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All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2023

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Replying To endgame:  "Are Clare people happy for Brian Lohan to continue as Manager. From a neutral point of view,Clare are losing games they should be capable of winning ( two semi finals against an ordinary Kilkenny team) and surely the blame has to be pointed in the direction of management."
Kilkenny are ordinary by there standards. Not by Clares.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 07/08/2023 15:06:32    2499388

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Replying To endgame:  "Are Clare people happy for Brian Lohan to continue as Manager. From a neutral point of view,Clare are losing games they should be capable of winning ( two semi finals against an ordinary Kilkenny team) and surely the blame has to be pointed in the direction of management."
An 'ordinary' Kilkenny team is still better than about 29 other counties. I can't believe some of the stuff being posted on this forum.

Jedobi (Wexford) - Posts: 205 - 07/08/2023 17:30:13    2499401

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Replying To Jedobi:  "An 'ordinary' Kilkenny team is still better than about 29 other counties. I can't believe some of the stuff being posted on this forum."
That's a pretty broad statement :)

Just interested to know what specifically you can't believe is being posted.

Fitzy01 (Limerick) - Posts: 411 - 08/08/2023 15:09:41    2499552

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Replying To Fitzy01:  "That's a pretty broad statement :)

Just interested to know what specifically you can't believe is being posted."
There have been alot of posts stating that this Kilkenny team are terrible and they only are making AISFs because Leinster is so weak. Which is a bit of a contradiction seeing as they have beaten Clare in the last 2 of those SFs, who have been the 2nd best team in Munster the last 2 years, and are the last team to beat Limerick in the AI series. Sadly I fear rumours of their demise are completely unfounded!!!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 08/08/2023 15:25:11    2499558

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Replying To endgame:  "Are Clare people happy for Brian Lohan to continue as Manager. From a neutral point of view,Clare are losing games they should be capable of winning ( two semi finals against an ordinary Kilkenny team) and surely the blame has to be pointed in the direction of management."
Lohan over achieved,when he took over Clare,they were in a sorry state,he has improved them,can't see anyone improving the current Clare team.

cityman73 (Limerick) - Posts: 783 - 08/08/2023 15:36:59    2499566

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Replying To Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin:  "I don't think I've ever ever seen Munster hurling as weak. Limerick is very dominant. But I've never seen munster as far away from 2nd and 3rd ever. It goes Limerick (gap) Kilkenny, Galway (gap) the rest. ... "Munster is extraordinarily useless right now, Jesus... Tipp/Cork right now are equal rights night to 2004 Offaly or Wexford. So poor"
Are we better off just playing Limerick v Kilkenny, Galway and Clare????? @ourgame"
Munster hurling weak,you have to be trolling.

cityman73 (Limerick) - Posts: 783 - 08/08/2023 15:39:10    2499568

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Replying To Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin:  "I don't think I've ever ever seen Munster hurling as weak. Limerick is very dominant. But I've never seen munster as far away from 2nd and 3rd ever. It goes Limerick (gap) Kilkenny, Galway (gap) the rest. ... "Munster is extraordinarily useless right now, Jesus... Tipp/Cork right now are equal rights night to 2004 Offaly or Wexford. So poor"
Are we better off just playing Limerick v Kilkenny, Galway and Clare????? @ourgame"
You can look at that different ways. The fact is Limerick beat both KK and GY , both easily the most consistent two teams in Leinster, over the past three years, by nine points each, whereas they struggled against every single team in Munster. The returned to full fitness of Cian Lynch has to be factored in of course.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 09/08/2023 22:17:00    2499814

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "You can look at that different ways. The fact is Limerick beat both KK and GY , both easily the most consistent two teams in Leinster, over the past three years, by nine points each, whereas they struggled against every single team in Munster. The returned to full fitness of Cian Lynch has to be factored in of course."
It doesn't change the fact that no Munster team apart from Limerick has beaten Galway or Kilkenny since the Round Robins returned. And that's all of them except Waterford.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 10/08/2023 09:58:29    2499828

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Replying To Viking66:  "There have been alot of posts stating that this Kilkenny team are terrible and they only are making AISFs because Leinster is so weak. Which is a bit of a contradiction seeing as they have beaten Clare in the last 2 of those SFs, who have been the 2nd best team in Munster the last 2 years, and are the last team to beat Limerick in the AI series. Sadly I fear rumours of their demise are completely unfounded!!!"
Limerick are so far ahead of the pack that the provincial thing is meaningless. Had Limerick been as tuned up for the Munster games as they were for the knock out stages they'd have waltzed through.

Other Munster teams can no more bask in their reflected glory than the rest of Leinster could when the Cats were similarly unbeatable when it mattered, Wexford often gave Kilkenny their biggest test in those years.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3225 - 10/08/2023 10:07:16    2499832

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "You can look at that different ways. The fact is Limerick beat both KK and GY , both easily the most consistent two teams in Leinster, over the past three years, by nine points each, whereas they struggled against every single team in Munster. The returned to full fitness of Cian Lynch has to be factored in of course."
Different ways exactly. You don't seem to be factoring Limerick's incremental improvement as a season progresses into the equation at all. KK faced a tougher assignment than Waterford is my point, but you seem to be ignoring this. Maybe it's not a factor at all. You'd know better than I would. I missed most of this year's Munster championship, either attending Galway games, or due to a lack of awareness about GaaGo. My feeling though is that Limerick get better as a season progresses, substantially better sometimes, and tend to peak at all ireland finals, which is ideal obviously.

On 2023 formlines, Galway and Kilkenny are roughly on a par with Cork, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford(in a good month) imo, and a tad ahead of Wexford and Dublin. The rest belong in Christy Ring, Lory Meagher or whatever you want to call it.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3906 - 10/08/2023 10:34:41    2499838

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Limerick are so far ahead of the pack that the provincial thing is meaningless. Had Limerick been as tuned up for the Munster games as they were for the knock out stages they'd have waltzed through.

Other Munster teams can no more bask in their reflected glory than the rest of Leinster could when the Cats were similarly unbeatable when it mattered, Wexford often gave Kilkenny their biggest test in those years."
There are so many elements to this;

Limerick come back each season at a certain level and build and grow as the move through the season and peak towards the end, its high risk and they are coming up against teams in Munster who are already peaked and primed to take them down, they were nearly caught out this year but still timed things perfectly. Most teams have saved their best performance for Limerick over the past few years. The likes of Clare are different they came in peaked and primed at the start but could not maintain their form and trended downwards, the same thing happened them last year. To win an all Ireland I don't think you can be at your peak in the beginning and maintain it the whole way through.

The Cian Lynch factor is massive, if we had a fully fit Cian Lynch for the Munster round robin i think things may not have been so tight, He is one of the greatest players to ever swing a Hurley and the difference he makes when fully fit was there for all to see in the AI semi and final where he was the best player on the field in both games imo.

We love the Munster championship, and i personally hope things never change, but the fact is that you have to fight tooth and nail to get out of it. Munster teams cannot really plan beyond the Round Robin whereas Galway and Kilkenny can already plan to be peaked and primed for the AI series. The intensity and ferocity Limerick faced in Munster over the entire match was far greater than they faced in the semis and final. If that's down to the fact that Limerick were starting slow and building at that stage and missing a fit Cian Lynch or down to the fact the the Leinster teams didn't bring as much intensity over a 70 min period is up for debate.

Fitzy01 (Limerick) - Posts: 411 - 10/08/2023 11:43:15    2499858

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Replying To Viking66:  "It doesn't change the fact that no Munster team apart from Limerick has beaten Galway or Kilkenny since the Round Robins returned. And that's all of them except Waterford."
Just a slight correction. Cork beat KK in 2021

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 10/08/2023 12:41:59    2499876

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "Just a slight correction. Cork beat KK in 2021"
There was no Round Robin in 2021.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 10/08/2023 14:39:17    2499905

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Replying To Viking66:  "There was no Round Robin in 2021."
Did RR mean much when KK were Leinster Champs for the past four years anyway and were beaten by Cork and Waterford in Semi Finals.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 10/08/2023 15:48:16    2499927

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "Different ways exactly. You don't seem to be factoring Limerick's incremental improvement as a season progresses into the equation at all. KK faced a tougher assignment than Waterford is my point, but you seem to be ignoring this. Maybe it's not a factor at all. You'd know better than I would. I missed most of this year's Munster championship, either attending Galway games, or due to a lack of awareness about GaaGo. My feeling though is that Limerick get better as a season progresses, substantially better sometimes, and tend to peak at all ireland finals, which is ideal obviously.

On 2023 formlines, Galway and Kilkenny are roughly on a par with Cork, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford(in a good month) imo, and a tad ahead of Wexford and Dublin. The rest belong in Christy Ring, Lory Meagher or whatever you want to call it."
Clare are clearly a good bit ahead of Dublin. How do make out that Galway are? Did i miss something???

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3225 - 10/08/2023 16:06:55    2499933

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "Did RR mean much when KK were Leinster Champs for the past four years anyway and were beaten by Cork and Waterford in Semi Finals."
If you are going to go back to 2020 then why not go back 1 more year and say Kilkenny are better than Limerick? I was only looking at the last 2 years because, well, they are the last 2 years. Current state of play.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 10/08/2023 16:28:04    2499938

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Replying To Viking66:  "There was no Round Robin in 2021."
You could look at it another way. In 2020 and 2021 when there was no bear pit of munster round robin both provinces had less games there were 2 all munster finals with Waterford limerick and cork and Limerick. Waterford and cork both beat kilkenny those years. When kilkenny won leinster.

daveboy (Limerick) - Posts: 1197 - 10/08/2023 16:31:44    2499942

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Replying To daveboy:  "You could look at it another way. In 2020 and 2021 when there was no bear pit of munster round robin both provinces had less games there were 2 all munster finals with Waterford limerick and cork and Limerick. Waterford and cork both beat kilkenny those years. When kilkenny won leinster."
Think the epic Leinster semi final in 2021 took alot out of Kilkenny!!!! But seriously I think Kilkenny are just playing better the last couple of years. 2020 and 2021 were just very odd years with covid etc. Since 2021 Walter, Lawlor, Kenny and Keoghan are much improved, Butler, Blanchfield, Phelan, Walsh etc have come on the scene. That's half a team.
If Munster being a bearpit in the RoundRobin years, between evenly matched teams knocking 7 bells out of eachother, was really the reason Kilkenny lost to Waterford in an AISF during covid then why have Waterford won so few games in those Round Robin years? By law of averages in 16 games they should've won more than 2 if it was as even as you suggest?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14123 - 10/08/2023 16:44:31    2499951

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Replying To Viking66:  "Think the epic Leinster semi final in 2021 took alot out of Kilkenny!!!! But seriously I think Kilkenny are just playing better the last couple of years. 2020 and 2021 were just very odd years with covid etc. Since 2021 Walter, Lawlor, Kenny and Keoghan are much improved, Butler, Blanchfield, Phelan, Walsh etc have come on the scene. That's half a team.
If Munster being a bearpit in the RoundRobin years, between evenly matched teams knocking 7 bells out of eachother, was really the reason Kilkenny lost to Waterford in an AISF during covid then why have Waterford won so few games in those Round Robin years? By law of averages in 16 games they should've won more than 2 if it was as even as you suggest?"
I didn't suggest anything. Just said you could look at it another way. I think kilkenny and Galway are excellent sides and would be hugely competitive in munster. Wexford and Dublin are just not very deep right now. Kilkenny and Galway have beaten clare cork tipp recently so no reason they couldn't do well in munster. Personally I don't like the talk of munster / leinster comparisons. I think both provinces are fine competitions but munster seems to be deeper right now.

daveboy (Limerick) - Posts: 1197 - 10/08/2023 17:07:17    2499959

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Replying To Viking66:  "If you are going to go back to 2020 then why not go back 1 more year and say Kilkenny are better than Limerick? I was only looking at the last 2 years because, well, they are the last 2 years. Current state of play."
Well of course if we go back to '18 Limerick beat KK and that makes three out of four, which is hard to argue with.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 10/08/2023 19:50:18    2499987

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