesmaids. Yes they have won Leinster and the league as well as having a spell of dominance at underage level at minor and under 21 in Leinster, but they'll never reach the next level at Senior the way things are at present. They need to go back to basics.