Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 2 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

dubcat51 wrote: »

for me power and martin dont cut it at this level.power has many attributes but just doesnt put it all in for me.crummy really bullied maher off the ball yesterday and he never got going.like others on here I would like to see bolger get a chance.goal scorer all ends up.also would like to see blanchfield get a chance in the forwards.looked a real talent at minor and should now be looking to push into the team.as it stands for me the championship team would be the same as last year except I PERSONALLY would go for bolger to replace awylard.also have to agree with others that I cant see cody being mobile enough for championship in midfield.(but has done ok in the league)

blackcard wrote: »

James Maher
Kevin Kelly
JonJo Farrell
Chris Bolger
John Power
Liam Blanchfield
Conor Martin
Michael Malone

That would be my order of the players from which one or more will be picked to start in the Championship. I would add that I think Chris Bolger and Liam Blanchfield have the most scope for improvement
With Mark Kelly gone, I don't know is there anyone else that should be added to the list above? John Walsh and Sean Morrissey next year maybe?

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

Richie Leahy is probably the most talented minor we've produced since Richie Hogan from what I seen last year. Hard to see him not being on the U21 team

PlayByTheRules wrote: »

Am wondering who came out of the JonJo Farrell vs. Cian O'Callaghan battle? That JonJo is a handful but more of a hustler than a finisher from what I have seen of him.

dastardly00 wrote: »

I'd pick Séamus Callanan as well. Full-forward target man. Exactly what we need.

Other than that I wouldn't mind seeing what Joe Canning could do if he wore a KK jersey

tbiggertycome wrote: »

Over all I'm happy with the league campaign so far, like some others on here I would've preferred to see a few other lads given a chance to prove themselves in competition and strengthen the bench. After the Waterford game i wouldn't have been panicking or anything but if you told me we'd finish top of the League table with only that loss I'd have been very happy with that. This is how I see our main contenders for the AI

Tipp- have been a bit up and down while running up some serious scores, they've also leaked goals. Bubbles only coming on at the end of games to help them over the line, Callanan only back for the last match v Cork. Tipp have unearthed two or three good players who will make a difference come the business end of the year. Ronan Maher at CB has looked decent and Michael Breen in midfield has looked very good especially going forward, John McGrath is not his brother but would be effective in the corner and will cause trouble. Add that with Jason Forde to come back and Tipp have a strong 6 to 15 and the other 5 are ok with Cathal Barrett being very good. I think they're susceptible to having their pocket robbed even though their putting up big scores. Will definitely be our biggest challenge.

Waterford- were going very strong and will be serious competition but I just don't see how they can beat a full strength championship Kilkenny or Tipp without comitting more to the forwards. Some will say well they've beaten both so far but they beat Kilkenny in a bog and just squeezed past Tipp missing a few marquess forwards, I just don't see them being able to do the same on a good summer sod and against full strength panels from either of the top two. They have some fabulous young players like Austin Gleeson, Shane Barrett, Patrick Curran, Colin Dunford mixed in with a few of the older heads. I'd love to see them play with another man committed futher forward or at least running forward to support more readily and quicker than they are at present. If they can do this effectively they could be a serious threat.

Dublin- I really expected more from Dublin on Sunday in the park but they also didn't put out their strongest team and held back McCaffrey (until they were getting wiped) and Dotsy (was warming up all game)who has been one of their more influential forwards from what I've seen of them so far this year. I don't think those player would have made 6 points of difference but it would have been a tougher game. I think Dublin are probably 2 or 3 top players from being a top contender but they do have Conal Keaney to come back but if they had Danny Sutcliffe I'd be confident they could go very well this summer I think the Ger Cunningham project is coming together nicely. They do need to sort out their short puck outs it caused them trouble numerous times. As a lad I go to matches with says "See them short puckouts? They should be banned, ruining the game!!"

Galway- All over the place so far and can't at this moment in time be serious contenders but we've all seen Galway teams galvanise and turn it around in a week or two so nothing would surprise me with them but they had so little fight in them against us in the park I'm not surprised their in a relegation final. They should be a lot better with the quality of players they have.

Cork- Just don't have the players at the minute can do alright when they really apply themselves but this seems to only be the odd time or if a lad gets a flake of a hurl or something to get them geed up. They could be competitive but no better if they tried 100% for 70mins in every match but they're not going to be contenders

Clare- Haven't seen enough to form a full opinion yet but from the bit I've seen their probably only a little better than last year so far. For me they have some great players and a suspect manager.

Limerick- Again I haven't seen a whole lot of them but hopefully with the Na Pairsaigh lads back and the first AI club title for the county it can give them a boost. They have some very good players but very little to no consistence they can be great for 20 minutes and not be seen for another 3 matches type of effort.

Wexford- not contenders getting better though if they can get a few wins they can get that great support out with them and that can drive a team beyond what you'd expect.

Offaly- nope
Laois- nope
Kerry- nope
Carlow- nope
Westmeath- nope

Kilkenny- I think we're still probably favourites with how we've preformed so far and given who we have to return. If you take the Tipp match and see how we did that day I think is a great indicator of the relative strengths of the teams. That day we played without Richie Hogan, Cillian Buckley, Kieran Joyce (for a lot of it only came on at the end for Joey Holden) Michael Fennelly, Eoin Larkin, Jackie Tyrrell. Tipp were missing Seamie Callanan, Jason Forde and Bubbles for most of the game. I still think a full strength Kilkenny team will have the measure of anything we've seen so far this year.

My starting 15
E Murphy
P Murphy J Holden J Tyrrell
P Walsh K Joyce C Buckley
C Fogarty M Fennelly
W Walsh TJ Reid R Hogan
C Fennelly K Kelly E Larkin

Subs
R Reid
S Prendergast
B Kennedy
R Lennon
C O'Shea
L Ryan
J Power
C Bolger
J Maher
JJ Farrell
L Blanchfield


Thats a tough team to beat but will we be able to get them all on the field on the same day?
Injuries at the minute:
Fogarty should be ready soon.
I think Tyrrell is still a better option than S Prendergast nothing against him but Jackie just has a bit more once the rust is run off him.
M Fennelly will play Championship have no doubt.
Larkin I expect to be in great shape from reports I heard from his Christmas visit home.
I'm the opposite of most on here and actually think R Hogan needs more playing time not less to sharpen him up.

We're in big trouble if we got two or three serious injuries to any of that starting 15.