Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

JD. 60

Let's face it, Limerick and Cork are well ahead of the pack this year.

However, if we beat Tipp we will (more than likely) get out of Munster, which would be solid progress.

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123416370#Comment_123416370

Those speakers facing the north stand are uncomfortably loud

Pudz2180

this time last week we would take where we are today. It was always beat Clare and Tipp and see where we are after that. Limerick are a generational team, their physicality work rate how they create the space always a runner always a man free for the pass just class. I taught our lads fought valiantly never gave up and kept going to the end. The only moan I’d have is when ever we have played limerick in the last few years it’s always seems to be damage limitation rather than trying to beat them. I taught we might set up differently go 15 on 15 push up on the puck outs as opposed to just giving them the ball and been heavily outnumbered when we did get the ball into the forwards. But I Spose if we we were to do this we could be leaving ourselves open to hiding which could kill our score difference

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Negativity creeping back again. We’ve our best chance ever to get out of this cursed round robin. Two tough games with 2 points and now Queally really knows his team. Limerick are an amazing team and we didn’t disgrace ourselves.

Tipp in Thurles will be no walkover and they’d love to end our season but it’s a game we’re well capable of winning and we’ve a week off which is badly needed for some of our “older” and injury prone players. Our defense is picking itself now which is great.
Eoin Kelly needs to step up and coach that full forward line as we’re not getting the best from them.

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Any other season ticket holders here? Are you completely surrounded by opposition fans at all of our home games? Surely they can send us a link for tickets that are allocated from the same areas as the clubs. There’s hardly that many of us and it’s a simple thing to do.

razorronan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123416773#Comment_123416773

I thought it was just me. Was completely surrounded by Clare fans the first day and Limerick fans yesterday. All of them constantly giving out about the referee.

I thought Leavy really struggled yesterday and was surprised he stayed on for the 70. Got caught between being zonal and marking a man and was very poor on the ball. Really felt the loss of Calum Lyons yesterday I thought. I thought Shane Bennett made a difference when he came on whereas Padraig Fitz had no influence.

Mastermcgrath

my starting 15 v Tipp; Nolan, Kenny, Prunty, Daly Mark Fitz, TDB, Fives, Lyons, Jack P, Kiely, Jamie, Stevie, Dessie, Shane Bennett, Patrick Fitz

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123417637#Comment_123417637

I'd agree, that's the strongest 15 based on form

biglad40isback

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123416370#Comment_123416370

back from where? Defending 6 in a row Munster champions that lost a ai semi by a puck of a ball. Missed goal chances and it took the greatest cork performance in 20 years to get it done. 3 points from 2 away games. Don’t worry about the league

rockable_audio

Limerick were excellent yesterday and some of the hand passing and the movement of their players was frightening to watch they look back to their best. We definitely need more from our full forward line. Like some of ye have said Queally will have learnt a lot from yesterday I was really encouraged how we kept at it till the end and how we haven't conceded goals in our first 2 matches. We might even need points from our last two games and I'd be confident in this team of getting something. Tipp will be tired after their battle in Ennis and we will be fresh going to Thurles a ground that suits us. Cork will be tired after their trip to Limerick as Limerick will be out for revenge and if they put in a performance like they did against us then its a big advantage to Waterford. Cork supporters have blown so much smoke up their own hole it would be great to beat them and I'd be confident in getting something down there as we will be written off by everyone in the country like we were in Walsh Park last year. We have the forwards to get on top of their backs and we should grow more as a team into this championship after yesterday evening

Dick phelan

I was happy to see that changes were made early yesterday, management could see certain things just weren't working and at least tried to change them ASAP. Defensive looked good again and Nolan adds a lot in goal. If only we had one or two really class full forwards we'd be a tough game for anyone. We wasted years of the likes of Barron, TDB, Bennett etc with Davy as manager

Asdfgh2020

we better start doing ‘novenas’ for Clare to give Tipperary a good hammering which will put them out plus purge their morale…?

unbeknownist

need Dessie to step up, we are arguably the only county without a marquee inside forward. Hope he can go well the next day

rockable_audio

Davy Fitz ruined Dessie when he brought him out to midfield. You wouldn't see Pat Ryan bringing the likes of Brian Hayes out to midfield it was crazy stuff. Davy should never have been brought back it was one of the most stupid decisions I've ever seen. No planning when Cahill left after we played an attractive brand of hurling to then go to "Davy ball". You would think we would have gone for another attacking manager. Shane Bennett has to start against Tipp, him, Dessie and Patrick Fitzgerald must start the next day

Shocs24

As a Limerick man who would happily see Waterford succeed, why did they bring on Aussie yesterday. He clearly hasn't been in the right physical shape to play intercounty hurling for a number of years now. Surely there are other lads training hard that deserve a go

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418043#Comment_123418043

The ideal outcome for us is for Tipp to beat Clare that puts Clare out, then we take the opportunity to put Tipp out a week later. That’s both Tipp and Clare out before we go into the Cork game

Mastermcgrath

Dessie is clearly not quite the sharpshooter he was 2/3 years ago. Don’t think you can lay the blame on Davy for that, seems to have lost the ability (or confidence) to take his man on inside his instinct now seems to be to turn back out away from goal and look for a runner coming in, which he is excellent at to be fair as he is incredibly accurate. But I think defences have sussed him out a bit now as he was a bit of an unknown quantity outside of Waterford when he came back from Brighton a few years ago. Hurling is becoming more and more a backs game with the physicality and conditioning of defenders now. Majority of scores are being worked from further out the field and there is less dependence on the inside line to win you games.

Also I’m not sure the captaincy suits Dessie. He’s got enough to be bothering him with the likes of Adam Hogan and Sean Finn up his hole for 70 mins without the added distraction of being captain aswell

DiscoStew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418548#Comment_123418548

I think it’s a combination of a few things.

1. Rolling the dice gambling he’ll produce a moment of magic, which he can do out of nothing even when not match fit.
2. Management keeping the public off their back. So many people remember Aussie of 2016. They expect him to be integral to the team. He made no contribution against Limerick, looked completely unfit and yet while walking out I heard so many people complaining that he wasn’t on earlier (or even starting!!).

It’s hard not to feel sorry for the man. He looks like he knows he’s nowhere near fit enough to be contributing, yet expectations of him are so high. There’s not enough time for him to get up to speed in Munster. Maybe if we can get out things might start to turn for him to make 10 - 15 min contributions from the bench, but it’s hard to see right now.

Deiselurker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123416573#Comment_123416573

It was hard to hear the PA system on the Keanes road terrace. I presume that will be improved with the redevelopment at that end. Hopefully the plans will bring the capacity up another bit as we could have sold another few thousand tickets for Saturdays game.

DiscoStew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418961#Comment_123418961

I had the same thought myself. If Clare beat Tipp they can potentially get to 5 points. They’ve shown previously they can deal with Limerick, although a lot would depend on the fitness of key players who are missing.
Tipp win over Clare puts them on 3 while still with a negative scoring difference (more than likely). Either way we have to beat Tipp, so I’d much prefer it to be in our control rather than sweating watching other results again.

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418988#Comment_123418988

I’d say it’s a massive headache for management at this stage. Having him around the place is fine but if he’s not match fit now he’s clearly not going to be for the remainder of the championship. As another poster said it’s s**t or bust now the next day either give him a good half at least or leave him off the match day panel together . Having him warm up for 65 mins then bringing him in hoping for a moment of magic hasn’t worked he needs to be given time on the field

DiscoStew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123419031#Comment_123419031

In a choice between leaving him off the panel or playing him for a half, I would sadly choose to leave him off the panel at present. He’s nowhere near fit enough to play a half of intercounty hurling to a decent standard.

JD. 60

Extract from Nicky English's IT article.

"Waterford fought hard. They were disadvantaged by the six-day turnaround and never looked to have the same energy they showed against Clare but they resisted strongly to cut the margin to two a couple of times before Limerick simply pulled away again. 

Mark Fitzgerald and Tadhg de Búrca were very good again in the half backs and Stephen Bennett once more carried the scoring burden, but such is the pressure on him – particularly with Dessie Hutchinson not enjoying his best form – that a couple of inaccuracies before half-time were costly.

Waterford’s style suits Limerick at the best of times. The teams that are troubling Limerick are the ones going man-to-man, whereas Waterford are withdrawing. Waterford aren’t to be dismissed, as the picture in Munster seems to change every week, but it’s looking like the match against Tipperary will be vital, as it’s hard to see them getting anything in Cork".

Jjjjjjjjbarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418972#Comment_123418972

When Dessie burst on the scene, his first instinct was always to take on the man and head for goal. If the door was closed he had the ability to step back and take the point or give a pass. He's definitely lost confidence and as mentioned, his first instinct is now to loop back. I'm sure it hasn't gone unnoticed and the likes of Queally and Dan will be having a word and encouraging him to back himself more. Maybe he's lost a yard of pace that we don't see and that could also be the reason. He's definitely due a big game and it could be well timed.

PTH2009

https://www.balls.ie/gaa/the-lay-of-the-land-in-munster-hurling-championship-at-halfway-point-of-round-robin-629705?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKFl79jbGNrAoWXvWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeeEY_JeV60afZp1d5Z-n2AWCZl5QnFycRJ2npKaqYuMq1vr7LploAbO6eUl0_aem_OsDDOQLPUr0_u70UDluTWg

There's a crazy scenario where 4pts might not be enough

Cork, Limerick and Clare could all end up with 5pts

upthedeise16

My reading of it is that we want a Tipp win next weekend. Then it’s in Waterfords own hands as if they beat Tipp the following week, they have 4, Tipp have 3 with all their games played and even if Clare beat Limerick, they would have max 3.
I do think Clare will beat Tipp but just because Tipp are eliminated, doesn’t mean they won’t fight tooth and nail to beat Waterford. Waterford were in a similar position 2 years ago and beat Tipp to stop Tipp getting to a Munster final even though they’d nothing to play for.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123419845#Comment_123419845

that victory over Tipp in 2023 kept Davy in his job. Don’t know where the performance to beat them came from, probably teams own pride…..hardly did it for Davy.

StickMatch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123418972#Comment_123418972

Not sure about that. Looks like a forwards game to me. Look how much confidence limerick had in Shane o Brien and gillane. How many times did you see limerick in a position where most teams would go for the score and they play a floated ball into the forwards. Nearly impossible to defend. Cork are doing the same thing.

In my opinion Waterford have the personnel to do this, just seems like a lot of rotation going on. Every 10 minutes there’s someone new in there for Waterford which you’d have to forgive queally for so early on.

thesultan

not sure if start dessie, seems totally out of form

If put Shane wing back , fives midfield with Lyon’s and Kiely has to start , put Stephen in on Connolly and burn him

cbwfd

Always gas to hear the blame put on Davy for bringing Dessie out to midfield when it never actually happened. He was wing forward and centre forward for a brief period.

RTE podcast made the same claim last week while also mentioning Billy Nolan's spell at centre forward! Never let the facts......