All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2026 (Munster & Leinster Championships, Liam McCarthy Cup)

Indeed, thank god for an awful tipp and Waterford team. Clare were terrible today and the two best teams have made the Munster final. Clare will get another day out anyway, not really sure will they go much farther.

For once I don’t think you could say waterford were terrible bar the first 30mins in the tip game 🤷

I thought Dublin were excellent yesterday and would not have been flattered to win by 10 points. Had some poor wides in first half and an awful one by Purcell early 2nd half.

The aggression and tight marking of their backs is what really impressed me as well as their use of the ball. Paddy Smyth was brilliant all through but the rest of them were as good in the 2nd half .

Brian Hayes gave one of the best most tireless performances I've seen. Donal Burke is a funny one , anonymous lot of the tiny but when he gets a bit of space to shoot hes clinical . The Dublin managers of the past 10 years who never picked hetherton must be feeling silly now. He's an absolute beast with the skill to match.

One thing for sure if Galway are not 100% tuned in and up for the fight they won't win the final. Because we know Dublin have the right mentality and attitude.

Ya it's tougher to regain momentum than keep it and it's all with Dublin right now. They also had a few players out injured yesterday so could get a boost if any are back in time.

I would have them as favourites now based purely on energy levels.

I don't think either Leinster loser will be too worried about playing Clare going by such a lackluster performance yesterday

Cork and Limerick can hammer anyone on their day. Cork scored 7 26 against a lot of that Dublin team last year but yes they do seem to have tightened up a lot defensively. Very hard not to think a Cork Limerick Munster and all ireland final but would have said the same last year.

I imagine if there is to be a bolter again this year, Dublin are probably the most likely candidates?

Clare look to be absolutely maxed out, I said it here last week that you could read little enough into the big win against an absolutely dire Tipp performance. They could beat the Leinster losers, but they would have to go through both Limerick and Cork in whichever order after that which is no-chance for me.

Offaly will be easily beaten by the Munster runner up.
Galway are on the rise, but I can't see them featuring this year.

Dublin have an astute manager, an extremely well-conditioned pacy team, look to have improved defensive issues which saw them destroyed last year, they have long and short options in their attack and they have Brian Hayes.

So for me they are the likely ones if there is to be a bolter, but I think most likely Cork and Limerick are a score a man better than any other team left in it

Brian Hayes was excellent for Dublin yesterday. He’s got exactly the type of all-round profile that could really make him the superstar that Dublin hurling has been desperate for that could really bring ‘the Dubs’ feel to hurling.

Another I was really impressed with was Conor Donoghue. In fact the entire middle 8 were brilliant.

With the round Robin series in munster and leinster finished i think its a good time to have a re-cap and see who has impressed most so far.

Team of championship so far

1. Billy Nolan
2. Sean finn
3. Ben connelly
4. Niall o leary
5. Diarmuid byrnes
6. Daithi Burke
7. Mark Coleman
8. Cian Kenny
9. Brian Hayes (Dublin)
10. Donal Burke
11. Aiden o Connor
12. Cathal o neill
13. William buckley
14. Brian Hayes (cork)
15. Eoghan cahill

Unlucky; Barry Nash, eoin Downey, Adam English, rory Burke, Stephen Bennett, gearoid hegarty, conor whelan, Alan connolly

What about hurler of the year. Brian Hayes (Cork) or Cathal O’Neill both well worth a punt

If Limerick win the all ireland, i'd be looking at Byrnes based on form to date. In terms of value bets, William Buckley at 33/1 or Darragh O Donovan at 80/1. Its a funny one as it often comes down to the narrative that builds up around individual players.

Darragh o Donovan has been excellent. I knew I'd forget a couple 😉

I know Wexford as a team have been shite but how has Lee Chin performed. He's usually a class act.