Hurling tactics vs. Kilkenny

Comordha

Here are my thoughts on how best to play against the current Kilkenny team. Please share your thoughts and we can pass them onto opposition management :-)

Tipperary's approach to palying Kilkenny was desperate stuff altogether and difficult to watch for a neutral who wanted Kilkenny out, continuously raining high balls down on top of their backs was just asking for trouble. I'm not sure how they develop so many amazing ball-catchers but they do and the last thing a team should do is try beat them at their own game (even their
U-21s last night showed how incredible they are at catching a ball in the air). In last year's Leinster final Galway clearly took this approach and it worked very well to their advantage. Take a look at this clip and you will see how they chose to bat balls down and try have a player close by waiting for the breaking ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxKACzM4lv4

Tipperary should have learnt from this, they should also have learnt from Dublin that to beat their backline you have to play as wide & low as possible, Dublin used Dotsy O Callaghan and Paul Ryan in this manner. At times it felt like they were the only forwards required. Quick low ball into two quick forwards and their back line crumbled. They probably don't have the legs at this stage to keep up. Pumping high balls in and allowing their backs to maintain their structure was just plain stupid.

It seems to beat them you have to be clever with your tactics and follow a number of strategies.

1. Contain their forwards, don't let them score goals. Teams seem to be doing this better these days.
2. Avoid their half-back line and especially from puckouts, the short puckout is probably key here.
3. Low fast balls into your forwards, quicker forwards are better than big gomers who can't catch a ball anyway.
4. Don't try contest for a catching ball, pull on the fe**in thing or bat it down to a support player.
5. Avoid giving away frees as Larkin is deadly.

Every team playing against them should aim to focus on some if not all of these strategies. Adapting your gameplan to ensure you try exploit their weaknesses is key.

jive

Sounds like a fairly generic plan that people could apply to any team...

Martin567

Your first "strategy" is not a strategy at all. It is simply the most basic aim of every set of backs at the beginning of every match, at every level.

Your fifth "strategy" is very much related to your first. There is a direct correlation between the increased number of frees Kilkenny have been awarded in the last few matches and the lack of a goalscoring threat. Teams have clearly adopted a strategy of fouling Kilkenny forwards earlier to prevent them from creating goal opportunites. If they follow your advice and try to avoid giving away such frees, I think you will see Kilkenny's goal tally start to pick up again.

dastardly00

I have to agree with the lads above and say that those strategies are fairly generic. They could be used when playing any team, not just KK.

Comordha

Can anyone explain how they develop that catching skill or is it just natural? Also, surely deciding to play out wide is a skill that only suits certain teams? Paul Ryan was putting them over his shoulder like John Mullane at times, very hard for a back to stop that when a forward can be very far ahead coming out to the ball. Speed like?

keeponhurling

Comordha wrote: »

2. Avoid their half-back line and especially from puckouts, the short puckout is probably key here.
.

Are you Davy Fitz?

Deskjockey

Can I just add the following to the bit where you need to stop them scoring goals?

*Stop them scoring points*

jossnjuice

Diagnonal Balls into the corners for me, as per the way Galway did in the Leinster Final last year........

Also, you MUST keep them goalless for the first quarter.........

Comordha

Davy Fitz here again lads, the glut of goals in the first quarter does seem to have diminished. Although with Shefflin back that could all change, he seems to create a lot of them. I count 4/5 Champship games over the past year where they have been kept goaless but they can certainly take their points. Diagonal balls into the corners is the way to do it alright. Preferably low and fast too.

josip

Comordha wrote: »

Diagonal balls into the corners is the way to do it alright. Preferably low and fast too.

You can only deliver that from either your half forwards or midfield. The Kilkenny halfbacks seem to have settled a bit so it would seem the best chance of delivering this would be from midfield. Fennelly named on the bench for Saturday and I would expect the supply of this type of ball to dry up if he returns in time. Will the Waterford midfield be able to deliver this kind of ball?

fed up sick and tired

I wish to Christ someone would adopt ground hurling as a serious strategy, against KK or anyone else. It obliterates any high-ball fielding abilities any opposition might have, it negates a lot of the overt physicality/dogged defending that turns into an ugly melee far too often in the game.

As far as KK goalfests - those days went with Eddie Brennan,and they aren't coming back on current form or personnel. As far as points - my impression is that over League and C'ship in the last few years, we have become very wasteful from open play, spraying wides far too much.

Flukey

To beat Kilkenny you have to run at them hard and fast. Most of the defeats they've incurred over the last decade were like that. Galway tore into them in the Leinster final last year. Tipperary did it in the all-Ireland final in 2010. In those two games Kilkenny were nine or ten points down before they'd even realised the ball had been thrown in. The other great example was Wexford in the 2004 Leinster semi-final. It took a late goal that day, but Wexford had tore into them for 70 minutes, and never let up. Kilkenny have been a great team, but they are only human. Some teams sat back in awe of them and others just went out and had a go. They are the teams that came closest to or did succeed in beating them. They are still good, though past their best, and if a team tears into them and forgets about their reputation, they'll have a great chance. Others have done it when Kilkenny were at the height of their powers. So it can certainly be done now.

premierstone

Flukey wrote: »

To beat Kilkenny you have to run at them hard and fast. Most of the defeats they've incurred over the last decade were like that. Galway tore into them in the Leinster final last year. Tipperary did it in the all-Ireland final in 2010. In those two games Kilkenny were nine or ten points down before they'd even realised the ball had been thrown in. The other great example was Wexford in the 2004 Leinster semi-final. It took a late goal that day, but Wexford had tore into them for 70 minutes, and never let up. Kilkenny have been a great team, but they are only human. Some teams sat back in awe of them and others just went out and had a go. They are the teams that came closest to or did succeed in beating them. They are still good, though past their best, and if a team tears into them and forgets about their reputation, they'll have a great chance. Others have done it when Kilkenny were at the height of their powers. So it can certainly be done now.

Tipp and KK were level after 40 mins in that game and Tipp only led by a point with 15 mins to go, there was never nine or ten points in it at any stage.