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Post by thesquareball on Jul 29, 2019 13:18:23 GMT
totally agree with veteran ,donal og and derek mcgrath are their to analyse the game ,not to be waffling on about their own agendas,Tipperary had no interest in winning munster this year training ferociously hard thru this campaign to be ready for the all ireland campaign.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 29, 2019 17:59:37 GMT
By Anthony Daly
Monday, July 29, 2019 - 06:30 AM When the GAA redrew and reshaped the fixtures calendar last year, I was raging with the plan because I felt it would strangle hurling’s profile.
The early part of the season was a boom but it still felt like an early season tournament to clear the runway for a football take-off.
Staging the Munster and Leinster finals on the same day was the first slap in the face but having both All-Ireland semi-finals on the same weekend felt like another stage in the race to get the hurling season over as quickly as possible.
Last year’s All-Ireland semi-final weekend altered my thinking slightly but this weekend finally won me around. There were minor and U20 football matches on over the last few days but the last weekend in July has become our annual Woodstock, our very own hurling festival weekend, where everyone gets delirious with the excitement and entertainment on show.
I wasn’t out in Dublin on Saturday night but I spoke to some friends and they said it felt like a coming together of the hurling tribes.
Tipperary, Kilkenny, Limerick and Wexford people, and hurling people from all over the country, all basking in the warm afterglow of what they’d just witnessed in Croke Park, and even more excited by what was still to come.
The weekend was broadly similar to last year; epic games, Hitchcockian drama, spellbinding class and skill, incredible passion and bravery.
The only thing was that both games didn’t go to extra-time but they very nearly did.
Kilkenny and Tipperary are in dreamland this morning, Limerick and Wexford are in the horrors. And yet every genuine hurling person is still thrilled that our game is now regarded as the one sport almost guaranteed to keep on giving.
What other competitive team sport can routinely make that unspoken promise?
Wexford will be crestfallen because they were so close to a first All-Ireland appearance in 23 years that they could almost taste the sweetness of that sensation.
They just blinked when that moment of truth arrived.
When I first started playing a sweeper with Clare and Dublin, my golden rule was that every other defender must mark their man tighter than they would if it was six-on-six.
When Wexford went five points ahead, and with Tipperary a man down, maybe the Wexford players just sensed that they were already there. But you’re never there until you’re actually there.
I would have kept Kevin Foley back and shoved everyone else up the field to pen Tipp into their own half.
That would have forced Tipp players to mark the Wexford forwards, which in turn would have also meant Tipp withdrawing another forward.
Wexford had the room, and the licence, to push on while retaining enough cover at the back.
But losing their foothold probably had as much to do with human nature as any tactical meltdown.
Wexford also started lorrying ball more than running it through the lines but you still have to give massive credit to Tipp.
They had every right to feel aggrieved when both goals were disallowed but they rallied manfully on both occasions.
Their supporters deserve a share of the credit too because, even though they were outnumbered over 3-1, the Tipp supporters found their voices when their players needed to hear them the most.
There was a fear after Lee Chin’s goal that Tipp could collapse. Wexford had all the momentum.
You wondered if Tipp would have the legs to even stick with Wexford, never mind sprint past them, but they fired up the engines and nailed five brilliant points in succession.
The first disallowed goal was a setback but it wasn’t the same sickening blow to the solar-plexus of the second.
Referee Sean Cleere had not put out his two hands to signal the free as Jake Morris’s shot hit the net. It was another haymaker on the chin but Tipp got up off the canvas and kept landing the bigger punches.
Liam Sheedy has been accused of not using some of his younger players during this championship but he turned that debate on its head yesterday, with Morris, Mark Kehoe, Willie Connors and Ger Browne hitting 0-4 off the bench.
Conversely, there were some question marks about how Wexford used their bench but Wexford just seemed to lose their way, while Tipp continued to find their way through the impending darkness.
Nobody shone those lights more brightly than the Mahers – Ronan, Brendan and Padraic – in the second half. The last two high balls that Brendan won over the head of Lee Chin was game-defining stuff.
Cathal Barrett, who had been in trouble from Paul Morris, also came up with a couple of huge plays. Noel McGrath was immense throughout.
Seamie Callanan also got some key scores, and engineered some massive placed-balls, down the home straight.
We all wondered if Tipp would have the legs to see out a game that would go to the wire but, I’ve always felt that your legs are fresh when your head is fresh.
A mental staleness may have crept into Tipp minds after winning their first four games but any doubts that surfaced after the Munster final, and the Laois game, provided Sheedy with all the motivation to go to that next level.
Scoring 1-28 was a bigger achievement again considering that total was reached with 14 men for 25 minutes, and it came against a Wexford defence not known for conceding such a high tally.
But that’s hurling, which is why the game just trumps everything else.
Wexford had the room, and the licence, to push on while retaining enough cover at the back. But losing their foothold probably had as much to do with human nature as any tactical meltdown
Epics just have a habit of following on from epics because Saturday’s semi-final was every bit as enthralling.
I felt beforehand that Limerick would be able to override, and get past, that horrendous statistic of Munster champions in All-Ireland semi-finals. But they couldn’t.
The misery continues for the Munster winners; since the qualifiers were introduced in 2002, on the 15 occasions that the Munster champions have advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-final, they have won just four.
Limerick started like a team that were still trying to shake away the rust from a four-week break, whereas Kilkenny were right at it from the first ball.
That was always going to be a concern for Limerick, which is why I was surprised they didn’t start the match with a more conventional formation, as much to throw Kilkenny off their scent as ease themselves into their rhythm.
Limerick will argue that their system dictates that rhythm but Kilkenny knocked them back to such an extent that Limerick had no flow from the word go.
They were chasing, always chasing, and Kilkenny are the last team you want to have to try and hunt down.
Limerick could still have reined them in if the officials had done their job properly. That last sideline ball from Darragh O’Donovan definitely got a nick from Cillian Buckley but neither the referee, linesman — standing five yards away — nor the umpire, who in fairness was behind the net, spotted it.
I’ve repeatedly made this argument but it needs to be consistently made before the GAA finally starts listening to what is required to avoid these calls.
Nobody wants VAR in the GAA but when a call of this magnitude is missed, can somebody in front of a monitor not let the referee know what has happened?
It’s not as if there isn’t enough cameras around Croke Park — or at any venue for a big championship match — anymore.
Can a team not be allowed even just one challenge? A multitude of people will say that such a system would add another layer of professionalism to an amateur game but, let’s be honest, these players are professional in everything but name.
They prepare, train and play like elite athletes. And they deserve to be treated as such.
The stuff like the controversial Limerick penalty is subjective and nobody has any issue with that kind of a call.
They will mostly even themselves out over the 70 minutes but it’s wrong — especially to the team it happens to — when they have their season ended in such a big game by such a blatant missed call.
I was nowhere near it but even from where I was, at the opposite corner, I thought that the trajectory of the ball had changed slightly. It looked a funny kind of a wide, in that the pace appeared to have almost been taken off the ball.
It can be hard for anybody to judge in real time, and with the ball travelling at such speed, but that kind of a wide can only happen if the ball has been touched.
It was just a shame that the ending was clouded in controversy because — not that they will care for a second — it also took from the manner of Kilkenny’s victory.
They were immense but they won the match in the first 20 minutes. Anytime Limerick tried to get back at them, Kilkenny had that cushion built up that enabled them to keep pushing ahead.
There were any amount of key moments but one of the most decisive was Richie Hogan’s point just before the break.
Aaron Gillane’s penalty had seemingly halted Kilkenny’s momentum and Limerick finally seemed to have a foothold in the match but Hogan’s score pushed the deficit back out to three at half-time.
It wasn’t the lead Kilkenny probably felt they deserved to have but three points was still big.
Getting that final score before the break was also a psychological strike in the context of making some kind of a statement towards Limerick’s second-quarter surge.
To me it was almost a defiant slogan: ‘We’ll fight back, we’re not going to accept this belief now that Limerick are going to speed past us’.
It’s still too easy to say that Kilkenny were the better team when they had eight wides and Limerick had 15.
They were just more efficient but Limerick will be tormented when they look back on some of their wides. Tom Morrissey had a couple of terrible wides. So had Cian Lynch.
Morrissey had one great chance late on which tailed wide. It was a killer miss, not just because he’d have expected to score it all day long, but because the move had been put together so brilliantly.
To compound matters, Adrian Mullen — who was superb all evening — replied with another quality point, over his shoulder, immediately.
Kilkenny just kept beating back those waves anytime Limerick tried to whip up a tide of momentum or a surge of scores.
Much of Limerick’s dominance has stemmed from their own puckout but Kilkenny effectively shut it down.
They allowed Nickie Quaid give the short one to Mikey Casey or Richie English but then they hunted them down like ravenous wolves.
Limerick’s forwards subsequently couldn’t get on the ball as much as they’d have wanted to.
They rely so much on their half-forward line but that triangular fusion of power and class — Kyle Hayes, Tom Morrissey, and Gearoid Hegarty — were never the fireball Limerick needed them to be to burn through Kilkenny’s resistance.
Hegarty in particular was just having one of those dog days ( huge credit to paddy Deegan’s aggression) and I wonder should John Kiely have given Shane Dowling ten minutes more; he was that impressive when introduced.
The Limerick half-forward line played too deep anyway but I’d almost have brought Kyle deeper again and slipped him in centre-back when Declan Hannon went off.
Kyle proved himself in that position with the U-21s in 2017 and I thought he’d have been tailor made for TJ Reid, who once again underlined his claim to be regarded as one of the greatest forwards ever.
When we talk in the future about Ring, Mackey, Keher, Carey, and Shefflin, Reid will surely be in that bracket.
Anytime Limerick put Kilkenny under pressure on the scoreboard, Eoin Murphy could relieve that pressure by lamping the puckout straight down on top of TJ.
He may not have scored from play but his influence, especially under the dropping ball, was inspiring, and was a lightning rod for Kilkenny’s defiance.
You just can’t buy that kind of leadership when your backs are to the wall.
And yet when all the greats are mentioned, Brian Cody will remain top of that list. He was a great player but his achievements as a manager have just taken his name and his legend to a whole new level.
To be chasing a 12th All-Ireland, with another new team — one many people said weren’t good enough to win an All-Ireland — is just mind-blowing.
Kilkenny are still the masters. And Cody remains hurling’s ultimate Master in the sport of absolute kings.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 29, 2019 18:00:55 GMT
Daly is right about Saturday night in Dublin being special with hurling fans of all hues descending on the capital for the weekend.
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Post by glengael on Jul 29, 2019 18:17:53 GMT
I thought it was gone from Tipp with the loss of McGrath and goal but they outscored Wexford when it mattered. Morris had a big impact. Both Tipp and KK will be hungry for success after being 'sidelined' for the last 2 seasons. Each will be trying to prove that they've got the rebuilding right after last year's early exits. Really heartbroken for Limerick. They were great ambassadors and wonderful supporters. When I heard the Limerick supporters booing the Kilkenny free taker early on I made my mind up there and then who I wanted to win. Also, listening to a few of them at the League final, one would have been forgiven for thinking they had won 5 or 6 All Irelands this decade alone. Clearly we interact with very different categories of Limerick supporters. Boo boys and girls follow every team - apeing the worst antics of soccer supporters. Looked around me to see the source of booing of a Michael Murphy free during last Sunday's match. Was mortified to see one of the boo boys was a clubmate of mine.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2019 19:43:57 GMT
More often than not I don't bother with the Sunday Game any more. It leaves me with an empty feeling after listening to a cliché laden discussion, too often with an agenda , too often partisan. I did tune in last night wishing to see those two memorable weekend contests again. The panel consisted of Derek McGrath, Donal og Cusack and Brendan Cummins. It was pleasing to see the games again but the "analysis"! I will spare Brendan Cummins from any criticism> He comes across as a likeable guy with no baggage. The other two were insufferable. A large segment of the analysis consisted of an ode to their own managerial career, with a nod to their buddy, Davy Fitzgerald. Donal og always comes across to me as self righteous, pompous whose opinions we are expected to treat as ex cathedra. One gets the impression that he is always speaking to an enemy out there in the ether, perhaps the Cork County Board. Maybe those battles left him scarred and sour. He was making some point last night in the context of the sweeper system and invoked British colonial history! Yes, I too have no idea what his point was. Of course , when he takes to displaying graphics in the "space control room" we are treated to the game of hurling being distilled to a labyrinthine, obscure, unfathomable game of chess. Some body should tell him that wild games like football and hurling are generally characterised by spontaneity, fortified by an unquenchable will to win, with just a smidgen of tactics thrown in for flavour and variety. Of course we see this temptation in "civilian" life as well, a passion to eschew the simple in favour of the arcane interpretation. Novels, poetry, music, paintings etc are given obscure "meanings" which one can safely say in most cases the artist never intended. Derek McGrath was no better. On one occasion he prattled on about, while as a Waterford manager, he sat at home in bewilderment listening to the Sunday Game panellists. Frankly, it was not clear whether he was praising or criticising the panellists. Derek and Donal og, I should not have to remind you that the Sunday Game is not about you two, but then I suppose it is not easy to accept that fact if you are afflicted with a big ego. So, we were treated to a treatise on hurling via a slide rule while there was no in depth discussion, for instance, on why three Tipperary goals were disallowed. They did highlight the most contentious, I suppose, incident of the weekend- the 65 which was not awarded to Limerick. The solution from our two egotists? The predictable two referee solution. A set piece in full view of the referee, side line official and the near umpire needs to be overseen by a further official? Get off the stage for God sake. Finally, I watched the last ten minutes or so of the Galway/Wexford minor game. A melee developed near the Galway goal line. This was no handbags. Hurleys and fists were flying. It was as nasty an incident as I have ever witnessed on a playing field. So, nasty that one of the Galway players was removed on a stretcher. Was this highlighted on the Sunday Game? No siree. Very likely it would not be consistent with the purity of the chess board analysis of the art of hurling that the two boys had inflicted on us. After watching the Sunday Game I could not help wondering what Brian Cody would have thought of the two boys. Windbags could be an expression he might have used. On the minor game, while I agree with you re the incident, it probably is for the best that the Sunday game did not dwell on it given that the players are at most 17 years of age.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 29, 2019 20:39:35 GMT
Donal Og did reinvent hurling in 2004 with his short puckouts to Ben and Jerry who posted points from 100 yards with the new lighter ball.
KK adapted and saw off the Cork challenge in 2006 in an arm wrestle of a final.
The real problem arose when Davy and Donal Og were with Clare and Derek McGrath was with Waterford because when they met we were treated to an anti-hurling bore with neither side coming out to play and for all the world they were like two bad soccer teams playing for a nil all draw and taking their chances in the penalty shootout.
Michael Duignan rightly railed against it.
Davy and Donal took exception to him.
Donal Og used the decline of Offaly last year to have a veiled pop at Duignan and Duignan let himself down badly with a tweet in reply.
Its all gone too far now and TSG should put an end to it. Donal Og seems to be the one with the chip on the shoulder.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 30, 2019 22:02:14 GMT
IrishExaminerOpen Menu NEWS
Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 12:41 PM
Former Kilkenny hurler Brian Hogan said that talk of hurling tactics is “blown out of all proportion” and echoed Brian Cody’s sentiments that workrate and determination are much more valuable attributes in players.
Cody qualified for his 16th All-Ireland final as Kilkenny manager after victory over Limerick on Saturday, with many analysts and experts hailing the strategies and set-ups the defeated Leinster finalists employed against John Kiely’s charges.
But speaking on the Renault Irish Examiner GAA Championship Podcast, Hogan insisted that ‘tactics’ have a minimal role in Kilkenny’s approach, saying that the focus is on exerting relentless pressure on key opponents.
Dissecting Cody’s game plan from Saturday, Hogan said: “The one tactic Kilkenny did implement, which is what we would have done back in our day, is get yourself set for opposition puck-outs” — but stressed that the defining aspect of Kilkenny’s performance was the shift put in by Kilkenny’s forwards, most notably John Donnelly.
Hogan went on to describe how Cody’s teams looked to disrupt the opposition restarts. “We would have targeted certain teams over the years and certain individuals. I remember one year where Tipperary were looking for Shane McGrath and they were looking for Brendan Maher (from puck-outs). We saw that in the semi-final, and in the Munster final — there are certain players who are the go-to guys,” Hogan recalled.
“And we said: ‘Right, can we close that out?’ That is probably the only tactic outside of relentless pressure.”
Hogan also believed that the intensity Kilkenny brought to the game disrupted Limerick and forced Kiely’s men into mistakes.
“What you do is — and Limerick love playing it from the back — but can they do it when there are three lads in their faces and they’re getting hit? And all of a sudden, rather than taking a right decision with the ball, they’re making decisions they don’t ordinarily make and things start to break down.
“They start doubting themselves. Lads make decisions under huge pressure — split seconds — do they make the right decision? Well, they have a better chance of making it if they’re used to it (that pressure), but what if it’s the first time they’ve come across that in a year? That’s the height of it.”
Hogan dismissed any suggestion that there was more to Cody’s tactics book, saying: “Lads will try to make a science out of it, but it’s nothing more than that, and Brian (Cody) will hone in on that. What he does well is if lads are 6ft tall, he’ll make them feel 7ft tall and they’ll fully believe that they can take over the pitch.”
However, Hogan was unimpressed by the Dónal Óg Cusack and Derek McGrath’s obsession with sweeper-based tactics during their analysis of the All-Ireland semi-finals on The Sunday Game.
Cusack described the criticism directed at the style as being “part of the last remnants of British culture on these islands”.
But Hogan slammed the analysis on a weekend when hurling should have been celebrated.
He said: “I thought it was ridiculous.
“We had two unbelievable matches and people were waiting to get stuck into the analysis and we got what felt like a rant for 10 minutes justifying sweepers.
“Every county is entitled to set up the way they see fit with the players they have. (But) they are almost paranoid in trying to justify their own (tactics).”
Irish Examiner columnist Anthony Daly pointed out that such a tactic requires buy-in from the whole team, saying: “What it would require from me is an absolutely ferocious level of work from the forwards — backs we associate with that sort of work, but not from the forwards.”
Hogan went on to describe how Kilkenny will pick up players as a collective: “The extent of tactics when I was there, outside of puck-outs, was do you stick or twist in terms of the backs, do you go man-for-man, or do you go zonal?
“We would have always played zonal in terms of you hold your position, if Seamus Callanan is in the full-forward line then JJ (Delaney) would pick him up, but if he goes out the field, we aren’t going to change our team around.
“The winning or losing of (the Limerick game) was how we were going to manage their half-forward line, because they play a very similar style to us, the half-forward line come back looking for the ball and hungry for the ball.
“Were our lads going to follow them up the field? What they did was they held, and they trusted the guys out the field and said: ‘I know you’re going to be outnumbered lads, but we’re going to work like dogs and hit everything that moves.’ Make it a warzone out there.”
Ironically Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald had launched an impassioned defence of his Wexford team’s style of play after Sunday’s defeat to Tipp.
“I am so proud of how we played that game today,” he said. “People talk about the sweeper system being negative, but these people need to get off their high horses and look at hurling.
“People talk about things they haven’t a clue about. We were getting attackers free all over the place — we had three goals and we could have had six. That’s the way to play hurling — not get it between two people and beat the lard out of it. People need to stop and have look.”
Meanwhile, Tipperary goalkeeping legend Ken Hogan felt the Tipp fightback epitomised everything about manager Liam Sheedy.
“People talk about All-Irelands, but Liam’s biggest achievement in hurling was winning a North (Tipp) championship with Portroe. He came in, himself and his brother John and they masterminded an incredible win against a very good Toomevara side in front of 8,000 people. Portroe-never-says-die attitude, he instils that in everybody.”
Hogan also pointed to the county’s Munster U20 success against Cork last week as a key fillip for the county — and the likes of Jake Morris. “That was a big boost for the county, and in the cauldron yesterday, young lads who came off the bench — Jake, Willie Connors, Mark Kehoe, Ger Browne who was very smart with the ball — all made a huge impact.”
Joining Anthony Daly and Brian Hogan on the Renault Irish Examiner GAA Championship Podcast yesterday were Tipperary’s Ken Hogan and Cork’s Ger Cunningham as they dissected the two All-Ireland semi-finals and previewed the latest Kilkenny-Tipperary final. Listen to the show on Soundcloud, iTunes, or the Irish Examiner website.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 31, 2019 20:49:01 GMT
By Kieran Shannon Sports Correspondent
Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 12:00 AM Given last Sunday night’s peculiar but surely forgivable digression by Derek McGrath and Dónal Óg Cusack had half the nation yearning for the return of the plain speaking of Ger Loughnane, it’s worth revisiting what the great Clare man had to say about the weekend’s two victors back in his final summers on our screens.
On the eve of the last season in which Kilkenny reached an All-Ireland final, Loughnane made the contentious remark that Brian Cody’s men were “functional beyond belief”. While at the time it drew the ire of many on Noreside, one resident from there, a certain Enda McEvoy also of this parish, observed at the time that it was the ultimate compliment of Brian Cody and his charges as well as a brilliant one-liner, worthy of capital-letters status.
Learn more “Functional Beyond Belief. What a line. What a man,” McEvoy wrote in the late spring of 2016. “There has to be a way of preserving him [Loughnane], spirit as well as body, so that he’s still stirring in 2116.”
If anything, Loughnane’s assessment of Kilkenny then is all the more valid and complimentary now.
“They’re getting the best out of what they have to an extent that no-one else could do other than Brian Cody,” he’d elaborate back then. “They should not be winning an All-Ireland with that team. Totally dependent on TJ Reid, one forward, and maybe Richie Hogan as well.”
And yet last weekend they beat Limerick, after subjecting John Kiely’s men to the definitive masterclass in FBB.
Unfortunately, some other and more recent comments from Tipperary haven’t aged quite so well.
During and after last year’s Munster championship, Loughnane deemed Tipperary to be “finished”. Although he made the nuanced distinction that such a demise “wasn’t [due to] a lack of character”, he claimed there was “a lack of energy”. The team had got “old”, and with “no infusion of youth”, they had simply “come to the end of the line”.
He wasn’t alone in that assessment last summer. After the ignominy of failing to get out of Munster, there was a general sense within hurling that Bonner, Paudie, and Brendan Maher had won their last All-Ireland.
This column happened to differ. A few days after Jake Morris’s shot came off the wrong side of the post against Clare in Thurles, we wrote here that a July without hurling might just be what the team needed. After so many years finishing in second (2011, 2014) or third (2012, 2015, 2017) on the podium and only being lambasted for not claiming gold, there was maybe no harm in coming seventh for a change. A possible new voice at the helm, not worrying about coming first or last in the league, rotate some of their veterans over the spring and they’d be right there.
“There’ll be no retirements to any key player this winter, the way there was a wave of them in the autumns of 2015 and 2016,” we’d write.
Our sense is that there’s more in them. We’re in a post-Kilkenny world, albeit one in which Kilkenny might still win the occasional All-Ireland. But so might Tipp.
More importantly, Liam Sheedy was thinking along similar lines. That same week he was at a press day promoting the Celtic Challenge and when asked about his native county, he was markedly upbeat.
“Maybe what they needed was a break and they’re getting that now. I know those lads, I had a lot of them at minor when they broke through, and I know what they are made of. They are serious warriors and they will be hurting big time by what happened this year. They will come back better, I think. It wouldn’t take much to get Tipp going again.” His return certainly hasn’t hurt them, not least for his faith in that minor crop of 2006-2007.
Tipperary and Kilkenny may no longer be exceptional teams like they were for other stretches of this decade and the tail-end of the last but they remain so competitive because each have a nucleus of exceptional players as well as managers.
As much as the post-2011 final discussion revolved around Henry’s comeback and Eddie Brennan’s reinvention as a wing forward and Cody’s powers of immortality, the emergence and contribution of Reid, Hogan, and Colin Fennelly were vital to that landmark win. Eight years on, there they still are, craving for more, more, more.
Two years into their senior inter-county careers, Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan, Noel McGrath, Brendan Maher, and Paudie Maher had all won at least one All Star and a Munster title and by the end of their third year had all won an All-Ireland. In the intervening years they’ve had all kinds of highs and lows — hyped up a bit too much after 2010, perhaps, criticised excessively in subsequent years, and enduring various brushes with injury and even cancer — yet here they still are, McGrath Man of the Match four years on from shaking hands with Anthony Cunningham after another epic All-Ireland semi-final, Callanan scoring seven goals in seven games, and the Mahers still thundering out with that ball from the back.
Clearly, that wasn’t just another group of minors that won the Irish Press Cup for Tipp back in ’06 and ’07. As Sheedy might have identified then, and phrased it 14 months ago, that side featured some “serious warriors”.
Whatever happens on August 18, we should remember how we felt and what we thought after the remarkable weekend of July 27-28 just past. As Noel McGrath and Sheedy would hint last Sunday evening, this core group of Tipp players had shown their bottle many times in the past only for us to have forgotten.
In these pages last Monday, Donal O’Grady reasonably made the point that the term ‘resilience’ should now just as easily be attached to Tipp as Kilkenny. The truth is the world won’t be as generous, should they again end up on the wrong side of another one-score nail-biter to their greatest rivals. But that shouldn’t stop the rest of us striving to be better, and be mindful of and grateful for all the epics this group of players with ‘only’ their two All-Irelands have served us up the past dozen or so years.
The reality is it’s hard to even win ‘only’ one All-Ireland. Limerick found that out at the weekend, the luck they had in such tight games last year deserting them underneath the Cusack Stand and the gaze of that linesman last Saturday evening. Even when the GAA do bring in some measures to help officials make the big calls, there’ll still be sides that will end up harshly and even unfairly on the wrong side of one-score games.
The trick is to continue to be up there in the mix. Limerick may not have won this year’s All -Ireland but they also showed in 2019 why they were champions in 2018, as well as that they still have a bit to go to win it all again in 2020 or beyond.
So, yes, we have another Kilkenny-Tipperary final, their sixth All-Ireland final clash in 11 seasons, to go with the four league finals they’ve had in that time as well. But this is not like 2011 or 2014 or even 2016 when the future seemed to be painted in black and amber or threatened to be all blue and gold. Every kind of colour is in the mix now. Maroon, now that Galway have had their first proper break since 2014; Green and white, with Kiely making it clear he as well as his players will be back next year; Red, with Cork now under the stewardship of Kevin O’Donovan, likely to put the right people and systems in situ; and gloriously, the purple and gold.
The last paragraph in Damian Lawlor’s fine if premature 2014 book, Fields of Fire, was: “The next five years could see five different All-Ireland winners.” He wasn’t far wrong and it could still hold for the next five years. No two sides no longer dominate. This is still a post-Kilkenny world.
But by God, Cody still lives in it. There’s no such thing as a post-Cody world.
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Post by glengael on Aug 1, 2019 11:42:03 GMT
Any thoughts on John Meyler's successor ? Will Kieran Kingston return or will they go for a new face?
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 1, 2019 17:08:43 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 1, 2019 17:10:44 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 4, 2019 23:09:21 GMT
Jake Morris came today for Tipp and slotted a crucial score. On Wednesday he slotted a last second goal beat Cork in the Munster u20 hurling final. I assume he wont take any more part in the u20 series due to his involvement today. Or do different rules apply in hurling. Different rule in hurling for some unknown reason? Jake Morris lined out for Tipp u20s today in the defeat of Wexford. Why have one rule for football and another for hurling if player burnout is the concern> Tipperary: A Browne; C Morgan, E Connolly, C McCarthy; N Heffernan, P Cadell, B O’Mara (0-1); C Connolly, J Ryan (0-1); C Bowe (0-2), J Cahill (2-1), G O’Connor; J Morris (1-5, 0-2 frees), A Ormond (2-1), B Seymour (2-1). Subs: S Hayes (1-1) for O’Connor (30 min); K O’Kelly for Ormond (40); J Fogarty (0-1) for Morris (45); D Woods (0-2, one free) for Cahill (49); M Purcell for McCarthy (52).
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 13, 2019 18:19:10 GMT
Tyrrell: ‘If there’s any team to die on Sunday it’ll be Tipp’ Tuesday 13 August 2019 By John Harrington
Former Kilkenny hurler Jackie Tyrrell believes Kilkenny will win Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC Final against Tipperary if they can make it a physical, gritty sort of contest.
The nine-time All-Ireland winner believes Kilkenny’s game-plan will be to bring the game “into the trenches”, and that if they do that then their greater durability will see them through.
“If they stand and go toe-to-toe, there's no better team that will stand there, take the punches and come back for more than Kilkenny and just wear you down,” said Tyrrell today.
“They found a way to get over the line against Limerick and that's what Kilkenny have, they just don't die and they won't die on Sunday.
“If there's any team to die on Sunday it'll be Tipp.
“I don't think they will because I just think there's a sting in this Tipperary team still but this Kilkenny team are quite durable and will go the distance.
“Tipperary have the ability if it's open and there are balls being zinged around. They'll win if that's the case. If it's tight and tense and in their face, you wouldn't say Kilkenny will definitely win it, but it will be more on their terms.
“Kilkenny like bringing it into the trenches. If you look at Noel McGrath and Conor Browne who I expect to pick him up, who's the better hurler? Noel McGrath. Bring it into the trenches where it's tight and physical, who wins it? I'd be going with Conor Browne everyday of the week.
“I think that match-up really sums it up in the sense that if Noel McGrath has the ball in his hands 10 times, he'll probably create four or five scores and score another two points, if Conor has it 10 times I don't see him having that same influence.
“But if Browne takes McGrath out in a really tight environment then it's advantage hugely to Kilkenny. I think that's a good analogy of that point. Kilkenny need to make it physical and mano a mano and I do think they will draw Tipperary into that because of the bodies in the middle third.”
Tipperary have beaten Kilkenny in two of the six All-Irelands the teams have contested in the last 10 years (2010 and 2016) and on both occasions they had built up a handsome lead coming into the closing minutes.
The three All-Irelands that Kilkenny won in the same period (2009, 2011, and 2014 replay) were tighter, tenser sort of contests.
Tyrrell believes that if Sunday’s match is one of similarly fine margins that goes down to the final few minutes of the contest, then Kilkenny’s greater mental strength will get them over the line first.
“I do think if it's going down the final straight and there's five or ten minutes to go and it's tight, I do think there's a psychological advantage for Kilkenny in that any time Tipperary beat Kilkenny it's in an open, free-flowing game.
“When it's tight and tense, Kilkenny generally win those. You think even the League Final last year where Tipperary had the better pool of players on the pitch but Kilkenny just came out in the second-half and blitzed them and Tipperary had no response.
“If you flip that, if it's the other way around, when Kilkenny are out of the game they have an unbelievable ability to hang in there. Instead of the other team getting 3-3, they'll just get 1-2. That's that durability, they just won't wilt.”
Tyrrell wasn’t flavour of the month in Tipperary when his autobiography, ‘The Warrior’s Code’, was published in 2017.
In it, he suggested that the Tipperary teams he played against didn’t have “the balls to really go at us”, were “scared to beat us”, and that the Kilkenny defenders believed they could intimidate some of the 'flaky' Tipperary forwards. y. Many of those same forwards that Tyrrell came up against are still involved with the Premier County, so does he view the current Tipperary team as similarly vulnerable?
“I would say there's a bit more about this Tipperary team,” said Tyrrell.
“There's a bit of backbone about some of these players.
“You look at what Seamus Callanan is doing, you look at what Noel McGrath is doing. Even Brendan Maher this year. He's a stylish wing-back but he's sacrificing his game to take Tony Kelly out of it, to forget about hurling against Limerick and just marking Aaron Gillane.
“These lads, they're just doing things I've never seen them do before. I think they're mean and I think they're hungry for this All-Ireland.
“I'd say they know that time is against them and that all bets are off.
“I'm sure Padraic and Brendan Maher are saying, 'Lads we're sick of these Kilkenny lads, let's put them to the sword.'
“But then you look at Joey Holden, Padraig Walsh, TJ Reid, the're saying, 'The last time we played Tipperary in an All-Ireland final look at what they did to us.'
“So it probably balances itself out in a sense. Emotion is definitely hugely part of it. I think there's a bit more pressure on the ageing profile of the core of that Tipperary team.
“I do think their chances are probably getting slimmer and slimmer. The (likes of the) Noel McGraths and Padraic Mahers.
“I'm sure they'll be looking to draw a line in the sand and say, 'Lookit lads there's been years where we didn't really get the very best out of ourselves. We find ourselves in an All-Ireland final, what better way than to put Kilkenny to the sword and to really go after them.'
"Kilkenny have gone after Tipperary for years and I think Tipperary need to go after Kilkenny and go after their key players.
“Brendan Maher needs to take TJ Reid out of it and Bubbles O'Dwyer needs to take Padraig Walsh out of it, Callanan needs to be an assassin inside.
“That's the mentality they need to have to bring to this game.”
Jackie Tyrrell believes that if Tipperary detail Brendan Maher to man-mark TJ Reid it could unbalance the rest of their defence. . Tyrrell expects a seriously competitive match on Sunday, but is convinced that Kilkenny will find a way to win this All-Ireland Final.
“I would say Kilkenny just by a margin of a few,” he said. “I don't think it'll be open at all. And I do think two things - that when Tipperary have their spell, Kilkenny have the ability to claw in and not concede big scores when they're totally out of the game.
“And also I just think if they do put Brendan Maher on TJ Reid, how the rest the rest of the defence will shape up around that? Who will cover that centre?
“I just think Kilkenny might be able to create a mis-match up there and that they could hammer the hammer and the likes of Adrian Mullen could be a real assasin at the weekend.”
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Post by dc84 on Aug 13, 2019 18:22:08 GMT
See tickets went on general sale earlier I can't remember that ever happening before?
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 13, 2019 18:29:14 GMT
See tickets went on general sale earlier I can't remember that ever happening before? Not any more
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2019 7:51:26 GMT
Michael Verney 15 August 2019 2:30 AM
Derek McGrath was on a plane to Fuengirola in southern Spain the morning after causing a stir on 'The Sunday Game' when vehemently defending the sweeper system in the wake of Wexford's All-Ireland semi-final defeat and he knew what lay around the corner.
The former Waterford manager had a feeling there would be repercussions and eventually turned off his phone in Spain, such was the volume of messages about his commentary alongside Dónal Óg Cusack.
Cusack, in particular, ruffled all sorts of feathers with his remark that criticism of the sweeper system - which McGrath employed as Déise boss - is "part of the last remnants of British culture on these islands".
What are McGrath's feelings on those comments in hindsight?
Embracing
"There has been an attitude sometimes that has dominated society whereby people are put down if they are innovating, that it's a kind of an off-the-wall idea. It's something we need to be better at embracing, if you like, and changing," McGrath said.
"But not changing to the point where I think I am a guru and I know everything. I hate that perception. I hate that perception that there's us and them. That's not the case. I definitely learned from it. That platform wasn't the right platform for it."
McGrath is disappointed that he allowed "lingering hurt" of the negative talk about Waterford's style of play, which had built up during his tenure, to come to the surface.
"Was there a self-indulgence? I think there was, but it was based on an irksome attitude.
"I don't think it was the platform for it and I let a little lingering hurt dictate what I was saying. I didn't want it to sound bitter, but I'd say it did. I'll learn from that."
Former Clare boss Ger Loughnane pulled no punches when branding Cusack and McGrath as "muppets" who promoted their own "pathetic egos" but McGrath takes great exception to such commentary.
"If it borders on personal abuse, I think it shouldn't be accepted," McGrath said about the words of a manager he greatly admires.
Aside from training first year hurlers in De La Salle College, McGrath had no involvement with teams this year but he reiterated his hunger to get involved again, although the current Waterford vacancy after Páraic Fanning's resignation may have come too soon.
"I have a muddled mind really on it. I'm kinda saying to myself 'Jesus, is it too early to go back there?' he said.
"You have no divine right to step back in there anyway, so it's not a case of saying, 'I'll go back in there', there's other things to consider. You get this little probe and you say you'd love another cut at it. That's where my mind is at.
"I said I'd be as up front about it as possible. I'm not saying I'm not thinking about it, but there's parts of me saying no, there's 85 per cent of me saying 'no, it's too early to go back, it's unfair even to go back' and then there's 15pc of me saying 'I might have a look at that'."
As regards the possibility of working outside of Waterford, with the likes of Offaly and Cork, would he consider it if approached?
"They'd all interest me, it's just I'd be in the 20 per cent category of a) would I be considered, and b) would I have the energy or the know-how to do it, I suppose. I'm open to it to but I'm only partially open to it," McGrath said.
"I'd be leaning towards not getting involved this year but something could change my mind very easily."
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Post by buck02 on Aug 15, 2019 14:31:59 GMT
Who is going to win this Mick?
Seems like a very muted build-up or maybe that is because of our focus on the football semi final and final and the Gough furore of the last 2 days.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2019 15:57:17 GMT
Why are KK in this years final when they didnt even make the semis last year. 19 year old Adrian Mullen is the main one.
He has taken the load off his clubmates TJ and Fennelly in getting scores. If Tipp do a job on him KK are in trouble.
TJ cant be nullified.
KK did to Cork in 15 minutes after half time what Dublin did to Mayo.
Bonner Maher is a huge loss though.
It comes down to whether Tipp will go toe to toe with the war KK will bring. It will be savage hooking, blocking and crowding out as well as the odd flake of the hurley.
Tipp have more skill that KK. Tipp have more skill than all teams.
I hope the game allows the skillfull players to show what they can do.
If Tipp want it as much as KK, I think Tipp will win it.
Thats a big if though.
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Post by wideball on Aug 15, 2019 16:18:37 GMT
Why are KK in this years final when they didnt even make the semis last year. 19 year old Adrian Mullen is the main one. He has taken the load off his clubmates TJ and Fennelly in getting scores. If Tipp do a job on him KK are in trouble. TJ cant be nullified. KK did to Cork in 15 minutes after half time what Dublin did to Mayo. Bonner Maher is a huge loss though. It comes down to whether Tipp will go toe to toe with the war KK will bring. It will be savage hooking, blocking and crowding out as well as the odd flake of the hurley. Tipp have more skill that KK. Tipp have more skill than all teams. I hope the game allows the skillfull players to show what they can do. If Tipp want it as much as KK, I think Tipp will win it. Thats a big if though. Tipp showed great heart to win the semi against Wexford and I agree they have more skill hurlers. Tipp for me
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2019 22:59:03 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2019 22:37:56 GMT
No job too big or small for Conor Browne
Former Kilkenny minor boss says of Conor Browne: ‘When he’s given a job, that is where he is at his absolute best. I am not saying he can’t score or go forward, but he really responds to a job.’
By Eoghan Cormican Staff writer
Conor Browne had seven possessions in the All-Ireland semi-final, a figure roundly accepted as being below-average for a midfielder. But to get on the ball and drive at the Limerick defence was not the job Conor Browne was given for Kilkenny’s semi-final clash with the All-Ireland champions. His brief was to shadow Cian Lynch, to nullify the 2018 hurler of the year.
That a school of thought now exists that Browne should man-mark Tipperary quarterback Noel McGrath in tomorrow’s final tells you how successful the 23-year old was in curtailing Lynch three weeks ago.
But why, in the first instance, did Brian Cody entrust responsibility for holding Lynch with a man who was making just his second championship start in the black and amber and third championship appearance overall?
July 27 was not the first time a Kilkenny manager had asked Browne to marshal Lynch. Back in 2014, then Kilkenny minor boss Pat Hoban had the James Stephens youngster pick up Limerick’s go-to player in the All-Ireland minor final. And while Lynch edged their duel on that occasion - Browne was whipped off after 38 minutes - that the latter was anywhere near an All-Ireland winning Kilkenny minor team spoke volumes of the progress he had made in a few short months.
The son of 12-time All-Ireland camogie winner Angela Downey-Browne, Conor was unable to make the St Kieran’s College team during his penultimate year at the famed Kilkenny nursery. An unused sub during St Kierans’ 2014 Leinster final and All-Ireland semi-final victories, he was introduced as the clock ticked into second-half stoppages on the afternoon of their All-Ireland final win.
Hoban, so, was taking something of a gamble when inviting him to join the panel for that summer’s minor championship.
“He would have shown a lot of good club form and it was off the back of that that we brought him in,” Hoban recalled this week.
“Kilkenny is a small county and you’ll get plenty of calls about so and so doing well, but when Conor got his chance, he took it and took it with both hands.” In a video produced by competition sponsors Electric Ireland in the build-up to that year’s Kilkenny-Limerick minor final, Browne offered a stark admission.
“I never really thought I’d have what it took to be on the Kilkenny minor team,” he said. My family is built around sport and sometimes when I wouldn’t feel up to it, they would be the ones to push me on and drive me.” Hoban never found him wanting for drive. In fact, he maintains it is his greatest asset.
“When he’s given a job, that is where he is at his absolute best. I am not saying he can’t score or go forward, I saw him score a great goal in the Fitzgibbon Cup final this year, but he really responds to a job.”
These are sentiments shared by Cork IT GAA development officer Keith Ricken who watched at close hand Browne’s continued growth during the latter’s brief stay at CIT. Browne captained from midfield the CIT team which achieved All-Ireland freshers glory in 2016. It was to prove his final outing with the college.
“He had a situation where his first choice was in UCC but he didn’t get it the first time around so he came to CIT. When the points came down the following year, he had a choice to make as to whether he stayed put or went across to UCC,” Ricken explains.
We were very sorry to see him go, in lots of ways, but you are always happy when they make the right decisions for themselves.
Ricken, who managed Cork to All-Ireland U20 football glory earlier this month, compares him to Kilkenny’s outstanding midfielder of this decade, Michael Fennelly, another who passed through the doors of CIT.
“I remember Michael, and they are similar. If memory serves, Michael was also captain when he was playing freshers. Nothing overly spectacular that you’d be saying, this is the greatest gift you ever saw in your life, but very good, very grounded, nice manner, and good pedigree.
“Conor would be in that mould. He was a natural captain, a good leader, a decent, hardworking guy.”
Further silverware arrived in the colours of UCC this spring, Browne joint-captain of their Fitzgibbon Cup-winning team. Former Cork goalkeeper Ger Cunningham was a selector with that side. But where Hoban reckons Noel McGrath is the job for the relative unknown of this Kilkenny team, Cunningham holds a different view.
“Conor has a huge engine on him. He follows the ball quite a lot and sometimes loses his focus on where he should be in an attempt to get on the ball. I am not so sure I’d put him on Noel McGrath.
"I’d put Cillian Buckley, as a more experienced player, on Noel McGrath and leave Conor Browne fight it out with Breen.”
Returning to the Electric Ireland video of five years ago, the last words of which fell to Angela Downey-Browne: “My father (Shem), Lord have mercy on him, won a senior All-Ireland medal in 1947, but I’d say he’d be as proud as punch [of Conor being involved in the minor hurling final].” Prouder still, you’d imagine, to see where he is now.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 17, 2019 11:29:27 GMT
"There's hurling everywhere," says Ned Quinn of county that leads the roll of honour
Seán Moran Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 06:00 Asked about the connections, Ned Quinn, retired chair of Kilkenny GAA, puts it straightforwardly.
“In the broader sense it is definitely passed down from generation to generation and it has served us well.”
He is talking about the inter-connectedness of the county team, which on Sunday takes on Tipperary, hoping to extend their lead at the top of the Liam MacCarthy roll of honour to seven, over Cork, with a 37th title.
In a way it is a reflection of the relatively small population of the county – still (just about) below 100,000 – and the strong traditions of hurling that so many of the players come from families with a distinguished background in the game.
That tradition and heritage means Kilkenny operate more or less at saturation point and Quinn says there are no unconquered worlds within the county boundaries.
I suppose it was fairly daunting at the start, looking at them, but once you step out onto the pitch, they’re team mates at the end of the day “No, no. Kilkenny have a parish rule since 1954 and every parish has a team and a couple of parishes might have two teams so there’s hurling everywhere. There are also a number of what would have been considered football clubs in their earlier years, like Glenmore for example, and they have turned into strong hurling clubs.”
Even the rare phenomena of specialist football clubs, most famously Railyard, who top the county’s football roll of honour, are closely marked in their catchments.
“Railyard have a sister club in the same parish called Cloneen, which plays hurling just as Dunamaggin has a sister club called Kilmoganny, which is football.”
The most obvious family connection concerns the Fennellys of Ballyhale Shamrocks. Colin Fennelly is the brother of former Kilkenny captain and Hurler of the Year, Michael, now retired, and he has four All-Ireland medals with the county. Earlier this year in March, he won a fourth club All-Ireland and scored a spectacular goal in the final defeat of Galway champions
His uncles Ger, Kevin and Liam were also All-Ireland winners with Kilkenny. Ger (1979) and Liam (1983 and ’92) also captained successful sides. Brother Michael captained the 2009 four-in-a-row team although a replacement in the final.
Hiding in plain sight is another branch of the family. Adrian Mullen is still only 20 and played for the county under-20s this year but also hurled sufficiently prominently in his club Ballyhale’s march to this year’s All-Ireland to be named Club Hurler of the Year.
Rookie year He has gone on to have a terrific rookie year and in the shock win over defending champions Limerick, he scored four points from play.
“I’m the first of this family – Michael and Colin are my first cousins, on my mother’s side. She’s a Fennelly. I remember when Michael and Colin called down before All-Ireland finals, I hoped I could play some day and as a young lad I remember pucking the ball off the wall thinking of Henry – he was definitely one I looked up to,” says Mullen.
Mullen has been operating under some stellar managements this year with Henry Shefflin managing the club, DJ Carey in charge of the Leinster winning under-20s and Brian Cody directing the senior team towards what would be his 12th MacCarthy Cup as manager.
He specifically remembers the four-in-a-row in 2009.
“Michael was captain, so I said I had to go up to it. You want to be there as a young lad, looking at your heroes; you couldn’t miss them. It’s great to be from Ballyhale – they’re great role models to have as a young lads. I used to look up them, and am playing with them now.
“I suppose it was fairly daunting at the start, looking at them, but once you step out onto the pitch, they’re team mates at the end of the day.”
Among the club-mates is this year’s Kilkenny captain and Hurler of the Year front-runner TJ Reid, whose uncle Richie was wing back in the 1979 All-Ireland win. For a young player, it’s a bracing environment at club level but also a great hothouse with all of that expertise and tradition of success, as Mullen acknowledges.
“Yeah they’re very good, if you need some sort of advice you can come to them and they’ll give you a helping hand, if they need to take you down a peg or two they’ll take you down too.”
The remaining Shamrocks player, Joey Holden’s, father Patrick was on the first Ballyhale team to win the county title and followed it with an All-Ireland.
Aside from Ballyhale, there are other connections, none more steeped in achievement than Conor Browne, whose mother is Angela Downey, one of the great camogie players in the game’s history, who together with her sister Ann won 12 All-Irelands each.
His grandfather Shem Downey played on the Kilkenny team that won the 1947 All-Ireland.
Pádraig Walsh is a brother of Tommy, nine-time All-Ireland medallist and eight-time All Star and 2009 Hurler of the Year, and their grandfather is the late Paddy Grace, winner of two All-Irelands in 1939 and ’47 and long-serving county secretary.
Richie Hogan, another former Hurler of the Year, 2014, is a cousin of the legendary DJ Carey, All-Ireland winner, including as captain in 2003.
© 2019 THE IRISH TIMES
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Aug 17, 2019 12:01:13 GMT
"There's hurling everywhere," says Ned Quinn of county that leads the roll of honour Seán Moran Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 06:00 Asked about the connections, Ned Quinn, retired chair of Kilkenny GAA, puts it straightforwardly. “In the broader sense it is definitely passed down from generation to generation and it has served us well.” He is talking about the inter-connectedness of the county team, which on Sunday takes on Tipperary, hoping to extend their lead at the top of the Liam MacCarthy roll of honour to seven, over Cork, with a 37th title. In a way it is a reflection of the relatively small population of the county – still (just about) below 100,000 – and the strong traditions of hurling that so many of the players come from families with a distinguished background in the game. That tradition and heritage means Kilkenny operate more or less at saturation point and Quinn says there are no unconquered worlds within the county boundaries. I suppose it was fairly daunting at the start, looking at them, but once you step out onto the pitch, they’re team mates at the end of the day “No, no. Kilkenny have a parish rule since 1954 and every parish has a team and a couple of parishes might have two teams so there’s hurling everywhere. There are also a number of what would have been considered football clubs in their earlier years, like Glenmore for example, and they have turned into strong hurling clubs.” Even the rare phenomena of specialist football clubs, most famously Railyard, who top the county’s football roll of honour, are closely marked in their catchments. “Railyard have a sister club in the same parish called Cloneen, which plays hurling just as Dunamaggin has a sister club called Kilmoganny, which is football.” The most obvious family connection concerns the Fennellys of Ballyhale Shamrocks. Colin Fennelly is the brother of former Kilkenny captain and Hurler of the Year, Michael, now retired, and he has four All-Ireland medals with the county. Earlier this year in March, he won a fourth club All-Ireland and scored a spectacular goal in the final defeat of Galway champions His uncles Ger, Kevin and Liam were also All-Ireland winners with Kilkenny. Ger (1979) and Liam (1983 and ’92) also captained successful sides. Brother Michael captained the 2009 four-in-a-row team although a replacement in the final. Hiding in plain sight is another branch of the family. Adrian Mullen is still only 20 and played for the county under-20s this year but also hurled sufficiently prominently in his club Ballyhale’s march to this year’s All-Ireland to be named Club Hurler of the Year. Rookie year He has gone on to have a terrific rookie year and in the shock win over defending champions Limerick, he scored four points from play. “I’m the first of this family – Michael and Colin are my first cousins, on my mother’s side. She’s a Fennelly. I remember when Michael and Colin called down before All-Ireland finals, I hoped I could play some day and as a young lad I remember pucking the ball off the wall thinking of Henry – he was definitely one I looked up to,” says Mullen. Mullen has been operating under some stellar managements this year with Henry Shefflin managing the club, DJ Carey in charge of the Leinster winning under-20s and Brian Cody directing the senior team towards what would be his 12th MacCarthy Cup as manager. He specifically remembers the four-in-a-row in 2009. “Michael was captain, so I said I had to go up to it. You want to be there as a young lad, looking at your heroes; you couldn’t miss them. It’s great to be from Ballyhale – they’re great role models to have as a young lads. I used to look up them, and am playing with them now. “I suppose it was fairly daunting at the start, looking at them, but once you step out onto the pitch, they’re team mates at the end of the day.” Among the club-mates is this year’s Kilkenny captain and Hurler of the Year front-runner TJ Reid, whose uncle Richie was wing back in the 1979 All-Ireland win. For a young player, it’s a bracing environment at club level but also a great hothouse with all of that expertise and tradition of success, as Mullen acknowledges. “Yeah they’re very good, if you need some sort of advice you can come to them and they’ll give you a helping hand, if they need to take you down a peg or two they’ll take you down too.” The remaining Shamrocks player, Joey Holden’s, father Patrick was on the first Ballyhale team to win the county title and followed it with an All-Ireland. Aside from Ballyhale, there are other connections, none more steeped in achievement than Conor Browne, whose mother is Angela Downey, one of the great camogie players in the game’s history, who together with her sister Ann won 12 All-Irelands each. His grandfather Shem Downey played on the Kilkenny team that won the 1947 All-Ireland. Pádraig Walsh is a brother of Tommy, nine-time All-Ireland medallist and eight-time All Star and 2009 Hurler of the Year, and their grandfather is the late Paddy Grace, winner of two All-Irelands in 1939 and ’47 and long-serving county secretary. Richie Hogan, another former Hurler of the Year, 2014, is a cousin of the legendary DJ Carey, All-Ireland winner, including as captain in 2003. © 2019 THE IRISH TIMES With this post you have overtaken KG as the postiest poster on here.
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Post by veteran on Aug 17, 2019 14:07:13 GMT
In that article about Ned Quinn etc reference is made to the fact that Padraig and Tommy Walsh are grandsons of Paddy Grace. Now if I remember correctly Paddy was secretary of the Kilkenny Board sixties/seventies. I was at the 1967 final Tipp/Kilkenny which was a very nasty affair as indeed was hurling in general back then. That game was so nasty that one of the Kilkenny forwards, Tommy Walsh, lost the sight in one eye as a result one incident- no facial / head gear back then. Naturally there was a huge furore as a result with Tipp claiming it was an accident and Kilkenny claiming otherwise. Now , far as I can remember Tommy Walsh subsequently married a daughter of Paddy Grace. Therefore I wonder would that Tommy be the father of Tommy and Padraig?
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 17, 2019 14:41:59 GMT
In that article about Ned Quinn etc reference is made to the fact that Padraig and Tommy Walsh are grandsons of Paddy Grace. Now if I remember correctly Paddy was secretary of the Kilkenny Board sixties/seventies. I was at the 1967 final Tipp/Kilkenny which was a very nasty affair as indeed was hurling in general back then. That game was so nasty that one of the Kilkenny forwards, Tommy Walsh, lost the sight in one eye as a result one incident- no facial / head gear back then. Naturally there was a huge furore as a result with Tipp claiming it was an accident and Kilkenny claiming otherwise. Now , far as I can remember Tommy Walsh subsequently married a daughter of Paddy Grace. Therefore I wonder would that Tommy be the father of Tommy and Padraig? Unlikely i would say. It would have been reference in this if his father and grandfather had played for KK en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Walsh_(Tullaroan_hurler)
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Aug 17, 2019 14:50:45 GMT
In that article about Ned Quinn etc reference is made to the fact that Padraig and Tommy Walsh are grandsons of Paddy Grace. Now if I remember correctly Paddy was secretary of the Kilkenny Board sixties/seventies. I was at the 1967 final Tipp/Kilkenny which was a very nasty affair as indeed was hurling in general back then. That game was so nasty that one of the Kilkenny forwards, Tommy Walsh, lost the sight in one eye as a result one incident- no facial / head gear back then. Naturally there was a huge furore as a result with Tipp claiming it was an accident and Kilkenny claiming otherwise. Now , far as I can remember Tommy Walsh subsequently married a daughter of Paddy Grace. Therefore I wonder would that Tommy be the father of Tommy and Padraig? Unlikely i would say. It would have been reference in this if his father and grandfather had played for KK en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Walsh_(Tullaroan_hurler)There are a world of Tom Walshes who've played for Kilkenny.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 18, 2019 9:19:07 GMT
Why are KK in this years final when they didnt even make the semis last year. 19 year old Adrian Mullen is the main one.
He has taken the load off his clubmates TJ and Fennelly in getting scores. If Tipp do a job on him KK are in trouble.
TJ cant be nullified. KK did to Cork in 15 minutes after half time what Dublin did to Mayo. Bonner Maher is a huge loss though. It comes down to whether Tipp will go toe to toe with the war KK will bring. It will be savage hooking, blocking and crowding out as well as the odd flake of the hurley. Tipp have more skill that KK. Tipp have more skill than all teams. I hope the game allows the skillfull players to show what they can do. If Tipp want it as much as KK, I think Tipp will win it. Thats a big if though. ichael Verney August 18 2019 9:48 AM Brian Cody is believed to have suffered a hammer blow ahead of today's eagerly-anticipated All-Ireland final against Tipperary with the breaking news that prodigious forward Adrian Mullen is an eleventh hour casualty for hurling's showpiece. It is believed that Mullen was hospitalised in recent days with the nature of illness still unclear and he is not expected to play any part for the Cats in today's eagerly-anticipated decider. Should Mullen miss out, it would be a major setback for Cody as the 20-year-old has enjoyed a stellar debut season and established himself as one of the most important players in the Kilkenny attack. Odds-on favourite to be crowned Young Hurler of the Year, Mullen won All-Ireland club honours with Ballyhale Shamrocks in March before being crowned Club Player of the Year, but looks set to miss out with Billy Ryan or Richie Leahy the most likely to replace him. Mullen has been one of the key men for Kilkenny in the latter half of the campaign. The young forward was hooked before half time by Brian Cody in the narrow Leinster round robin loss to Galway but bounced back to play an instrumental role in the upset win over Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final. Mullen hit four points from play, which moved him into odds of 1/10 to collect the Young Hurler of the Year award later this year.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 18, 2019 13:12:17 GMT
His club mate Henry Shefflin says he will play. The illness was midweek but he is good to go now.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2019 15:10:30 GMT
Big decision sending off Richie Hogan just before half time
Looks like the right call but Barrett got away with a wild pull on Hogan earlier
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Post by buck02 on Aug 18, 2019 15:10:34 GMT
What a strange sport hurling is.
The rules seem to be you can hit a fella across the face guard with your hurl and not even get a yellow card.
But do the same thing with your elbow and it's a straight red.
Somebody please explain that one to me.
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