Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 3 ***Updated Mod Note Post 1***

deiseach wrote: »

The great levelling is nearly here. Tipp were a cut above everyone else this season - yes, Galway gave them a right rattle but would anyone put money on Galway if they played again in the morning? - but it would take a Codyesque effort on the part of Michael Ryan to get the same level of commitment out of them next year. Speaking of Cody, he will still be here and Kilkenny will still be there or thereabouts thanks to him, but the linen is being wrung dry. Flinging guys into the All-Ireland final for their Senior debut is no longer an act of genius but one of desperation. Either way, 2017 is going to be epic.

Deise_2012 wrote: »

Was reading an article on the 42 about the 5 best young hurlers in this Championship ...talking about Aussie " the man who almost left the county set up last winter? What's that about?

Deskjockey wrote: »

He had a wobble last winter (or was it the winter before)and said to Derek he was packing it all in, then Derek had him over for a chat and talked him around. He's only a young fella, storm in a teacup. He said all this on a radio interview with Newstalk a few months ago

thesultan wrote: »

How is Devines ankle?

PTH2009 wrote: »

Didn't hear anything lately but hopefully he will be fit, huge loss if he's out

Have a feeling Connor Whelan will make a miraculous recovery and will start for Galway. He's the only player with senior experience in the squad

On paper we should win this pulling up but hurling is a funny game. This is the first year that the new 'James Nolan cup' will be presented to the winners taking over from the ugly Celtic throne cup

Giveitfong wrote: »

As Michael Ryan acknowledged in his post-match interview, Tipperary’s great victory last Sunday was a boost, not only for Tipperary, but for all the other counties seeking a place at hurling’s top table. And the chasing posse isn’t far behind. Were it not for the injury to Joe Canning, it is probable that Galway would have been in the final instead of Tipp, and it is also probable, in my view, that the injury to Darragh Fives cost Waterford a final place also.

The fact that Kilkenny were shown not to be invincible, after all, will have added further to the growing sense of expectation among Waterford supporters. The further fact that not only the Kilkenny bench, but their starting team, was so threadbare last Sunday will add further fuel to the fire. For years, Kilkenny have been able to skate into the All-Ireland final with only the occasional serious semi-final challenge. Their two energy-sapping battles with Waterford left them looking drained last Sunday, and good and all as Tipperary played, it may be that Waterford made a significant contribution to their ultimate victory.

There is a widespread view in Waterford that the team of 2015 lacked both the experience and the physical conditioning required to make a substantial championship impact. The conditioning programme embarked on last winter prepared them well for the Kilkenny challenge this year, but the continuing experience gap left them just short in both games against the Cats.
According to this view, it is only a matter of time before the acquisition of the requisite experience will allow the Déise to make the vital breakthrough which we have all been waiting for.

However, Waterford need a lot more than just experience if they are to realise the dream. In my view, there remains a major gap between Waterford and the other major contenders in terms of coaching and game management capabilities. As regards the first of these, Waterford simply do not make good enough use of the ball when they are in possession, and this has been an ongoing weakness which has shown no signs of improvement during the period of Derek McGrath’s tenure.

A startling statistic from the Waterford/Kilkenny replay is that Waterford won twice as many puckouts as Kilkenny did – 16 of their own 26 puckouts and no less than 17 of Kilkenny’s 25 puckouts. This domination of primary possession should surely have given Waterford a winning platform. However, time and again they wasted this possession through poor use of the ball. Giving the ball away cheaply has been an ongoing problem for them.

By contrast, Kilkenny made far better use of a much lower share of primary possession. Unless they are under severe pressure, they will not hit a ball unless they know where it is going. They are always looking for a team mate in space to pass to, and they will hold up the ball or even pass it back 30 or 40 yards rather than give it away cheaply. They are excellent (or at least they were against Waterford) at working the ball out of defence or out of tight situations with a series of hand passes which will put one of their number in the clear.

Waterford are far too inclined to let the ball go long without looking around for better options. Time and again, watching the video of the replay, one could see Waterford players hitting long balls, frequently under pressure, when there were loose team mates nearby in position to take a hand pass, or further up the field who could be reached with a simple stick pass.
The upshot of all this is that Kilkenny were able to get players in the clear who could look up and send in low or weighted balls which their targets had a good chance of winning. Waterford, by contrast, were sending in high balls on top of forwards who always had a marker on their backs with frequently a second defender in close attendance. In these situations, the dice are loaded in favour of the defender who just has to make sure the forward does not win clean possession.

This brings me to another starting statistic from the game. I counted 26 cases where Waterford played long balls into their forwards and where the forwards had to contest the incoming ball with at least one defender. Waterford only won 7 of these 26 contests. Kilkenny sent 32 similar balls into their forwards and won over half (17) of them.

In last Sunday’s final, the 70 puckouts were almost evenly divided between the two sides (36 won by Tipperary, 34 by Kilkenny). Yet Tipperary were able to turn this equality of primary possession into an even more decisive victory than the final score would indicate. They did this, firstly, through a ferocious work rate which denied Kilkenny space and generated numerous turnovers. However, it was the way they used the ball when they had it that really caught the eye. They routinely looked up to play superb balls either across field or into the corners which pulled the Kilkenny defence apart.

Another crucial factor in Tipperary’s victory was the fact that they employed three full forwards for the duration of the game. For years Kilkenny were blessed by opposing teams which usually played two players (at most) up front. This meant that they always had an extra man at the back to act as a sweeper or to double mark forwards under high balls. We all knew that Joey Holden and Shane Prendergast were, at best, moderate defenders who were capable of being exposed by good forwards getting good ball. With all three full backs fully occupied and no additional cover deployed at the back, and superb ball coming in, they were taken to the cleaners.

Compare this with the situation with Waterford, where there is rarely more than one forward (and frequently none at all) inside the 45 metre line. With inside forwards of the quality of Maurice Shanahan, Patrick Curran and Stephen Bennett, this is simply crazy. Waterford could possibly get away with this if they used the ball constructively in the middle third to get players into shooting positions around the 45 metre line, as Donal O’Grady’s Cork team used to do in the middle of the last decade. Instead, as we have seen, we get a series of long balls into players who are either not there, or are outnumbered, or who have little chance of winning the kind of ball coming in. There is simply no attacking strategy or structure, and this has to change if Waterford are to reach the Holy Grail.

Earlier in the piece I made reference to Derek McGrath’s poor game management capabilities. In my preview of the replay in this thread, I anticipated that Brian Cody would change his team layout and would bring in new players. In fact, he produced two rabbits from his hat, and while Mark Bergin vanished without trace, once again he struck gold in the shape of Liam Blanchfield who not only scored three points but earned the vital late free which effectively won Kilkenny the match.

Cody’s key switch was to move Michael Fennelly to centre forward and Richie Hogan to midfield. Fennelly’s main job was to prevent Tadhg de Búrca winning clean ball coming down the middle, simply by using his superior strength in the aerial challenges. Kilkenny’s second goal came directly from a breaking ball from one of these challenges. While de Búrca did very well sweeping up loose ball in the Waterford defence, he persisted in trying to field high incoming ball right to the end of the game, and I do not recall him doing this successfully even once.

Waterford, like many a team before them, failed to respond to Cody’s switches. While it is easy to be wise after the event, I would have put Austin Gleeson back to centre back where his superior strength and fielding ability would, in my view, have allowed him to deal more effectively with Fennelly. I would have moved de Búrca onto Walter Walsh, who clearly had a height and strength advantage over Conor Gleeson. The latter I would have moved into midfield to do a man-marking job on Richie Hogan, who did more damage to Waterford than any other Kilkenny player. Hogan had 18 possessions during the course of the game, more than any other player on the pitch. He was essentially given the freedom of the park, and made the most of it.

Derek McGrath deserves great credit for the marvellous team spirit and work rate he has engendered in his charges, and for the way he oversaw their physical development since last year. It must also be said that he has a marvellous collection of hurlers at his disposal. To get the most out of them, I believe that he urgently needs to engage (and listen to) an assistant who has both coached at the highest level and who has serious experience of playing at that level.

decies wrote: »

Can't wait for Saturday let's get a huge crowd up to Thurles and hopefully cheer on a victory for Waterford.

thesultan wrote: »

How much of a crowd will we bring? When is the team announced?