I'd imagine the reason he hasn't been tried there is he likes to drive forward when on the wing and Lyng is worried he will go forward when at 6 but he was very disciplined this year there for the bridge.
Definitely the man for the job
I think Blanchfield is the man for centre back also. Often, he does the simple thing and lays off a handpass to a better placed colleague. I would like to see him drive forward more frequently as he is very capable
I've heard the most played back six in training the last few weeks has been
P Moylan, H Lawlor, S Murphy
F Mackessy, D Blanchfield, M Carey
It seems their looking to play Blanchfield there which is great, hopefully he can take advantage. I have a huge amount of faith in Blanch in both his hurling and his smarts to play the position. It will take him some time to get used to it at intercounty level but I think he is the solution.
I think you hit the nail on the head there about not losing faith and giving lads time to settle in. That's a problem we have had over the last few years, lads been given the chance the first half not going there way and they are taken off and not seen again. The younger lads and lads been tried in important areas (centre back) need to be told that they are going to be given loads of game time and if one game doesn't go there way they have the next game to bounce back and put things right. While winning a league would be great it shouldn't be the only way success is judged. Last year we got to a league final but found very little other that Shane Murphy for the championship and still went into championship with question marks over who would start in key areas. If we went through the league this year and found 5/6 players to boost our championship team/squad and found a reliable centre back it would be a big boost to us. As fans we will have to be patient and players the chance to find there feet.
Hoping the likes of Harry Shine, Jeff Neary, Jordan Molloy, Peter McDonald and Martin Murphy can make a big impression. If we could get more consistency out of Eoin Cody, Adrian Mullen and Mossy we would be in a better place.
Think the two Connellans could be dark horses this year, both quick, powerful runners and have plenty of hurling.
The big fear is plenty of experimenting early, lose the faith, cull players and back to the same team. Hopefully he keeps the faith in the league too and mixes the establised with fresh blood. I don't want to be near a league final if it's the same players. Couldn't care less if we lose every game if it means we have blooded something different. Feels like we need something new to cling on to in order to re energise the whole thing.
thank god for that. Sure we’ll have a look at them anyway.
they can score from their own 21 !!
Great, Piltown is small and tight and will be a soft surface, no hiding place out there and it will be interesting to see what players put there hand up in these kinds of matches where it is pure intensity and hard work, hopefully someone like Billy Drennan can put there hand up in this kind of match and show he can play at the highest level.
yes.
Gowran still a bit snowed in, and they wanted to use the pitch with the stand up there, but its very soft, so they switched it….
It looks like it's on Piltowns back field? Strange venue for an inter county game but maybe due to no availability elsewhere. I don't think that pitch is even railed off?
..
I thought the KK v Waterford game was off hence my comment above.
Center back has being one of the problems the last few years. Lyng has tried deegan and flirted with darragh corcoran for a few matches and he is now dropped off the panel. Lyng has got all he can from codys team and that team is now in reverse. He is 3 years in the job,he has to put his stamp on it. I think most here would like to see a new number 6. Adrian Mullen is another who was mentioned here at 6. It would definitely be worth trying but it's unlikely.If it's blanchfield he needs to leave him at 6 for the league. Another problem is the forwards. He needs to get the best out of the forwards and its vital a few forwards are found this spring. Harry shine,Owen Wall,luke hogan,marty Murphy,niall shorthal. If Tom phelan could get back a bit of form. Billy drennan was excellent 2 leagues ago until the final and last year had a poor final. He definitely has potential and is a project but his workrate can be very poor. Really needs to up the workrate without the ball for starters.
Yeah, trying new lads is all well and good but at 6 you need someone experienced and reliable and he is the obvious candidate.
You can build around him then.
Blanchfield is 25 in April. He's the best 6 in the club championship. Our last 2 centre backs at U20 were Lyng and Hughes and they have no chance of becoming intercounty centre backs. We need to commit to Blanchfield now.
If we stick with the likes of Deegan and Richie Reid at 6 we will get the same results as the last 10 years. They are not good enough in that position unfortunately
I'd have freshford as slight favourites although russell rovers seem decent enough. Last years finals were sort of outliers as tullogher and thomastown in particular were very strong teams for their grade. Generally cork kilkenny matches at junior have been close. Mooncoin, an exceptional junior team only beat ballygiblin by 1 point.
Kilkenny waterford game will be interesting, probably get a nice crowd if the weather picks up a bit. The 3 lads retired haven't been starters for a while now anyway so won't impact the first 15 much. Need an upgrade on Richard Reid at 6 and possibly corner back. Tommy Walsh can play some good games but other times he's a weak link that teams target. Hopefully we see some new faces next couple of weeks.
If Derek wants to keep blanchfieid at 5 we could end up with deegan at 6, which I wouldn't be too unhappy with. I know a lot of posters here won't agree. He's definitely better than Reid, more aggressive and physical and a scoring threat from long range.
Waterford Kilkenny match on clubber the weekend
They always seem to find a way to win. I`d say the space in Croke Park will suit them. Best of luck to them anyway.
We have Freshford in the All Ireland Final Sunday, should be able to beat the Cork crowd, going off the Junior All Ireland final last year when Tullogher/Rosbercon and Thomastown were streets better than the Cork opposition. Although i have been watching Freshford this year they have been poor, struggled to beat Galmoy in the Junior QF, late goal got them over the line. They went in level at the break against James Stephens second team in the semi before turning them over the last 15 minutes. The Junior county final was a very poor standard and i was disappointed with the fitness levels of both teams. Freshford really struggled in the Leinster final against the Wexford team, were lucky by all accounts getting over the line by 1 point although i did not see that match. In the All Ireland Semi final i seen the highlights and Freshford got some lucky goals against the Sligo team that killed the game. I do believe that Freshford are actually better than they have showed to date.
getting pissed off now.
Yeah the Kerry man comes across very one paced, wont get away with that in Croke Park and for a big man struggled physically in the county final. He has it all to prove now, but fair play for his ambition. Kilkenny have a real problem with developing promising young players into promising senior players over the last 10 years. Is it lack of ambition, lack of talent? I have a theory that once they play a few decent matches underage they are hyped up on social media outlets and forums and start believing the hype and attention and this goes against them from ages 18-21, the most important years
I see Nowlan Park got a mention on the news yesterday. Groundsman giving out about matches being played in February this year. Was that not always the case? Came across as another agenda imo.
I hope it goes well for him. He definitely had some good moments for loughlins. There is a bit of pressure there from the get go because people will be waiting to say he shouldn't be there anyway. I'd give him a chance anyway. Who and where would people like to see tried for the upcoming matches? These challenge matches might be the only chance a few of these get. It's obviously easier hurl better with better players but these 2 matches will be used for fringe players I would think. For the gallery I'll throw this up. Tallis, neary,moylan,Zak,mackessy,Blanchfield,Murphy,macdonald,Billy Reid,luke connellan,Owen Wall,denis Walsh,Harry shine,marty Murphy,niall shorthall.
If there was a few strokes pulled it would be bad taste but he seems to his personal decision to make himself available and he is living and working in Kilkenny.
Catching up with recent Kilkenny senior team developments from forum contributors. I am hoping that we see more unpredictability and more young players on every line in 2025. The team needs rejuvenation; Thomastown to me benefited from a batch of great young players; John Donnelly was transformed into our best player. Disappointed that Eddie Donnelly (great hb potential imo) hasn't commited yet and that Kevin Blanchfield is missing from early season games and training.
I would like to see the GAA focus more on growing attendance and volunteerism and less on major cost drivers like infrastructure and expensive support staff. Developing TV streaming revenue thru GAAGO won't work if Leinster hurling and club attendances remain poor. So double the price for GAAGO passes and cut non AI game entrance fees by 50%; kids under 15 should be free.
it must be sickening for volunteer club and inter-county players to see so many support & admin staff, pundits, journalists etc make do much money out of their efforts. Then we see the farce of empty corporate seats at AI championship games. We have lost the plot.
We are lucky that in my 70 years of being a young Kilkenny club player and fan, that so many passionate teachers and club leaders gave their free time to develop the youngsters in their community. I was there at the re-founding of Dicksboro and OLG and won minor football with Mick Devane and Dicksboro and minor hurling with Mr Rush, Fr. Tommy, Eamon Doyle etc & OLG. The passion with which all spoke of Dicksboro and OLG is similar to what we see with Cody, Larkins, Tyrell etc & the Village or the Walshe's and Tullaroan today - to name but two. I believe that passion exists in every Kilkenny GAA club; that's the strength of the GAA; the great defense against rugby and other games; 1600 GAA clubs nationally vs 240 rugby clubs. So, invest more in the clubs and promote underage games with write-ups of every game played from u12 up. If the Kilkenny People can't cover it all, then start your own inexpensive circular.
We can see if the states that fans have turned off the overpaid players; unpaid college sports are more popular; far more passion; better tv spectacles.
Probably too much to hope for. Cody may be regarded as the greatest hurling manager ever. To me he is a shining Irish example of 70 years of pro bono devotion to hurling and his community. Thank you Brian and those many more like you around the country for your great example of gaa volunteerism.
I didn't know he had already confirmed he wouldn't play for Kerry. In that case, I think there's no good reason why he shouldn't have a shot at putting on the KK jersey. Not sure he's good enough but that's for him to prove otherwise, I don't see any "moral" reason he shouldn't be there. Good luck to him!
Lyng on the Kerry man.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41548012.html
Maybe it wasn't possible logistically but surprised they didn't move it to tomorrow.
It's officially cancelled Sunday
yeh very hard to see it going ahead with the forecast
