Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 3 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

Alonzo Moseley

I saw Adrian Mullen hurl last week and he looked in good shape, and TBH any conditioning looked only positive
In fact I remarked to a few people how he looked like a young Eddie Keher
He is a big unit, legs like trunks

Darren for me is a must in the county team
No way is there 6 better backs then him in county, I doubt there are even two better at present

Cody trying him midfield was interesting and for me shows that Cody too is very worried about our midfield
Don't think Mullen is the answer but wouldn't be first or last time Cody was right and i was wrong

droppingball

Having watched the game back, we definitely didn't push up on their puck outs enough, we gave them an out ball that they didn't give us.

Weird thing was it was paddy deegan our sweeper was trying to push up on Foley for puckouts and it was too much distance for him to cover. We will need a better plan.

Two other things I noticed at the match is Jack o Connors point was about a metre wide.

And also Huw Lawler asked if he should push out to midfield to follow Conor McDonald and leave nobody in our half or stay and mind the house. Cody told him to follow as we were chasing it at that stage, they got two or three points after this happened.

Wexford have become very good at leaving areas of the field free that give defenders/midfielders room to attack in to. We need to be wary of this, as they did it to us on sunday and in leinster final.

They did it to tipp and it left diarmuid o Keefe with a whole side of the field to attack into, we will need to keep our shape better.as to not play to wexfords tune.

Wexford are far from a poor team and they will be very hard to beat in June.

brookville

Hopefully we are adapting to wexfords style of play and really this game wont matter when it comes to the show down in the summer.its very early in the year but I do like that we tried for a few goals the other day so maybe dj is talking to lads like billy ryan to put the head down and go for the jugular.its something we have being lacking for a few years so hopefully during the summer we will see an improvement in this.
I think it's no harm tj in practiclar is given a long break and I wouldn't rush any of them back the whole purpose of the league Is blooding lads and we aren't in that bad of a place.Id give brennan another go in goals I think he is very assured and didnt let us down last year when scruff got injured.
Buckley done well considering the hurling he has missed and I'd leave him in his best position at number 7 and if we could get himself and richie right for the summer they would be two big additions.
The last free wallace gave away on foley was a lack of experience and he dived in while foley just waited for contact.he should learn from this but I'd persist with himself and browne for the moment.Clare will be a good test for these two lads but the backs have done ok although I would like to try find a spot somewhere for darren mullen and get a few games into him.
Tony kelly ran the show against wexford and laois so we will need to nuilify him maybe even man mark him.Its no secret we have chopped and changed midfield since mick fennelly retired I still believe Wally is worth a shot out here and I think he is more dangerous out the field.
I wouldn't worry too much bout adrian mullen and its definitely not right writing things anonymously here.im sure he will get himself into good shape and I thought he worked hard in the club final without shooting the lights out.He is a scoring foward something we have lacked for a few years and was a great find for us last year.Id like to see eoin cody/shane walsh/james bergin any of these get a run out to see how they get on but I'm sure they are training hard and will get a go when ready because it is a big jump from club hurling.
We will probably see a few changes sunday from midfield up maybe leahy will come in and lads like scanlon and cleere will make the bench.

Billy Ocean

droppingball wrote: »

Having watched the game back, we definitely didn't push up on their puck outs enough, we gave them an out ball that they didn't give us.

Weird thing was it was paddy deegan our sweeper was trying to push up on Foley for puckouts and it was too much distance for him to cover. We will need a better plan.

Two other things I noticed at the match is Jack o Connors point was about a metre wide.

And also Huw Lawler asked if he should push out to midfield to follow Conor McDonald and leave nobody in our half or stay and mind the house. Cody told him to follow as we were chasing it at that stage, they got two or three points after this happened.

Wexford have become very good at leaving areas of the field free that give defenders/midfielders room to attack in to. We need to be wary of this, as they did it to us on sunday and in leinster final.

They did it to tipp and it left diarmuid o Keefe with a whole side of the field to attack into, we will need to keep our shape better.as to not play to wexfords tune.

Wexford are far from a poor team and they will be very hard to beat in June.

I know league games can often be taken with a pinch of salt but been at the game on Sunday and Wexford Clare 2 weeks prior I was actually more impressed with yourselves than Clare dispite the results of those 2 games, you're workrate and aggression was very impressive of 50 mins on Sunday ye were winning majority of the breaks and dominated us physically, with the quality coming off the bench we managed the last 20 mins very well, we played an awful lot better last sunday than we did against Clare who beat us due to Tony Kelly and our own self inflicted mistakes, I actually taught they had a few passengers that game but ye didn't on Sunday and obviously there's alot to return to you're panel.how do you know for certain that point in question was a metre wide? It was impossible to tell from the TV cameras weather it was or not, i was on the 45 in the stand towards the opposite goal, it was impossible to tell from there too. Was listening to Colm Parkinson's podcast who made the point that they're wasn't much of a cheer from the crowd which is usually a clue. I think the game in June will be like every Wexford kilkenny game sense Davy got involved with us, it will be very close regardless of the result.

droppingball

Billy Ocean wrote: »

I know league games can often be taken with a pinch of salt but been at the game on Sunday and Wexford Clare 2 weeks prior I was actually more impressed with yourselves than Clare dispite the results of those 2 games, you're workrate and aggression was very impressive of 50 mins on Sunday ye were winning majority of the breaks and dominated us physically, with the quality coming off the bench we managed the last 20 mins very well, we played an awful lot better last sunday than we did against Clare who beat us due to Tony Kelly and our own self inflicted mistakes, I actually taught they had a few passengers that game but ye didn't on Sunday and obviously there's alot to return to you're panel.how do you know for certain that point in question was a metre wide? It was impossible to tell from the TV cameras weather it was or not, i was on the 45 in the stand towards the opposite goal, it was impossible to tell from there too. Was listening to Colm Parkinson's podcast who made the point that they're wasn't much of a cheer from the crowd which is usually a clue. I think the game in June will be like every Wexford kilkenny game sense Davy got involved with us, it will be very close regardless of the result.

I was right behind the line of the shot was well wide, all the wexford people beside us were roaring laughing about it as it wasn't even close to being over. It didn't matter at all in the end it was just ridiculous how the umpire gave it.

Another thing is fair play to Davy for sticking to the system even with a gale, at the match I thought to myself it is ridiculous that they dont feed it in with the wind but they stuck to their guns with the rest of the year in mind.

Likewise I'm glad cody is developing our panel and not having our more experienced players on the bench as it would be tempting to bring them on.

Cornerback1

Billy Ocean wrote: »

I know league games can often be taken with a pinch of salt but been at the game on Sunday and Wexford Clare 2 weeks prior I was actually more impressed with yourselves than Clare dispite the results of those 2 games, you're workrate and aggression was very impressive of 50 mins on Sunday ye were winning majority of the breaks and dominated us physically, with the quality coming off the bench we managed the last 20 mins very well, we played an awful lot better last sunday than we did against Clare who beat us due to Tony Kelly and our own self inflicted mistakes, I actually taught they had a few passengers that game but ye didn't on Sunday and obviously there's alot to return to you're panel.how do you know for certain that point in question was a metre wide? It was impossible to tell from the TV cameras weather it was or not, i was on the 45 in the stand towards the opposite goal, it was impossible to tell from there too. Was listening to Colm Parkinson's podcast who made the point that they're wasn't much of a cheer from the crowd which is usually a clue. I think the game in June will be like every Wexford kilkenny game sense Davy got involved with us, it will be very close regardless of the result.

It was very very high - umpires get a hard time but a shot like that, so high is really hard to judge.

I remembering a good few years ago texting my mate on April's Fool's Day saying that the GAA were going to introduce a bar across the top of the goal posts and you could only score a point through it...lol.

Come to think of it, it mightn't be a bad idea!!!!

Cornerback1

Will the league quarter-finals etc. all be put back now because of the postponed games?

If so, anybody have the dates?

brookville

Cornerback1 wrote: »

Will the league quarter-finals etc. all be put back now because of the postponed games?

If so, anybody have the dates?

The quarter-finals will now be played on March 15/16, the semi-finals on March 21/22 and the final on the weekend of March 29/30.

big_drive

Was Eoin Murphy injured last weekend?

brookville

big_drive wrote: »

Was Eoin Murphy injured last weekend?

Dont think it was anything serious but he could of had something like the flu.Its good to get a few games into darren brennan hopefully he gets a few more.
It was intresting that darren mullen came on mid field and I wonder could he be deployed there Sunday with tony kelly in mind.We have chopped and changed midfield for a few years hopefully we can find a suitable pairing.i know the game has changed and that middle third becomes a warzone with lots of bodies.I wouldn't mind wally being tried around midfield.

brookville

Kil.v Clare. D Brennan C Browne H Lawlor C Wallace C Delaney P Deegan D Mullen C Buckley A Murphy A Mullen J Donnelly R Leahy B Ryan R Hogan W Walsh Subs T Walsh E Morrissey M Carey M Cody T Kenny J Maher G Aylward B Sheehan L Scanlon T O Dwyer E Cody
Good to see eoin cody on the bench and darren mullen starting.i also think Donnellys best position is 11

JJs Left Hand

kilkennyboy wrote: »

Any truth in rumour yhoty was told to get himself in shape if he wanted to be involved this year.looked to have bulked up maybe in the wrong way.

It appears not.

big_drive

No sub goalie?

mullinr2

That's a good team named. A win against Clare would be a huge confidence boost as this team has not beaten Clare. They like Wexford seem to have our number

brookville

big_drive wrote: »

No sub goalie?

This has being the case the last few years.richie reid or alan Murphy would probably be next in line and if something happened darren alan would probably go in goal as richie is away at the moment.I dont know should we carry 3 goalies but we are lucky to have two very good goalies at the moment and at club level there is good goalies around.
As said already this looks a good team and we have a poor recent record against clare.Its intresting that 3 and 6 have remained the same and deegan could well be our number 6 for the summer and Padraig could move up to midfield
Great to get a game into darren mullen and also good to see adrian back.Hopefully eoin cody might get a run

citykat

That was quick. Mullen resurrects his IC career. Unfortunately it's probably not the last of the ill informed nonsense that gets peddled on here.

citykat

big_drive wrote: »

No sub goalie?

McGarry can stand in if we're stuck.

brookville

Hopefully the weather will be decent and we have a good match.it looks like the team Is starting to come together a bit and most people like the look of it.
Brian Lohan is putting his own stamp on this team and has changed the spine of it.There tackling has improved aswell I remember a few years ago in ennis kevin kelly got a ridiculous amount of frees.john conlan and huw should have a good tussle.huw will be dissapointed with the goal conceded against wexford but it's a learning curve.it will be a good test for our two new corner backs who have pace and already browne looks like a find for us at corner back and murphy could be under pressure when he returns.
Delaney is getting game time after being unlucky last year and looked to have solved the full back position before getting injured.it looks like deegan could be the man for the number 6 jersey.darren mullen is very intelligent and could play anywhere from 2-9.
Buckley looked to be moving well mickey comerford has him on a programme that seems to be working.
Programme numbers dont mean much but I think leahy is better out around midfield but it is a young ball winning half foward line.donnelly will bring lads into play and know what kinda ball to let into the fowards
Billy ryan gives us pace and a goal threat inside.he is a very direct runner and hopefully dj will be talking to him and the fowards as the year goes on.
I dont think wally is a corner foward but is suited further out the field.
It's good to see richie starting and it's a few years since he played as many league games.
Hopefully we can get a win sunday as I'm sure the lads were dissapointed to let last sunday slip but we always find clare hard to beat.We might have a bit more pace around the place and the team is starting to get a little more settled.
Tony kelly is their go to man and an unbelievable hurler on his day as we know so I wonder will we put a man marker on him.

therealdonster

For a laugh..

savannahkat

Nothing wrong from 1 to 7 with tomorrows selection. Good to see Cillian Buckley getting two games in a row. If he returns to 15/16 form he will be a huge bonus come championship and is well worth persevering with.. Once more it is the same players from there to 15 whom we have tried and then tried and then tried some more with little or no improvement. You have to go back to the AI after we went a man down and ask who stood up from those playing again tomorrow. They were not good enough then so why are they good enough now and why are we trying the same players time after time and expecting some kind of a miraculous transformation. Bring in the Bergins, the Walsh's both Shane and John and 'try the other chap from Conahy who caused havoc in the Junior AI final.Same old same old and same old result awaiting.

Cornerback1

brookville wrote: »

Hopefully the weather will be decent and we have a good match.it looks like the team Is starting to come together a bit and most people like the look of it.
Brian Lohan is putting his own stamp on this team and has changed the spine of it.There tackling has improved aswell I remember a few years ago in ennis kevin kelly got a ridiculous amount of frees.john conlan and huw should have a good tussle.huw will be dissapointed with the goal conceded against wexford but it's a learning curve.it will be a good test for our two new corner backs who have pace and already browne looks like a find for us at corner back and murphy could be under pressure when he returns.
Delaney is getting game time after being unlucky last year and looked to have solved the full back position before getting injured.it looks like deegan could be the man for the number 6 jersey.darren mullen is very intelligent and could play anywhere from 2-9.
Buckley looked to be moving well mickey comerford has him on a programme that seems to be working.
Programme numbers dont mean much but I think leahy is better out around midfield but it is a young ball winning half foward line.donnelly will bring lads into play and know what kinda ball to let into the fowards
Billy ryan gives us pace and a goal threat inside.he is a very direct runner and hopefully dj will be talking to him and the fowards as the year goes on.
I dont think wally is a corner foward but is suited further out the field.
It's good to see richie starting and it's a few years since he played as many league games.
Hopefully we can get a win sunday as I'm sure the lads were dissapointed to let last sunday slip but we always find clare hard to beat.We might have a bit more pace around the place and the team is starting to get a little more settled.
Tony kelly is their go to man and an unbelievable hurler on his day as we know so I wonder will we put a man marker on him.

I'd put Darren Mullwn on Kelly and track him everywhere. Just focus on limiting Kelly's influence on the game in open play.

JJs Left Hand

John Donnelly was excellent in the All Ireland final.
Adrian Mullen was YHOTY last year.
Are you writing off 22 year old Richie Leahy and 23 year old Billy Ryan who's started the league in very good goal scoring form?
And are you surprised that Richie Hogan and Walter are playing? We should be getting as much hurling into Richie as possible while he's fit.

Alan Murphy is there to take the frees.

You want Tom Phelan who I doubt you've seen more than once and who's name you can't even remember parachuted into a senior inter county team when he's probably never trained with them because he played well in a JUNIOR club game. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was excellent that day and worth a further look, but a starter off the back of that? Come on, there's levels to this stuff.

droppingball

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

John Donnelly was excellent in the All Ireland final.
Adrian Mullen was YHOTY last year.
Are you writing off 22 year old Richie Leahy and 23 year old Billy Ryan who's started the league in very good goal scoring form?
And are you surprised that Richie Hogan and Walter are playing? We should be getting as much hurling into Richie as possible while he's fit.

Alan Murphy is there to take the frees.

You want Tom Phelan who I doubt you've seen more than once and who's name you can't even remember parachuted into a senior inter county team when he's probably never trained with them because he played well in a JUNIOR club game. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was excellent that day and worth a further look, but a starter off the back of that? Come on, there's levels to this stuff.

Ditto couldn't have written better myself, agree entirely.

Also what did you make of them the night they beat limerick savannahcat?

Also john walsh has been in there and it didn't work out, he wasn't great at u21. Tom phelan was hurling in a junior match, senior club is way off county let alone junior.

savannahkat

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

John Donnelly was excellent in the All Ireland final.
Adrian Mullen was YHOTY last year.
Are you writing off 22 year old Richie Leahy and 23 year old Billy Ryan who's started the league in very good goal scoring form?
And are you surprised that Richie Hogan and Walter are playing? We should be getting as much hurling into Richie as possible while he's fit.

Alan Murphy is there to take the frees.

You want Tom Phelan who I doubt you've seen more than once and who's name you can't even remember parachuted into a senior inter county team when he's probably never trained with them because he played well in a JUNIOR club game. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was excellent that day and worth a further look, but a starter off the back of that? Come on, there's levels to this stuff.

What will we learn watching John Donnelly, Ritchie leahy, Ritchie Hogan et al absolutely nothing and you are right I only saw Tom Phelan once but once was enough to know he is worth a look see. It is what this league should be used for looking for new talent. We have nothing to learn watching those chosen tomorrow. We know what they are capable of, maybe they are the best we have but what is wrong with looking at alternatives.

mountgomery burns

I'd say the league is also a platform to develop lads in there early 20s. Might be right about Hogan, but definitely cannot understand cribbing Leahy and Ryan (Kilkenny's form forward), or especially Donnelly who missed out on a lot of last year and is just off the back of an excellent campaign with DCU.

Kilkenny have looked at 15+ forwards in the last 3-4 years, it's time they settled on the best of the young fellas they have and give them every chance to prosper.

brookville

Although the league has lost its value theres not many teams going to throw in a load of inexperienced lads into a team and hope they perform.There has to be some sort of balance or else you would get destroyed and I dont know if that would be good for confidence.All you had to do was look at the walsh cup match in callan against a half wexford team we were completely bullied.
I remember after the raft of retirements a few years ago we had a lot of inexperienced lads against clare below in ennis lads like evan cody and sean morrissey played that day and had a tough day.eoin larkin criticised the younger lads.it didnt do them any good.Its a lot easier play better with a more experienced lad behind you or beside you.
Not many lads are going to come straight in from club and make the transition quickly,it usually takes a few years to get up to speed and fill out to compete.
Cody knows nearly every club player in the county and anyone good enough has being brought in over the last few years.i was suprised a few lads like tom aylward or john walsh were dropped but that's the same in every county.We dont know what's going on behind the scenes but when shane walsh or james bergin are ready they will make the match day squad just like eoin cody is tomor.They could of being carrying knocks after the long club campaign.
We are going through transition so we had no choice to blood younger lads and gain experience and the match last sunday was a good test to see what's in the belly.
We are trying two new corner backs,our full back is in his second year.A new center back and full debut for darren mullen.buckley and hogan have obviously missed alot of hurling and this is adrian mullens first county match of the year.Billy ryan is in his second year.The likes of donnelly and leahy will hopefully lead this team in years to come so getting gametime and experience is part and parcel.

Swamp_Cat

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

John Donnelly was excellent in the All Ireland final.
Adrian Mullen was YHOTY last year.
Are you writing off 22 year old Richie Leahy and 23 year old Billy Ryan who's started the league in very good goal scoring form?
And are you surprised that Richie Hogan and Walter are playing? We should be getting as much hurling into Richie as possible while he's fit.

Alan Murphy is there to take the frees.

You want Tom Phelan who I doubt you've seen more than once and who's name you can't even remember parachuted into a senior inter county team when he's probably never trained with them because he played well in a JUNIOR club game. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was excellent that day and worth a further look, but a starter off the back of that? Come on, there's levels to this stuff.

Great post.

Do you think A. Murphy would be on the pitch or bench if our free taker was available? He's done well.

They're so important & if what we saw last night becomes the norm, 'frees win games' will replace 'goals win games'. Let's hope not.

Alonzo Moseley

Colaiste Eoin beat Kierans, last minute goal
1-16 to 0-17

Fantastic achievement for a relatively small school who are also in A Football semi next week

Kierans fielded without Ciaran Brennan
Anyone know what the score is there?
Soccer commitments?

Kierans get Harty winners, don't think Munster is any great shake this year, so they will have a good chance there but would then run in to Athenry who are probably the team to beat

Edit
St Raphael's Loughrea beat Athenry, so Kierans would need to beat Munster losers and Raphaels to reach final

I remember seeing B final last year (between Comer and Raphaels) and the standard of hurling was outstanding, probably as good as the A final

Swamp_Cat

Edit.

Answered my own question. thx

citykat

It's a good thing Tony Kelly can't hit frees.