Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[mathuna]

5 more sleeps. 5 more sleeps....

 

[Crankycorner]

Good news on the injury front.
Deccie is now potentially in contention to start on Sunday.
P Power is back in full training with the squad
Coleman, ROF and Sean Twomey are all fit and ready.
The only 2 missing are Kingston and Cathal McCarthy who is out for the season.

Waterford v Cork: Rebels optimistic regarding injury doubts

Declan Dalton, Mark Coleman and Robbie O'Flynn all in contention for trip to Walsh Park but Kingston and McCarthy out

www.echolive.ie

That suggests Cunningham isn’t even in the discussion.

 

[Vladimir The Bear]

That suggests Cunningham isn’t even in the discussion.

I genuinely can't see how Cunningham could even be considered for the matchday panel currently given he played no league this year and wasn't on the panel last year.

As R&B said in a previous post he'd want to be doing something pretty spectacular in training to be parachuted in at this stage.

Realistically I think it could be next February before we see Cunningham in contention again.

Wonder what the story with Ethan Twomey is. He's a guy I reckon could power our midfield for years to come but he's losing out on valuable experience with niggly injuries.

 

[omar]

I genuinely can't see how Cunningham could even be considered for the matchday panel currently given he played no league this year and wasn't on the panel last year.

As R&B said in a previous post he'd want to be doing something pretty spectacular in training to be parachuted in at this stage.

Realistically I think it could be next February before we see Cunningham in contention again.

Wonder what the story with Ethan Twomey is. He's a guy I reckon could power our midfield for years to come but he's losing out on valuable experience with niggly injuries.

Personally I think both have shown the required pedigree at u20 and club level to say they could be worth a place in the 26 even without many league minutes.

Twomey showed it in his cameo vs Limerick last year and Cunningham has that nice touch of arrogance that he wouldn't be overawed at all imo.

Obviously their performances in training and fitness will dictate their selection but if thats in order, I'd have no issues giving the lads a go. Ethan probably further ahead of Ben at the moment though.

Ben probably going to take over the free taking from Hoggy in the next year or so also.

 

[morello]

5 more sleeps. 5 more sleeps....

I'm really torn as to our readiness to be proper contenders this year. Just looking at the likely team it seems we still want to play some lads for their 2 or 3 point contribution but we're going to keep ignoring the stats around tackles, forwards tackles in particular, rucks etc. that are most closely linked to championship wins in the last few years.

Its been really interesting to watch back some of last years game again a year later and while we showed loads of character to stay in games til the end, it is easy to argue we were second best to Tipp, Clare and Limerick.

Dead balls in general are a bit below the best. Watching KK, Limerick, Clare, Galway - they are better on puc outs, frees and sidelines than Cork are. That's a huge chunk of the game there. Clare, Limerick, KK are better on that rabid tackling (and maintaining it for a full game) as refs start to leave the whistle in the pocket as the championship progresses.

While HB line looks much stronger, numbers 1 to 4 have question marks, I'm not sure we have that right yet.

So they're the concerns, and the reasons why I think we're a bit off those 3 (Limerick, KK, Clare) still. However...

I think we have the best centre back in the game at the moment - Conlon and Hannon are slowing down - Joyce is ready to rock and dominate games this summer. Coleman is back, and he is a top 10 player in the country when on form. The Downeys are going to step up a notch - they've learnt plenty over the last couple of seasons - they are big aggressive defenders with loads of hurling. Connolly is a massive danger and teams over-focusing on him will leave space to other danger men. Fitzgibbon and ROF are all-star type of players when they're in form also. We'll have real impact off our bench whatever the configuration.

Also, the fixtures favour Cork this year, that could be the difference. No Cusack Park or Gaelic Grounds. There's huge hunger within this panel and timing looks good in terms of age / experience / youth/ injuries etc.

Time to deliver now boys.

 

[bluesball]

4 more sleeps .

 

[Crankycorner]

I genuinely can't see how Cunningham could even be considered for the matchday panel currently given he played no league this year and wasn't on the panel last year.

As R&B said in a previous post he'd want to be doing something pretty spectacular in training to be parachuted in at this stage.

Realistically I think it could be next February before we see Cunningham in contention again.

Wonder what the story with Ethan Twomey is. He's a guy I reckon could power our midfield for years to come but he's losing out on valuable experience with niggly injuries.

I agree. Hopefully E Twomey is back before game 3. Ideally we’d introduce a few lads back coming on as subs and by game 3 and 4 we’ve a serious competition for places.

 

[Corkfan82]

Might be no harm to let Pat and the lads select the team before it is being critiqued.

Good news on the injury front.
Deccie is now potentially in contention to start on Sunday.
P Power is back in full training with the squad
Coleman, ROF and Sean Twomey are all fit and ready.
The only 2 missing are Kingston and Cathal McCarthy who is out for the season.

Waterford v Cork: Rebels optimistic regarding injury doubts

Declan Dalton, Mark Coleman and Robbie O'Flynn all in contention for trip to Walsh Park but Kingston and McCarthy out

www.echolive.ie

Glad to hear and thanks for the update.

 

[mathuna]

4 more sleeps .

Even better. Jaysus I can't even count with the excitment

 

[rebel boy]

I'm really torn as to our readiness to be proper contenders this year. Just looking at the likely team it seems we still want to play some lads for their 2 or 3 point contribution but we're going to keep ignoring the stats around tackles, forwards tackles in particular, rucks etc. that are most closely linked to championship wins in the last few years.

Its been really interesting to watch back some of last years game again a year later and while we showed loads of character to stay in games til the end, it is easy to argue we were second best to Tipp, Clare and Limerick.

Dead balls in general are a bit below the best. Watching KK, Limerick, Clare, Galway - they are better on puc outs, frees and sidelines than Cork are. That's a huge chunk of the game there. Clare, Limerick, KK are better on that rabid tackling (and maintaining it for a full game) as refs start to leave the whistle in the pocket as the championship progresses.

While HB line looks much stronger, numbers 1 to 4 have question marks, I'm not sure we have that right yet.

So they're the concerns, and the reasons why I think we're a bit off those 3 (Limerick, KK, Clare) still. However...

I think we have the best centre back in the game at the moment - Conlon and Hannon are slowing down - Joyce is ready to rock and dominate games this summer. Coleman is back, and he is a top 10 player in the country when on form. The Downeys are going to step up a notch - they've learnt plenty over the last couple of seasons - they are big aggressive defenders with loads of hurling. Connolly is a massive danger and teams over-focusing on him will leave space to other danger men. Fitzgibbon and ROF are all-star type of players when they're in form also. We'll have real impact off our bench whatever the configuration.

Also, the fixtures favour Cork this year, that could be the difference. No Cusack Park or Gaelic Grounds. There's huge hunger within this panel and timing looks good in terms of age / experience / youth/ injuries etc.

Time to deliver now boys.

Great post, it will be interesting to see what the group and in particular the mgt team have learnt from last years campaign, i totally agree with your point regarding team selection. Some lads are finding it harder to get off this team than others are getting on it. They need to get a balance and your point regarding workrate reflects it, the older brigade do it for a period of time but do not sustain it. Tactically whether some of the hurling traditionalists disagree, we have fallen behind & the mgt team unless prepared will reap what they have sowed. Ryan in Yr 1 demanded that the team reflect his attitude, the time to deliver for a number of these players is now. The fixture list as you mentioned could hardly be kinder, a winnable first game and Clare coming to town then after a bruising encounter in Cusack Park. It will be a big blow if Cork do not come out of this in a top 3 position, a munster final is a realistic target.