Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[TheOutdoorThreadmill]

Bennett was very lucky not to have a very serious injury following Flanagan's attack on him.
If the Gaa do nothing then it's open season for this thuggery. The fact that it happened on a Gaa field doesn't lessen the fact that it was a pre meditated criminal act and should not be allowed to be brushed aside as it happened on a Gaa field. The reality is Bennett could have suffered a life changing injury and that is not an exaggeration considering the speed and ferocity of the attack.
How did The Sunday game treat it .....disgracefully.

 

[TexasRed]

Have to admire the efficiency of Limerick, they were for the taking on Sunday but Waterford couldn’t put the ball over the bar. Same with Cork last year against Galway, we missed simple chances. Limerick have a target on their back and that’s what the best teams want. Not sure what to expect at the weekend from Cork, hopefully we have worked on puck out strategies and we line up with aggressive half forward line. Some of the lads that missed out on any league action will have to play some part and get momentum.
Come on the rebels

 

[finbarrog]

This is the point, and it isn't just Limerick either (it's just nonsense to suggest it's them alone), all teams/clubs are at it. It is done at such speed now, it is hard to cop in real time. If the GAA want to cut it out once and for all they change the rule and add greater separation between hand and sliotar before passing or it is a free. There was an incident last year, I can't remember what game, I think it was Morrisey to Hegarty for a goal. The referee didn't give a free and the goal stood, on TV it looked a blatant throw. However looking at the clip after wards and slowing it right down frame by frame, the pass was good.

Very good post.
It’s really hard for refs to see these in real time especially whilst in the middle of a ruck or maybe 2-3 player surrounding a tackle situation with no clear view.
So fast the play now it’s even hard to see even if standing pitch side so it’s really hard for every call to get it right. I don’t know how they will address it long term but it is what is now and very tough for refs.

 

[finbarrog]

Have to admire the efficiency of Limerick, they were for the taking on Sunday but Waterford couldn’t put the ball over the bar. Same with Cork last year against Galway, we missed simple chances. Limerick have a target on their back and that’s what the best teams want. Not sure what to expect at the weekend from Cork, hopefully we have worked on puck out strategies and we line up with aggressive half forward line. Some of the lads that missed out on any league action will have to play some part and get momentum.
Come on the rebels

Sign of a great team though TR
Yes Limerick play with physical very physical players and on the edge at times but would we all love Cork to play in a similar manner and win ?
The amount of times they look in trouble but find and grind out a win it has to be admired as much as none of us like it.
Waterford did well and got their tactics right as much as saying Limerick were poor but they are not unbeatable. Cian Lynch was culled and look I hate to see players like Hannon and Jesus what a torrid time T De Burca is getting with them so like North Cork said we need to be focused on what we have to do.
Jeez like can anyone make any sense of the Clare / Tipp game. Win the weekend and I think we will and then we will see if we can shake off the jekel and hyde performance wise.
Cmon you rebels

 

[Hurlywurly]

I think it's a bit more complex than that. It definitely wasn't 'a premeditated criminal act' and calling it that, actually makes dealing with it sound simpler than it is.

It was a poorly timed shoulder which ended up targeting the head. There's way too much physicality in the modern game, so stuff like this is bound to happen. Limerick (and probably Cork and other sides too) are told to get physical. Stand a guy up, hit the man in possession with a shoulder etc. In the heat of battle they get sloppy, or stop giving a shit, and stuff like this happens.

You are 100% correct. It is extremely dangerous and will result in very serious injury sooner or later. Acknowledging that reality doesn't make you whiney or a cry baby, it makes you a realist. The modern inter-county hurler is built like a tank. Allowing them to crash into each other's heads at full speed is a really, really, terrible idea. It needs to be taken seriously, and it needs to be stopped asap. Making Limerick the bogeymen, as if they're the only side that does it, won't help though.

I wonder if the shoulder might be limited to the contest of a ball, and not allowed when a man is in possession? This would of course require a more defined tackle too. This is serious business now. We are rapidly approaching the terrible day of a life-changing injury.

I think these are the points that need to be made.
Making Limerick the bogeyman doesn't help but it has to be noted that the size and strength of their players has set the trend and the requirement for all intercounty players to be tanked up in the gym to compete with them.
This has compounded the problem.

I would say players repeatedly exposed to the hits that we saw in Limerick v Waterford on Sunday are already at risk of suffering injury that will impact their lives longterm.

If the GAA continues to ignore this, bowing to "consumer" pressure to "let the game flow" and failing to support referees to spot this then down the road they are at serious risk of being subject to action from
"players who contend the sport was negligent in failing to take reasonable action to protect them from serious brain injuries".
Concussion is an obvious clear sign of trauma to the brain, the hits that don't end up as a visible concussion aren't negligible in terms of the hidden damage that they do long term to the brain.
Any strike above shoulder height should be severely punished. Err on the side of caution, protect the players.
Needs to be eradicated from the game, particularly when there should be no ACTUAL NEED to go into that type of contact in a game of hurling.
It's not f***ing rugby.

 

[Vladimir The Bear]

Tipp and Kilkenny!

Bit like football - even if Dublin were going for 10 in a row, I'd want them to beat Kerry!

Amen brother!

 

[morello]

As mentioned by others the two home games are huge now.
Losing de Burca is big for Waterford but I think it will be offset a small bit by the confidence gained yesterday. I'd expect Gleeson to start and possibly Fitzgerald in the full fwd line. Getting match ups right will be really important

Few things from the Waterford performance to consider for this weekend:
- They were excellent in the middle third, won tonnes of rucks and probably won the breaking ball battle, seemed they had the extra man in the right place most of the time
- While Montgomery was wearing 10 he was midfield for the whole game and would have been MOTM if 3 or his 4 shots at goal went over, none of them did. Barron was also excellent there. But they had Bennett and Dunford pretty much playing in the same area - they all won plenty ball and broke out at speed
- They only left Kiely and Prendergast inside , or alternating Hutchinson, but only 2 and never created a goal chance of note all game, I’d be shocked if we didn’t see some change there &, as per LR above, Fitzgerald could start
- Darragh Lyons lined out HF instead of midfield but played as a HB, man marking Tom Morrissey , creating a spare 7th defender
- Unexpectedly we saw fagan and Caelum Lyons staying put in the HB line and not doing that hard running attacking game that they’ve done before
- Full back line looked weakish on paper but the 3 of them did well, bar the goal. New lad Mark Fitzgerald had a fine game… they’ve a different challenge coming at them this weekend though, could have a lot more pace to handle

I think you’ll see the same smothering of puc outs - they will definitely let cork go short… but you could see a very different approach elsewhere, I think a lot of the above was limerick specific and they have the tools to take a more attacking approach to get at corks full back line.

From a Cork POV , we’d probably be delighted if Waterford are that defensive again so our FB line isn’t over exposed and their backline is missing as many as ours is now so it would be ideal for ROF & Fitzgibbon if they’re available - they will be vulnerable at CB without De Burca, and prunty is an iffy decision maker at 3, he’s always done pretty well on Hoggy though.

Fingers crossed they open up as I’d fancy out chances to outscore them & get a few goals but a tight low scoring defensive approach from them would worry me - Roche is a new dog of war but we’re not blessed with them around that middle third

 

[Happyhonkaman]

If the GAA continues to ignore this, bowing to "consumer" pressure to "let the game flow" and failing to support referees to spot this then down the road they are at serious risk of being subject to action from
"players who contend the sport was negligent in failing to take reasonable action to protect them from serious brain injuries".
Concussion is an obvious clear sign of trauma to the brain, the hits that don't end up as a visible concussion aren't negligible in terms of the hidden damage that they do long term to the brain.
Any strike above shoulder height should be severely punished. Err on the side of caution, protect the players.
Needs to be eradicated from the game, particularly when there should be no ACTUAL NEED to go into that type of contact in a game of hurling.
It's not f***ing rugby.

Excellent post Hurly

 

[bluesball]

Any chance we will name the team like tipp did last week.

 

[Pooman]

Any chance we will name the team like tipp did last week.

Assume they'll get fined for that. The programme was a disgrace.