Kerry GAA discussion thread #2

Crokes have 3 full teams on the go. It's a pity they couldn't pick a combination of those players and fulfilled the fixture at least. Not fair on Legion to be waiting around all year for the Crokes either.

However the Club Championship is an important competition, and the East Kerry board could have made an exception.

No winners out of this, even Legion who play the final with no games played.

SK board made an allowance for Dromid and have done so in the past for other clubs, I'm not sure why the EK board couldn't do the same for Crokes. At this stage of the year, another 2 weeks isn't going to make any difference to players anyway. Legion in a final without kicking a ball? Even if they win, what good is it to them, its kinda devalued now as it is. Btw when did they last win an EK title?

From that POV then Crokes are entitled to stand their ground and say we want to play a full team in that competition.

Both sides were probably in a position where not backing down was justified.

Match being played with a Crokes B team would be preferable to no match in the end obviously.

wonga77 wrote: »

For refusing to play Legion a week before their county final against Dromid. Or so the story goes anyway

Yup that's what I heard as well.

Bass Reeves wrote: »

The problem allowing team/ clubs dictating when games are played is that competitions drag on. You then have team managers that want to control when and if players play. Managers seem to have a mortal fear of a player getting injured in a match like this but it can happen at training as well.

In Crokes case surly they could have fielded a strong team with players outside the starting 15 and players from other panels. As well every manager knows who is injury prone and who is not.

It us the same with county management having extended panels all year long. Players not involved in matches or on match day panels should be released to play with clubs

I totally agree that Crokes or other clubs shouldn't be allowed to dictate competition schedules, totally agree that Crokes could have fielded a team that would be at the very least competitive and totally agree that club and county management often act the maggot with regard to player availability.

Having said that, I think it's easy to argue from Crokes POV that they want to play their best team in this competition. It's fairly reasonable not to want to pick a full team a week before playing Nemo in a Munster final. Then I think it's fair enough for them not to back down either by fielding a second team.

It's an open question whether not picking guys a week before a game because you're worried about them getting injured is totally reasonable admittedly.

If it was Strand Road I'd be saying **** the district match, but then again we wouldn't have a panel to fulfill the fixture without our first team.

Are Crokes entering a C team in division 5 next year? I had heard before that if their B team got to division 3 then they would be eligible to put another team into 5. Or that might have just been rumours.
Either way, there's not many teams in the county that could put out a second string side as strong as them, they have serious numbers to pick from

I have limited sympathy for Crokes here when they can field a 2nd team (including players who have played at county level) that can get out of division 4. The O'Donoghue cup is a sideshow for them compared to Munster and AI Club, why not put out the 2nd team and be done with it?

It's late enough in the year as it is so I agree with East Kerry board pushing on here. Can't hold competition up for 3 weeks for Crokes in this situation.

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

East Kerry Board should just copy the North Kerry Board

Go with the flow and have a bumper crowd at the the final at Xmas time

Even though this years North Kerry Final is down to be played the 10th of December so that is early for them

Semi Finals are

Ballyduff V Listowel Emmets

Brosna V Ballydonoghue who drew last week

Don't worry, a few draws and a few waterlogged pitches and it will be played some afternoon between Christmas and New Year with as you say a bumper crowd.

Some win by an Gaeltacht, dominated from start to finish although it seems that the opposition were poor.

Surprised to see crokes beaten but maybe it’s no harm, Eamon can have a look at the likes of White, Burns and maybe even Casey during the league now as they won’t be tied up with the club.

DDC1990 wrote: »

And most importantly Shane Murphy.

Absolutely, saw him several times this year and his kickouts were perfect, although he wasn’t overly pressured by the opposition. Would be very interested to see him between the sticks for Kerry, he looks the real deal.

Same As wrote: »

Murphy is almost being touted as the second coming of christ himself. Pulled off 2 excellent saves today, but numerous kick-outs went astray today, as they have done in numerous other games. I'm happy that he won't be club-tied so he has a chance to prove himself at inter-county level.

Bit of an exaggeration there, he has been very good any time I’ve seen him and it has been a problem position for years. Let’s see how he does if / when he gets his chance

Same As wrote: »

Murphy is almost being touted as the second coming of christ himself. Pulled off 2 excellent saves today, but numerous kick-outs went astray today, as they have done in numerous other games. I'm happy that he won't be club-tied so he has a chance to prove himself at inter-county level.

Kickouts will be different next year. The ball must pass the 21 meter line as far as I know and cannot be collected inside it. This will limit the area the ball can be kicked into so teams will have to have a long kickouts strategy as well as a short kickout. It may well be that kicking long and accepting a 50/50 contest will need to be put in place by teams as the risk of kicking into an area 20-40 metres from own goal may be too risky

bruschi wrote: »

Watched the Crokes Nemo game on Sunday and his kickouts were awful. Numerous times he completely missed his target with accuracy and also with distance. I was actually surprised at how poor the kickouts were, and was a mjor factor in the first half points for Nemo. Pulled off a couple of good saves, but they also came from his kickouts being won uncontested by Nemo. Wouldnt know him or see him much, but you'd hope that was just a one off so if his kickouts are usually good.

Was at the game and it was the same for both keepers - some poor kickouts. In the first half I thought Nemo would get penned in solely because of their keeper, then Crokes had similar.

On the whole, he was fine from kickouts, nothing that can't be worked on. He made two phenomenal saves to keep Crokes in the game, he's worth a crack in the league for that alone.

Gavin White too should be given a shot - drove Crokes on when required. Daithi Casey actually played poorly by his standards, a testament to Nemos half back line that none of them stood out, yet Crokes were quietened here.

I meet him every few days and his decline is very noticeable, especially since his wife passed away a few years back.
He certainly achieved a lot in his time and would still chat football to you till the cows come home. A real gentleman

NUTLEY BOY wrote: »

Saw a recent repeat on TG4 of a 2013 documentary about Paidi O Se.
I found it absorbing.

Did anyone ever write an autobiography about Paidi O Se ?

Yes. Paidi O Se wrote his autobiography strangely enough.

List of who is unavailable for the next while from Eoghan Cormican on Twitter



Eanna O'Conchuir and Brian O'Beaglaoich are unavailable due to their involvement with An Ghaeltacht in the intermediate semi-final (and possibly final) and Donaghy is still playing basketball.

I'd assume none of the lads in the Medium Term category will be back for the first batch of 3 games in 3 weeks - Donegal at home, Mayo away and Monaghan away. Might make for a tricky enough league, especially if there is much more in the way of injuries/knocks. Lots of the younger prospects will surely get a chance, especially in terms of the subs bench. Could be a bit of chopping and changing in terms of positions in the early games until the options improve. Looks like it will be the backs and midfield are the areas most affected. Also from last year's panel Bryan Sheehan has retires and Johnathon Lyne is no longer part of the panel.

Donegal are missing a few of their bigger names - the big one being Michael Murphy but I don't think they have the same volume of players missing. They also are in the semis of the McKenna Cup versus Armagh which is due to be played this weekend assuming the weather agrees (been cancelled twice already due to weather conditions) I'd imagine the team named for that won't be too far off the team for the Kerry game.

Overall I'd be surprised enough if Kerry ended up in a league final this year.

19 players unavailable??!:eek::eek::eek:

wonder what is the panel for sunday then?