Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

I made the point last week, when did you want these lads on the pitch? The first 20mins or the last. If they had been parked up til the 50 or 55th minute they would have come on full of energy and looking to make an impact in a game that was opening up. You could go with O Flaherty and Heaney in the first stint as they're better equipped to track back but also offer options to break the line in a blanket defence.

Instead, they were put in to a packed defence burning energy doing nothing except looking for space that didn't exist. If they continue into next year that's the role I'd be telling them they had. 20 mins of maximum effort going hard at tired defences. We're lucky in Galway we had a plethora of good half backs/forwards who can do a job for 50mins. Rotate who attacks and who sits to maximise the speed of attack and develop a good support game.

Coaches have looked to soccer to develop their defence they now need to look at rugby in coming up with a plan to break it. They go against far tighter defensive lines where they can be tackled to the ground yet with decent lines of running they can get through impossibly small gaps where the risk associated with a turnover is far higher than football.

Just watched the gleeson break from late kick out, that will haunt for galway

That'd have to raise question marks about whether hawkeye is fit for purpose if true. It's gotten too many calls wrong down the years. The Walsh one two years ago was crazy. Not using it as any excuse in this game but can it really be trusted at all. Forget about it when you get a sliothar involved.

Backwards step in my opinion.

I don't think he did anything with Dublin. They were next to useless in the Leinster final, and worse against Cork in the 1/4 final. When we won in 2017, it was based on long ball tactics, getting the best out of a very big and physical forward line.

I'm not sure he is the returning savior some like to think he will be.

He also didn't get a stronger, much younger Galway team out of Leinster in 2019.

Come on, Cork were red hot favourites and expected to win easily. It was a very gallant display by the ladies with a lot of newer players on board.

Says the man who will live and die having won nothing.

The ladies put everything into that game today.

Don't think the ladies deserve any criticism there wasn't much more they could have done.

Comer went into the umpire while play went on and was pointing up at the post. Pity but what could have changed? Hawkeye ruled it out, end of.

People can brush it off all they want but at this stage it's a mental barrier in seemingly all codes.

The camogie team, despite getting rode by a woeful referee, had plenty of wides late in the second half that are unforgivable at senior level. Similar enough the men's footballers against Armagh had some embarrassing wides. The ladies footballers in fairness were just easily beaten by a much better side. That's still 2/3 finals where Galway sides have lost it on themselves.

Micheal Donoghue back for the hurlers. Not sure what to make of this - seems like a backwards step.

Cian O'Neill no longer part of Galway's senior football management team as he's joined up with Jack O'Connor at Kerry again.

Losing Cian is huge , he made us contenders again.

Outside of Morris don't see anyone in the county capable of stepping into those shoes. Be interesting if Divilly stays for another year as there was talk of him stepping away prior to last year. If lose them two we will be in a right hole and might be difficult to hold onto Conroy for another year of they don't get fresh ideas and impetus into coaching setup. Not too many out there from other counties that stand out unless PJ has any contacts or network of former players from up the country that he could turn to. A longshot might be Kevin Walsh to come back into backroom team. He would add more to setup than a number of other selectors in management setup and brought a lot of these players on to a level where they were competing in division 1. Don't know how him and PJ would work out and their differing outlooks on how the game is played

I think he's an enormous loss as well. It's a long way back to the biggest day of the year