Hurling has been unbelievable the last 7-8 years on the whole maybe everyone is just a bit spoilt, the only issues for me are the handpass not being policed properly and lads diving or buying soft frees, Clare have been brutal for that.
Could take a leaf out of soccer’s book and say that if ball passed back to goalkeeper he cannot touch with his hands. Might cut out the back pass abit.
Corcoran isn't unavailable he was dropped by Derek Lyng
The use of a goalkeeper as a spare man now and quick puck outs has lessened the game as a spectacle. Id like to see a rule brought in where you cannot pass back to the goal keeper. The quick puck outs work as it has made the sweeper more or les redundant, but i hate the pass back to the goal keeper not just receiving his own puck out back but at any stage of a game, he has to much time on the ball to find a free man, completely taking the physical contest out of the game.
I think hurling as a spectacle has been poor even though teams are scoring up to 30 points in a game. Throwing the ball, too many steps, ball travelling too far and too many rucks are issues.
Enforcing hand pass and steps rules and modifying the sliothar would help. Allowing a maximum of 2 consecutive handpasses might help. Possibly having a minimum of 3 players inside the 45?
The bigger scourge than the handpass, (and I'm not saying the handpass isn't a scourge) is refs giving soft frees for lads who run into contact and then go down under physical pressure. The more the ball is run, the more the collisions, the more decisions for refs, the more unevenness and frustration in how their interpret these collisions.
In fairness Wexford were down Shane Reck, Liam Ryan and Richie Lawlor yesterday and Damien Reck went off in the 1st half so it was realistically 11 Wexford starters v 5 Kilkenny starters.
Has anyone else found this years hurling to be very poor?
Tipp/Limerick, Cork/Clare (due to the Clare comeback), Tipp/Clare (again for the Clare comeback) and Limerick/Cork (for Limerick's master-class) were the only real ones of somewhat quality. Dublin made a game of it against us and the Dublin/Wexford game looked good, but that's about it. Our games bar the second half against Dublin have been borefests, even allowing for the wins.
Good provincial finals might mask it, but the hurling this year has been generally a very poor watch. Honestly, I'd be of the opinion it's been going that way for a few years now, and I think the sport needs serious reform. Start with changing the hand-pass rule to get rid of the throw, that would solve a lot of issues.
It's very hard to draw conclusions when you put together a team that has never played together and add in a gale force wind which makes it even harder to get any cohesiveness. Kilkenny had no plan for the wind whereas Wexford managed it fine in both halves - being more used to the local conditions. Even on the freetaking, Lee Chin curled one in during the second half using the breeze expertly whereas TJ and Mackessy struggled to get a handle on it.
Most of the points I would have made have been already well covered by other posters but here are a couple of additional ones:
Mullen went 'fine' at CB and if that is where we want to land him then he's going to need more games there to get the feel for it and for us to optimise how to use him. He sat back a lot due to the wind, trying to get on the breaks and it seamed to be Blanchfield that spent more time delivering into the forwards, with mixed results. That to my mind shouldn't be the idea of Mullen at CB. We're looking for someone who reads as well as Ritchie Reid, can knit things together and step forward if needed - but also a bit surer in the defence. He stepped forward and scored a good point in the second half which perhaps reminded us of what we were missing further up. As per above, when things are very disjointed and the team is struggling it's really hard to judge the impact.
TJ was on his own and stuggling with two lads swinging out of him up front. The corner forwards didn't get close enough to him to support and take the breaks and as a result our full forward line was well beaten. I noticed Wall standing on his own at the edge of the square in the first half - kinda like one of those under age games where all the play is one side of the field and a young lad who's told to 'stay up' is standing there on his own. I think he should have been brought right out the field and told to run off the shoulder through the middle. We really had no plan his for assets. Or at least no plan B.
Few lads said Cleere made no impact but he was absolutely bodied with a frontal charge on the way through on goal which the ref made nothing of. He still managed to get through before missing a pull on the open net and the Wexford goalie being adjudged of picking up the ball with his hand which gave us a 21 which TJ didn't convert.
Similarly for Cian Kenny, yes he hit some wides but it was with a gale into his face and he looked a level above any of our other forwards.
I thought Mackessy was really really laboured. I can see what he brings, but he didn't bring it yesterday, touch off and couldn't break a tackle (seams to be really upright when he gets on the ball). On top of that missed two decent goal chances. It was a learning day for him.
Lee Chin went to town on our half back line in the air.
I'm struggling to think of much else to say other than Wexford are 7 points better than the Kilkenny subs.
Hogan ,Shine and Murphy should be available for the Leinster final from talking to their club members at Wexford Park. Yesterdays game was poor in quality and none of our back up crew stood out which was disappointing. That said Luke Connellan, Moylan and Killian Doyle did work incredibly hard for the full 60 minutes and if they tidy their hurling a bit more they could survive at this level.
TJ Reid is the GOAT for me , but like DJ and Henry before him even the great hurling brain can't compensate for lack of legs. With our lack of pace up front, he is no longer a guaranteed starter for me. Likewise serious consideration has to be given to No 1. Scruff has been brilliant for years but his puckouts just aren't good enough in the game as it is played now. Tough decisions for management.
KK is like a red flag to a bull for Wexford. With the team named by Derek he was not taking it seriously and i dont blame him. We have enough injuries to be taking risks with players that dont need game time.
What Derek needed was to get game time into Mullen Reid Blanchfield which he did. He also got to have a good look at the rest of the squad against a wexford team who would come out all guns blazing. This game will have done all the players good.
I do think if we are going to have a chance of winning we need to solve that no6 position. The jury seems to be out on Mullen at 6. Also and probably more important we need all these injuries to clear up. We probably have only 20 players in the squad capable of influencing a game at inter county. IMO we need the folling players fit and 100% to have any chance. Butler, Lawlor, Blanchfield, Carey, Kenny, Molloy, TJ, Cody, Mullen, J Donnelly, Ryan. I think the No 6, Left Corner Back and a forward jersey are all still up for grabs on what i have seen so far. ATM i would think Walsh or Deegan would get that corner back spot while Reid will probably get the No 6 and S Donnelly the forward spot.
I want KK to win Leinster and always will but losing would not be the biggest disaster if we got game time into players like Cody that he will badly need. Playing Tipp( logical oppostion) in a Q/F could be better path than going to a semi against Cork or Limerick with players badly needing game time.
What kind of injuries do hogan and shine have? Are they long or short term?
I wouldn't be so flippant about Galway, there extremely inconsistent and unreliable but if the good version of Galway shows up the Leinster final could go anyway but if the bad version does it could be like the game in Nowlan Park in April.
Well you can't just pick from 18 players, so along with the 3 you have mentioned as part of the 18, as you have said without the injured players it will be Doyle and Lyng plus Moylan and despite him not starting today I think they will go with Gearoid Dunne as a next best forward option. Paddy Deegan will be used as an option in midfield to allow Cian Kenny to be used in the forwards if necessary. Walsh, Buckley, Fogarty, Phelan and Corcoran were probably the first choice subs over the last few years, their unavailability has left a bit of a hole in the panel.
Lads, we're picking from about 18 players all in. Shortall, Wall, Drennan... None of them are good enough. In time they may be, but as far as 2025 goes they're irrelevant. The team that started against Dublin is our first 15 with Cody in for Stephen Donnelly and a fit Murphy in for Blanchfield which I wouldn't have anticipated saying at the start of the year. I've heard nothing about Murphy and I'd be surprised if he makes it back this year considering how quick the games come. Same with Shine. So it's
Murphy
Butler Lawlor Deegan
Blanch Reid Carey
Molloy Kenny
Mullen Donnelly Ryan
Mossy Cody TJ
With Tommy Walsh, Mackesey and Donnelly off the bench. Assuming Hogan, Shine and Murphy are gone for the rest of the year. They seem to like Doyle so he'll get minutes. Lyng from the U20s also might get minor minutes.
That's it, forget the rest of them.
Talking about pace we have billy ryan and eoin cody but if owen wall was to get another chance i think he could be a handful. I also think shortall could yet make an impression if he gets game time. Luke hogan looked dangerous last week v dublin until forced off. Not sure how long he will be out. Shane Murphy and eoin Cody haven't much time to get themselves ready either.
Kilkenny Senior Camogie had a big win in the first round of the Championship in Derry on Saturday ..
Lack of pace is a big concern. Take away Billy Ryan and we have very little pace. I have no idea where Kilkenny are at, as a panel it did not sound promising today. Saying that Galway are a poor team. Kilkenny will have no problems beating Galway this year as they have gone backward the last 2 years
Anyone have any injury updates?
Galway impoved and scoring efficient today but Dublin looked tired and not as energetic, lively or alert as last week. They were much better against Kilkenny for the full 70 mins; probably expended too much and suffered in today's performance.
Galway can improve and Conor Cooney may yet find his form. The Leinster Final could go either way. Kilkenny usually up a couple of gears for the LF; Cian Kenny, Blanchfield and Mullen will hopefully find their best form. Giving Mullen the responsibility of the CB position today was smart and will help him. I expect Ritchie Reid at CB tho. Blanchfield may lose his place for the LF if Tommy Walsh plays and Deegan moves to HB.
Overall, i am hopeful for a Kilkenny LF and semi-final win.They know that Limerick, Cork or Tipp could be semi-final opponents and they need to be ready to beat them. I am seeing much improved performances and energy this year from players like Mikey Butler (22-23 form) Tommy Walsh, Mikey Carey, Billy Ryan and Mossy Keoghan plus Jordan Molloy and Stephen Donnelly have broken thru to the 15. Mackessy was excelkent v Galway and his athleticism and work rate in the middle third is top class; a great sub for Croke Park. John Donnelly, TJ and Cody can improve a lot. Looking forward to s great performance and in the LF.
A lot of the players looked leggy today, you’d imagine Lyng used this as a tough physical training week before the Leinster final knowing todays game was nothing more than a glorified challenge match.
Only a few players looked like they had a bit of zip in their legs.
The result today didn't matter and you could feel that in the atmosphere on and off the pitch but our performance was poor for large chunks of the match and very few players did themselves favours of challenging the starting line-up for the Final.
Eoin Murphy's puck outs were weird today. He went long more against the wind than I thought he would and then much shorter in the 2nd half than we usually would with the wind. Some of them were very poor, he drove one straight out of play and his shorter aimed ones weren't to hand most of the time and put the receiver under pressure. With all the changes we made and with the result inconsequential he shouldn't have started and we should have seen Tallis instead.
Peter Connellan was done by Rory O'Connor for Wexford's 1st goal but had a reasonable enough game apart from that. Same with Moylan and Tommy Walsh, both did well and kept the Wexford full forward line quiet for most of the match.
In the Half Back line, Blanchfield was infuriating, he gets on loads of ball but wastes too much of it. He hit one perfect pass to Cian Kenny in the 1st half which we scored from but there was a ridiculous number of aimless passes into the corners which Wexford swept up. He's too loose at times also which doesn't help. He has the potential to be great but he really needs to start putting in together. Mullen at center back didn't really work as he ended up playing the free man role. He was OK at that but no better than Richie Reid is and taking him out of the forwards reduces both our goal threat and one of our best long range shooters. To me he's either a regular half forward or a third midfielder. Hammond is a superb athlete but is awful on the ball and that's a big problem. Too often he either failed to rise the ball quickly enough and the Wexford players got back to knick it back off him or he just ran into the opposition and lost the ball. He's lightening quick but you need more than that, he was also taken to the cleaners a bit by Chin under the high ball but he wouldn't be the 1st player to struggle in that scenario.
Mcdonald was awful in midfield and he was correctly taken off first. He's struggled badly anytime he's started for us. Doyle showed flashes of good play but needs to do a hell of a lot of work to cope with the physical nature of Senior Intercounty, he was brushed off by Hearne too much and was too easily passed by players running at him. He's useful on the ball however and he did hit a nice score towards the end.
Luke Connellan was awful for the first 20 minutes but grew into the game, made some good clean catches and hit two nice points. Would be happy enough with his performance. Cian Kenny was both our best player with three points from play but also one of our most infuriating with some of the bad wides he hit. Considering he went off injured last week I'm surprised he not only started but also played the full match. I prefer him as a midfielder but he can play center forward if we're stuck. Mackessy on another day could easily have had 2-1 instead of the solitary point he did score, he's inconsistent but he's capable of hitting some fine long range scores plus he's definitely capable of playing the running game.
Drennan hit a good score right at the start and set up one of Connellan's at the end of the 1st half but was anonymous aside from that. TJ had a shocker from play today, admittedly the ball into him wasn't ideal always but he rarely won it and wasn't in the right position to win it a lot of the time. He's looking very slow and ponderous on the pitch and at this stage I'd question whether we should be starting him or definitely keeping him on for the full 70 minutes bar for the fact that I'm not entirely sure who else is there for frees. Wall wasn't in the game at all bar one great recover run. Again like TJ the ball into the full forwards wasn't great but he didn't exactly get onto anything that did come his way either.
Subs were a mixed bag also. Dunne didn't feature at all, Stephen Donnelly hit a fine point when he came on and did little else. Richie Reid came on and did exactly the same as Mullen was doing. Shortall set up the goal with a good run and probably did the best in his short cameo. Staunton won one duel and lost another but you can't judge him on the few minutes he had.
Bad and all that KK were today they could have got another three goals, I thought Luke Conellan and Killian Doyle improved as the game went on. Adrian is very cool under the ball and always has a look before delivering although some passes went astray today. Is it worth a punt in the Leinster final?
Tis grand Marooned 👌 what's your synopsis from today??
That was a sneer for one man only nothing to do with you and absolutely no sleight on Josh who is a terrific hurler who the Boro are sorry they lost.
Wexford have some hex on kilkenny in fairness. Must be very infuriating as wexford supporter and strange as a kilkenny supporter given how bad wexford are
Made the trip down to wexford in the hope that everyone starting would be out to prove a point or at least show that they are up to the pace. Boy was wrong. The most lifeless performance you could ask for. We were against the breeze in the 1st half but our delivery was poor. Owen Wall got a decent ball in the 1st few minutes,controlled it well but after that was anonymous. Billy drennan scored a lovely point early on but he, like Wall was anonymous after that. Whatever about Wall, Billy drennan has been on the panel for 2 years and his 2 years were summed up with 10 mins to go right in front of me. A ball into the corner, he misjudged the height, but turned and got to the ball first, only to miss the pick up, get dispossessed, fell to the ground and made no attempt to get after the defender. Not close to being good enough.
Zac Bay Hammond involved a lot, his pace would cause anyone problems but his touch is an issue under pressure. Blanchfield still trying to find form. Mullen, even though I was happy for him to get the chance, doesn't have the fitness to command centre back. Looks for the loose ball. Didn't work at all.
Mcdonald and doyle poor and it was only in the last 15 mins doyle caught some decent ball and tried to carry. Maybe wing back for him? Looked more comfortable under the dropping ball there. Cian Kenny on a lot of ball but wasted most of it. Too many wides.
Luke connellan average, got a couple of points but not going to challenge for a place. Very disappointed with makessy. Couldn't get into the game and his touch or pass seemed to let him down.
Of course it was a dead rubber but I hoped more lads would push on. Didn't happen.
Dunne came in but didn't make any headway.
Probably more disappointing was that shortall only got 5 minutes. He set up tj for the goal and to be honest, even if he is light enough, should have gotten the whole 2nd half. I'd like to see more of him. Excellent prospect.
2 weeks break and a stiff test v Galway. Need everyone fit ad ready. Preparation not great today and a disappointing performance but the lads know what's ahead of them.
Disappointing but hardly surprising for me given the team that was picked, was alway going to be tough if Wexford showed up with the right attitude, there is a big fall off in the quality of hurler on the panel when you get past the first 20, some of it due to lack of experience and some of it just due to lack of the required talent at that level, wasn't helped by some first choice subs such as Shane Murphy, Harry Shine and Luke Hogan being injured, trying Adrian Mullen out at centre back may make sense but not when he isn't fully fit, needs to be kept in mind that in any era a Kilkenny team starting 5 first choice players with nothing on the line for them would struggle against a motivated Wexford team in a game played in Wexford Park.
He did ok but it was so hard to judge on that, might be worth a go in the Leinster Final.
There was just no intensity. Connellan scored a couple of nice points and caught some good ball
Drenann got a nice point early but him and Wall barely touched the ball.
Zach great speed and burst forward but first touch awful
Mackessy should of scored a goal first half and hit the post in the 2nd but he gets dispossessed to easy
Kenny scored 3 but took some stupid shots into the wind
How did Mullen go at 6?
