Kilkenny GAA Thread

Winning leinster is the bonus. Thats how far we have fallen this year. Building a team is no1 with an identity. Div 1a and qualifying for AI series is next. I think if we go out in Leinster next season would be a massive disaster.

There isnt a miracle cure. Hard work which I am sure people are doing but we also need to be working smart with limited resources. CB need to involve everyone and take criticism positively instead of negatively.

plus… it’s 21 years since cork won Liam mc carthy

Really don't see it as a Munster / Leinster thing. Cork & Limerick are just that chasm ahead of everyone else, (though Galway will be a very good test of Cork in a fortnight I predict). Cork are just doing to Offaly what they did to a much lesser extent against Clare, Tipp and Waterford. It's probably no consolation but muscle-memory would prevent Kilkenny from taking what Offaly are getting at the moment.

No, every county bar Cork and Limerick are fucked and the chasm between them and the pack wont be closed while rules of the game are ignored and counties are allowed spend millions on their senior teams unchecked.

All the talk about who gets the senior job to is missing the point . It's the coaching and coaches from 12 to 18 is where the real focus needs to be , that and a complete review of the county board structure from coaching and games structure . I think our Bord Na Nog is so far of the mark it's crazy . Year after year were told by the bord na Nog that grading will be done right , but year after year it's a farce , teams in lower Roinns than they should be dishing out beating after beating so they can win a handy title . Last year when the age changed back to U14 ,16&18 we were told that the grading would be fair and done right because they had the u13 results from the year previous......a joke .Just look at the results Roinn B and C for U14 this year on website the beatings teams are giving out is wrong in every way and off no benefit whatsoever to the county . There is 2 clubs in Roinn C U14 that should be 100% in Roinn B Erin's Own and Blacks and Whites dishing out huge beatings to everyone .

Why not review groups after the league and move clubs accordingly so everyone is getting decent games at there level .

Ye are better than Offaly but were out of sorts this year for whatever reason.

Everything needs to be looked at.

The throwball. The steps. The pulling/dragging. The barging/charging. The oversized hurl. The sliothar that goes 80 yards with a flick of the wrist. The tactical fouling. The head high tackles. The inconsistency of black card rule. The wrap tackle. The slapping of players elbows. The lack of respect for the rules and the refs that apply them.

And that’s not even having to look at the schools level in Leinster, competition structure, underage development and growing the game, respect for the lower tiers.

But hurling won’t. Hurling is too cowardly to acknowledge it’s a deeply flawed and broken sport. It’s never been better, sure the crowds in Munster (which saw a few hammerings too), isn’t that proof enough?

Not sure the character is there in the sport to make the changes or rise to the challenges.

Yes, Tipp are probably best placed to bridge the gap but I would be far from certain. Anyone believing all we are witnessing is two exceptional crops of hurlers in Limerick and Cork who will come and go in a natural rotation and other counties will replace them, is fooling themselves.

Kilkenny spent about 400K on the senior team the last time we won an All Ireland. Tipp spent 1.3m last year, and Id be odds on assuming Cork or Limerick win this year, it will be well over 1.5m. And let's be honest, that 1.5m probably excludes significcent unreported "expenses"

Ignoring the vast differences in funding across counties (most especially unreported expenses) or shrugging that it isn't a significant factor, is going to ensure far more frequent mismatches like today. It is also betraying the history and ethos of the GAA.

RTE lazily called today's mismatch "men versus boys", for me it was amateurs versus professionals.

There's big problems coming down the line for hurling the sport is getting more and more confined to the deep south of the country ie Munster, there should be an open draw for the All Ireland similar to the football but it wont happen because the Munster council will fight tooth and nail to keep the Munster championship as is because its a cash cow, they care more about money than the game there supposed to look after.

There's a simple solution I think ,have pre season in January,get rid of the leagues then straight into the provincials which should be straight knockout and then into an All Ireland series.They do it in Football,Ladies Football and Camoige why not hurling?

Ye some of that sounds plausible but you wouldn’t want to think that way or say out loud in Cork or Limerick or you would be laughed at not to say it’s not true

To be fair maybe the vast differences in funding might be a case of the top county boards seeing whats needed to be done, putting a plan in place and going out and doing it. It might be a case of our county board being stuck in a time where they still believe what they are doing with regard to financing is good enough.

Limerick have spent big on facilities and so have Cork while we haven't. Look around at neighboring counties and see what money is being invested. I've heard of at least 3 companies who have been rejected in favor of sticking with our current sponsor. You can call it loyalty or whatever you want but currently it's hurting KKs ability to invest money where it needs to be invested.

In terms of the history and ethos of the GAA can you please name the counties (apart from KK) that are rigidly sticking to this. That kind of thinking is what has us where we are…..going backwards

ye jonnie spot on

I hope Galway are very competitive/win vs Cork otherwise it will be very concerning for Leinster going forward. Galway have good young players with a bit of cut about them. If they prove below the bar significantly then we will have nothing to calibrate our goals against in the coming year or two.