Kilkenny GAA Thread

Box to box

Stephen donnelly likely to miss a few weeks so probably won't see him again this league which is a pity. The same as mullen he will be another few weeks out.Huw and cian hobbled off so probably won't see action this weekend. John Donnelly could potentially return this weekend,it's a must win game really against a flying tipp although we arent that far away from the chasing pack.

greenspurs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123226919#Comment_123226919

Good points.

Remember , all those years saying , '5/6/7 points behind at half time , we'll be fine , we are always flying in the second half'...

We knew it , and other counties knew it.... KK would always come strong at you in the second half , and the vast majority of the time would win.

Not nowadays ...

Mentality or lack of conditioning?

The_Tank

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123223599#Comment_123223599

I think if a forward is good in the air it can compensate. I don't think too many corner backs will want to play TJ from the front - at the risk of him grabbing the ball over their heads and slipping inside like he did last year against Limerick.

On the outfield side of the equation the ball in isn't brilliant and if we're going to persist with it then it needs to happen quicker or we need to carry through the middle and work a shot. I watched the first half of the Limerick Clare match and to be honest neither team got much change from long balls either. What struck me was the importance of the link man - Tony Kelly made some great short passes to the full forward line for Clare which opened things up. I didn't think Lynch was prominant but we know he does that. Cian Kenny is the closest thing we have to that. Cha Fitzpatrick eventually settled into that role for us previously and was brilliant. He had the brains and the wrists but was a much better player coming onto the ball rather than receiving it inside.

On the inside line I feel the technique around winning your own ball has been poor. Bad touch, no aerial presence or technique, and not getting in front. I witnessed it in the Galway game and I put it down to the heavy conditions but PUC was perfect on Saturday. I can live with a lad winning it and getting swarmed but we're not making it stick at all. Mossey won a few in the second half and he's hardly a racehorse. A rusty TJ still looked like he could cause issues in the air near the end.

BTW what happened to breaking the ball off the hurl for a runner - have +1s at the back killed that? Because our team of the naughties, as good as they were in the air, used that one to great effect as well.

About Killian Doyle I think it was logical to give him a chance based on the fact he's been playing for UL in the 'Limerick/Clare' style, running and hand passing. And we need some of that - so to me it was logical to be looking at him. I thought Deegan had a good game yesterday but he's limited on the ball in a critical area and we should be looking at ways to evolve. Perhaps Doyle may end up there.

Nedflanders02

On the match Saturday, the biggest disappointment was that we lost a game that was there for the taking, had TJ taken that goal chance at the end we could have easily won but probably didn't deserve a whole lot out of it to be honest. I thought we did well enough at the back, Carey & Deegan I thought had good games, Butler looked better than the last few games and Huw was excellent when on the pitch. Blanch probably had his worst ever game for Kilkenny but he'll learn and hopefully continue to improve. I thought Jordan Molloy was excellent at midfield and, along with Shane Murphy, is backing up last years good form. I know a good few here thought Doyle was poor but I thought he had a good first half before going out of it in the second half, I do wonder would he better suited to wing back where he played with UL. The forwards are beginning to be a real concern, take Cian Kenny aside, who was excellent again, we didn't get a whole lot from them. Billy Ryan worked very hard and ended up with 1-1 but wasn't really in the game in the second half. Stephen Donnelly did well when on the field and there was probably enough there to show promise. Mossy had a quiet game and Cody is still flattering to deceive, couldn't say he's been poor but not showing as much as we would have hoped either. The most disappointing thing is that no new names in the forward, bar Donnelly have put there hand up and are options off the bench in the forwards are going to be very limited again, possibly could need to push Deegan back into the forwards to give us at lease a ball winning option up there, the return of Donnelly and Mullen will obviously be a help but with Mullen especially you would worry about his attitude and how much he want's to be a top senior hurler, he has all the talent but needs to show it in the big games when we ned him. The worrying thing when you look at our forwards there isn't really anyone coming through who we could say will definitely make a difference, Marty Murphy has potential and has the size and is good in the air but other than him our forward options coming through look very light. It will be a damning indictment of our forward options that we are going to be so reliant on 37 year old TJ Reid to keep digging us out of a hole! As good as the great man is, he can't keep rescuing us forever.

On the topic of our last 15/20 minute fade outs I definitely do think it's down to lack of game plan, poor coaching and lack of any real options off the bench. Other teams are bringing on subs who are immediately making an impact while most of our subs have little or no impact off the bench, even looking at Saturday night, other than young Moylan the rest of the subs had little or no impact and looked miles off the pace, most teams are finishing with as strong a team as they start with whereas for us once we have to make a few subs the team drops a few levels and we are unable to kick on. As stated earlier the forwards are a massive concern for us, the movement up font is non existent and gives the backs a chance to get a hurl in and make it difficult for our forwards. The ball coming in isn't great but the biggest problem is the length it takes our backs to deliver the ball. We take so much out of it coming out of defence that it becomes predictable what we are trying to do and gives time for opposition defences to drop back and crowd out the defence. We would have hoped that with the bringing in of Noel Doherty and Declan Wall that we would have seen some improvement in our style of play but at the minute there is nothing to say we are going in the right direction and if anything it looks like we are on a slow march to the end of our season which will have us asking the same questions at the end of June/July that we were asking in December/January.

conor05

When you are look at young Duds Healy for Cork hitting 1-5 from play Saturday night, his lightning pace, movement and striking for points off both sides on the run, it’s worrying to see our younger lads stuck to the ground pace wise and lack of movement.

Surely the coaching of young lads from age 18 to 22 in the Kilkenny set ups can’t be vastly different to what Cork are doing?

Box to box

Is there any younger players around the county that we feel could be in with the county? I know a few players declined or dropped out but for some reason kk seem very slow to bring through younger players. Is it that no one is good enough? Galway schools team that beat kierans expect niland and rabbite to be in the mix. Tipp with a few good young lads,offally blooding plenty of young lads.Cork and clare blooding players. Jordan molloy and Stephen donnelly are hardly a chaps. I know lyng is slow to trust new players and the balance has to be got but it's hard to believe a hurling mad county like kk and younger lads are that far from senior hurling. Marty Murphy picked up a hamstring a few weeks ago hopefully he is near a return. I thought billy reid or jeff neary might of got more league time. Would ed mcdermot or Aaron mcevoy be worth a look?Podge moylan will probably play instead of huw Sunday but he done well when he came on. We all know what butler and huw will give us so why not give lads like moylan a run,if god forbid lawlor got injured during the championship he would have some game time.I thought zach pace would of being a help against against a team like cork. The poor fade out has being going on a long time now and like a lot of our tactics it isn't getting any better. Very slow from the line not to make a change when a lad is able to get 1-5 from play. Cian Kenny injury isnt as serious as initially feared. He has being one of the bright sparks of the league at center foward.Hopefully he will be ok for sunday.john donnelly will probably be back this weekend. The championship only a few weeks away and more than likely only 2 league matches left.id like to see mackessy start Sunday midfield with molloy I know he struggled to get up to the pitch of the game Saturday but connellan and hogan also struggled,i think he has something to offer. There was parts of the game where kk hurled well but some poor wides especially defenders winding up and driving them wide are killers,this with slow build up and missiles from defence isn't giving the foward the better chance and gives defence extra time to set up.You would seriously question what do they look at when doing video analysis because this is going on a few years. Tactically are kk improving? Have we a Style of play?have we learned from mistakes the last few years? Had we a clear plan at the start of the year who might fill some troublesome positions? Its too early to say but the championship is in a few short weeks where we will be judged.kk have played 4 matches and have finished 3 poorly and started the other one poorly against clare.No one is looking to be peaking now but the trend is there they finished poorly against clare last year and the previous all ireland blew up against limerick. Have we someone looking at these areas trying pinpoint why is this happening and have we put resources and time into improving this or did we take the easiest cheapest option? Conditions are tough but now that we are near the end of the league have we nailed down a spine to the team? Have we found a few players? Have we found a style of play? Are the attackers on the same page as the ball that's coming into them?yes donnelly,mullen,Tom phelan,Shane Murphy,Richie Reid are injured but we know what these have to offer. The positives are molloy,Kenny and Stephen donnelly before he felt a twinge in his hamstring. The focus will be trying to get him right for the Galway match Easter Sunday.

Tipp is the perfect game at home after a dissapointing defeat where there was positives to take.They will be dissapointed with another poor fade out and will want to put in a better performance.Both teams will look foward it. From what I hear tipp players are really happy with david herity coaching.kk won't need any motivation this is a must win game for kk at home.

Marrooned

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229368#Comment_123229368

Agree with most things but certainly not Aaron Mc Evoy, you must be related I never name players but I couldn’t let that go.

Conversations 3

Hopefully there's a good home crowd there on Sunday and give the team a boost.

Surely they can rise it for Tipp at home.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229368#Comment_123229368

yeah good point about Molloy and Donnelly, not exactly chaps. They played the Minor final on 2017 I believe. That would make them 26

JJs Left Hand

Molloy and Donnelly are the same age as Butler/Blanch/Carey/Mullen/Cody. All on the same U20 team that won Leinster in 2019 I think it was

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229944#Comment_123229944

Them 2 lads deserve to be starting. Only 2 lads who did not start last year that are really forcing there way in.

droppingball

Looks like they will stick with Cian Kenny centre forward, wasn't keen on it at the start but now my thinking is they are intending on playing Adrian Mullen midfield. He was named there in Walsh Cup and he can probably score as much out there and is less likely to be as tightly marked. If he is it will take an opponents player out of it keaving a chance for Cian Jenny to pick up pockets of space that he does so well. Strange we haven't seen Mcdonald since the Galway game as he started league well. My guess is to start out the championship It will be Mullen and Molloy midfield with Cian Kenny centre forward.

I'd imagine John Donnelly will start on one wing with Mossy and Billy Ryan swapping between wing and corner on the far side with TJ and Cody inside. Realistically Cody, TJ barring his legs, Mossy and Billy Ryan all want to be on the half forward line.

It's a disaster that Stephen Donnelly and Marty Murphy are injured because the way we fade out of games we could do with them knocking on the door and coming off the bench. Also a pity Owen Wall didn't get more of a chance so he could come on to take on tiring backs. Marty might suit the way we play as we still play plenty of ball long and he could drift out for the odd puck out. Stephen Donnelly best performances came in the big games for thomastown so there might be something in the guy.

Mackessy will surely get a start at the weekend to try and stake a claim, because it might be just himself and Shane Murphy and maybe Moylan outside the backs that started last weekend that are in the mix to be replacements or potential starters come championship. Disappointed Zach Bay hasn't had the opportunity to do a man marker role at some stage but the injury didn't help so his claim might have fallen away.

Gearoid Dunne and Billy Drennan seem to have fallen down the pecking order as they weren't brought on at the weekend but they have flattered to decieve in ways. Still like to see Harry Shine get few more chances but he seems to struggle on the inter county corner backs as they are beating him grappling to get out first to the ball and then he hasn't the pace to stay out in front.

In lots of ways we have been quiet conservative again, we haven't gone out of our way to throw in a bolter like Jeff Neary or Peter Connellan to nail a corner back spot which in particular is an area where we are light.

It would have been unthinkable to lose three of our games in the park but it could happen, it shouldn't matter a jot mind as we need freshening so badly. A lot of our team know they will be starting and we need the panel to start squeezing them fairly sharpish. The team have no incentive to squeeze the extra couple of percent as things stand so the fade outs will likely keep happening.

KK36

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229368#Comment_123229368

James Bergin from Conahy Shamrocks is one. I just cant understand how he isn't on the panel. Not young per se but certainly not old either. He'd get on every senior team in Kilkenny. He was excellent in the games I saw last year and without naming names he is a good bit better than a lot of the players who have gotten lots of chances.

Sean Hunt from St Martins is one I would have a long term plan for. A great ball winner and very direct. Hopefully his wrong grip will not come against him. Obviously he will spend this year with the U20s and a good year here could see him make a breakthrough.

Ed Lauhoff was excellent for James Stephens seniors last year and looks to be progressing well. Another for whom this year's u20 campaign is vital although it was a bit concerning how easily he was snuffed out in the school's game on Saturday.

Jake Dwyer from Carrickshock would be a an outside bet but is certainly worth a look. Very good to take a score.

It's disappointing (for various reasons) how Alan Murphy, John Walsh, Paul Cody, Cathal Beirne and Eoin Wall aren't on the panel.

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230263#Comment_123230263

I was so disappointed when Bergin disappeared off the scene because he looked a real prospect a few years ago, well able to win his own ball and a natural score getter which we need so badly. Very accurate from placed balls too.

Maybe someone from Conahy could shed more light on the subject?

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230263#Comment_123230263

Sean Hunt, James Bergin and Jake O'Dwyer were highly touted last year for clubs and all 3 were poor. Bergin's Conahy and Jake O'Dwyer were in the relegation final. Both had poor enough club campaigns, O'Dwyer looked promising in early league matches but faded as the year went on. I thought Hunt would be one to follow as he won hurler of the year for Kieran's and played well for Kilkenny u19s but he was again very poor for club. He looked like he found the step up to adult hurling tough, looked good when physically stronger and faster than his own age group or younger but had a disappointing club campaign. Martins were also in relegation. To be a called in for Kilkenny seniors they needed to be really standing out for clubs in Intermediate and unfortunately that was not the case.

Charlie69

……….

Nedflanders02

Was anyone at the U20 challenge game against Waterford on Sunday in Mullinavat? See that they won but didn't see a team

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230521#Comment_123230521

Yes i agree, updated post.

Marrooned

I’d agree with Sean Hunt and Ed. Lauhoff. But have to leave them at it for the U20’s if they are good in that competition then they can be brought in later. No messing around with the U20’s

KK36

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230435#Comment_123230435

Not sure what games you saw if you thought they were poor. I watched a huge amount of Intermediate games as that's my club's grade. Hunt and Bergin were very good all through. Dismissing an individual because his team got relegated or was near relegation is rubbish. Individuals can be outstanding in a weak team. By your logic Cian Kenny wouldn't be on the panel.

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230435#Comment_123230435

I thought Bergin was good last year anytime I saw him a real threat swung over pints from all angles

I really like Tom phelan but thought bergin looked better anytime I seen him last year

Hardly one players fault if there club gets relegated it’s a team game

Village87

Intermediate wasn't exactly the strongest grade last year. Phelan and Bergin should have been lighting it up in that grade last year, and at least make a semi final if they were senior inter county standard forwards . I think Conahy won one match last year

JJs Left Hand

Sorry now, but I don't agree with that at all. Phelan plays midfield and Bergin plays at 14. Conahy are habitually in Roinn C and D underage. The rest of their team is very weak. Expecting 2 players to be able to drag a team like Conahy to a semi final is completely unrealistic.

The players frequently mentioned in here are still kids. Hunt, Neary, Murphy to name a few on this page. These lads have only just turned 19. They're nowhere near ready for senior intercounty hurling mentally or physically.

KK36

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123232185#Comment_123232185

more or less the points I’ve been making

Marrooned

Sean Stack reffing on Sunday I see Wonderful.

randd1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123232531#Comment_123232531

No point worrying about refs, they seem to be equally bad for both teams these days. We do our job well and we won't have to worry about him.

Besides, with the rampant cheating going on in the sport, I'd have a great sympathy for refs. Yes they could do more to curb it, but they're repeatedly made the scapegoat for all ills and have no protection from the GAA, why bother tackling the cheating and potentially risking physical harm/threats?

Give them the respect and backing to make whatever calls the rules call for even if it means 100 frees a game, and change the rules to tackle the rampant cheating, and we'd have better refs.

KK36

He blows absolutely everything so it will probably suit Tipp as McCarthy is a better freetaker than Eoin Cody.

Marrooned

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123233027#Comment_123233027

I really don’t know how to answer that.

randd1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123233110#Comment_123233110

You don't have to.

neverbet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123233027#Comment_123233027

They deserve respect definitely but I don't agree with your cheating take. We had a series of fine games at the weekend all great value for this time of year. Thankfully that O'Donovan proposal wasn't carried. Would ruin the game. Was amazing ,well actually it wasn't that Sunday programme didn't pickup on the real talking point in the PUC match. The ref penalising Blanch for fouling the ball when clearly he hadn't. Handy close in free for Cork as opposed to attacking possession for us. Score was level at the time. More concerned with citing Cian Kenny for standing his ground.