Leinster 25 year Hurling team

Morrisseeee

http://www.hoganstand.com/hurling/articleform.aspx?ID=114434

7 KK
5 Off
3 Wex

The Leinster TEAM 25 is: Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford); Michael Kavanagh (Kilkenny), Noel Hickey (do), Martin Hanamy (Offaly); Brian Whelahan (do), Liam Dunne (Wexford), JJ Delaney (Kilkenny); George O'Connor (Wexford), Jaoachim Kelly (Offaly); Johnny Dooley (Offaly), Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny), Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny); Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny), DJ Carey (do), Joe Dooley (Offaly).

I suppose its very hard to pick a team like this, comparing oldies with newbies, but I'm surprised at Tommy Walsh up in the forwards ! and no Martin Storey ! whats the storey ? or no Larry (10M's) O'Gorman either eeek !

davestar

joe canning ?

Hitman Actual

Leaving out Storey makes no sense whatsoever. 3 All-stars, All-Ireland winning captain, Railway Cup regular for Leinster, all in a near-20-year IC career (including minor, etc). Completely devalues the team, imo. I think he even deserves to be there ahead of Tommy Walsh, Eddie Brennan, and Johnny Dooley.

AMixedBag

davestar wrote: »

joe canning ?

hmmm... Thats an interesting one. Canning is one hell of a player but do galway hurlers count as they have just technically joined leinster this year? Wouldnt think so.

davestar

AMixedBag wrote: »

hmmm... Thats an interesting one. Canning is one hell of a player but do galway hurlers count as they have just technically joined leinster this year? Wouldnt think so.

for the sake of having a player like canning on the team it should be

LeoB

Why is players are only picked from the 3 big hurling counties.
John Taylor and Joey Morris come to mind as lads who had as much ability and gave as much as any of tthe named players but success eluded them So to me its about as valuable as an all star team. There will be lads in the big hurling counties saying this lad should have been there instead of this lad but they just dont look beyond the traditional hurling strongholds. Football is much the same but not quite as bad.. Don Hyland from Wicklow who I saw playing a few times was a super player also.

BigCon

LeoB wrote: »

Why is players are only picked from the 3 big hurling counties.
John Taylor and Joey Morris come to mind as lads who had as much ability and gave as much as any of tthe named players but success eluded them So to me its about as valuable as an all star team. There will be lads in the big hurling counties saying this lad should have been there instead of this lad but they just dont look beyond the traditional hurling strongholds. Football is much the same but not quite as bad.. Don Hyland from Wicklow who I saw playing a few times was a super player also.

Excellent post! I remember back in the 80's when Laois were (more) competitive, John Taylor was easily the best corner back in Leinster, if not in the Country, anyone that saw him hurl would have to agree...

Hitman Actual

LeoB wrote: »

Why is players are only picked from the 3 big hurling counties.
John Taylor and Joey Morris come to mind as lads who had as much ability and gave as much as any of tthe named players but success eluded them So to me its about as valuable as an all star team. There will be lads in the big hurling counties saying this lad should have been there instead of this lad but they just dont look beyond the traditional hurling strongholds. Football is much the same but not quite as bad.. Don Hyland from Wicklow who I saw playing a few times was a super player also.

Fair point LeoB, but while it's disappointing that weaker counties don't get a look in, it's not that surprising either. It's just the way it is. And btw, I'm not from Wexford, in case you think I mentioned Storey because of that, but I'm genuinely amazed he isn't on the team. He's been one of the stand-out players in the country in the last 25 years, let alone Leinster.

On the mention of Laois players, I also remember the Cuddy brothers (Paul and David, I think?) being easily two of the best players in leinster in the 90's and early 00's.

Benhonan

Charlie Carter? Willie O'Connor? Paul Codd?

Alfie Boon

Hitman Actual wrote: »

Leaving out Storey makes no sense whatsoever. 3 All-stars, All-Ireland winning captain, Railway Cup regular for Leinster, all in a near-20-year IC career (including minor, etc). Completely devalues the team, imo. I think he even deserves to be there ahead of Tommy Walsh, Eddie Brennan, and Johnny Dooley.

Eddie Brennan has 3 all stars too...along with 6 AI,8 leinster and 3 nhl medals.
Add to that 22 goals and 58 points in 37 apperances.:D

grenache

Liam Dunne in centre back??? :eek: The panel who picked this team were obviously high on something. He was steady but nothing more, and his dirty play overshadowed his hurling ability. Hubert Rigney, Pat O'Neill, Brian Hogan, Peter Barry, all much better centre backs.

And leaving out Johnny Pilkington at midfield and the genius that is John Troy?? I'm truly baffled! Martin Storey also deserves to be centre forward.

Kannon

Hitman Actual wrote: »

Leaving out Storey makes no sense whatsoever. 3 All-stars, All-Ireland winning captain, Railway Cup regular for Leinster, all in a near-20-year IC career (including minor, etc). Completely devalues the team, imo. I think he even deserves to be there ahead of Tommy Walsh, Eddie Brennan, and Johnny Dooley.

I'd pick any of those ahead of Martin Storey to be honest. Storey stood out for Wexford and was a great player...but the three of these are/were exceptional.

Hitman Actual

grenache wrote: »

Liam Dunne in centre back??? :eek: The panel who picked this team were obviously high on something. He was steady but nothing more, and his dirty play overshadowed his hurling ability. Hubert Rigney, Pat O'Neill, Brian Hogan, Peter Barry, all much better centre backs.

And leaving out Johnny Pilkington at midfield and the genius that is John Troy?? I'm truly baffled! Martin Storey also deserves to be centre forward.

Pilkington and Troy are two players I thought of straight away as well as being close to making the cut. And I can't really disagree with you on the four centre backs you mentioned either, four class players. Dunne did well to get named in that spot, great and all that he was.

Hitman Actual

Kannon wrote: »

I'd pick any of those ahead of Martin Storey to be honest. Storey stood out for Wexford and was a great player...but the three of these are/were exceptional.

Re. my points on Martin Storey, maybe I'm just blinded by nostalgia. I think I need to re-watch some of his matches to be sure, but as of now I still think he should be there. I'm not knocking the KK players or Dooley either, I've been a huge fan of the Cats since the early '90's, and in particular the current team.

premierstone

I would have no problem with Martin Storey been ommitted, who of the six forwards would you replace him with?? The only change I would make is Pilkington in midfield, he was so underrated imo, for a lad that liked teh shall we say ''social side'' of life he hasd some engine and could go all day even though he'd look wrecked after 5 mins and he was incredibly skillfull which was unusal for the majority of midfielders at the time.

adrian522

As far as I know the team is based on a public vote not a panel of experts. Secondly the nominations were very rigid with 4 players nominated for each position often where you might like to pick say 2 half forwarsds but they are nominated in the same position. The nominations are below:

1.
DAMIEN FITZHENRY Wexford
JAMES McGARRY Kilkenny
JIM TROY Offaly
MICHAEL WALSH Kilkenny

2.
AIDAN FOGARTY Offaly
MICHAEL KAVANAGH Kilkenny
DARRAGH RYAN Wexford
EDDIE O’CONNOR Kilkenny

3.
EUGENE COUGHLAN Offaly
PAT DWYER Kilkenny
NOEL HICKEY Kilkenny
KEVIN KINAHAN Offaly

4.
PAT FLEURY Offaly
MARTIN HANAMY Offaly
WILLIE O’CONNOR Kilkenny
JACKIE TYRRELL Kilkenny

5.
JOE HENNESSY Kilkenny
JOHN TAYLOR Laois
BRIAN WHELEHAN Offaly
HUBERT RIGNEY Offaly

6.
PETER BARRY Kilkenny
PAT DELANEY Offaly
LIAM DUNNE Wexford
GER HENDERSON Kilkenny

7.
GER COUGHLAN Offaly
J J DELANEY Kilkenny
KEVIN MARTIN Offaly
LARRY O’GORMAN Wexford

8.
JAMES ‘CHA’ FITZPATRICK Kilkenny
DEREK LYNG Kilkenny
GEORGE O’CONNORWexford
JOHNNY PILKINGTON Offaly

9.
ANDY COMERFORD Kilkenny
PAT CRITCHLEY Laois
ADRIAN FENLON Wexford
JOACHIM KELLY Offaly

10.
JOHNNY DOOLEY Offaly
GER FENNELLY Kilkenny
MARTIN QUIGLEY Wexford
MARTIN STOREY Wexford

11.
JOHN POWER Kilkenny
HENRY SHEFFLIN Kilkenny
JAMES YOUNG Laois
JOHN TROY Offaly

12.
MARK CORRIGAN Offaly
EOIN LARKIN Kilkenny
RORY McCARTHY Wexford
TOMMY WALSH Kilkenny

13.
EDDIE BRENNAN Kilkenny
BILLY BYRNEWexford
CHARLIE CARTER Kilkenny
DAVID KILCOYNEWestmeath

14.
D J CAREY Kilkenny
MARTIN COMERFORD Kilkenny
CHRISTY HEFFERNAN Kilkenny
BRIAN McMAHON Dublin

15.
TOM DEMPSEYWexford
JOE DOOLEY Offaly
LIAM FENNELLY Kilkenny
EAMON MORRISSEY Kilkenny

AMixedBag

I would have at least put eoin larkin ahead of tommy walsh. We dont need dirty tactics first of all and secondly larkin is more of a scoring forward imo. Henry shefflin instead of troy? I Know he is supposedly the 'king' and all but *meh*.

premierstone

AMixedBag wrote: »

I would have at least put eoin larkin ahead of tommy walsh. We dont need dirty tactics first of all and secondly larkin is more of a scoring forward imo. Henry shefflin instead of troy? I Know he is supposedly the 'king' and all but *meh*.

In fairness its over the last 25 years not current form Larkin has been sensational for a year and a half, Tommy Walsh has been in the top three or four hurlers in the country for the last 7 or 8 years and imo is already a legend of the game despite he's temperment.

As for Shefflin V Troy again for me its no contest Shefflin took CF play to a new level and the added fact that he is probably teh greatest free taker of all time (certainly in the top 3) then its a no-brainer.

adrian522

Agree about Shefflin and Walsh is one of the best hurlers I've ever seen, but I think he should have been nominated at half back where he has spent most of his time and done his best work.
certainly don't think his forward play merits inclusion on this team,

Jugs82

Agree with Shefflin too but certainly thought that Pilkington would be worth a place

It would interesting to see what teams people would choose without using the selection process above.

Im off to think about my team now and will post later :-) (From 1984 to present)

AMixedBag

premierstone wrote: »

In fairness its over the last 25 years not current form Larkin has been sensational for a year and a half, Tommy Walsh has been in the top three or four hurlers in the country for the last 7 or 8 years and imo is already a legend of the game

yeah I am not saying that walsh doesnt deserve a place, I just see Larkin more suited to that position in particular. As another poster said, walsh would be well suited as a back.

davestar

AMixedBag wrote: »

yeah I am not saying that walsh doesnt deserve a place, I just see Larkin more suited to that position in particular. As another poster said, walsh would be well suited as a back.

i agree , while walsh is a very dynamic player and is brilliant in nearly every position from 2-15(although i feel his new style of dirty play is ruining him) his best position is in the back line .

Jugs82

After a few minutes thought :-)

Fitzhenry

Hanamy
Hickey
W.O'Connor

Whelahan
Rigney
Walsh

Pilkington
Fenlon

Dooley
Shefflin
Storey

Carter
Carey
Dooley

Couldnt find a place for J.Troy, L. O'Gorman or Eddie Breenan and ill admit im a bit biased towards Rigney at CB

Others that are worth a mention are the Cuddy's (mentioned by another poster), Michael Duignan & Mark Corrigan

Morrisseeee

My half forward line is : (regardless of the list above)
10. Dooley
11. Storey
12. Henry

If a case can be made for Pilkington, then a case can be made for Fenlon, great ball striker, in the air, on the ground, sideline pucks, also a great engine.

My half back line:
5: O'Gorman
6. Whelehan
7. Dunne

I really liked watching Dunne & Whelehan play, they had incredible skill and reading of the game!

yahoo_moe

Morrisseeee wrote: »

My half back line:
5: O'Gorman
6. Whelehan
7. Dunne

This is why there was a set of selections for each position - Larry O'Gorman at right-half? Whelehan not at right-half? Probably the best ever in his position, certainly according to Team of the Century, and I don't think many would argue that he deserves his natural position.

And come All-Star time in September, people will still bitch about how players have been included in positions that they don't play in... can't have it both ways, folks.

Benhonan

I can't believe Codd didn't even get a nomination. He single handedly kept Wexford afloat for a few years after '96.

Also I may be trolling a bit here, but does anyone else get the impression that the Munster selection would destroy this team?

Morrisseeee

Would the current KK team & set-up beat the Munster selection ? !! :eek:
I suppose if you were God for a day, you'd have fun with Munster v Leinster, having all players at their peak !

Benhonan

Yeah that was in the back of my mind as I wrote that post. I mean I do believe that the current KK team could be called the best group of hurlers ever assembled, but when I see the central diamond for both teams I have to think that Munster look a lot stronger. Still I'm sure Liam Dunne could have great fun marking Kirby...

yahoo_moe

Benhonan wrote: »

I can't believe Codd didn't even get a nomination. He single handedly kept Wexford afloat for a few years after '96.

Also I may be trolling a bit here, but does anyone else get the impression that the Munster selection would destroy this team?

Has the Munster selection been named yet?

I think the Leinster team I chose way back whenever I did it wouldn't be far off the Munster team I went for the other day, but the final Leinster team is weaker than it should be which obviously would affect its chances.

Benhonan

No the Munster team hasn't been chosen yet but I'm just speculating. You're right there's a better potential team out there.

TwilightFan88

grenache wrote: »

Liam Dunne in centre back??? :eek: The panel who picked this team were obviously high on something. He was steady but nothing more, and his dirty play overshadowed his hurling ability.

LIAM DUNNE WAS NOT DIRTY!!! Stupid ref's who made very quick judgements got him a bad name!!