Kilkenny GAA Thread

I doubt it but something needs to be done about it the ball is being moved 4-5 times with minimal contact using the Hurley never mind any type of long or short stick pass

Tim O Mahony is one of the worst I have ever seen for it

That's the Newtownshandrum running game created for Ben and Jerry by their father

We didn't have a player who could come off the bench and get a goal like Alan Walsh. Don't know his age but he has a fair presence.

Carey tried hard but was badly beaten by Hayes. Bolger and Moore big positives . Tallis save from fitzgibbon was incredible as donal og mentioned tonight .

Thrown AND over carried. Certain refs allow these to happen unpunished, I hope our mgmt team are taking note of which ones.

Part of the problem is high profile pundits who are apparently in favour of throwing the ball.

I’ll try and find out during the day,we were probably missing a few of the Kieran’s lads. Are Rory Garrett,Ivan Bolger underage still.

Hard to see us getting enough scores to beat many top teams. Deegan and Cian Kenny both started in half forward line yesterday, both playing deep, not going to impact the scoreboard much really, Liam Moore was excellent but he does find it a struggle to score, not the most gifted with skill compared to Tipp/Cork/Limerick forwards, but we needs his directness and pace. Our set up is very defensive with 12 lads contesting or behind the ball and when we do hit it up leaving us completely out numbered. We are a hard watch now, reminds me of Davy over Wexford' or Derek McGrath over Waterford

Id say we'll be safe from relegation as tipp will likely beat waterford after being so poor against Limerick and we'll have the head to head on waterford. Tbh some of these league games are a hard slog with the rotten weather. Limerick and cork could play each other 3 times in 8 weeks.

They look to be the front runners but munster championship is all on the day and a loss first day out puts you on the back foot. Was impressed with corks battling qualities,even young buckley who is a top of the ground hurler. Corner backs were excellent. They have a serious squad but the only thing that matters down there is Liam Mccarthy and the mental challenge of getting over the line is huge.

I made a point a while back that we need to keep 4/5 players in each half as the middle third is now a haven for overcrowding, throwing, scrums, pulling and dragging its like rugby, get as many bodies behind the ball and get possession and then either throw the ball for the off load or dive and try get a free. Kilkenny are as bad as anyone at it with all the bodies back and playing a sweeper

According to the table on the Irish Indo Kilkenny have the lowest 'for' score of all the teams in the division. 84 (89 against). Offaly (89) and Galway (96) ahead of that and a big gap to the rest.

Pretty sure Niall Corcoran did a year as part Davy’s management in Wexford at some point or was it Daragh Egan

Dunno if I'd go that far. We might not win Leinster, but if we didn't make it out of it that would be absolutely a massive shock right now.

I’m a bit lost as to how things are going at the moment, I thought the games against Limerick and Cork would tell us a lot about where we are as a team but I feel I’m still none the wiser to be honest.

On the one hand the work rate and physicality has been good , we’ve been competitive in all our games and there’s a nice bit of intensity about us. A few of the younger lads stepping up has been a big plus too and that depth will matter later in the year. I hope young Moore can stay on his current trajectory , he’s still very raw but he’s very exciting on the ball when he gets an opportunity to run at the opposition defence and looks like a lad that can make things happen.

Defensively we seem to be more organised and we’re not as easy to open up as we might have been in previous times but we need to settle on a half back line in the next few games.

The Cork match has put me on a bit of a downer though, we were always in the game and I know we only lost by three points but for me it just looked like we never really believed we could win it and it was Cork who lifted it and kicked on after Eoin Cody’s goal brought us back to within two points.

I know it’s been said a hundred times at this stage but my God our delivery into the forwards is still so bad and it’s do frustrating to watch. We struggle so badly to create openings up front and as JJ said earlier every score we get is hard won, it feels like Cody and Mossy have to kill themselves and get hurls broken off them to get into a scoring position and we create very few goal opportunities. We have long periods in every game where we drift for ten or fifteen minutes without scoring or have a lot of bad wides, you just don’t get away with that in the championship.

The loss of Huw Lawlor in particular and Billy Ryan to a team that was probably already in transition and needed a bit of surgery can’t be overstated and I wonder is it having a bit of a psychological impact on some of the lads that are around a while… does it feel like one step forward and two steps backwards in our development if you know what I mean. Trying to find a full back almost overnight, or at least thats how it feels (to replace the best in the land) is no easy task and I feel a bit sorry for Mikey because I’m not sure how comfortable or how happy he is to be playing there.

I know it sounds like I’m being very negative but I actually do believe that we can have a big say in the championship if we can improve on a few things and get a few lads like John Donnelly and Adrian Mullen fit and firing on all cylinders again. We will probably have to manage TJ’s minutes to try and get a last dance out of him but his frees are so important so I hope his fitness and mobility allows him as much playing time as possible. We played some fantastic hurling in last year’s semifinal and really should have won it imo so we know we have the players to do it. There’s still a bit of time for the new coaches to work with the lads and hopefully get a bit more of a settled look about us. I have no doubt we’ll give it a good rattle anyway and hopefully the bit of a blend we have now between youth and experience with a few more options off the bench will stand to us later in the year.

continued from above Ruari Sweeney and Jake mullen

I heard that from a good source as well that a lot of lads were suffering with illness, some last week as well.

I think we're in a decent place but I would say we need to try someone else at 3 and release Mikey Carey to his best position at wing back. I thought Hayes was the difference between the teams Sunday, just a very difficult man to manage for a full back with that size disadvantage. Lawlor would have relished that challenge. I think Darragh Corcoran might have as well?
We seem to have a bit of pace in the backs which is a good thing, and Ivan Bolger was a huge positive I thought. Liam Moore was very impressive again and seems to be building belief week on week. I think Cody and Mossy will be fine once the ground hardens and good to see Tom Phelan back also. Mullens fitness will be crucial for us. Tallis was excellent again.

We came into the league looking to find players and we appear to have found at least 4, Tallis, Garrett, Bolger, and Moore. Tom Phelan is back as well and hopefully a fully fit Mullen is on the way also. Like to see Eoin Lyng get a chance as well if he can recover his fitness, he's definitely a lad with something to offer, same with Marty Murphy.
Such a shame Huw and Billy are travelling.