General GAA thread

[suisse]

Rather a misuse of the quote function there my good man seeing as I never posted it in the first place!
As you well know I am a Dub domiciled in the Garden County and my allegiances haven't changed.

Fake quotes....cheeky!!

These were private messages you both sent me. I'm just bringing them public. I agree with what you both said in the private messages though. They'll be dancing on the streets of Navan in September.

There sure are a lot of Dubs living in Navan these days.

Ethnic cleansing of the locals

[nelly the elephant]

The Cats got out of Jail today....deserved win but a serious lack of bite and passion....How will the semi final draw go?

[deco]

Did anyone else raise an eyebrow at RTÉ sending Marty Morrissey to Kerry to interview a rake of people about the crisis in Kerry football? The crisis of course being that they lost their first two league games.

Cork, the reigning league champions, have also lost their first two games but there's been no emergency report from Leeside yet.

In fairness, there is a real crisis in Kerry with many clubs unable to field teams due to emigration. I know the rest of the country has been affected, but the football stronghold of south Kerry has been devestated by emigration.

[Avenger]

The Cats got out of Jail today....deserved win but a serious lack of bite and passion....How will the semi final draw go?

I wouldn't say we got out of jail. We didn't put them away like they would have in the past few years and its not like Kilkenny teams to let decent leads evaporate like that but they were the better team for 80% of that match. They are still not firing and I personally don't see them winning it this year and there could be some lean years on the horizon but for me they were well worth the win on Saturday night. Made hard work of it yes, but they were the better team and I'd never question the passion of this team. They owe nothing to any fan of Kilkenny GAA. IMO they showed great character to kick on after giving up leads on two occasions.

The depth isn't in the squad this year but if they can get a few lads back/right they'll give any team left in the championship a game.

[nelly the elephant]

The Cats got out of Jail today....deserved win but a serious lack of bite and passion....How will the semi final draw go?

I wouldn't say we got out of jail. We didn't put them away like they would have in the past few years and its not like Kilkenny teams to let decent leads evaporate like that but they were the better team for 80% of that match. They are still not firing and I personally don't see them winning it this year and there could be some lean years on the horizon but for me they were well worth the win on Saturday night. Made hard work of it yes, but they were the better team and I'd never question the passion of this team. They owe nothing to any fan of Kilkenny GAA. IMO they showed great character to kick on after giving up leads on two occasions.

The depth isn't in the squad this year but if they can get a few lads back/right they'll give any team left in the championship a game.

No offence Avenger re the passion comment...and I'd certainly never question their character.....it's just that they certainly lacked something last Saturday i thought(in the forwards at least). I agree that they were the better team and dererved to win....it's just that they made heavy going of it. Maybe it was inevitable after the draining affects of the 2 Dublin games, followed by the winner-takes-all against Tipp that they would be a little flat...who knows?
I'd still have them as favourites though for the All Ireland...and that's before they have the Shef and Fennelly back in harness. If those two are back (fairly) fit in two weeks time they will take some stopping.

[Avenger]

No offence Avenger re the passion comment...and I'd certainly never question their character.....it's just that they certainly lacked something last Saturday i thought(in the forwards at least). I agree that they were the better team and dererved to win....it's just that they made heavy going of it. Maybe it was inevitable after the draining affects of the 2 Dublin games, followed by the winner-takes-all against Tipp that they would be a little flat...who knows?
I'd still have them as favourites though for the All Ireland...and that's before they have the Shef and Fennelly back in harness. If those two are back (fairly) fit in two weeks time they will take some stopping.

I wasn't offended... I just don't agree that passion or lack of effort or hunger is what's missing... but there is something missing. If it was any of those 3 things, I'm sure they'd have lost either of the Tipp or Waterford games as there were a number of set backs in the Waterford game for example that a lesser team or a team with no hunger or passion in the jersey would have lost.

Mick Fennelly is massive for us. No two ways about it. He is simply the best midfield player in the country and having him fit would be a huge plus. Cody picked Michael Rice at half forward on Saturday and pushed Larkin into midfield and even though Larkin played well, I didn't understand that move... Lester Ryan isn't 100% either so there wasn't as much energy as usual from there.
The half backs were brilliant as usual but I'm still not happy about the full back line. The two lads in the corners are doing ok but I'm not sure JJ is the man for fullback.

I doubt we'll see Henry much more to be honest. He looked a broken man on Saturday and could barely run at times. I don't know whether he's picked up another injury (as he didn't play in extra time) but he doesn't look comfortable at all. He's giving the fans more of a lift that anything else at this stage. Its sad to see him like that as he's without doubt the greatest hurler I've seen play the game and is IMO the greatest of them all. I'd love to see him getting back fit and having a few stormers to go out on a high... but I just don't see it happening.

I'm not sure I'd have them as favourites but one thing they do have over other teams is that they just know how to win matches. I'm not worried about Cork TBH. I'd have preferred them to Galway or Clare as there's nothing like the site of a Cork jersey to focus a Kilkenny team and they are also young and inexperienced. For me Galway are favourites. They didn't perform in the Leinster final but they are a good team with some outstanding players and they have plenty of All Ireland experience now too which is huge IMO... there's a lot of hanging about and nonsense that goes on before an All Ireland final starts and it definitely helps to have experienced it. The All Irelands where Kilkenny beat Limerick and Waterford (2007 & 2008) were over after 10 minutes because Limerick and Waterford were not used to the set up of an All Ireland final and started poorly and Kilkenny built up massive leads.

[JB1973]

double for Dublin? or will the Kerry men put them to bed in the football final?

Could be a huge story if those 2 meet for the sam again, could be the 70's/80's all over again!

[Broken Wing]

Based on the draw the Dublin Kerry game, should it happen, will be a semi final this year.

[JB1973]

Based on the draw the Dublin Kerry game, should it happen, will be a semi final this year.

that's Dublin out then

I'm assuming at Croke with a big home following Dublin would be hot faves?

[nelly the elephant]

Based on the draw the Dublin Kerry game, should it happen, will be a semi final this year.

that's Dublin out then

I'm assuming at Croke with a big home following Dublin would be hot faves?

What,for the semi final if they win tomorrow? Nah-this is Kerry after all.......they'd have no issue with playing us. It could be a great matchup alright but I remember only too vividly the anticipation building up before we played them in the QF's on this very weekend 4 years ago....and how badly it ended!

Slightly more circumspect Dubs supporters this time around I should imagine.....next game is tomorrow night, we can't afford to look beyond that........and the same goes for Kerry against Cavan on Sunday....they're a dangerous side with nothing to lose.

[Dave Cahill]

Let the annihilation begin

[nelly the elephant]

Let the annihilation begin

I'd say Cavan wish the throw-in was put back a year not 15 minutes......very disappointing.

[Dave Cahill]

Let the annihilation begin

I'd say Cavan wish the throw-in was put back a year not 15 minutes......very disappointing.

I don't think the coaching team will, in private at least, be overly disappointed provided theres no second half collapse. This was always year one in a complete rebuild of the county team. The question is will the county board hold their nerve, something they're not renowned for

[Dave Cahill]

No annihilation, no collapse, Cavan gave a great account of themselves second half bringing an end to a good long run in the championship.

[limecat]

Let the annihilation begin

You were right about there being an annihilation, just wrong about the match it'd happen in.

[Dave Cahill]

Let the annihilation begin

You were right about there being an annihilation, just wrong about the match it'd happen in.

I doubt anyone saw this coming!

[nelly the elephant]

Let the annihilation begin

You were right about there being an annihilation, just wrong about the match it'd happen in.

I doubt anyone saw this coming!

Scoring 4-17 against a defence as previously parsimonious as Donegal's is simply sensational.....they must be strong favourites for Sam now.

[Dave Cahill]

Definitely. Mayo have always had good teams with lots of nice footballers but there have always been questions about their mental strength, this team seems to have all the football ability of previous mayo teams, but have added the mentality that Kerry, Tyrone, Armagh and Dublin have had, but they lacked previously

[Avenger]

Very impressive from Mayo.

[ceemec]

Delighted for Mayo. They played some scintillating stuff today. I hope they haven't played their final though. We've been in this situation before when they've put in some very impressive performances. This is the third year in a row they knocked out the reigning champions. I wouldn't be surprised to see Tyrone squeeze past them in the semi final.

Would love a Mayo/Dublin final though and would be delighted with either winning.