Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 3 ***Updated Mod Note Post 1***

Fred C Dobbs

I thought at the end of last season that the graphs of Waterford and Kilkenny were going in opposite directions - now it seems Waterford is the county that has regressed ; KK have brought in a few players almost unnoticed and judging by their performance in Semple Stadium, they haven't gone away. Before anyone reminds me, I know we beat KK recently but we stumbled over the line that day, not forgetting too that we beat them in Walsh Park last year.

Galway came closest to beating Tipp last year so they are likely to be involved at the business end this year. I hope I'm wrong but that leaves Waterford 4th in 'the rankings' at best and I think it will be another 2-3 years before the reservoir of underage talent rises to the top.

hurler on de ditch

Fred C Dobbs wrote: »

I thought at the end of last season that the graphs of Waterford and Kilkenny were going in opposite directions - now it seems Waterford is the county that has regressed ; KK have brought in a few players almost unnoticed and judging by their performance in Semple Stadium, they haven't gone away. Before anyone reminds me, I know we beat KK recently but we stumbled over the line that day, not forgetting too that we beat them in Walsh Park last year.

Galway came closest to beating Tipp last year so they are likely to be involved at the business end this year. I hope I'm wrong but that leaves Waterford 4th in 'the rankings' at best and I think it will be another 2-3 years before the reservoir of underage talent rises to the top.

lovely another 2/3 years ,its a great excuse for a new manager and yet another 3 year plan .what a f^&*%$£g joke

Gavlor

Fred C Dobbs wrote: »

I thought at the end of last season that the graphs of Waterford and Kilkenny were going in opposite directions - now it seems Waterford is the county that has regressed ; KK have brought in a few players almost unnoticed and judging by their performance in Semple Stadium, they haven't gone away. Before anyone reminds me, I know we beat KK recently but we stumbled over the line that day, not forgetting too that we beat them in Walsh Park last year.

Galway came closest to beating Tipp last year so they are likely to be involved at the business end this year. I hope I'm wrong but that leaves Waterford 4th in 'the rankings' at best and I think it will be another 2-3 years before the reservoir of underage talent rises to the top.

Galway aren't ahead of Waterford.

chookieourlaw

Gavlor wrote: »

Galway aren't ahead of Waterford.

Can you tell us what evidence you're basing this assumption on? Correct me if I'm wrong but Tipp only beat Galway by a point last year and Tipp humiliated us with a 21 pt victory. In 2015, Galway beat Tipp by a point and Tipp beat us by five.
IMO we wouldn't have been beaten by half as much last year if we had lined out
conventionally, but I still think Tipp would have had a few points to spare. So stating that we're ahead of Galway just doesn't stand up. IMO Clare are also ahead of us. Personally I'd prefer a change of management. I'm not saying we dont have promising talent, but Waterford has yet to win a championship game of any real importance over last few years and I will withhold judgement until they do.

mountgomery burns

chookieourlaw wrote: »

Can you tell us what evidence you're basing this assumption on? Correct me if I'm wrong but Tipp only beat Galway by a point last year and Tipp humiliated us with a 21 pt victory. In 2015, Galway beat Tipp by a point and Tipp beat us by five.
IMO we wouldn't have been beaten by half as much last year if we had lined out
conventionally, but I still think Tipp would have had a few points to spare. So stating that we're ahead of Galway just doesn't stand up. IMO Clare are also ahead of us. Personally I'd prefer a change of management. I'm not saying we dont have promising ralent, but Waterford has yet to win a championship game of any real importance over last few years and I will withhold judgement until they do.

If you compare form v Kilkenny then Galway aren't ahead of us. The reality is last years championship will have no bearing on this years anyway but the teams haven't even played each other recently so we cannot compare them directly.

A lot of people are losing the plot (not you as such to be fair) based on performances in this years league but it looks likely that this is the third year in a row where Waterford will have had a better league than Galway, so I guess those people must think Waterford are ahead of Galway also.

chookieourlaw

mountgomery burns wrote: »

If you compare form v Kilkenny then Galway aren't ahead of us. The reality is last years championship will have no bearing on this years anyway but the teams haven't even played each other recently so we cannot compare them directly.

A lot of people are losing the plot (not you as such to be fair) based on performances in this years league but it looks likely that this is the third year in a row where Waterford will have had a better league than Galway, so I guess those people must think Waterford are ahead of Galway also.

Championship only true barometer and Tipp currently the true yardstick to measure against.

mountgomery burns

chookieourlaw wrote: »

Championship only true barometer and Tipp currently the true yardstick to measure against.

Bit selective though to be fair, all are one off games. If Championship is the only barometer to measure against, how can you say Clare are ahead of us?

chookieourlaw

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Bit selective though to be fair, all are one off games. If Championship is the only barometer to measure against, how can you say Clare are ahead of us?

They are one-off matches over two separate seasons, which I think is fair to say is a lot more reliable and evidence-based than just plucking some unfounded suppositon out of nowhere.
Regarding Clare - because they have a better panel and the only set of forwards that come near to Tipp's. I also think they will get further that us in championship this year - but obviously that is just an assumption

mountgomery burns

There is one thing I agree with that you've said, nobody knows who is better between Galway and Waterford until they actually play each other (I'm obviously paraphrashing a bit there.)

You have contradicted yourself though by saying championship is the only metric to rank teams on and then suggest Clare are ahead of us based purely on your subjective view of their players. Based on the championship performance argument, there is a stronger case to say we are ahead of Clare than Galway are ahead of us.

Not a fan of rankings though, the only thing that matters is who climbs the steps of the hogan in September.

PTH2009

Were like kryptonite too Galway we seem to always have there number but its bound to end at some stage and they will beat us. Same can be siad about us vs Kilkenny/Tipp

A win or draw is the only option next Sunday in Ennis but Barron will be a huge loss. I think Derek is gearing up for a relegation playoff rather than a QF if its true he consulted with the County board at the start of the year with fixing senior county championship games the weeks of the league semis and final

Fred C Dobbs

Gavlor wrote: »

Galway aren't ahead of Waterford.

Let's compare notes in 6 months and if you're right, I'll happily buy you a pint.

Gavlor

Fred C Dobbs wrote: »

Let's compare notes in 6 months and if you're right, I'll happily buy you a pint.

Cool, there's nothing between Galway, kk and Waterford over the past year or so.

By what measurement do people think Galway are so much better than Waterford? The fact they ran tipp close?

danganabu

Gavlor wrote: »

Cool, there's nothing between Galway, kk and Waterford over the past year or so.

By what measurement do people think Galway are so much better than Waterford? The fact they ran tipp close?

I think Galway's position is slightly exaggerated, Tipp never reached anything near the level they reached in the AI or Munster final that day, yes you can give Galway credit for this and the centre of their defence was excellent, however imo a lot of it can also be attributed to the infamous break from the Munster Final to the semi, Tipp for some unknown reason have always struggled with it and also Galway always raise their game for Tipp, there has never been much between us since our re-emergance in the late 80's.

robopaddy2

PTH2009 wrote: »

With the way some of the cuala lads played today we could be in for a torrid time in the relegation playoff if we're player Dublin in it

A big Dublin win and we lose without scoring well could possibly mean we play Kilkenny in the relegation playoff

Good lord listen to yourself, you're effectively damning us to relegation based on the performance of a club team, that beat another club team who have very few intercounty players.

robopaddy2

danganabu wrote: »

Gavlor wrote: »

Cool, there's nothing between Galway, kk and Waterford over the past year or so.

By what measurement do people think Galway are so much better than Waterford? The fact they ran tipp close?

I think Galway's position is slightly exaggerated, Tipp never reached anything near the level they reached in the AI or Munster final that day, yes you can give Galway credit for this and the centre of their defence was excellent, however imo a lot of it can also be attributed to the infamous break from the Munster Final to the semi, Tipp for some unknown reason have always struggled with it and also Galway always raise their game for Tipp, there has never been much between us since our re-emergance in the late 80's.

Every year (including this one) for the past 30 years I would consider them realistic All Ireland contenders based on talent pool, but don't believe they ever have the stomach to get over the line on the big occasion. I can't quite put my finger on it, you hear about a history in-fighting, bitterness and begrudgery between clubs in the county. People might say its rich coming from  Waterford accusing another county of not having the bottle for the big occasion but I believe in Waterford, Tipperary and KK and most other counties it is an honour to put on the county jersey and we always fight until the end no matter what. I sometimes get the feeling in Galway its not the same hunger and desire to die for that county jersey.

Deiseen

While i agree the performances have been abysmal and management tactics are (as always) a cause of concern, people need to realise it's only March and its only the league.

The league can be crazy. Tipp didn't make the final last year but blew everyone away in championship, so calm down.

tomwaterford

Deiseen wrote: »

While i agree the performances have been abysmal and management tactics are (as always) a cause of concern, people need to realise it's only March and its only the league.

The league can be crazy. Tipp didn't make the final last year but blew everyone away in championship, so calm down.

Do you honesty expect waterford to blow everyone in the championship??

Deiseen

tomwaterford wrote: »

Deiseen wrote: »

While i agree the performances have been abysmal and management tactics are (as always) a cause of concern, people need to realise it's only March and its only the league.

The league can be crazy. Tipp didn't make the final last year but blew everyone away in championship, so calm down.

Do you honesty expect waterford to blow everyone in the championship??

No, i never said that. But we can't be saying we have regressed from last year when it's only March.

PTH2009

Come on Dublin and Cork as if both win we will go through in 4th no matter what result we get in Clare (as we would beat Dublin on the head too head)

We could finish 2nd if we beat Clare and Cork lose.

A Kilkenny win and lose for us means we're in the Relegation Playoff

Its great for the 1A division that with the exception of Tipperary, 2nd-6th place will only be decided on the final day and all teams have something too play for

PTH2009

deferred coverage of our game on TG4 Sunday after the live Tyrone vs Mayo game

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/0321/861402-at-a-glance-final-round-possibilities-in-hurling-leag/

enoughtaken

PTH2009 wrote: »

deferred coverage of our game on TG4 Sunday after the live Tyrone vs Mayo game

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/0321/861402-at-a-glance-final-round-possibilities-in-hurling-leag/

It wasn't pretty watching our last deferred coverage. Hopefully better this time round.

PTH2009

enoughtaken wrote: »

It wasn't pretty watching our last deferred coverage. Hopefully better this time round.

yeah it all boils down to a few factors sunday

What Clare will show up ???

What Waterford will show up ???

How arsed Derek Mcgrath is about the game and QF/Relegation playoffs ??? (saying to himself, ah we lose this and we go into a easy(**** all easy about it imo) relegation playoff at home to Dublin and were guaranteed to be finished League hurling on the 2nd April, we could possibly play Kilkenny in the relegation playoff too ??. Sure according to him the league is not important and 1B wont be a bad place to be. Prob do a intense workout at mid day on the day of the game and be ****ed by throw in

I hope we give it everything up there and make amends for the disaster of a performance over Cork. Barron will be a huge loss and it showed when he went off injured already this season. We have the players to be at least in a league QF and dont need the added pressure of being relegated

redlead

enoughtaken wrote: »

It wasn't pretty watching our last deferred coverage. Hopefully better this time round.

It's not pretty watching any of our games to be fair. About 10 lads in the middle of a ruck in midfield scrapping to pick the ball up only to hit it up the field to no-one

hurler on de ditch

enoughtaken wrote: »

It wasn't pretty watching our last deferred coverage. Hopefully better this time round.

whats that saying about,doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!

hardybuck

On the news this morning they mentioned that McGrath is taking a leave of absence from DLS college to focus on the Waterford job.

Fair play to someone for wanting to give it 100% - but is he off the wall!?

Deise Gael

Good man Derek - some martyr.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/mcgrath-taking-career-break-to-focus-on-waterford-35553945.html

JesusRef

hardybuck wrote: »

On the news this morning they mentioned that McGrath is taking a leave of absence from DLS college to focus on the Waterford job.

Fair play to someone for wanting to give it 100% - but is he off the wall!?

He took Parental leave last year as well

JesusRef

Deise Gael wrote: »

Good man Derek - some martyr.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/mcgrath-taking-career-break-to-focus-on-waterford-35553945.html

In fairness it is - the man is putting his professional and certain aspects of his personal life on hold - for what is a hobby.

Regardless of all the b!tching and whining on here about his methods, no-one can fault the man is giving it all he can and taking a leave of absence 2 years in a row is way above thr call of duty.

Its easy to gripe and moan from the sidelines - but what McGrath is doing is putting your mouth is, walking the walk - whatever you want to call it

whiteandblue

I don't know Derek McGrath or how many kids he has or whatever but surely he is taking unpaid leave to give everything a "non-paid" position? Must be a well-off man to be take career breaks like he does!
I feel if he spent less time speaking to the media or attending different events like the Golf Classic launch he was at yesterday, he could concentrate on both teaching and managing Waterford, there's plenty doing it like Eamonn Fitzmaurice who is actually coaching a school's team in an All-Ireland final this week as well as coaching Kerry and having a young family

dubcat51

Said at the start of the year he would be the manager most under pressure.