Waterford GAA thread - mod warning post #1 and #51

KevIRL wrote: »

In this instance we should stick the game in Dungarvan, mad to give Clare a game in Walsh park a couple of months before the championship.

I understand the logic of that but I'd rather give our own lads as many games in Walsh Park as they can get.

PTH2009 wrote: »

Very nice pity it clashes with the rugby but what can ya do

Your some supporter boy...

sitkaspruce wrote: »

Your some supporter boy...

ah no he's grand he's just moving up in the world lol

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

What's happening with Conor Gleeson? Is he out for the season or due back in the squad at any stage?
Similarly with Darragh Fives?

I’d say poor Darragh Fives has easily spent more on the physio table than the pitch during his career, seems to be just cursed!
Gleeson had shoulder surgery earlier in the year, be struggling to make start of the Munster campaign unless he gets a few games under his belt for Fourmile in April.

Fred C Dobbs wrote: »

PTH2009 wrote: »

Very nice pity it clashes with the rugby but what can ya do

Will be in Cardiff on Saturday (1st time) but would really prefer to be watching hurling ; will be keeping in touch on WLR.

Ya lucky sod. That will be unbelievable. Tis some atmosphere there.

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Is Maurice injured?

Yes

blueflame wrote: »

I believe Darragh Fives is all but good to go, just being very fearful and trying to manage him in the current ground conditions given his injury history. What is a bit worrying is that we apparently have a few concussion injuries that are taking time to clear up but hopefully the will clear. My understanding of the injury list at present is

Conor Gleeson, Conor Prunty, Shane Fives, Darragh Fives, Tadgh deBurca, and Kieran Bennett - a complete set of potentially first choice backs. Maurice Shanahan, Patrick Curran, Brian O'Halloran, - quite a decent full forward or half forward line.

Considering the above absentees, our achievements so far in the league have been quite impressive. In any other sport we would probably have topped Division 1B based on much superior scoring difference, as opposed to the Head to Head that was an away game.

Hopefully we can get all or at least most of the injuries cleared up in time to get some game time under their belts before the real serious stuff starts.

One comment on the current form without raking up old wounds, how in God's name the previous management never saw fit to play the two Bennett's together is mind boggling. Some might say that they tend to look for each other too much, but honestly how much proof does one need to see the benefits of their almost telepathic understanding on the field and the way they open up defences. In my memory, in almost every game, of any consequence, one was used to replace the other - absolutely mind boggling .

Prunty, Gleeson and Bennett are still a number of weeks away. Shane Fives had a set back as he stepped up his recovery from the calf injury unfortunately so he’s probably 3 weeks or so away still. Curran was named on the bench Sunday which was encouraging. Serious competition for that full forward line now. I’m not sure of the specifics of Maurice’s injury but hopefully we can get some more game time into him to have him as an option for Munster Championship. Brian O’H is still suffering the ill effects of a concussion sustained in the Offaly game unfortunately.

PTH2009 wrote: »

Lots of rain the next few days hopefully the match can go ahead Saturday

Did you mean to post that in the Wales vs Ireland thread lol

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

What age is he now? He was unreal as impact sub in 2017 and ‘finishers’ are part of the modern game. I’d keep him for the last 25 minutes but wouldn’t ever be upset to see him start as we could definitely do with help in the half forward line.

I would see Maurice more in this role also. I’m not sure if he’s perfectly suited to the way our half forward line is playing at present, working very hard between the 2 45’s, dropping deep and using the ball well to supply the full forward line.

Three things in particular impressed me about Waterford’s heart-warming victory over Galway last Sunday.

The first was the commitment and fighting spirit shown by the team, and the way they set about reeling in the big Galway half-time lead in the second half. They kept plugging away and finally got their reward with the last-gasp Shane Bennett goal. While Galway played a lot of very good hurling, I still thought that Waterford deserved to win, and would have done so more comfortably if they had made better use of several good scoring opportunities which went abegging. Clearly there is no problem with morale in the camp.

The second positive thing was the style of play which Waterford displayed throughout. The most important thing here was the heads-up hurling, with the player in possession always looking to play the ball constructively. This made a welcome contrast to the long blind balls out of defence to non-existent forwards which was regular fare with the previous regime. Last Sunday Waterford made excellent use of stick passes to work the ball out of defence, followed by good balls up to the forwards.

Waterford laid the foundation for their eventual victory in the first fifteen minutes, when the weather conditions were quite good and when they played some excellent hurling, including some super balls into the full forward line. Then when the weather turned nasty, and Galway pushed up on the Waterford puckout, the Déise defence came under a lot of pressure. The uphill incline facing Waterford at the start of the second half would have been much steeper were it not for the seven points banked in that first 15-minute period.

We saw glimpses of the new style of play in the earlier rounds of the league, against weak opposition, and it was worrying to see the lack of any game plan in the Dublin match. In an interview on RTE Radio last Sunday week, Páraic Fanning said they had a particular game plan in mind but that it was hard to work on it due to the disruption caused by the large injury list since the start of the league. Last Sunday was the first time we saw this game plan in full operation, and the results were both attractive to watch and effective.

Hopefully the move which led up to the winning goal is a sign of how we will play for the rest of the year. Colm Roche dug out a dirty ball on the left side of the defence and laid it off to Stephen Roche. Rather than belting it up the field, Roche held the ball up under pressure before playing it across field to the unmarked Austin Gleeson. Gleeson in turn found Peter Hogan with a superb low ball which must have travelled 80 yards straight into Hogan’s paw. This was reminiscent of the great through ball which Gleeson fed to Jamie Barron in the lead-up to the winning goal against Kilkenny in 2017.

Given that this was the 80th minute of Hogan’s first game for Waterford in over a year, he deserves great credit for his excellent first touch and turn which left his marker for dead, then his burst of pace and the vision to give the pass to Shane Bennett. The fact that the pass was a bit ahead of Bennett actually worked to Waterford’s advantage, as in trying to bring it under control he knocked it past the outrushing Galway goalie. It still took great athleticism and skill on Bennett’s part to get the ball over the line from such a narrow angle – especially as he actually struck the ball with the toe of his hurley bas (a fact that was highlighted by the eagle-eyed Donal Óg Cusack on RTE that night).

The third thing that impressed me about the game was the fact that all of the second-half substitutes made a significant contribution following their introduction, each making several good plays in the fourth quarter. It was good in particular to see relative newcomers Jordan Henley, Jack Prendergast and Colm Roche getting stuck in right away with good first touch and poise in possession under fierce pressure. These, of course, were excellent under-age players, and it shows how important it is to have players coming into the senior ranks with good under-age experience under their belts.

A couple of final thoughts. I don’t think I have ever seen Kevin Moran playing so well so early in the year. Is there a danger that he is peaking too soon!? And given the telepathic understanding between Stephen and Shane Bennett, would it be an idea to play Kieran with them in the full forward line? He did play a couple of games there in his first year at Under 21 in 2013.

DiscoStew wrote: »

Another positive impact against Galway from Jack, won a lot of dirty balls. He has been a big plus from this league campaign. Has probably jumped ahead of a few forwards.
The 2 Bennett’s and Tommy Ryan look pretty nailed on for the inside line at present. Half forward line will have Mahony certainly but after that is open enough. Gleeson could find himself there but it hasn’t been tried yet so can’t say with any certainty. If he does fall in there then it’s probably 1 from Kearney, Prendergast, Dunford, Maurice, Curran, Roche and O’Halloran.. I think putting Maurice and Aussie in there would require a big change in style from how our half forward line is playing at present. Kearney or Prendergast probably in pole position at the moment for that spot.

You dont see a starting place for Brick in the half forwards?

briangu wrote: »

You dont see a starting place for Brick in the half forwards?

I had Brick partnering Barron in my fictional team. Moran is playing unreal wing back, Tadhg will probably be centre back so the last slot there will be fiercely competitive also. Brick playing a holding role in midfield would allow the half backs to push forward at times possibly.