Kilkenny GAA Thread

lob it in

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503653#Comment_123503653

I agree with you on this.I think that hurling people in general in Kilkenny have fallen out of love with intercounty hurling more so than any team but still have a huge love for the club scene hence the reason why we get huge crowds at our club games and really small/poor crowds at the Intercounty games at all levels.

I believe that the main reason for this is that at intercounty level the 50-50 battles and man on man element that makes hurling such a great game to watch is been taken out of the game at that level with short puck outs,"playing through the lines",constant throwing and overcarring of the ball all adding up to a game that despite all the Munster hurling hype is not a great game to watch.At club level you still have the "old" style of hurling which people love to watch ,I've heard many people say in the last few years that they would rather go to watch a club game than an intercounty game any day and I'd have to agree myself.

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503653#Comment_123503653

Hard to know what the solution is but there’s definetly something missing

As you say I think the crowds at club games have increased and the atmosphere is as good as ever

I always felt kk county games had a club type atmosphere the fight in the stands matched the fight on the field and vice versa

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503765#Comment_123503765

Definetly the lack of 50/50 battles is a big part of it too club hurling is a purer form of the game compared to inter county now

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503741#Comment_123503741

Exactly and it was the same last year when the minors came out on the field

Maybe they just don’t know the players and that’s why there not encouraging them who knows

I only come home hoarse after club games now 🤣

Greensoup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503894#Comment_123503894

watched cork Clare, Tipp Clare, limerick cork u20 games on tg4 and there were lots of 50/50 battles - same at senior. There teams seem to be mixing the game with short and plenty long play. There the same at senior.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503737#Comment_123503737

The half back line of Kelly, Lyng and Hickey were all cleaned. Half back line is usually the platform for a big performance. Ours was completely blown out of it in the air and legs

Topcat32

Ivan Bolger, Jeff Neary, Darragh Vereker, Marty Murphy and Lyng look to be the only ones who could be added to the match day senior panel, assume they are part of the wider current panel, no nailed on starters even for next year I would think, but I suppose players can progress pretty quickly at 19/20, particularly if their club goes well.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504091#Comment_123504091

Very disappointed in Lyng. Mobility, physicality, presence , aerial ability, all non existent . Good on the ball when he gets a soft pass from the fulll back line but he struggled in his battle even with extra bodies around. Years off senior intercounty

Topcat32

Well he is on the panel at the moment and I'm pretty sure he will stay on it but hard to see him as a starter over the next couple of years based on today.

droppingball

That is a right good tipp team and they will get plenty of hurlers, their half forward line was very good and McCormack and O Donoghue were impressive. The style both teams played was beyond depressing, I'm worried where the game is going, it holding the ball waiting for an option while the other team doesn't pressure possession or short puckouts was so frustrating.

We will get a few of that team, Bolger has the pace and power to be an inter county corner back. Murphy will be there or there abouts and Brennan was decent.

Darragh Mccarthy wasn't great but he hasn't been wonderful at senior either. That is harsh comment but it's not based on 19 yr old struggling at senior but more how he is being hyped. His frees are top class and prob enough to avoid the spotlight but wouldn't pin my hat just yet. I'll be watching out for o Donoghue anyway he seems to have something.

Did feel flat today in the stands, the fans are waiting for a few class forwards to appear I think. Unfortunately we aren't producing them and we are a bit workmanlike. Let's hope minors driving it now.

conor05

Sure even Anthony Daly admitted it years ago, Kinnerk designed a style of play back in 2013 to stop Kilkenny, so in no way are Kilkenny folk going to like it, it’s so far away from traditional hurling it’s recognisable.

Kilkenny from 2006 to 2015 was win year own ball, end to end man on man games v Tipp, some of the best games of hurling we ever witnessed.

But than Kinnerk/Davy, McGrath etc brought into the arsehole brand of hurling whereby you play 20 hurlpasses and throws from goalie to corner forward to get a score (mind you Limerick have the hurlers to mix it up anyway they want in fairness to them).

Do we actually have to wait until the semi finals of the all Irelands in July every year now to get a full blooded competitive spectacle?

Marrooned

bet from the off, no dresssing room doors broken management’s teams fault entirely the game was waiting for somebody to take it by the scruff of the neck and our lads failed to do so.

management’s fault entirely

neverbet

We got to an All Ireland final at under 20 level this year totally against expectations. Tipp on the other hand were raging favourites from the start and apart from a blip the first day were that bit better than the rest , and a good bit better than us today. Ivan Bolger, Jeff Neary and Marty Murphy looked the part for me and I expect all three to make the step up to senior sooner rather than later. Mick Brennan was brilliantly accurate from play and frees and if he adds an ability to win his own ball he can make it also. There may be one or two others in time. The lads who tend to dominate the forum when we lose might just wonder why that is the case. Perhaps you are typical of the support we are better off without.

Topcat32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504204#Comment_123504204

Agree with a lot of what you are saying but why I wouldn't add Michael Brennan to the list of lads who will make the senior panel is that if you can't win your own ball at under 20 level as a corner or half forward, its going to be very hard to do so on the step up to senior level, Billy Drennan and Harry Shine got on a lot of ball at underage level, so far they have struggled to do so at senior level, he isn't that big and he isn't that quick, when he gets the ball in a bit of space he can do a lot of damage, I hope I'm wrong and he has a great career on the Kilkenny team, he will be part of a pretty good forward line at club level if the lads on the minor team from Comer hurl on which should help him.

seaweed1

I like to know how many posters ever played in an all Ireland or managed a team,,, reading all these incredible posts from clueless , ill informed Nobodies.

thanks to the players and management, yee had the balls and courage to put your head on the line,, keep goin,,,, proud Kilkenny supporter

Topcat32

Don't think you need to have played or managed a team in an All Ireland to express an opinion, would say that this team has achieved beyond expectation this year and as much as we were disappointed by the result and performance, its nothing compared to the disappointment of the players and management who have given a huge amount of their time since well before Christmas with i'd imagine the majority of them having to juggle doing or preparing for exams over the last few weeks with reaching and preparing for an all Ireland, I enjoyed watching them over the last few months and hope they have a great future in hurling whether thats at club or intercounty level

Krazy gang

I wonder when there's no one from your own club on the team does that explain the lack of connection / apathy some people have with kk teams. Of course not every club is going to be represented on every team. But if you don't know any of the players personally it's harder to have that connection or appreciation.

Even approaching the ground you could see tipp fans were out in force. Their seniors are improving and loads of underage success at intercounty and schools level.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504190#Comment_123504190

Yeah i agree entirely with that, Tipp brought great physicality and the side-line was hopping for Tipp like the minor final last year, roared on by a boisterous crowd. We were like sheep in comparison, quiet on the sideline, bullied on the pitch and the management standing idle.

Another note about the half back line, are they all forwards converted to backs?, clearly showed, they could not win any hard ball, usually in these big games there would be some spectacular catches, blocks and interceptions from the half back line but all ours wanted to do was pick up handy ball, then there distribution was very poor, Hickey was physically dominated by the wing forward with the red helmet, the half back line should be the launchpad, that was our down fall and could not lead to quality ball inside. The more i think about the match the more infuriating it gets, it was embarrassing.

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504355#Comment_123504355

I admire any player or coach/manager who puts there shoulder to the wheel for the kk cause and I know the work that’s put in

Young lads are young and have so much going on this time of year as others have said with exams college etc It’s only natural that sometimes a game can pass young players by but they ll learn from it and come back stronger the same as last years minors

I ve loved watching the 20s and minors this year and given them plenty of credit

People are disappointed on here as kk hurling seems to have lost something the last few years and the trend of losing big finals has become a pattern that’s repeating something has to change there have been improvements but it still needs to be better that’s why there’s a lot of frustration on here

It bloody cuts deep deep when we’re bet by that shower again in our home patch again

We all have an opinion but apart from the odd troll nobody on here is clueless

You don’t have to be a somebody to have an opinion

KanyeSouthEast

the words “that shower” makes it sweet I can tell ya. Actually really interesting reading this thread from a Tipp point of view. I think you’ll find a lot of Tipp people in agreement with you on how the game is played currently. The excitement has certainly been diluted by an over emphasis on possession and this passing back to the goalie, 10 yard stick pass side ways and backwards, 1 man full forward line would rot ya. All started to combat Kilkenny and Tipp from the 2008-2016 period. We can all look back at those years now with a smile because we really never had it so good as far as the spectacle was concerned. Interestingly enough I never hear anyone from Limerick ll put modern hurling in any kind of negative way, I assume because they are winning all around them but I really feel that a Hurling Review similar to the FRC needs to be established. As a Tipp man one thing that has rankled with a lot of us was the media obsession with the drop off in our support over the last few years whilst similar drop offs in other counties were never mentioned. Fair play to some on here who have called out your own support. It was 3:1 Tipp yesterday at least.

AhBoyDelaney

Where are we going in KK when 2 years in a row we have no fight or aggression against our near neighbours in All Ireland Finals. Someone said this KK team had never won anything together. Sure that’s hardly surprising when you don’t bring a fight to the table. Management have to really look in the mirror to ask Why is this????
We didn’t even have the basics right yesterday. Any manager that would play with a sweeper with the wind should never have a job with KK again. Our shape was non existent and we handed Tip the 3 goals by fluting around with the ball and trying to walk it out. Marty Murphy scored 1-2 from the ball been hit in. Simple enough game but management teams want to make it complicated by thinking they are putting their own trademark on it with a perceived style that doesn’t work for KK. In a way I am glad we did not win because that style would be spoken about then as to the reason it was won. Get KK teams back to basics where you show aggression, courage, natural hurling ability and a desire to win. That was curtailed yesterday as were the hurlers by this very poor management teams.The county board brought the 3 most important management jobs up under AOB at a county board meeting last Nov and pushed the 3 managers through fir 2025. No problem with Derek to be fair but after last years minor and U20 performances this push through of mgmt should not have happened. We have hurlers but they are been curtailed with the sort of crap we saw yesterday.

Takeyourpoints

I don't think we were as outnumbered as people are saying, thought it was closer to 55:45 in favour of Tipp, not 3:1. I met people at the game yesterday who haven't been at any league game or round robin game all year, but it always seems like we have less for two reasons, people not wearing colours and people not shouting (and having little reason to shout with the hurling on show). Kilkenny fans are quieter and always have been quieter even when we were winning everything. As someone pointed out to me, Tipp have their "tipp tipp tipp" chant but we don't really have one and it's hard for the fans to get involved.

On the game, horrible to watch. If the game continues this way I'll be saving my money and just continue going to club games. Before the game tg4 showed a few highlights of the 2008 u21 final between these teams and it was great to see the directness of the teams. Everyone leaving the stadium yesterday were asking the same question, if you have two big lads up front, why are we not driving high ball into them, instead it's taking 6 passes to get out of our own 45m area.

Marty Murphy one for the future, couldn't give an opinion on anyone else due to the way they were playing. I don't actually know if Neary is a good hurler at this stage or if the system is just suited to him.

Disappointing day, always great to be in an all Ireland final though and that's a positive. It was a tough Leinster this year and that's good for the future. Time to refocus for minor and senior now and hope for some exciting games without too much handpassing and passing back to the goalkeeper.

Topcat32

Not sure if Kilkenny supporters have always been quiter, but we have always needed a spark like a goal or a swashbuckling clearence from the likes of a Willie O'connor or Tommy Walsh to get going, we don't get excited just on the basis of being in a big game, its hard to change that culture, when Cillian Buckley got that goal against Galway a few years ago the admittedly small crowd of Kilkenny supporters went mad.

From yesterday I'd call out Ivan Bolger who did a good man marking job and has been the best player on the team over the year.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504772#Comment_123504772

The day put perfectly

Marrooned

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504772#Comment_123504772

spot on with all you said here. I think from now on all future management set ups should be thoroughly interviewed by people in the know and we should have a wish list of people who we would like to manage our teams. I could name three managers off the top of my head without even thinking. We have to persue people not wait for them to apply for a position .

Mad about baa baas

Vereker is another lad i would have hopes for as potentially making the senior team in time

Brian017

Kilkenny vs Waterford in the Minor SF

Marrooned

Waterford minors have beaten Limerick in the minor championship quarterfinals so we will be meeting them in a fortnight.

Mad about baa baas

Clare beat galway on the other side of the draw and will meet cork in the other semi..

JJs Left Hand

And Clare have comfortably beaten Galway