Kilkenny GAA Thread

Good impact from the subs. Connellan is a big man and hogan got a nice point too. I'd say both managers will be satisfied. Clare showed they have real options. Smyth got a couple of great scores of huw.

Should beat galway next week who looked terrible today.

Without exaggerating, I'd say there are 30 forwards in Kilkenny better than Drennan. He makes no impact on any game. Every senior, intermediate and a couple of junior clubs have one forward not on the panel who is better than him. How in the name of God is he still there. The only thing he can do is take frees and he couldn't even do that yesterday. The blind loyalty being shown to him as one of Derek's u20s is completely unfair on the better hurlers who are being ignored. Time to move on from him.

Excellent attitude from Kilkenny yesterday to get a difficult win. Great impact from the subs which is what you need in modern hurling. Some great scores too. If we could cut down the fouling we'd be in a right place.

I think both teams would have came away happy yesterday, Clare are building a serious panel and will be happy with how they were right in the game at the end. From our perspective, better Kilkenny teams than this have came away from Ennis with nothing so we'll take a win down there any day!

After an awful first 20 minutes we got a foothold in the game and played well in difficult positions. The real positives for us were the Blanch looked the part at centre back and looks to have filled a big problem position for us. I thought Carey had a really good game and looks to be coming back to the form he had before he took the year out. I thought our midfield did well with McDonald having a really good second half and got 2 great scores. Mossy was excellent and as someone else said he's really developing into a badly needed leader in that attack. I thought Tallis looked really solid in goal too and with himself, Murphy, Mason and Galway we're really blessed with the quality of keeper we have.

A lot of talk before and after the game about Drennan and Mackessy. I'd share some of the doubts about Drennan but what I will say is that the chap has had a really difficult few weeks so I think I wouldn't be going overly hard on him after one league game. On Mackessy, I thought the criticism of him being on the panel before the game was a bit much, plenty of lads have turned down the call up so I think he deserves credit for putting himself forward and is obviously giving it his best shot, he's living, working and hurling in Kilkenny so not sure what the issue is. I thought he did well yesterday and helped us get back in the game first half and used the ball well, he still has a lot to prove but it was a good start for him.

Yeah and as I said I'd agree with a lot of the concerns around Drennan, I just think the lad has had a tough few weeks if decided he didn't want to play yesterday no one would have blamed him, sometimes we're very quick to jump on lads for playing poorly instead of saying play to him for putting the commitment in. To be honest I think Billy coming off the bench might be better for him to build his confidence up at the minute. 100% agree with you about Blanch.

Are we really in position to be writing of b drennan who’s barely gone 23 as far as I know if even

The perfect inter county forward doesn’t just fall out of the sky fully equipped for senior level they need time patience and a chance to improve on there weaknesses

He hardly missed a free in his first league campaign 2 years ago admittedly he’s been poor last year and 2 games into this year but you can’t just fire him on the scrap heap

Here is where the problem now sits. Lot of players drop themselves off panels now because of lack of opportunities, condensed schedule etc. So if Billy Drennan keeps getting game time and the 25 other lads who are not getting game time are left questioning management and their own role in there. Game time is precious in there now.

I dont mean to be harsh on him and I really hope he proves me wrong but bar frees i don't think he's ever looked like an inter county hurler and we can't afford to carry a lad just to take frees. Other lads deserve a chance.

Obviously a lot of ye didn't watch the U20s a few years back when he was the stand out forward. He stood up when needed with four or five points from play in a final against Limerick where we were unfancied. He may lack a bit of pace and athleticism but is an excellent hurler who I feel needs to be persisted with. A lot of posters on here are only happy when complaining about the county board, the S&C coaching or player X getting picked over player Y. Its very revealing as it shows the lack of depth and understanding of the inter county game that you have.

I hope my post didn’t come across as criticism, I was at the game you’re talking about and I had (still have) high hopes for Billy but he really needs to up his work rate as a starting point and let his talent do the talking after that. As I said I definitely wouldn’t be writing him off at all.

I feel sorry for Billy Drennan, he is clearly suffering from a bit of a confidence crisis but I wouldn't give up on him yet. He definitely needs to up his workrate but he certainly has the skill and hands to make it at inter county level. I don't think he's an inside forward as he lacks real pace, but he could be a lad that if his confidence was up, could make hay as an accurate 11 in a little more space.

I do take the point that he probably needs to start convincing sooner rather than later though, even if he is still very young. When you consider this is his first year out of U21, you wonder if Lyng has asked way too much of him, too soon.

It`s not about skill and hands as much any more. The nature of the game now makes it about pace and that goes for club level too, particularly on summer ground. I see it time and again at club level where you have lads with the skillsets inside who are struggling to show for possession or getting a shot off through lack of pace. Lads on the line decide to reconstitute him as a midfielder or defender. It`s a waste of time.

Nowadays the pace you need inside you also need in your middle third and in your full back line. I would go so far as to say that it is most needed in the middle third where how you perform will determine the pressure put on your own full back line and the quality of delivery and space available to your inside forwards.

We beat what was effectively a Clare B team by only two points and we didn`t score a goal which is concerning as our half back line in particular was dominant for long periods. I don`t see it as a positive result. We have a lot of issues up front.

It's not his mobility…. short steps added to an unwillingness to take on any responsibility with ball in hand. Cannot understand what Lyng sees in him as he wouldn't make a place on a ny senior club team for the reasons I mentioned.

Ridiculous not showing Cork and Limerick on RTE Saturday night. Every Saturday night they are showing that crap Magners league or whatever they title it now. A real opportunity to launch the league to the non converted.

Lyng picked up where he left off last year being Conservative. What was wrong with starting podge moylan full back or zach,luke hogan and connellan? We all know what mossy,cody,cian Kenny,Billy ryan have to offer and this was only the fowards he picked He's in woeful trouble with billy drennan. He doesn't even stand out for galmoy and that's junior level. Kk have to ask themselves what are they going to do next year when tj is gone because this isnt club hurling where you can carry a free taker. He missed two from nearly the same position. It's up to lyng now to put eoin cody on them for the rest of the league. There's a much better chance of Harry shine making the team ahead of Billy drennan so maybe he could take the frees,either way the longer they leave drennan on the frees the longer we arent giving someone else experience.His workrate is miles off what's needed. Yes he's granny passed away but drennan was in good form coming into the game. If he didn't want to play I'm sure management would of had no problem. Kk have to think of the future and get a starter trained up on the frees. Mackessy is probably a better free taker.

No one will get carried away by a result on one of the worst days of the year but I'll stand by my comment this was a weak clare team and kk should be beating them 6-8 points. Of course I know how hard it is to win down we have a dread ful record but with the team we had out plus them losing leen and David mac during the game it would of being a disaster had we lost and it can be buttered up all we want. For the 3rd game in a row kk haven't hurled for the first 20 mins. If that happens against cork or Limerick it will be curtains. Fair play to mackessy last Sunday he drove foward when we were really struggling.Mikey Carey and Peter mac also very good. I hope the knee injury mackessy got isn't the dreaded c but it didn't look good the way he had to be helped off.

Galway were absolutely desperate but liam chill has tipp training like dogs and like the last few years he has a team peaking around March before going off the boil. Wexfords retirements are absolutely huge and the replacements aren't near what's gone before them. Granted the 2xrecks and chin and conor mac to come back but definitely that 2019 team is gone over the hill now and truth be told they never recovered from daveys high octane gameplan. Talks of liam ryan really struggling to get back aswell. When they look back only winning one leinster title was a very poor return.

This has been a major problem the past few years and for me the main reason we are getting turned over so consistently in second halves in games. When our backs are tiring the opposition backs are only getting started because they haven't had to run. The result our forwards get turned over 2 on 1 in every single attack. Yet again we are the only top tier team without a forwards coach this year.