Kilkenny GAA Thread

Well said , thanks for that.

100% Realt , most people who have played the game would know that. And just to be clear, I’m well aware that Paddy has his limitations, although I also know he hasn’t cost us in nearly as many big games as some are saying. I’m just saying people (not just on here) should be more careful with their words. Paddy just seems to have become a bit of an easy target .

That’s a fair cheap shot there was 20 plus or more incidents in that game you could look back on and say if only the ball hopped this way we scored that point or that player got that hook

You can’t make one player a scapegoat

Ultimately we didn’t perform in the last 10 mins of that game were to slow on the line and had no impact off the bench which is why we didn’t get over the line and is widely acknowledged on here

Thanks for the update. That seem close to our full team or is there a few missing ?

I heard they had everyone bar Rory Garrett. 5 goals were conceded in first 15 mins I believe

Thank you, is Ivan Bolger underage ? he will probably be out for 7/8 weeks. What did the final score end up ? Conceding 5 goals in first 15 mins does not bode well. Limerick are probably rated the 4th or 5th best team in Munster

I’d concur with that. I heard 1 penalty, 1good goal and three howlers , now is the time to try and remedy this.

Yes and particularly with the 20's where the 4 senior players haven't been available and where the schools have caused disruption also up to only a week ago. Very difficult to prepare properly.
I think whatever happens Kilkenny should be in a Leinster semi final, and hopefully in a Leinster Final v Galway which would be a huge test, so they'll have a few games before then to iron things out and field their best 11. I'd be surprised if more than 10 of that team that lined out last night would be on the final starting 15.

It’s about respect for someone who puts on the county jersey

There's plenty of players I haven’t thought were good enough or don’t like but once they have put in the work and cross the line il back them 100%

Surprised by that, that game was usually RTEs token Leinster Championship game before they get stuck into the Munster championship.

Hopefully people might travel so, those that can do so. We'll need all the support we can get. Win there should basically put us in a Leinster Final.

The GAA+ is some rip off. Will be very lucrative though given they have 3 sold out Munster Championship games on.

I don't agree. I think its a great service and have no problem paying the yearly subscription (I know it's gone up 15 or 20 euros this year). Loads of hurling and football matches that wouldn't otherwise be shown. Some of the pundits are very good too, richie hogan and john dwyer for example.

At the start of the league we knew we needed a rebuild and needed to try and find new players and let players settle into new positions. So now that the league is over it’s probably a good time to review how things have gone and where we stand going into championship.

On the face of it we seem to be in a similar position to the end of last year’s league, 3rd from bottom in the league with division 1 status largely retained due to wins over the relegated teams. But when we look into it this year’s league has been very different to last years. Throughout the league we have tried to implement a short passing, “modern”, style of play that doesn’t really look to come natural or suit the players we have. As a result this has led to players making mistakes and over complicating things, backs have been turned over resulting in scores been given away and the slow delivery into the forwards has seen our scoring rate drop, at times, alarmingly. In the whole a lot of our league games have been hard watches and frustrating watches. The result in Galway, although probably over exaggerated due to illness and a heavy training block, summed up how our league had been going and I’d imagine led to a number of hard discussions within management and between management and players. Similarly to the last league game of the 2025 league we went in to Thurles last week needing a performance to improve morale throughout the county and in fairness we did get that helped in no small part thanks to the return of TJ. Going into the game I wondered would we return to basics or keep trying to play a similar style that hadn’t been working for us previously. What we got was a more hybrid version of this, we went short at times but when we were under pressure, with the target man at the edge of the square, we were able to go long. I know the match wasn’t at a championship level intensity but the style did seem to suit us better, the ball into the forwards was quicker and as a result our scoring output was much higher and we created a lot more chances. At the back things were still worrying, as with other games, we have given away far too many goal chances and but for some brilliant saves from Tallis Tipp could have pulled away from us. The ease that Tipp, Cork and to a lesser degree Limerick were able to create goal chances is worrying. With Huw Lawlor gone full back was one of the most critical areas we needed addressing during the league but we finish it still probably not knowing who will start at 3 in Salthill next month. Carey as given loads of games back there and there was signs that he was beginning to come to grips with the position but it’s obviously not his best position, the lack of any real stand out replacements would probably mean he is still the man that will end up back there.

There have been loads of positives to be taken out of the league also. Aidan Tallis has been the number 1 throughout the league and to my mind has been one of our best players, we all talked about the option he gives us with puckouts but his shot stopping has been top class and at the minute you have to feel that the number 1 jersey is his to lose. Darragh Corcoran has returned to the panel and has taken his good form at 6 with the Shamrocks and has had a good league campaign for Kilkenny at centre back. Centre back has been a problem position for a long time and I think Darragh has done a good job there for us. Similarly Timmy Clifford has returned and looks a better player than his first stint on the senior panel, unfortunately injury/illness has curtailed his involvement in the league but I think he has shown enough to suggest he will do a job for us if necessary. Tom Phelan’s return from injury is another big boost for us, he is a player that offers something most of our forwards don’t, and his directness and pace cause trouble for defences and give that little bit of extra space to the other forwards. When he went off injured on Saturday he was a big loss. The biggest positive from the league however is the new players who have been introduced and done well. Rory Garrett, Ivan Bolger, Killian Doyle, Ed McDermott and Liam Moore have got loads of game time and have shown they have the quality to make it at this level. McDermott and Moore in particular have been a much needed boost as we need fresh blood in the attack. It’s a pity that Marty Murphy and Rory Glynn have been injured as it would have been nice to get game time into both during the league also.

With Niall Corcoran coming in as coach and Timmy Houlihan coming in as goal keeping coach we all hoped to see a positive impact in our style of play which we haven’t yet seen. In their defence the nature of the games coming thick and fast and the poor weather have probably meant that they haven’t had a massive amount of time to work with players from a hurling point of view. The next 4/5 weeks are vital as they can have no excuses for not having the team ready for Galway and Salthill. I do think we are in a better position than people are making out, from last year’s match day panel we’ve added Garrett, Bolger, Corcoran, Clifford, Moore and McDermott, Doyle and Tallis have made strong cases for themselves. On top of this Molloy and Stephen Donnelly have cemented their position an Molloy in particular has been one of our best performers throughout the league. This is obviously tempered by the loss of Huw Lawlor and Billy Ryan but if we can go to Salthill and get a result I think it will set us up for a good championship. My Team to start against Galway would be:

Tallis,

Butler, Carey, Garrett

Blanchfield, Corcoran, Deegan

Molloy, Kenny

Phelan, Cody, J Donnelly

Mossy, TJ, Moore

And the Wexford game in Nowlan Park the week after is also GAA+

Unfortunately if what i heard is true Tom Phelan could be facing another lay off, picked up a very nasty injury on Saturday evening.