Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

You can't read anything into the league in a normal year nevermind this year!

We played sh1t but it's the first game, relax!

League is meaningless. Don't like a fresh keeper conceding 5 goals but as long as it doesn't affect his confidence I wouldn't be too worried about today.

Is the Westmeath game on television? I don't see it listed on TG4 and GAA Go says you can't stream it in Ireland.

lertsnim wrote: »

Is the Westmeath game on television? I don't see it listed on TG4 and GAA Go says you can't stream it in Ireland.

Was just going to say that, I wonder will it be on the TG4 YouTube ?

Jesus people said I'm negative but reading some of the stuff here last night was ott. If we lose against Westmeath then it's time to truly panic

Mulbert wrote: »

Obviously a load of kids posting here tonight.

or woman! some of the comments from kids and woman on Facebook pages is laughable.

Hard to know where we’re really at after the Cork game. What can we expect from the Westmeath game? Anything other than a convincing win and I think there will be question marks

formerlyET wrote: »

Question marks over?

Over where the team is going under Cahill this year

PTH2009 wrote: »

It's hard to believe 14 months ago was the last time a Waterford intercounty game happened in front of fans and its been 21 weeks since the 2020 All Ireland final


Up The Deise

vs limerick in walsh park we were down by 6 or 8 at halfitme,and that was the wind flattering us .im glad i was at it, had i known what was coming i would have appreciated it more.

When the Waterford team to meet Cork for last Sunday’s league game was announced, I wrote here that there was no way the team would line out as selected. This was because so many players were named in positions where you would not expect them to be. When Waterford did, in fact, line out more or less as selected, not only did it make me eat my words but it also gave me the first indication that Liam Cahill was not taking the game seriously.

This became even more apparent when the game got under way. It became obvious early on that Waterford’s focus was way off: they were disorganised, their marking was slack, their first touch, ball control, and passing were poor, and a lot of their long balls went astray. A lot of Cork’s big score came directly from such errors.

There was a general lack of intensity, always crucial when playing Cork. It has always been the case that if you let Cork play, they will punish you, but if you get stuck into them, they are inclined to back off. You could see that Cork were particularly fired up last Sunday, as they sought to make up for their poor championship performances last year. Their first touch and passing were much better, and they were generally sharper in getting to the ball.

Cork’s first two goals were good examples of Waterford’s failings on the day. For the first, an unmarked Tim O’Mahony fielded a Waterford puck out, played a pass out to the wing and then bolted forward, with nobody tracking him, to take the return pass and create a huge overlap. I immediately said to myself: “Uh-oh – there’s a major systems failure here”. Four seconds later the ball was in the back of the Waterford net. A couple of minutes later, O’Mahony turned up, totally unmarked, deep in the Waterford half, to take a long pass (although on this occasion, Waterford escaped punishment).

For the second Cork goal, Austin Gleeson (who otherwise had a fine game), failed no less than four times to get the ball into his hand on the Waterford 20-metre line. From the ensuing ruck, the ball was flicked forward to the unmarked Jack O’Connor, who finished to the net.

I concluded after the game ended that Liam Cahill’s main concern going into the game (Waterford’s first of any kind in five months) was to take it easy and avoid injury. He certainly did not want the kind of calamity which befell the Kerry hurlers, who emerged from the weekend with two torn hamstrings, a damaged ankle and a broken hand. This was duly confirmed by Cahill himself in an after-match interview in the Examiner: “I’d be more anxious to be really competitive in the last two matches of the League than in our first two.”

Normally, county team managers are inclined to use their last league game as an opportunity to give fringe players a run out, as happened in our game against Limerick last year. On this occasion, given the proximity of the league to the championship, I suspect that Cahill decided to use the first league game for this purpose. In the event, Colin Dunford, Mark O’Brien and Peter Hogan did little to enhance their prospects, although Mikey Kearney did grab his opportunity to impress.

Some of these players have been on the panel for a long time without ever really establishing themselves, and I remain concerned that Liam Cahill has not brought in some fresh blood (which definitely exists). I can appreciate that, given the tight intercounty competitive season, he might have reasoned that there would not be enough time to bring new blood up to the required level and that it is best to retain experienced players for the in-house training games which are all that are available between competitive matches. At the same time, it is noteworthy that Davy Fitzgerald used seven debutants in Wexford’s game against Laois last weekend, with most of them showing up well.

There is not much point in commenting on individual performances last Sunday, given the limited functionality of the team in general. While possession counts usually provide a useful metric of individual performance, this was not the case on this occasion when possession was frequently wasted through poor passing, players running into trouble and getting caught in possession, or just giving the ball away needlessly.

Nevertheless, it was good to see Stephen Bennett and Austin Gleeson continuing last year’s form. The one player I would focus on is Kieran Bennett. Playing mainly in the midfield area last year, Bennett didn’t make a huge impact. This contrasts with his first breakthrough in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final and final, when he was excellent in the half-back line. Last Sunday gave a hint that this is where he could make his best contribution to the team, especially as we are a bit short in this department at the moment. Finally, it was good to see Michael Kiely get his first run on the team, and hopefully the way he effortlessly robbed his opponent and slotted the ball over the bar is a sign of things to come.

One novel feature of Waterford’s game was the fact that a half of their puckouts were short, which is a high proportion for Waterford. One presumes that this was planned and not just a matter of Billy Nolan’s off-the-cuff choice. It will be interesting to see if this is further developed, and what impact it will have on the team’s performances.

The red card issued to Calum Lyons was rather harsh, as he was clearly trying to flick the ball away from the player in possession, as he had expertly done a few minutes earlier with Shane Kingston. I read somewhere in recent days that striking with the hurley is no longer an automatic red card – it depends both on intent and degree of force used. On both these counts, Lyons should only have been given a yellow card.

The overinterpretation of what was both sides’ first game of the year by Donal Óg Cusack and Shane Dowling on the Sunday Game was absurd. Cusack saw signs of a new dawn for Cork hurling (once again) while Dowling saw signs of Waterford suffering from second-season syndrome. This in a game in which Waterford scored 1-27 without really trying.

Munster Championship under age draws

https://munster.gaa.ie/2021/05/2021-munster-minor-and-under-20-championship-draws/

Under 20 Hurling- QF Tipperary vs Waterford, winners face Cork in the Semi Final

Under 20 Football- QF Waterford vs Clare, Winners face Tipperary or Limerick in the semi finals

Minor Hurling- Waterford vs Winners of Tipperary vs Kerry in the semi finals

Minor Football- QF Cork vs Waterford, winners face Kerry in the semi finals

Is Callum Lyons suspended for this weekend?

Much changed squad



No Shane Bennett in the squad once again

killbillvol2 wrote: »

It's almost as if Cahill was using the league to try a few things out.

These players have only been back into hard training with 3 weeks, going straight into competitive action is massive, runs the risk of injuries, calves, hamstrings etc. Cahill clearly trying to switch it around as much as possible and not go in too hard, why risk losing lads for the entire summer. Hopefully a few of the younger players can seize the opportunity on Sunday