Ladies and gentlemen, who will be in McIntyres first xv for our opening league match? Is it Kilkenny we are playing? Certain players will be absent due to club committments so we wont have our strongest hand- the Cats will be in the same boat.
Does anyone know the level of fitness of David Collins? Is David Forde near full fitness yet? Who will be our full-back for the campaign? One way or another, it will be one hell of a ride.

galwaycelt (Galway) - Posts: 307 - 07/01/2009 13:08:19    174856

1. K Walsh (C'More)
2. S Linnane
3. Murty Kililea
4. Willie Earls
5. Gerry Mc
6. Keady
7. Pete Finnerty
8. M Coleman
9. P Malone
10. Hopper
11. Joe Connolly
12. Liam Burke
13. Broderick
14. The only and only Joe Cooney
15. F. Forde

Best goalie we ever had, the 6 meanest backs on earth, 2 great midfielders and forwards that ooze class.

Charlie (Kerry) - Posts: 513 - 07/01/2009 14:18:09    174943

Experimentation will probably be the name of the game. Loughnane was way too conservative putting Tony Og fullback for nearly all of last year's league. Then when it was plain to see Tony Og was struggling for many games he only changed for the championship and put in David Forde there! That's crazy - at least pick a recognised fullback not a forward. So there will probably changes to fullback with possibly McClearn starting there, Mahony may be played at halfback or midfield, Hynes will be back at midfield or centreforward etc.

My guess for the league leaving out the Port contingent would be;

Skehill
Moore
McClearn
Cullinane
Kavanagh
Lee
Collins
Hynes
Mahony
Tannian
Kerins
F Healy
N Healy
Gantley
Farragher

tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3470 - 07/01/2009 14:24:56    174964

Is young Brendan Kenny from Loughrea worth a spot? Is a cert for full back on the WIT fitzgibbon this year.

scallon_eamonn (Wexford) - Posts: 17 - 07/01/2009 20:19:40    175311

Tannians knee is injured. Could be out for up to 6 months.

Gerlock (Galway) - Posts: 21 - 07/01/2009 20:50:27    175337

tommy k

skehill. playing for cappy
collins. out of panel, long term injury
tannien. out of panel, long term injury

fairplayya (Galway) - Posts: 131 - 07/01/2009 21:42:30    175376

charlie your obviously from carnmore with big murty full back and walsh in goal..walsh was a decent keeper in fairness and probably deserverd a shot but you cant say hes the best goalie ever when he didnt face the dj careys and the john leahys..your judgein him on saves he made in kenny park by average club hurlers

Famine88 (Kerry) - Posts: 51 - 07/01/2009 22:23:07    175408

1.Aidan Ryan 2.Fergal Moore 3.Damian McClearn 4.Ollie Canning 5.Shane Kavanagh 6.John Lee 7.David Collins 8.Eoin Lynch 9.David Tierney 10.john Greene 11.Iarla Tannion 12.Andy Smyth 13.Damian Hayes 14.Joe Canning 15.Alan Kerins Rite before i get abused for this team id like to justify my selection first...i tink aidan ryan is a better shot stopper, a bit headless at times but very good nonetheless.full back is very tricky..it will be interesting to see if mcclearn sticks it out for the year but imo he's just as ruthless as hickey and sully and thats what we need.david collins best position is at num 7 so i hope he returns to the form of 05 come championship.midfield lynch is stylish and i tink there is stil 1 more good year in tierney..maybe been left of last year mite benefit the team this year as he'l be out to prove a point.half forward line:look we need big men here,at least two, to when puck outs and feels with the rite coaching greene can be an addition here,we also need more consistancy out of tannion also.hayes and canning pick themselves but i picked kerins not to play at num 15 but as a 3rd man midfielder.he has a savage work rate and if u cast ur mind bak to the all ireland club semi when clarinbridge placed him as the spare man and he ended up with man of match.that would leave acres of room for canning and hayes to clean up inside..wat ye tink??

rapper (Galway) - Posts: 42 - 07/01/2009 23:21:08    175457

Ok rapper.I wont get abusive but how would u win a game with that half foward line.Andy smith has lost his form since the club final.Poor year with portumna.Iarlath tannion ...ur rite too inconsistant.Not good enough in the air and hes not a leader imo.As for john greene....come on;there should be a thread on how hes on the panal in the first place.For what its worth i think it should be Mark kerins-Joe Canning-David Tierney.proven scoregetters,ball winners,grafters and above all else leaders.One last point ....the platform for all kilkenny/cork sucess has been they're half back line.win the battle on the '40 and you win the war:

faceinthecrowd (Galway) - Posts: 26 - 08/01/2009 02:14:49    175513

In fariness rapper that forward line is not much different than the one which started against Cork last year and we all know that Hayes, Tannian, Kerins and Smith did not score from play in that vital match so why pick all of them again?

tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3470 - 08/01/2009 09:12:00    175532

Maybe boys (faceinthecrowd and rapper)
ye should find out who's on the panel before ye go picking a team and if ye know anything about hurling you ll know the portumna boys wont be playing till club championship is over. Alan keirns and john green were not selected for the panel.

puretribe (Galway) - Posts: 21 - 08/01/2009 10:45:36    175600

james skehill broke his collarbone playin for LIT so callanan will be goalie.likely to give starts to andy coen,paul killilea,damian mccleran.brian mahoney,eoin forde etc. for the first game...plenty injuries and really when you pick the team without the portumna lads were pretty average

Famine88 (Kerry) - Posts: 51 - 08/01/2009 11:04:44    175618

It will be a harmless team without the Portumna lads, heres a lash at it.

callinan
Moore
Donovan
McClearn
Kavanagh
Lee
Collins
Mahony
Cullinane
Murray
Donnellan
Kerins
N Healy
Gantly
Farragher

nailhimstones (Galway) - Posts: 114 - 08/01/2009 11:51:16    175663

07/01/2009 20:19:40
scallon_eamonn
County: Wexford
Posts: 8

Is young Brendan Kenny from Loughrea worth a spot? Is a cert for full back on the WIT fitzgibbon this year.

I think the Brendan Kenny you are talking about is from Kiltormer, don't know of any in Loughrea... Good hurler though

Hugh_Jass (Galway) - Posts: 19 - 08/01/2009 13:24:11    175756

Just to clarify the Kerins I was referring to was Mark as he is actually on the panel and to be honest he is the best we have at centreforward and should never have been dropped some years ago. Why are some people on this site still singing the praises of David Tierney who has only played a couple of decent championship games for Galway in the 2005 quarterfinal / semifinal and has been even more annoyingly inconsistent than Murray, Forde, Tannian and Farragher?

tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3470 - 08/01/2009 16:38:16    175850

Sorry Kiltormer. I havent seen many Galway club games, is he up to intercounty standard?

scallon_eamonn (Wexford) - Posts: 17 - 08/01/2009 18:19:29    175997

Famine88, you are fairly on the ball even if you are exiled in Kerry!!! So how do you and indeed other punters think we will do this year? I wouldnt be too optomistic but then I rarely am!!! We shoud be aiming for an All Ireland Semi Final at least and a good run in the league too. Winning the league isnt everything but its a good start. Lots of players injured and club tied so I expect a struggle for McIntyre at the beginning.

galwaycelt (Galway) - Posts: 307 - 08/01/2009 18:24:05    176001

well il make an apology for forgeting bout adrian culinane..himself and canning were galways best performers by a country mile vs cork...there is no way id have mark kerins on the team..not even goin to entertain that idea for a second..hes finished a long time ago!ye said that kilkennys best line is their half bak line so that means we need a strong half forward line to compete against them...so i stand by tannion and greene..but am open to suggestions...lads we need big men here simple as that??canning has to stay at full forward as he would do more damage closer to goal!finally,we all know that the current panel of players will be completely different to the one training in august so thats why i have alan kerins and greene there in the hope that theyl be called bak

rapper (Galway) - Posts: 42 - 08/01/2009 20:20:20    176078

well obviously kilkenny are the team to beat.im still not sure if leinster is a good or bad move,like we dont want to become another wexford or offaly who constantly get thrashed by kilkenny year after year..we havnt got the hurlers we think we have..joe and ollie canning,fergal moore,john lee(if fit and focused),niall healy and damian hayes n maybe adrian cullinane are all good but inconsistencey is Galways biggest problem.only joe canning would make the kilkennny team,thats the reality of it.Id be happy with a good showing in the league,a decent game to the cats in leinster and a good showing in an all ireland semi after accounting for a munster team in the quarter..anything else is a bonus really!

Famine88 (Kerry) - Posts: 51 - 09/01/2009 11:39:04    176472

More then anything what Mcyntire needs to establish is a settled side. More than anything else this was Loughnanes greatest failing in the job although a high proprtion of injuries were no help to him. The best Mcyintire can hope for at the moment is to unearth a few quality players in key positions who have the potential to develop as leaders on the pitch, something Galway hurling has been sorely lacking for far too long now. By the time the Portumna lads return hopefully a settled balanced side will be taking shape.

mossbags (Galway) - Posts: 1089 - 09/01/2009 11:59:12    176490