Cork Hurlers - Part 2

That's a very strong starting 15. However I'd be very sceptical of their bench options.

I'd be nervous enough heading down there. They beat Tipp last year when they could easily have checked out as their year was already done.

They were getting hosed against us in the league game in the 20 minutes after halftime yet fought back and could have snatched a win.
Regardless of all the chatter we hear about how poor they are doing and how the Waterford public are disengaged with the team, there is clearly still a nucleus of a serious team there that believe they can achieve something.
Yep, definitely nervy.
I'd discount our league game against them completely.
Only Davy knows what they were up to that day.

You'd wonder though how much belief Waterford players have in themselves?
 
We killed Waterford for first 2/3 of league game when they wouldn't push up on puckouts, cant see them repeating that & they somehow let loads of room down the centre for JOC breaks
 
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.

 
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.

That suggests Cunningham isn’t even in the discussion.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
EVENT GUIDE - HIGHLIGHT
T. Love
Cyprus Avenue, Caroline St.

28th Feb 2025 @ 7:00 pm
More info..

Fireside Folk

The Welcome Inn, Tomorrow @ 9:30pm

More events ▼
Top