Kilkenny GAA Thread

Sorry for negativity now but my God i can't believe we are still playing the old game of hurling. Waterford playing it aswell. Both teams won't trouble the business end of the championship. Kilkenny will go further however thanks to poor leinster championship .

Hurling has become a game of percentages and only a small few can really see that. By that I mean the game has become process orientated where it's no longer acceptable to play a fifty fifty ball and hope we have the more talented player . Every ball forward and every play has to be 90 percent and above in your favour. By that I mean a short pass has to go to hand cleanly and a long ball forward only gets driven in once the forward has broken free with a diagonal run etc. A ball that's hit into an oncoming player that times his run is now 100 percent in his favour. A ball that's hit into an oncoming player where his forward partner on his line has also made a diagonol run creating space now gives that player a high percentage chance of creating space to get a shot away. Higher amount of shots from someone who has this drill engraved in him night after night in training almost guarantees success.

Let the Munster teams kill each other, we have the best chance out of anyone of being in the All Ireland semi final. Let's just hope we have learned the last few years what to do when we get there

Interesting that the reaction seems to be a bit more negative after the win today than the loss against Limerick, thought we did well to grind it out in the end and lads like Corcoran, Doyle, Keoghan and Kenny kept their heads and didnt panic in the last few minutes when they were up against it, which hasn't always been the case in the last few years, not sure why lads from counties that have been a joke for generations over the years feel the need to come on and tell us that this team isn't as good as the one 15 years ago, and seem to feel like they are some sort of sage or technical hurling genius, they are stating the obvious but we support the team as it is and for me there is still plenty of talented hurlers in the county.

The positives from the league so far for me have been Liam Moore who while like a lot of young Kilkenny forwards when they step up to to senior recently can look a bit ungainly when striking the ball, seems to be a real aggressive and natural forward who will be a good finisher with more experience, Rory Garrett who is composed but has a bit of bite about him, Timmy Clifford who was a very good underage hurler but lacks some confidence, probably based on his previous experience with the senior panel and Darragh Corcoran who looks fitter and more aggressive than his previous time on the panel, would still have some concerns over his turn of pace against the best teams, also think that their is evidence that the management team are trying to refine the style of hurling the team is playing and there was some excellent team scores both today and against Limerick.

Negatives are the injuries to some of our younger players who we need to get experience into, the fact that there are a few players on the panel that would have struggled to get close to Kilkenny panels in the past and the fact that when the team gets put under pressure they revert to hitting the ball in hope up into the forwards.

Cork game is an exciting one to look forward to. The state of nowlan park might slow down the cork speedsters a bit but it will still be a huge challenge for the likes of doyle, garret etc . Pity Barrett is suspended , would have liked to have seen how corcoran went against him.

Has been a problem with Cody and Mullen for years to be fair. One of the things that has made tj great is his ability to bring other players into the game, not just seeing his job as scoring no matter what. If Cody is going to lead this forward unit he needs to have that bigger vision.

Some good positives from yesterday. Started the game well and but for a few missed frees could have been 8 or more ahead after 15/20 mins.

Mikey Butler much improved and Garrett had a decect game too. Carey is not a full back, mixed the good with some errors and tended to get drawn way out the field at times and those errors in full flight of summer cough up goals. Thought Corcoran had a good game and probably will be there for the summer. Paddy was Paddy, mixes the good with the bad but he will never lack the effort. Still unsure on Doyle, looks tidy at times but was ran at a but late on and Waterford got some joy.

Miidfield a mixed bag again, Blanch did pretty well seen as most would say he is not a natural Midfielder. Jordan Molly had prob his poorest game in a while, made a few what seemes simple errors but that seemed rife through both teams too given the time of year and conditions etc.

Of the forwards there were a few poor performances but as a caveat I'd blame the ball in as at times was absolutely awful. Clifford missed an early score that would have settled him but would keep persistence with him. Thought Moore was very good early and then didn't get a ball for 40 mins until near the end. Hard summer ground will suit Moore and he could be a danger for us. Cody was man marked for a lot and this slows him down a lot and a sticky marker seems to rhrow him off gis game, he also needs to pass more as mentioned - few offloads yesterdayand KK get in for a goal. Kenny I'd rather see in midfield as himself and Molloy have been solid there since last year and to me there's no one that has stood up to displace either one there. Didn't go for Donnelly but the ball in all day was so bad, Mossy made the best of what scraps he got and is always a danger.

The subs would need to be looked at too lyng has awful in game management. Bringing on R Reid for Butler wland then changing a few positions to suit it. Also Luke Hogan was ready to come on after about 65 mins and eventually cane on for about 30 seconds in the 76th min - if the sub was decided he needs to get him on, similar happened with S Donnelly in semi v Tipp last year, he was ready to come on for 25 mins I'd say. John Donnelly busy as always and has some wrists as always ro pick up ball that he has no right to. Good to see Ed McD too, he is a big unit of a man and could have had 3 points with a bit more luck.

Lastly for Eoin Murphy. His puckouts absolutely killed us all day. Long ones were high and in the air on a windy day and zero chance for the forward. His low ones for the most resulted in our man trying to collect it on his laces and under pressure, Waterford definitely got several points from this especially later in 1st half when they were on top. The speed (or lack of speed) of the puckouts was snail like too, granted he needs the movement but he is never ready for a quick one. Lyng was actually gesturing wildly towards the end to hurry on as we were a couple behind at this stage. 3 or 4 times he waited an age, went to Mikey Butler and got it back before a terrible ball down on the HF line then where possession was lost. As many have said he hasn't developed with the quick puckouts that are so important these days.

Overall I would be happy with the 2 points and getting more game time into sime new players but still seeing some of the same issues that we have had the last couple of years.

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Blanchfield didn't really play midfield yesterday, especially first half. He was like a second CB in terms of his position on the pitch. He did well and was an outlet for puckouts (not always used mind!). Kenny tended to drop back to midfield a lot and Moore played a lot on the HF line, leaving just Donnelly and Mossy up front. So the lineout on the programme wasn't really how we played in game. You could see the thinking behind it and it did work to some extent but it does rely on the balls in to the front two being really good and yesterday more often than not it wasn't. Kenny is a great link man and got on a lot of ball yesterday. I know Molloy made mistakes but his workrate and effort is great and he kept trying and still had a positive influence. Moore was a good option on puckouts as well and won a lot of ball in the first half and while Clifford didn't have a great game, you could see glimpses of what he has when he side stepped a man and took off at pace for a tidy score in the first half.

There were a lot of mistakes on both sides yesterday but the pitch and the conditions weren't great. What was the reason for Tallis not starting? He was involved in the warmups so presumably wasn't injured?

It was Galwey warming up at the start Tallis had a flu or cold.

One thing I noticed as it happened directly in front of us. If you go back and watch the game on the 66 mins number 25 for Waterford ran onto the pitch touched the ball the big Waterford forward Walsh won possession and scored a point. Number 25 then ran straight back to the bench. They had 16 men on the field for that score as far as I could see. There was no substitution and no blood sub. A strange one that could have cost us.

Its Kieran's, that is worth 2/3 points alone and they always have a chance. The disappointing thing is Kilkenny CBS really rated there team this year as one of the best they ever had. Very disappointing for underage Kilkenny hurling to see them go so poorly, lost against the Wexford team Good counsel college, got a real scare against the Westmeath School team and Flannans eventually knocked them out.

I watched both games on Saturday. In fairness to the CBC they all gave 100% and the performances made up for the last day against Kierans but size went against them again in the end. There was a strong wind during the whole game and both teams only scored 4 points against the wind. The CBC needed to be up by 8/9 points at half time but never looked like scoring goals as their forward line was very small and they all were well marked by a more physical team. Flannans free taker was excellent in the second half with 6/7 points from frees. They scored very little from play as CBC backs were excellent for most of the game. The second goal was in injury time when CBC were pushing for goals themselves.

Kierans got off to slow start v Raphaels who played very well through out. The conditions were very poor. The two sendings off helped Kierans more as it was Raphaels centre back who was playing very well. Kierans out scored them in the end winning by 6 points. I think Brian Dowling will be happy that they got through this match but not with the performance in the first 40 minutes. This was Kierans first test all year as they had beaten CBC and Good Counsel very easily in Leinster.

The Kierans v Nenagh game will be a great game and will be close to call. I watched the Harty cup matches and Nenagh and Flannans were very good in Munster. Nenagh will have had more tests all year than Kierans and that could be the difference but I am sure Brian Dowling will have Kierans ready.

A win is a win and with 5 minutes to go most kk supporters would of taken a draw. It wasnt suprising a few weeks ago to hear mchale park won the best pitch and wexford close second. One time kk were winning these but the pitch is in the horrors. It has gone back some anount.One thing that was really obvious was waterford really targeted killian doyle and got a lot of joy. How kk managent didnt make any kind of a switch was really poor. You will not get away giving your opponent 10 yards have to be up his hole.The goal came from a bit of messing involving killian before Bennett went on a great run and walked away from 3 defenders and he shouldn't even be hurling with the amount of injuries he had. Did kk not learn anything last year giving tipperary most puckouts where they bombarded the kk full back line and got 4 goals. Surely they can push up more. Its being flagged here and forget about movement inside for a minute but the ball going in is absolutely shocking.MIkey carey had a few hiary moments but overall he wasn't too bad. Its such a specialized position. Maybe his positioning for the goal he gave walsh too much room. Theres absolutely no doubt murphy is really struggling with puckouts. Balloons hanging in the air and the few he went short were dreadful and ended up waterford scores. Butler was outstanding for a lad really sick during the week. Corcoran with another solid performance it will be intresting to see how he goes on harder ground. Showed good leader ship. Deegan mixes the good with the really stupid. Blanchfield sat very deep and kenny also came into midfield and donnelly and mossy spent most of the match inside. Cody was man marked by leevy who looks very clumsy but he frustrated cody. Eoin got a really important point or two when needed. He also brought leevy out of his comfort zone and into the full back line but was bet for a few balls. Some of the tackling would of resulted in more frees by a stickier ref. Liam moore is a find and will get plenty of more league time. Clifford done some good things and need more of the fowards running at defenders especially clifford who has pace. Cody can be greedy but this has being a problem a few years now. Garret is doing well but he wont get away with batting balls down against better teams who will hoover it up. He is u20 this year I was told so hopefully one for the future.ivan bolger warmed up before the match he could do with a game or two but garret has done nothing wrong to lose his place. A huge problem facing kk is they have no free taker when tj goes. Michael brennan is a really good free taker but he will have to break onto the team first. Its definitely a worry for kk. Cork will be a savage test and a big crowd expected. The only thing is the pitch is in the horrors so that should slow them down a bit. Two tough away games to finish kk need to win one of the next 3 games. Macdermot got a good score and won a few balls but will be dissapointed with the two wides but he was creating chances. He has passed out Marty Murphy who hasn't made the squad the last few weeks.

Marty murphy hurt his hamstring again.

F Makessy rolled his ankle.

P moylan broke his collar bone again.

I had my doubts about Killian Doyle as a midfielder but last two outings he has been decent wing back. Handled more ball than most yesterday showed a lot of composure and he is one who gets his head up and delivers much better balls than most to the forwards. Watched the game back and Bennett rolled young Garrett brilliantly for the goal, outpaced Clifford who stumbled and Blanch covering nearly got to him. Garrett and Doyle deserve to hold on for now , Cork next week would be a great test for both, and indeed the team as a whole. I also agree with most here that Tallis was a big loss yesterday for puckouts , both speed and delivery so much better now than Eoin Murphy imo.

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