Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[TheEarlofPearl]

Jesus wept lads, wait till ye see the size of TOM. Cian Lynch won't be trowing him in the air anytime soon.

 

[Corkonian1]

TheEarlofPearl

Many of the players have bulked up a lot over the winter, I heard Mark Coleman is gone massive and I saw Tim on the sideline with Shandrum before Christmas and you could tell his bulk has increased but Deccie Dalton is sill naturally ahead in this regard.

 

[Corkfan82]

TheEarlofPearl

Many of the players have bulked up a lot over the winter, I heard Mark Coleman is gone massive and I saw Tim on the sideline with Shandrum before Christmas and you could tell his bulk has increased but Deccie Dalton is sill naturally ahead in this regard.

Good to hear

 

[Corkfan82]

Ciaran Joyce, Sean O'Donoghue and Tim O'Mahony should be the mainstays or certain starters on the Cork team but previous manangements hadn't a clue where to play Tim, he simply has to be in an attacking position, either mid-field, wing-forward or full-forward. If he is fit for the early rounds of the league he should start centre-field. Within the current panel Patrick Collins is a certain starter unless Pat Ryan names Cathal Hickey in goal and Hickey agrees to play this late in his career, the only other option is he delves into Ben O'Connors U-20 panel and picks one of them 3 young 'keepers.

Whatever criticism is labelled at Declan Dalton he certainly brings physicality, he wont be bullied, he has hurling and he should be the future long term free taker over Shane Kingston and Conor Lehane. His lack of pace is an issue but Cork have plenty forwards with pace and a proper mix is what's required. Dalton certainly has plenty to offer whether it's as a starter or coming off the bench. Brian Hayes and Cormac Beausang also bring plenty diversity to an attack which already possessed good forwards but never gelled because too many of the same type of player were selected together and the supply lines were not direct.

If the selectors do their job Cork certainly have the forwards to be AI contenders but the defence is a huge issue. Regarding defenders the panel is too confined with a likelihood of Niall O'Leary and Sean O'Donoghue both corner-backs for championship or even earlier and Conor O'Callaghan, Eoin Roche and Sean O'Leary Hayes the cover. Robert Downey the likely full-back with Daire O'Leary and Damien Cahalane the cover and Eoin Downey, Ciaran Joyce and Ger Millerick (if fit) the best possible half-back line with Damien Cahalane and Cormac O'Brien as cover.

As I stated Tim O'Mahony should be the mainstay in mid-field unless Ben O'Connor becomes available later in the year with either Ethan Twomey or Darragh Fitz. Brian Roche, Brian O'Sullivan and Tommy O'Connell are all cover here but Roche and O'Connell should also be cover for half-forward and half-back respectively.

As I also stated the key to the forwards will be selecting the proper mix, the selectors certainly can't go with Lehane, Kingston and J.O'C in the same attack, the league should tell us a lot regarding the starting 6 come championship.

Spot on, great analysis. Where to play Mark Coleman when fit will be interesting.

 

[AllCork32]

Imho I think Pat Ryan should be targeting a team for the future like this: 1. Paudie O’Sullivan 2. Sean O’Donoghue (C) 3. Ryan Walsh 4. Niall O’Leary 5. Eoin Downey 6. Ciarán Joyce 7. Daire O’Leary 8. Mark Coleman 9. Ben O’Connor 10. Tim O’Mahoney 11. Darragh Fitzgibbon 12. Robbie O’Flynn 13. Shane Kingston 14. Declan Dalton 15. Alan Connolly

 

[bluesball]

If there are some on here who think D.Fitz should not be at midfield it is easy to assume ye dont attend club matches.He is the best midfielder in Cork by a long way and i have seen enough of him over thew last few years.

 

[JimmyBarrySmurph]

Imho I think Pat Ryan should be targeting a team for the future like this: 1. Paudie O’Sullivan 2. Sean O’Donoghue (C) 3. Ryan Walsh 4. Niall O’Leary 5. Eoin Downey 6. Ciarán Joyce 7. Daire O’Leary 8. Mark Coleman 9. Ben O’Connor 10. Tim O’Mahoney 11. Darragh Fitzgibbon 12. Robbie O’Flynn 13. Shane Kingston 14. Declan Dalton 15. Alan Connolly

Not saying that’s wrong but looking at that team, the thing that jumps out at me is where are the 25-30 scores including 2-3 goals going to come from?

 

[AllCork32]

Not saying that’s wrong but looking at that team, the thing that jumps out at me is where are the 25-30 scores including 2-3 goals going to come from?

There’s a lot of consistent goal scorers in that team in people like Kingston, Dalton, Connolly and O’Mahoney. But I do agree on the point’s situation that could be the issue with that team, but i also think that points are sometimes more to do with the tactics and style of play rather than the players.

 

[JimmyBarrySmurph]

If there are some on here who think D.Fitz should not be at midfield it is easy to assume ye dont attend club matches.He is the best midfielder in Cork by a long way and i have seen enough of him over thew last few years.

D Fitz is outstanding for Charleville and does make a big claim to Centre field role for Cork. His one man display against the Barr’s in Mallow last year was out of this world I thought, for me it was the stand out individual performance of the year in 2022.
BUT, and this is a big part of Corks problem, the hurling that is styled, played & refereed in the Cork senior hurling championship bears little or no resemblance to that encountered at inter county level. So it can be argued that playing well in club hurling does not automatically transfer well to the inter county scene.

 

[morello]

I'm not so sure about O'Mahony in a midfield role. Definitely worth trying there in the league, but to my mind he is a more limited player than some people suggest. I have never seen him as the kind of player who scraps for dirty ball or holds up opponents in the tackle. His concentration and positioning was a problem when he played in defence, and that might also be a factor at midfield. And I still think he tends to take big swings, making him vulnerable to being hooked. He brings big positives in terms of running with the ball and shielding it from his marker when he gets out in front to win it, so I agree that there should be a place for him in the front eight. But I also think he'll need a fair bit of coaching to smooth off the rough edges to his game.

In the league, I reckon he should get a game or two at midfield with O'Sullivan or Roche, but also spend time at wing-forward or FF.

Tend to agree with that. Will be a fascinating one to watch over the coming weeks as I still find it hard to peg him down in 1 particular role. I don’t think the open spaces of 6,8,9,11 suit him - he’s a bit quirky mentally and does the odd mad thing every so often. Then there’s been times over the last couple of years where he’s running in from the wing getting goals where he looks like one of the top hurlers in the country.

The defensive problems looked to be attitude / technique and probably fixable with Ryan & co (he has the physique and cutting). I’d probably land on 10 or 12 as his best position but we may need him at 5 again and with the arrival of Cunningham, Hayes, and return of Dalton, that might be ok