The Hurling Thread

[Happyhonkaman]

An almighty win by Kilkenny but that Limerick performance was full of lethargy and unforced errrors all over the pitch. There’s two possible reasons for that and we won’t know the answer until championship

1 - Limerick are in the middle of heavy training and will have all guns blazing come championship

2 - Limerick are on the slippery slope from the top and will struggle to get out of munster

Ah stop! That performance is par for the course for Limerick in the league. It hasn’t stopped them winning a few but they are never impressive bar maybe the final. They can be sluggish early on in the championship as well which is why I had Clare pegged to beat them in Ennis

Limerick responded to being behind by taking some of their top players off!

 

[danielthelanger]

Did Lawlor punch him in the ribs first.
Not approving what Casey did

rotten by casey.

 

[Northcorkman]

I’ve heard from a reliable source limerick fly out for a warm weather training camp later next week. I d imagine that be booked a while back. Ideal prep for a potential league final flying in two days before

 

[leeside_rebel]

Did Lawlor punch him in the ribs first.
Not approving what Casey did

He did, it was cute enough to draw the slap. Casey is long enough around to not fall for it though, was stupid

 

[leeside_rebel]

I’ve heard from a reliable source limerick fly out for a warm weather training camp later next week. I d imagine that be booked a while back. Ideal prep for a potential league final flying in two days before

Kiely had to book it so during the Easter holidays this time. Think it didn't go down well previously in the school when they headed away for a camp the week schools were coming back after being off the week before.

 

[danielthelanger]

Very true.
Funny the umpire didn't see the punch

He did, it was cute enough to draw the slap. Casey is long enough around to not fall for it though, was stupid

 

[Corkfan82]

Did Lawlor punch him in the ribs first.
Not approving what Casey did

Thought it was Deegan not Lawlor

 

[danielthelanger]

Perhaps
Thought the commentator said Lawlor though
I didn't notice the number

Thought it was Deegan not Lawlor

 

[Cook My Sock]

Kiely will publicly say he is ashamed and that is not our standard and missing out on a final is a big blow. Secretly he has a full squad to pick from And 4 weeks to prepare for Clare.

He'll be feeding them raw meat in training next week, I hope they have a good supply of hurleys.

 

[Vladimir The Bear]

As others here have said only time will tell what that game today meant if anything.

Personally thought it was bad fare, entertaining to a point but littered with fumble after fumble, wides and yet more fussy officiating from James Owens. He's an awful referee in my opinion.

Don't think Eoin Cody deserved his second yellow. It was a harmless stroke. Casey definitely deserved his red. A nasty strike although he was digged first.

Limerick looked disinterested from a long way out. Their touch was bad and they looked leggy and tired. As alluded to here they looked like a team in the middle of a heavy block of training. Added to that John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk looked serene on the sideline as Kilkenny clipped them and I think that tells you all you need to know about Limericks attitude to today.

However there was a few things glaringly obvious about them regardless of their attitude. Sean Finn and Declan Hannon have a long way to go to get back to their best. Both were particularly bad today, Hannon especially was all over the place. I expect Clare and Tipp to target the pair of them in the opening rounds. Limericks young lads with the exception of Cathal O Neill are not as good as their made out to be. The media fawning over the Limerick panel in recent weeks. I don't see it. I think they have 17 or 18 outstanding players but after that I think there is a steep decline in the talent. Costello, English, O Dalaigh, Boylan are all decent players but they don't improve Limerick, they weaken them.

Nickie Quaid had a very shaky afternoon I thought. Poorest I've seen him in years.

A Limerick performance like that on their next visit to the pairc would be most welcome.

Kilkenny worked like dogs. Dour and gritty. Harried Limerick relentlessly. Galway are seriously missing a trick not taking the league seriously. Them and Kilkenny are as good as guaranteed a passage to the All Ireland series every year so should really be going all out to win the league every year as Kilkenny do.
Hard to judge Kilkenny as well today. Their next proper meaningful game will be the Leinster final and that will tell us a lot more about them. I liked the look of Jordan Molloy in midfield. Could be another unpolished gem for them.