Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 3 ***Updated Mod Note Post 1***

Great win for ye today; I expected ye to win but I didn't think it would be so comfortable. It mightn't have been on the scoreboard but ye were by far the better team. Maurice Shanahan did great inside today, really destroyed Cork and the Brick was top top class. He'd have been my man of the match.


The most impressive thing for me (and the most worrying if we were to play ye in the Munster final) was the goals. The first 2 were brilliant, really clinical, great build-up play and great finishes. The off-the-ball work was superb too and the work rate throughout was top top class.


A league in the bag and now you're in a Munster final. Players must be on top of the world, confidence-wise. You have the likes of Shane Bennett scoring within seconds of his debut, Curran & Stephen Bennett also scoring on their Championship debut. And the thing is you could probably even raise a level- missed a few goals chances, hit a load of wides in the first half and a star like Gleeson probably wasn't at his best.




I'm not sure we'll beat Tipp, but I reckon we have a good chance but right from the start I was just looking at Waterford from the point-of-view that we might play them and I am worried. The only thing is that I think Richie Mc likes going up against a player like Maurice. But the pace and running of Dunford & Dillon would cause us huge problems and if we can't score against most defences, how are we going to penetrate Waterford's backline, Limerick players don't take on backs enough. To beat Waterford, I think you have to outwork them and that would seem to be very hard- most of your players have serious legs and are playing to a gameplan very well. Cut out some of the aimless ball into the forwards (which they mostly did in the 2nd half) and you're laughing.

Congrats on the win lads. Good underage work bearing fruit.

Footballers draw Offaly in the first round of the qualifiers

stumblingblock wrote: »

Where is TTM hiding?

Better to keep it classy I reckon. Humility in victory is a good trait to have.

Lovely to be able to sit back and enjoy 3 provincial semi finals and a provincial final over the next few weeks now while all the time eagerly awaiting our own final.

Also what a lovely 'problem' to be having - being anxious that the final is in Thurles and not Limerick:)

KevIRL wrote: »

Better to keep it classy I reckon. Humility in victory is a good trait to have.

Lovely to be able to sit back and enjoy 3 provincial semi finals and a provincial final over the next few weeks now while all the time eagerly awaiting our own final.

Also what a lovely 'problem' to be having - being anxious that the final is in Thurles and not Limerick:)

dont forget watching the qualifers too

We never win in the Gaelic Grounds so hopefully its in Thurles. Could be worse it could be on in Killarney

Miall108 wrote: »

It will be a completely different story Id say. Waterford be lucky to make an All Ireland Quarter Final in the Summer

Miall108 wrote: »

Cork have shown that they are not anything special and wont be doing much this Summer. Much tougher game lies ahead for Waterford in the Munster Final

KevIRL wrote: »

Footballers draw Offaly in the first round of the qualifiers

Tallow vs Abbeyside set for Tuesday after weekend of football qualifiers.. Surely a better date could be found. Championship on a Tuesday is a bad enough date but a couple days after inter county football... Would never happen after a hurling game. And also neither tallow or abbeyside have a player on senior hurling panel.. Surely there is a more appropriate date?

First of all let me congratulate the senior team on a wonderful performance and win yesterday, massive day for players and management that shows how far we have come in a short period,,,,, what im on to talk about now is the intermediate grade which in my opinion is a shambles, and i dont mean a shambles of a competition or a shambles of a team, im talking about the shambles of a setup put in place by the county board for a competition that might not mean much to the sunshine supporters, but as a supporter myself i was in watching the two games yesterday,,,,
Im also aware that this team was given a manager only 3 weeks ago, players were picked as a squad and played 2 challenge games and trained twice,
The reason this bothers me is there is a chance to win silverware in that competition if they just put some effort into it, ppl wonder why waterford never win a game in it, its because they are fed scraps from the county board,
To those players who may not be good enough for the senior team, fair enough they probably know that themselves, they dream of pulling on a waterford jersey and playing in thurles and getting to munster finals, but they are looked down upon.
you could see that cork were playing together a while (12 challenge games i heard). Whereas waterford were thrown together to fullfill the fixture like lambs to slaughter,
I know of course seniors take preference and that is 100% right, i just feel that if the county board gave just a little bit of a **** that they could get a good team together and try win a bit of silverware and not make a show of hood honest hurlers infront of thousands of people.

Delighted with the win and looking forward to a Munster Final. I think we need improvement on Sundays display if we are the win against Tipp / Limerick.

Some points to work on in my view going forward, not a slight on players but just think some improvements we need to make to win Munster .

• Moran clinical in front of goal ( Moran ground strike and hand pass across)

• Stephen Bennet Striking ( dropped at least one short and if this guy can get more consistent striking he'll be a real asset). future all star

• Not scoring from play for first 20 minutes ( will we get away with this in Munster Final?)

• Brian O Halloran needs to get stuck in more physically for me, had some nice touches and laid off a ball for brick for a free. Didn't have a massive influence imo.
  
• Sokys puck outs for me were not as good as Nash's. I remember at least one occasion hitting it straight to Walsh, which Walsh then put wide.
  
• Dunfords accuracy on the run, needs improvement but this guys pace is serious

Cronin scoring 5 points from play, product of our system? should we have deployed someone to man mark him and follow him out?

Not having any pop at lads but just some points I thought of after the game. For me Brick, Maurice, Barron, De Burke Fives and Gleeson were fantastic.
Brick is vital in our system IMO. Fives for me made some great catches also at critical times.

If Darragh Fives becomes fit, does he gain a starting place and who does he replace?

Last point, what are peoples view on talking long range point options?


We had a lot of wides from Barron, Gleeson, but is it worth a shot considering the system we play or are we better off trying to pick out Bennet or Maurice inside considering they are double marked?

Ok Waterford men and lassies who would ye prefer in Munster final?

Great performance and great result from a very young side - just need to have a good look at the video and try and improve on small areas such as wrong choices in striking on the run when there is no need to and being a bit more unselfish - getting on the score board is not always import - look at what Brick contributed last Sunday.

These are young lads and there was huge pressure last Sunday as they awaited the "Backlash" that the media predicted. Once we settled down and started to play we were a joy to watch - think the video on on the bus, while well intention back fired - these lads don't need motivation they need to be calmed. Was watching Brick in the pre-match parade, he was so relaxed all he was missing was a dog on a lead.

I honestly believe this team will improve with the experience from every game, and that includes when they are defeated, be it this year or next. I

This brings me to last year and i for one criticized Derek McGrath but never got personal. I repeatedly said he needed to learn fast but he showed no signs of that last year - last year we packed a defence without any strategy and hit aimless ball into a lone full forward who was normally Brian O'Sullivan who in fairness to the lad was never going to be near physical enough to compete. Not alone were our results a disaster but our performances were also. At the same time Derek was telling the hurling public of Waterford that we did not understand where we were and we were not realistic in our expectations. Sorry now but those of us following hurling in Waterford new full well the quality of players in the county and quite simply we were not getting the best out of them and Derek and his team showed no sign of learning anything. Indeed our performances were getting worse as the year went on. The criticism leveled at him and his team last year (setting aside the stupid personal stuff) was deserved.


This year is different - he appears to have learned a huge amount, probably on reflecting on last years disaster, whether is is just a he s a year older or the additions to the management and fitness team I cannot say but the overall improvement is staggering.

- we now have a game plan, we are defending in numbers where we compete for almost every ball and have a man sweeping behind as cover - individual players are now taking responsibility.

- we have forwards who will compete for every ball to the end - last year we were told we didn't have ball winners and yet how many times have we seen our players win ball against the odds competing all the time - nothing is a lost cause.

- our delivery is far better and it was noticeable last Sunday that more often then not we had two inside forwards

- our fitness levels have improved dramatically and this was a major problem last year.

And with all this our confidence has grown and the players now have much more experience.

Full credit to Derek and his management for this year in as much as he deserved the criticism last year he deserves every plaudit being given to him this year.


One final point is that on Saturday Anthony Daly commented that Derek had spoken in an interview about "falling off in terms of performance" and cautioned him against being negative - on Sunday, Derek said Waterford People were being too negative - I for one and i know many like me have the optimism back - I believe there is the winning of an All Ireland in this team maybe not this years but over the coming years - but remember the majority of counties will feel the same in there teams and All Irelands do not grow on trees-after years of devastation and heart break i have gotten to witness

- 2 Munster under 21 titles and one All Ireland
- One minor Munster title and one Minor All Ireland
- 4 senior Munster Titles and 2 National League titles

I cannot wait to complete the collection - good luck to Derek and Management and to his team - may they keep their heads on the ground and keep on learning