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

http://www.the42.ie/hurling-league-dublin-tipperary-2976974-Sep2016/

Away to KK first round of league ,at least there won't be a guard of honour this time

Saturday 11 February

Division 1A: Kilkenny v Waterford.

Sunday 19 February
Division 1A: Waterford v Tipperary.

Saturday 4 March
Division 1A: Dublin v Waterford (tbc).

Sunday 12 March
Division 1A: Waterford v Cork.

Sunday 26 March
Division 1A: Clare v Waterford,

robopaddy2 wrote: »

Christ I can't remember when we last had Dublin away

Been Living in Dublin since 2012 , and we've played em 3 times at home i think (given 2015 we were in 1B) as I recall , as well as in Thurles last year in championship,I can't ever recall having to play them in Crokerin recent memory be glad to have ye all up, for once don't have to travel for a game .

We last played Dublin away in 2009, which we lost because Davy committed the atrocity of letting the players go to the Bernard Dunne fight. We've played them six times at Walsh Park since, including the 2014 relegation playoff. As for Croke Park, our last League game there was in the 1992/3 season. Dublin won by 0-17 to 3-7.

You can all go back to sleep now.

seananigans wrote: »

Haha Forgot about the Bernard Dunne fight debacle,

notice on the football list the Dublin footballers down for the 11th vs Tyrone(also TBC), also with home advantage so could very well be in Croker as a double header .

Sounds about right. Friday Night Lights?

seananigans wrote: »

Haha Forgot about the Bernard Dunne fight debacle,

notice on the football list the Dublin footballers down for the 11th vs Tyrone(also TBC), also with home advantage so could very well be in Croker as a double header .

No it's Dublin vs Mayo pencilled in for the 4th March in the NFL. A repeat of the All Ireland final. Hopefully the double header goes ahead as it would nice to get a league date in Croke Park and the bonus of seeing the AI football champions in action. As it's tbc they could easily swap dates and move us to face Dublin week 1(in Parnell Park), Kilkenny Week 2 and Tipperary week 3. That would mean Tipperary would face Dublin in Croke Park on the 4th March and start out there campaign against us in Walsh Park.

We have a tough fixture list the way it is. First 2 games away and home to the AI runners up and champions. Week 3 in Croke Park against Dublin where it's hard to beat Dublin. Week 4 home to Cork prob the easier game but you knw how Waterford/cork games go and finally week 5 we travel to Ennis to face Clare

Check list for the management for the 2017 NHL

1 Get a win over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park
2 Redeem overselves against Tipperary
3 Win 1 our other away games
4 aim for a top 3 finish and stay away from that dreaded relagation playoff

PTH2009 wrote: »

No it's Dublin vs Mayo pencilled in for the 4th March in the NFL. A repeat of the All Ireland final. Hopefully the double header goes ahead as it would nice to get a league date in Croke Park and the bonus of seeing the AI football champions in action. As it's tbc they could easily swap dates and move us to face Dublin week 1(in Parnell Park), Kilkenny Week 2 and Tipperary week 3. That would mean Tipperary would face Dublin in Croke Park on the 4th March and start out there campaign against us in Walsh Park.

We have a tough fixture list the way it is. First 2 games away and home to the AI runners up and champions. Week 3 in Croke Park against Dublin where it's hard to beat Dublin. Week 4 home to Cork prob the easier game but you knw how Waterford/cork games go and finally week 5 we travel to Ennis to face Clare

Check list for the management for the 2017 NHL

1 Get a win over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park
2 Redeem overselves against Tipperary
3 Win 1 our other away games
4 aim for a top 3 finish and stay away from that dreaded relagation playoff

good call had KK on the 11th feb stuck in my head 04/03 it is,worth staying aorund for the football too, surely therell be an appetite that will need croke park opening

thesultan wrote: »

He inherited a team well past their peak and our greats were going. We got the same beating under Derek this year. The county board were hardly good at looking after their books.

yep that team were past their best ,
WATERFORD GAA:
1 Clinton Hennessy
2 Eoin Murphy
3 Declan Prendergast
4 Aidan Kearney
5 Tony Browne
6 Ken McGrath
7 Kevin Moran
8 Michael Walsh (c)
9 Jamie Nagle
10 Dan Shanahan
11 Seamus Prendergast
12 Stephen Molumphy
13 Eoin McGrath
14 Eoin Kelly
15 John Mullane all stars ,K mc Grath ,,2,,T,Browne,3,, E,Kelly,1,,J,Mullane,1,,D,Shanahan,2,,E,Murphy,1,,M,Walsh,1,S,Molumphy,,1,P,Flynn,1, this is the amount of all stars in the bag heading into 2008 season

thesultan wrote: »

Heading into it but wasn't the same form as the previous year

stop boy will ya,,,, 01/06/2008 Gaelic Grounds, Limeric Clare 0-23 : 2-26 Munster Quarter-Final Irish Examiner
05/07/2008 Walsh Park, Waterford Antrim 6-18 : 0-15 2nd Round Qualifier
19/07/2008 Semple Stadium, Thurles Offaly 2-18 : 0-18 4th Round Qualifier
27/07/2008 Semple Stadium, Thurles Wexford 2-19 : 3-15
17/08/2008 Croke Park, Dublin Tipperary 1-20 : 1-18,,,,,,yes they were brutal ,an average of 2-39 a game ,

Congratulations to all concerned on Waterford’s great win in Thurles last Saturday. The county needed this and it was delivered in spades. While, hopefully, this group of players will go on to senior glory in the short-to-medium term, there should also be a long-term dividend in the form of the hundreds of hurley-wielding kids who poured onto the field at the final whistle to hail and embrace their heroes.

As the post-match euphoria begins to die down, it is worthwhile casting a cold eye on the campaign and last Saturday’s game. Waterford’s march to the title was undoubtedly facilitated by the fact that they managed to avoid the two teams which (in my view) offered the greatest potential challenge to their championship aspirations. Limerick, the defending champions, with a strong panel again this year, and fresh from a facile win in the first round in Páirc Uí Rinn (although admittedly that doesn’t mean much these days), went to a wet Semple Stadium in a less than positive frame of mind and lost out by two points to a committed and hard-working home side. If they had won, we would have had a tricky assignment against them in the Gaelic Grounds in the Munster final. Dublin, physically strong and with nine senior panel members on board, threw away their semi-final against Galway – some of their 18 wides were really bad.

This, of course, is not to say that Waterford would not have beaten either of these teams, but we would definitely have had to work harder to do so. This is why the feat of the 1992 team, with moderate playing resources, in edging out two teams bristling with subsequent All-Ireland senior winners in the Munster and All-Ireland finals was both more exciting and more satisfying. However, this year’s team could only play what was put in front of them, and in all cases dispatched their opposition with style and plenty to spare.

In last Saturday’s game, when Waterford fell asleep for 20 minutes in the second half, Galway had two great chances to bring the gap between the teams down to five points. In the 42nd minute, Brian Molloy’s well struck 25-metre free (brought into scoring range by Waterford dissent) flew just outside the post. Six minutes later, Galway got a very threatening overlap close to the Waterford goal, and a goal was only prevented by the player in possession losing his footing and then Darragh Lyons making a great interception of his handpass intended for the unmarked Conor Whelan. Had one of those goals gone in, given the fact that Galway were totally on top around the field and were on a scoring roll, who knows what would have happened. In any case, just a minute after Galway passed up this second goal chance, we had Shane Bennett’s beautifully-cushioned tap in from Stephen’s wonderful cross (you wouldn’t see better in the Premier League) and the game was over.

Patrick Curran obviously had an excellent game for Waterford, scoring and setting up a goal and hitting a point in the first half, and nailing all but one of his frees. His move outfield in the second half also played an important role in stemming the Galway tide and he shot two super points from play. However, after the game I thought that Michael Harney deserved the man-of-the-match award, and the play statistics support this. Harney had a marvellous total of 15 possessions, three more than anyone else in the team. These were well-distributed between both halves and Harney generally made good use of his possessions.

This was the best game I have seen Harney play in a Waterford jersey, and will surely put him in line for a senior call-up, especially as there is a vacancy for a ball-winner with go-forward capabilities in the senior half-back line. This performance also makes even more galling the appalling decision to substitute Harney at half-time in last year’s first round game against Clare, a move which in my view possibly cost Waterford an All-Ireland title.

An unsung hero from last Saturday was midfield workhorse Mark O’Brien, especially in the second half when he had nine possessions (three in the first half) and a couple of good ground strokes to boot. However, his use of possession was not as good as Harney’s, as he sent several poorish balls into the forwards and also had some fruitless long-distance potshots at the goal. O’Brien complemented Shane Bennett, who had a very good first half in midfield (9 possessions) but who largely disappeared after the change of ends until popping up with his super goal and a marvellous point from the left touchline in the closing stages.

Another player who may have come to the notice of the senior selectors from this game is corner back William Hahessy, who played well all through, but in the second half in particular. He was competent in 2013, but last Saturday he oozed skill and confidence.

A concern from this game was the poor contribution from the half forward line of Colm Roche, Tom Devine and DJ Foran (apart from his opening burst). They were unable to make much of an impression against a good opposing half-back line and only managed 13 possessions between them (compared with 21 for the full forward line, 18 for the full back line and 26 for the half back line). I have my doubts about Devine’s worth as a forward at this level (never mind senior) as he doesn’t appear to be able to bring his strength to bear in the ball-winning department. Roche was a very effective centre forward in 2013, able to shoot points off both sides. Last Saturday he was marginalised on the wing. I was surprised that more Waterford puckouts were not sent in Foran’s direction, as winning high ball has been one of his great strengths. He showed glimpses of his potential last Saturday, with his ability to run with the ball and open up defences. With careful cultivation he could fill the last piece of the jigsaw in the senior forward line.

Finally, last Saturday’s game showed once again what most people in county were already aware of except Derek McGrath – that Patrick Curran and Stephen Bennett are deadly close to goal and that playing together maximises that deadliness. Their mutual understanding and awareness, and their ability to look up when in possession and to use that possession effectively constitute an unprecedented resource. Derek McGrath appears to see them as exchangeable for one another, and they spend a lot of time far from goal when playing on the senior team. If he had played both of these close to goal, along with Maurice Shanahan, against Kilkenny I am convinced that we would at least have been in the All-Ireland senior final.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/waterford-board-spending-cant-be-sustained-420907.html Déise chiefs splashed out €664,485 on their various sides in 2015 and Ryan is due to tell county board delegates on Monday this year’s figure will be far higher.
But Ryan insists Waterford will be debt-free by the end of 2017 — and is confident a €130,000 deficit reported last year will be reduced considerably before annual convention.

thesultan wrote: »

Its about time they took the burden of the levy off the clubs.

Dead right. When you see the hangers-on at the Munster league game against Kerry on the overnight junket it would make your blood boil.

hurler on de ditch wrote: »

not having played well and being on the end of some of the biggest beatings ever are two completely different things ,it doesn't take Einstein to work that out

Waterford stumbled into that All Ireland final. People got too excited in the hysteria & thought it was our "destiny" to win it, completely forgetting that All Ireland's are won on merit.

There was a quiet fear among some of the more level headed people in Waterford at the time that things weren't as they seemed with the team & feared a KK onslaught. The team was creaking & KK took full advantage of it. What happened that day was not any one thing though, it was a combination of things & as we know it went belly up.

I do think that the team hadn't got over the previous year against Limerick & were poor all year hurling wise in 2008. People forget Kelly dragged us into that final & if it wasn't for him we'd have been beaten 40 points on the day.