Kilkenny GAA Thread

Harry Shine in

Big call hopefully it goes well for both of them

Apologies for the lengthy once-off message!

A few thoughts. This is a hurling forum and everybody is free to comment. There is indeed a Clare forum but with few contributions, averaging 2 a day!. The reason is quite simple, the existence of the unconnected Clare Hurlers Forum with 4,000 members, mostly but not all from Clare, and 300 online when I was on the site this morning. Among the most active contributors are 2 from Kilkenny and one from Wexford. They have no reluctance in commenting on aspects of Clare hurling and highlighting our many frailties. Other counties have their forums, premierview etc. I don’t know whether Kilkenny has or not. Clare Hurlers Forum covers every competition, local and national, together with occasional social, political etc matters.

And I know my Kilkenny hurling! During my lifetime, during which Kilkenny dominated hurling, I have seen them, either live or on TV, winning 21 All-Ireland championships. An incredible statistic! When I saw them winning in 2015, I did not expect that title would be their last one for at least a decade. I saw the greats, Pat Henderson, Eddie Keher, Henry, DJ etc etc. I particularly admired their defenders, Jackie Tyrell, Willie and Eddie O’Connor, Noel Hickey etc., plus the greatest manager of all time, Brian Cody. As a hurling fan, fan is probably too weak a word, I am naturally intrigued with the fall-off in Kilkenny performances.

I attribute the decline to the mediocrity of the Leinster championship, the competition more so than the hurling. The Leinster championship has become dull, a huge contrast with how it was in June 2018, at what I think was the start of the round robin series. Kilkenny played Wexford under Davy Fitzgerald, in Nowlan Park on a Saturday night. Clare were playing Cork in Thurles on the following day. Whilst our friends were flying to Lanzarote we went to Hayes Hotel, in Thurles for the weekend!. I attended the Kilkenny versus Wexford game. What an atmosphere, stadium full and animated supporters. Wexford should imo have won but didn’t see the game out. My main memory of the game was a ‘true gentleman’ from Kilkenny getting so angry when he saw Davy encroach on the field, advising him to f*** back to Clare! When I told him that it was not Davy but actually his selector Seoirse Bulfin, same stature, he told me that he would know ‘that ****** a mile off’. Kilkenny city was buzzing that evening, comparable with Thurles that weekend. Since then, Kilkenny qualify for the all-Ireland series every year, almost by default, without generating much excitement on the way. Then when they are competitive in the All-Ireland series most fans believe that Kilkenny remain at the very top tier of the hurling world.

It might be stating the obvious but meanwhile, the Munster championship remains a world apart. Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Cork spend freely to try and ensure that they have competitive teams. Waterford have great players but less resources and consequently are not making the breakthrough. The games are well attended, the excitement and tension are palpable. The arrival of the team buses, driven through the crowd by garda escorts with sirens blaring, packed pubs with the usual banter, the pre-match music, for instance Sharon Shannon played recently at Cusack park, etc all makes for a good family day out. Hurling is a topic of conversation when people from Munster counties meet. In Limerick this morning, a Treaty fan, a former Munster rugby player who I never saw at a hurling game reminded me how they ‘buried the Banner’. The games are refereed differently because the occasions demand it. The number and severity of the tackling makes it impossible for any referee to keep blowing for easy frees. Limerick in particular set the agenda, start games with huge physicality and try and get the game played on their terms. Worked against Clare this year, though not in previous years, and against Cork previously but not anymore. Clare versus Tipperary tomorrow evening will attract a crowd of about 35,000.

Meanwhile the Leinster Championship stagnates. The Offaly versus Kilkenny attracted a derisory crowd of 5,000. Above all Leinster counties Kilkenny, with their traditional rivalries with Cork and Tipperary would thrive in Munster, but that’s not to be!. Kilkenny hurling needs a vibrant provincial championship. Hopefully the re-emergence of Offaly, and more competitive Dublin, Galway and Wexford teams will re-energise the Leinster competition. Not just Kilkenny, but the long-term health of the hurling championship needs a better Leinster championship.

There both named to start for the seniors tomorrow.

I give up my free time to post here so I should also be immune to criticism

Not likely Village, you’re putting your head on the block there 😂😂😂

🤣🤣🤣

well realt I don’t think there worried about attendances or patrons for that matter. 5 matches on the other night at the same time ffs.

now I’m off l why the rush to finish off these games, is it on someone’s to do list. Absolutely ridiculous we’ LK be twiddling our thumbs for the summer.

Lets be honest and i think the managmenet have got this right today. We need to get minutes into both Shine and Mullen. Couldnt take the risk of starting both. On paper this is the last of the so called easier games. Dublin next and the its one of 3 ways to go. Leinster Final Qualifiers or out. If we can get 40 mins into Shine today and maybe 30 into Mullen and a good win it will be a massive boost.

Best of luck to the team today.

Of more immediate concern we enter a pivotal period in the current season. We have the best 15 selected for this evening IMO. Will need to be at our best to get the win. Kildare have been improving with every outing but I would expect us to get the job done. Then two visits to Portlaoise and one to Parnell Park over 7 days for games that could define our season as a whole. All three teams require and deserve our wholehearted support.

Oh great another Munster lad to tell us how great their championship is and how bad ours is, we definitely don’t have enough of them.

Very true. Games wise we're probably halfway through the championship, overall, and it hasn't really ignited so far. Still a bit of a league feel, the harsh weather doesn't help with that feel either

Getting Spicy in Leinster now with that Dublin win.

What was the red card for? Justified?