Kilkenny GAA Thread

It was but I wouldn't be into doing something similar as payback. That's not the way ballyhale do things.

Not sure what purpose that would serve?!

Ripped off a good friend of his and then tried to blame it all on the wife.

He's an out an out prick and showed no remorse or effort to pay anything back.

He surely paid back his victim, neighbour and friend by now?

Largely agree with your assessment.

What I worry about with Darragh Corcoran at centre back though is the two teams that made the AI final played with roadrunners at centre forward, Andrew Ormond and Shane Barrett. Invariably teams copy the most successful teams (probably see Eoin Cody do likewise for KK or Adam English for Limerick). So more likely than not, Darragh won’t be suited to marking those type of players.

For my money, Mikey Carey is the best choice there given his recovery pace, physicality and aerial ability. Probably needs to temper his attacking instincts though. But at least you know that teams won’t be able to make runs down the middle too easily.

It’s a pity that Adrian Mullen is so injury prone as I think he’s ideal for centre back if he had a run at it (remember that John Conlan rarely ever played there for his club before becoming Clare’s centre back and his first competitive game there, they lost to Antrim).

In terms of the other positions, if Huw is gone, Darragh Corcoran or Padraic Moylan look the best candidates to take his place. Both have the physical presence for the position and are very steady on the ball. Moylan probably has a hit more skill but Darragh is probably more ruthless.

For cornerbacks, Ivan Bolger kept Darragh McCarthy fairly quiet in the AI u20 final when the match went very much against us. I think he’s an ideal IC cornerback in that he’s fast, strong and rarely makes a mistake on the ball. Peter Connellan, Killian Corcoran and Timmy Kelly should also be looked at during the league. I think with cornerback you can start lads earlier than any other position at IC level as you need pace and the less scar tissue you have the better. But it does have a shorter shelf life as you don’t tend to see to many lads get to 30 before they’re dropped or moved on from. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Sean Finn, Paul Murphy, etc were outstanding cornerbacks early on but found it tougher as the years went by.

For the wing back spots, David Blanchfield will hopefully come back to form and make the right wing back spot his own. If not, Gearoid Dunne should be looked at. Shane Murphy should get a run at left wing back. If it doesn’t work out with him, I’d like to see Cathal Beirne given a run there as it could be a good option if teams drop their half forward line deep and we have to go short on the puckout and run out from deep.