Kilkenny GAA Thread

thesultan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123610801#Comment_123610801

He was carrying an injury for the most of year and was playing catch up..

mooz

Great effort from all the Kilkenny players yesterday and fought to the bitter end as all great teams do. Very proud of their valiant efforts in fact. Just gutted today, gutted for those warriors and especially gutted for TJ. Still carrying the fight and just oozes class.

Growing up, I adored and idolised DJ Carey, he was by far the best hurler I had ever seen play the game and just had that X factor. Now, after watching TJ Reid play for Kilkenny since the late noughties, I feel privileged to have witnessed in my mind, the single greatest hurler we've produced. He is exceptional, has it all and what's more, is a pure hurler, no cynicism and you can see his passion, desire and love of the game. I keep reminding my kids how lucky they are to see TJ and enjoy watching him play because I feel whenever the time comes, he will leave such a void that will be extremely difficult to replace.

In reality, 30 points wins 95% of games but the cold hard facts were that the goals killed us. Each one came at the right time for Tipperary and were nails in our coffin.

I thought 3 of them should definitely be saved and were basic mistakes in the build up. Even the first goal, although a rocket and superb finish by John McGrath, broke favourably to him after a brilliant block by the scrambling defence.

I would love to see Huw Lawlor at centre back, the way he attacks the line and dashes up field is inspirational and really drives on the team. His forays up the field created a few scores and he almost always gives the correct pass or a lovely weighted ball in our forwards favour. A few players need to watch and learn. Build a team around him, he is a rock, a leader and a giant of men.

Paddy Deegan and Richie Reid have shipped lots of criticism here but in fairness, you can't question their heart and determination. It was like the previous few years, Billy Ryan was the villain following defeats but look how hard he has worked and is now one of the most vital cogs in the team.

I actually find 2 different players more frustrating, frustrating from the point of view they have such quality but seem to be going at 3/4 pace. Cody and Mullen up front. Serious potential but sometimes look as if they couldn't be bothered type attitude or don't want to make the hard yards to get a hook or block. Very often tend not to pass the ball to others and can be very selfish. There's no way that attitude would have been allowed under Brian Cody who would have nipped that in the bud. We will be looking at these 2 to lead the line and take up the mantle of TJ, just like TJ did following Henry's retirement.

I think a rebuild is now the only plausible outlook going forward. Eoin Murphy, a brilliant servant for Kilkenny but alas time waits for nobody. His puckouts are poor and the marked contrast with Shelley's is huge. Shelley zipped them at pace into Tipp hands at his ease. He has slipped well behind the current goalkeepers in terms of distribution like Quaid, Collins, Quilligan etc We need to have a better puckout strategy and no point working through the lines and then bombing it in from hb line, midfield to our forwards who struggle to win clear possession in the air, apart from TJ.

Darren Brennan had a brilliant delivery, I wonder could he be coaxed back in? Tallis is decent too, give him the Leinster games next year (no point in being tried for the league and then benched come championship.

I wouldn't be as despondent about others in terms of outlook. I actually think we have 3/4 of the U20s who could step up to senior level. Ivan Bolger, Garrett, Neary, Marty and maybe a bolter like McEvoy or Brennan. I think there are some smashing players off this year's minor team coming through and hopefully will keep pushing on to improve and lead for their various club teams.

Every cloud and all that and now attention turns immediately to the club games. I'm really looking forward to watching these players perform for their clubs and hopefully we'll see a few new names emerge and put their hands up for inclusion in the squad over the winter.

Sir Chaz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611744#Comment_123611744

Yeh I think spot on re Mullen and Cody. Tipp were all about the team and giving the ball to players in the better position, even if you had a shooting chance yourself. If you have a 70% chance of a score but there's a simple pass to a lad with an 80% chance, the ball is passed.

Not sure all our lads are quite that selfless and that's a serious issue in the modern game.

Takeyourpoints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611776#Comment_123611776

From the u20 the two lads I'd bring in as soon as possible are Marty Murphy and Ivan Bolger. Bolger really impressed me in that u20 final. Out in front, pressure on the man and played both short and long passes. I've seen him play a few times and that wasn't a once off. Regarding the others I'd bring in Neary, Vereker, Lyng.

Does anyone have any ones to watch for club this year having attended some local club games in the last few months?

Charlie69

I was a huge fan of Darren Brennan and I can't remember him ever making a mistake. His delivery was very good and his reading of the game and positioning reminded me of Jimmy McGarry. Like McGarry his composure and ability to make difficult saves look easy meant they were savagely underrated in my opinion.

neverbet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123608141#Comment_123608141

🤔🤔🤔

hogans heroes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611762#Comment_123611762

I except that but no matter who your 11 is 2ptsftom 3 games where you have hit over 80 pts isn't enough.Mullen was poor but hit 2pts and was good against galway. John just hasn't performed at all in the championship.

realdanbreen

Will Kilkenny supporters row in behind Cork or does that whole Stepford Wives comments by Donal OK still rankle.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611840#Comment_123611840

I agree, got that completely wrong, i did not take into account our shambles of a half back line, Lawlor is covering for 3/4 players who are not at All Ireland challengers level when he has his own hands full.

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611840#Comment_123611840

No need for that to be fair, everyone's an expert with the benefit of hindsight.

JJs Left Hand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611850#Comment_123611850

Media blackout for the week before and after and spend the Sunday doing something enjoyable like smashing my head against a wall

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611812#Comment_123611812

I think when a player regularly is maybe scoring 4-6 pints a game everyday like mossy has been doing or the likes of r hogan r power back in the day they can be more selfish and shoot more often and take on shots as they have credit in the bank

But Mullen and Cody haven’t been consistent over a few years never mind a few games in a row to have earned the right to be so selfish on the ball a lot of the time

JJs Left Hand

I don't think the selfish comments on the two lads applies this year. Haven't noticed it and don't think it happened yesterday

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611886#Comment_123611886

No the 2 lads just lack that pace and ball winning ability to be players of the highest quality, take TJ away and they will struggle more. Adrian needs a good spell on the bench or a prolonged league campaign to find his best position and form, he has had a poor 3 years now.

Alonzo Moseley

Having watched most of match this morning, my initial feeling that (not withstanding the late self inflicted howlers) we were desperately unlucky has only been reinforced. Of the last 6 semis, this was probably as good a performance as either of the two wins v Clare (and far better than the 3 losses) but the Gods deserted us.

It just isn't true that "we don't have the hurlers", we out hurled Tipp for most of the game, the only time Tipp outhurled us was when the rain came after 20 mins.

8-15 pick themselves and are as good as anything out there including Cork or Lim (I know Mullen can be infuriating but he's too good not to be there).

We need a corner back and a centre back and for me I agree with those above who think Huw must finally go to CB. Far easier find a FB than a CB

We are very close and are definitely in the mix of the 3/4 teams from which the 2026 AI will be won. When odds appear in a few weeks time we will either be 3rd or 4th favourite, that's the reality of it

The club championship is going to be great and I all but guarantee it will throw up 1 or 2 gems

None of the above should be construed that I feel we are in great shape, we are in the mix of serious contenders but while this team will largely go again next year, we need 4-5 serious hurlers to step up in next 2 years (more likely to come from last 2 minors than u20s) or we could be well back in the pack

Box to box

Whoever gets the kk job will have to perform surgery. This should of happened in kk a few years ago. How many times have we said it about reid at center back? Infairness to village87 he isn't afraid to say what he thinks but he is definitely right about deegsn and reid. Molloy has being some find. Paul Cody if he wasn't made a fool of could of being an option.

Can someone answer this. Why did kk gave up so many puckouts and let tipp start attack? Why in the name of God a player up we leave reid free and not push up? We had the minor last year the same thing.

As I've harped here for ages I've heard the drills lyngs right hand man does and it's u10 stuff. Until kk get someone In who is actually able to coach bear in mind there's plenty in different counties and has the balls to make the big decisions the failed results will continue

Alonzo Moseley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611886#Comment_123611886

I agree, Lyng seems to have stamped it out this year.

The reason we all get infuriated with Mullen is that it is obvious to all of us just what Rolls Royce hurler he is when he tunes in.

The criticism of Cody is totally unfair, his scores from play average is probably the highest of any player currently playing. If fit (and I'm not sure he was yesterday as he was limping late on) he's an absolute banker starter for us.

Stripeyman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611850#Comment_123611850

We now have the Gary Neville conundrum. When asked a few years ago who he'd prefer to see winning the Premier League (Liverpool or Man City), he replied, "It's like having the choice between two blokes to nick your wife".

hans aus dtschl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611850#Comment_123611850

You keep creating single-sentence posts about Cork in the Kk thread for some reason. What's that about? There's no real animosity/rivalry between Kk and Cork these days, and hasn't been since the early 00's.

In the first 15 mins I thought it was going to be a Kilkenny win with a big margin. Not just the scoreboard but the overlaps, the space, the easy and clean way the scores were being picked off. It all looked very clinical and intelligent. But after the Tipp goals it looked like Kilkenny kind of lost shape and fell back to a negative style of play. It didn't look like the Kilkenny forward unit had a serious goal threat and neither the pace wasn't there in the backs to keep creating and exploiting overlaps nor was the distribution good enough to find someone in space. To make matters worse the forwards were letting the Tipp ball out unopposed and letting them distribute cleanly, in turn putting more pressure on the backline.

So I'd say: more workrate and speed needed up front (possibly just better physical training needed) and one or two more pacey intelligent backs also needed. Could it be time to throw caution to the wind and try a bit more youth back there?

Lyngs sideline team failed to "right the ship" when they lost their shape, and failed to create a strategy to exploit the 14 men and unfortunately he bears some responsibility.

Overall, I feel like Kk are where Cork have/had been for a very long time: an older "great" side giving way to a new generation but just not enough young players coming through. So I would say the minor and U20's are probably critical now.

Look at Tipp turning things around in 12 months with youth - just a few players can make such a huge difference.

realdanbreen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612017#Comment_123612017

Sorry, I'll try and make the posts longer in future.

usualstripes

Very hard to take yesterday. This will be sore for a long time. We can talk all we like about who should have been here and who should have been there but its irrelevant now.

We put in great work and intensity to the match itself and its the small things that leave us down.

Im generally not one to go on about tactics but the majority of Tipps puckouts were short to the corner back/full back, pass back to keeper and land it down on kilkennys full back line. How many times did we leave this happen, only for our half backs to be pulled out and left 2 on 2 or 3 on 3.

I know we always go on about landing the high balls in being predictable but we must move our game plans according to what is going on. We needed to put them under the same pressure we were under. We only started this with 10 minutes to go.

I agree with having a more astute manager on the line, but he also has selectors to guide him. Not pushing up on their puckouts to me was a disaster.

Add to that we had a glorius chance to go 3 points ahead with Molloy, who played very well, shoting for a point and it was batted out (would like to see hawkeye on that whether it was over the bar before he batted it out) but the point is it should have been 20 yards over the crossbar. Small little things like this change games.

usualstripes

Just on another point we have only one forward that can field the ball in the air and thats TJ.

I think as an absolute must that we bring in Marty Murphy from the start of the league in February. He is the only forward coming through that has the size and hand to worry any full back. He can play on the half forward line for puck outs but the edge of the square is his spot.

jamesbond2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611850#Comment_123611850

Tipp vs Eng I’m roaring on England

Cork vs Eng I’m roaring on England

Tipp vs cork I don’t really care I hope no team wins 🤣🤣🤣

Nickindublin

At the end of the day school boy errors cost us yesterday. Management has to take some blame too as they were too slow to react and thats not only yesterday but has been on many occasions.

One would expect a few retirements with Tj the obvious one. But the bulk of the team will be back next year.

As for Derek I hope he comes out quickly with his intentions. His contract is up and I expect him not to look to renew it. Will

As for the CB they have a massive task and probably the most important call to make about the next manager. For the last 10 years we have just 1 AI the 2022 U20. We have been competitive but just not good enough. They have a chance now to reshape KK hurling. IMO they need to define how KK teams from minor to senior play the game. A style of hurling that's suits the players in the county. For example there is no point having a running style if you don't have the players for it. You then appoint managers to implement that style. IMO it would be easier for younger players then to progress through the age brackets the senior team. So whwhat do I expect the CB to do.. Take the easy route and appoint Henry if the bridges are not too burnt.

hans aus dtschl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611936#Comment_123611936

Yep 8-15 looks OK. Maybe a bit more coaching in them but they seem fine. And I think 1-2 players at the back. Definitely in the mix for next year's Championship and the league might actually be more important than ever.

hans aus dtschl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612044#Comment_123612044

Sure. Or we just could focus on Kilkenny here. There's also another more general discussion available in the "Championship" thread which is pretty good.

Anyway, back on topic I know many won't want to hear this, but I was expecting a Deegan red card and thought he got away lightly. Obviously it would have been a very soft red but so was McCarthy's: just silly stuff. I know there's a hundred of those "streetwise" moments in a game but I don't enjoy watching them.

Corcaigh84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612243#Comment_123612243

He plagues us on the Cork thread too. A low level WUM.

Sir Chaz

Arguably had he been rightly sent off, we'd have went on to win the game. Tipp got soft frees after the red, after happens in games. And it hasn't been mentioned much but how in the name of God did Noel McGrath get away with dragging Mikey Carey down by the neck right before the last goal? As stonewall a free out as you'll ever see.

mercury16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123611965#Comment_123611965

I wouldn’t go with Henry or Eddie Brennan or Dowling, as all these have proven why they shouldn’t have it. I think we need someone who has a bit of edge to them, with a proven record of turning things around like an Andy Comerford or Tom Mullally or maybe even Stato Fogarty from Comer, he might be too old?.

Village87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123612243#Comment_123612243

It was actually to Tipps advantage Deegan did not sent off unfortunately for us. He kept ye in the game when we had our foot on yer throat