flatty wrote: » That's a great post, but ye have some fantastic hurlers. What perhaps is against Waterford is that they didn't all come through together. It's just been a season of bad luck. I can't understand why ye would be so keen on ditching mcgrath. The way ye are talking, only winning an aif would be enough. As a Galway man, I'm genuinely not too bothered about winning or losing. It's the performance and effort that are important. I wasn't despondent leaving croker two years ago after the semi final loss to tipp as galway played great. Tipp just shaded it. Such is life. Your final vanquishing of kk was a clash for the ages. Would have done me.
blue note wrote: » What forward of ours would another county look at look at and say if we had that player it would make a massive difference to our team. I could see another county look at Soky and say we're missing a keeper of that quality, of Connors that a guy like can do a man marking job like very few others and still mops up loads of loose ball back there, deBurcha, Darragh Fives, Jamie Barron, Kevin Moran. In the forwards Aussie is really the only one who's make a huge difference to other teams. And he's more of a defender playing in the forwards. Possibly the Brick too for what he offers, but again he's not exactly a scoring forward. And Mahony would be a huge addition for a team missing a free taker, but if they already had one he wouldn't be a game changer for a team (although I think he's massively underrated from play). Now are forwards are still very good, but our match winning players are more in the backs / midfield than up front. To me looking at the chances we were creating for the last couple of years and the scores we were racking up, I thought we were doing exceptionally well.
Ropaire wrote: » It's not as simple as saying we played 15 vs 15 or with a sweeper. Things like the complete lack of a puck out strategy and defenders slapping ball blind up the field giving forwards no chance regardless of how we lined out is poor coaching of a team. That kind of stuff should be sorted out after 5 years. The complete lack of depth in the panel that was shown up the last few weeks despite the abundance of hurlers currently in the county is also another problem. The league was thrown away and completely wasted in this regard, there was plenty of games to try lads out. Lots of posters have said that the players love Derek, I'd say 15 of them do but there's plenty others that are bound to be disillusioned with it at this stage. Dereks had a good lash off it and did alright, but fresh ideas are needed at this stage.
PTH2009 wrote: » Will we get a reverse of Limericks fixtures in the league next year in 1B ?? If so were travelling to Dublin and Laois with home games vs Offaly, Carlow and Galway
Ropaire wrote: » The complete lack of depth in the panel that was shown up the last few weeks despite the abundance of hurlers currently in the county is also another problem.
liogairmhordain wrote: » Genuine question - who are the fellas around the county who could have come in and filled the gaps in the backs, especially the full-back line, over the last three games? I reckon 13 players have played in the backs at some stage over the last three weeks - Conor Gleeson, Austin Gleeson, Noel Connors, Philip Mahony, Ian Kenny, Shane McNulty, Barry Coughlan, Darragh Fives, Shane Fives, Kevin Moran, Colm Roche, Michael Walsh, Tadhg deBurca. Beyond that we have Conor Prunty and Darragh Lyons injured and Kieran Bennett unavailable. Seamus Keating is on the panel but hasn't been given a run yet.
carter10 wrote: » Theres a chap -O' Sullivan I think from Ballygunner- played very well in the munster club championship in 2017- don't know if he wasn't picked or wasn't interested. Maybe other posters will know
Giveitfong wrote: » While, overall, last Sunday in Limerick was a miserable experience, there was some consolation in the terrific victory of the county’s minors over Limerick, who had won their previous two games. For the second game in a row, Waterford hit 2-1 in injury time, but on this occasion it was not a case of them stealing a game in which they had mostly played second fiddle, as was the case against Tipperary. Waterford dominated this game for the most part from start to finish, and should have been more than three points ahead at half time (0-10 to 0-7). They continued to dominate in the second half, but hit a series of bad wides which looked like being costly when Limerick struck for a goal in the 43rd minute which reduced Waterford’s lead to just one point. Limerick did manage to get on level terms twice afterwards, but despite many of their players being out on their feet, Waterford got back on top with the decisive injury-time scores producing a final scoreline which more accurately reflected the general trend of play during the game. After the Clare game I complained of Waterford looking badly coached, reflected in poor decision-making, a lack of combined play, repeated hitting of blind pucks and lack of ability in the air. On Sunday Waterford looked like a different team, with excellent first touch and striking, some great catching in the air, and good hand and stick passing. The win over Tipperary clearly gave a great fillip to their confidence, but major credit is also due to the management team for this improvement. A perennial problem with minor teams is that you never how individual players will perform, and what your best team layout is, until they are pitched into the white heat of championship action. The pressure is much greater this year, with the teams performing in the big stadiums in front of large crowds. The Waterford mentors obviously learned a lot from the previous two games, with major restructuring of the team last Sunday compared with the team that started against Clare. Last Sunday’s starting team included three players who didn’t start against Clare while, of the other twelve, only two started in the same positions in both games – goalkeeper Dean Beecher and right half forward Ciarán Keating. The main switches included the move of Gavin Fives from corner to centre back, Michael Kiely (who went off injured early in the Clare game) from wing back and James Power from corner forward to midfield, and Cian Wadding from centre back to full back. All of these changes seemed to work very well. An Rinn’s Caolán Mac Craith (who also impressed against Clare) was the star of the show with four points from play and one from a sideline cut. However, overall it was a great team effort. It was fantastic to see three players from An Rinn on the starting team (while quick to acknowledge that one of them is actually from Old Parish!). Waterford need at least a draw against Cork next Sunday to secure a place in the Munster final. Cork have already been well beaten by Tipperary and Limerick, both of whom have lost to Waterford. They did beat Clare in Páirc Uí Chaoimh by four points in their first game, after Clare had a player sent off early in the second half. However, it is always impossible to draw lines of form at minor level, so Waterford will have to be at their best to make the final. Another small bonus from last Sunday was the excellent performance of the Waterford team in the primary game played a half time during the senior game. In what was a one-sided affair, the Waterford lads showed great skill, confidence and teamwork. It was the best display in this game I have seen from Waterford since at least 2003, when a team led by Maurice Shanahan blew away the same opposition. It may be stretching it a bit to say two out of three ain’t bad, but on the basis of these two teams it would appear that the production line of good young hurlers in the county remains in good order. Congratulations to all concerned.
supernova5 wrote: » what exactly is the format for the minor [under 17] this year? in the event of 2 or more teams finishing on the same number of points, is it decided on head to head battles between them or is scoring difference the tiebreaker criteria.? an amazing minor championship this years - all teams look extremely evenly matched and with real skillful hurlers
supernova5 wrote: » what exactly is the format for the minor [under 17] this year? in the event of 2 or more teams finishing on the same number of points, is it decided on head to head battles between them or is scoring difference the tiebreaker criteria.?
Gardner wrote: » Well what’s another year. I was sitting with 2 former players from the late 90’s in the Mackey stand and we were discussing before the game how we are going to setup. Both said they were happy with how we were lining out as per the program but my argument was if we did we would be on the back end of a bad trimming. Limerick got their man management off to a tee. You cannot have an Austin Gleeson at 50-60% fit sitting in the most important position on the field, you cannot have a 35 year old Brick Walsh man up with Gearoid Hegarty who can run 100 metres under 11 seconds (source: offtheball) you cannot play midget Roche in a half forward line if you’re going to be continuously pumping long high balls down. That type of game would suit Jake Dillion if you were to compare apples with apples. Derek made that change at the 50 minute mark when it was evident it was a problem at about the 10 minute mark. Another gripe of mine was the 2 subs at half time. Why wait till half time to make these decisions? If you know after 10/15/20/25 mins etc. that you have a problem then make the sub then. Being honest we all can rant on about yesterday but the deciding factor lays deeper in all this. Take a step back and look what we’re facing pre and post the Clare game. A very valid point was raised by Daithi Regan yesterday and echoed by DMG to a lesser extent. Post Clare Game we had 5 of 7 of our AI final defenders gone. No team can sustain that whatsoever, in any code or any sport. Pre Clare game we had 8 week lead in time from the league to get setup for the Championship.2 weeks out we lose Gleeson and Mahoney to injury and within 40 min of the Clare game we have lost Fives, Connors, Coughlan and TDB. The whole 8 weeks has gone up in smoke, our game plan is gone up in smoke, our plan for the year have gone up in smoke and everything since January has gone up in smoke. One thing that is clearly evident though in all this, the notion of us beating a team 15 on 15 has been put to bed. We simply don’t have the players and the myth that DMG has been holding us back has been exposed for the myth it always was.
Giveitfong wrote: » The Waterford mentors obviously learned a lot from the previous two games, with major restructuring of the team last Sunday compared with the team that started against Clare. Last Sunday’s starting team included three players who didn’t start against Clare while, of the other twelve, only two started in the same positions in both games – goalkeeper Dean Beecher and right half forward Ciarán Keating. The main switches included the move of Gavin Fives from corner to centre back, Michael Kiely (who went off injured early in the Clare game) from wing back and James Power from corner forward to midfield, and Cian Wadding from centre back to full back. All of these changes seemed to work very well.
cul beag wrote: » Now that we’re out of the championship at this early stage I would imagine that more of the panel will join the Bennett’s stateside for the summer months. Surely they have been approached after last Sunday’s defeat. Hard to blame them if they do decide to go.
Squinters wrote: » Interesting article here from Tony Browne in the Examiner today. The County Board's lack of long term planning is really shocking when you think of how long everyone and their mother has been moaning about the absolute state of Walsh Park.
thesaturdayman wrote: » to run the Waterford county board = to run a business that turns over 8-10million per annum. You need the same skillset and mentality.
deiseach wrote: » Ah, the oul' Michael-O'Leary-should-run-the-country canard. Whatever the failings of the County Board, the idea that it should be run like a business is ridiculous.
Squinters wrote: » Whatever about being run like a business, the very least needed is a bit of professionalism and competence, neither of which you could accuse the current CB of having.
Motivator wrote: » Christ we’re really in trouble if the performance of a Primary Game team is exciting you about the future of hurling in the County.
hurler on de ditch wrote: » They haven't even a decent lawnmower ,but as usual I don't blame them , I blame the people who put them in , shameful really ,
hurler on de ditch wrote: » Squinters wrote: » Interesting article here from Tony Browne in the Examiner today. The County Board's lack of long term planning is really shocking when you think of how long everyone and their mother has been moaning about the absolute state of Walsh Park. They haven't even a decent lawnmower ,but as usual I don't blame them , I blame the people who put them in , shameful really ,
thesultan wrote: » hurler on de ditch wrote: » Squinters wrote: » Interesting article here from Tony Browne in the Examiner today. The County Board's lack of long term planning is really shocking when you think of how long everyone and their mother has been moaning about the absolute state of Walsh Park. They haven't even a decent lawnmower ,but as usual I don't blame them , I blame the people who put them in , shameful really , It's well and good looking to get rid of the county board but in reality very few want the job.
deiseach wrote: » I'd dispute that assertion, for what my opinion is worth. The Minor team that has won back-to-back games in Limerick, one of which saw them storm from 12 points down against Tipp, a performance that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, didn't spring from the stones. The situation with the county grounds is unquestionably a mess and ultimately the responsibility is theirs, but there are many competing visions for how it should be sorted, of which Tony Browne's is but one of them. Kerry seem to be the only county in Munster who have never had problems with their county ground. Cusack Park is barely adequate, and manages the impossible by having worse toilet facilities than Walsh Park. The Gaelic Grounds needed to be bailed out by JP McManus and Semple Stadium needed to be bailed out by bringing a Visigoth army to Thurles to urinate in every garden in the town. As for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Éamonn Murphy (no, not that one) had this to say about it in the Echo only this week:https://twitter.com/EamonnMurphy19/status/1006292178350551040 So by all means, criticise the Waterford County Board for things they have and haven't done. But generalised statements that they are uniquely devoid of any bit of professionalism or competence are just not true.
