Kilkenny GAA Thread

Exactly. Easy to be "loyal" when you're winning all round you.

It might surpass it in terms of quality and be less error-strewn.

Great intensity but the referee although a good game was playing for the maximum.

Doubt they'd ever ref a leinster match that lightly in case a match breaks out, but the intensity is hard to replicate in a cavernous mostly empty croke Park anyway.

Just to be clear, I support every Kilkenny player and management and make no apology for that.

You will hardly find a hurling pundit out there who expects it to be anything other than chapter three of the trilogy on All Ireland final day , so you should be spared the embarassment of choking on your apology.

Enjoy the game.

For the third time in 12 months Cork and Limerick have provided entertainment to rival anything that has gone before. Incredible physicality and spice along with outstanding individual performances. Some show of bottle from the rebels after the trimming a few weeks ago. H

The notion that only the ‘loyal’ will be in attendance today is terribly ill judged. There are many of the most die hard and loyal Kilkenny Hurling people overseas, people with young families or work commitments, people in care or elderly or way outside the county boundary that just physically cannot make it to Croke Park today for one reason or another. Branding them unloyal in anyway cannot be further from the truth.

The truth is that it has become terribly expensive to be at absolutely everything. Be it Senior league, Senior championship, the same for our Minor/U20 teams and supporting our beloved clubs the money that is spent per year attending matches, fuel/transport and food/drink is ridiculous. I do not want to complain too much as I know I’m personally in a privileged position whereby I can afford to do it currently; but I can fully understand why others cannot afford to attend the amount of matches that warrants being branded ‘loyal’ in this forum.

The sheer number of matches in the League and Leinster especially has diluted the product further, with most matches light on entertainment and competitiveness I am afraid. Munster papers over the cracks where there is fierce competition (although I felt the round robin in Munster this year was average enough) and crucially the venues are just the right size to create the atmosphere needed. Added to that is large populations who have seen their counties somewhat starved of success throughout my lifetime that is a serious contributor to the furore surrounding Munster at the moment. 

I don’t particularly agree with the idea being in Leinster is detrimental to our chances of All Ireland success either. The truth is there should be a serious intensity and competitiveness in training matches internally to replicate anything the likes of Limerick, Cork or Tipp throw at us but that seemingly has not there within our panel over the last number of years… I do think it is improving but whether it is at the necessary speed to deliver success this year I am not so sure.

Anyway, best of luck to our lads today!