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Sunday Game Hurling Team

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Seanie McMahon and Ken McGrath were the 2 best centerbacks in my opinion but had no hope to get on the team because that would mean Sid or Tommy would have to be left off. If you pick a real centerback my half back line would be Whelehan McMahon and Delaney

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 06/05/2020 11:53:48    2277622

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Replying To tiobraid:  "I'd have no arguments should Fitzhenry have got in but I'd argue on Maher. For me he's Tipps greatest ever player. In my bias opinion (and i'll probably get laughed at for this) he dominated/dominates games in the same way Whelehan did. Walsh and JJ dominated their own areas but Whelehan and Maher dominated the whole back line and the bigger the game the bigger performance.
Biased perhaps but that's my opinion. There's only two Tipp players i'd say deserve to be on the team and the other would be Eoin Kelly."
Only realised in the last week Maher has 6 all stars most of any player still active at inter county, in fairness to him he'd have to be in the a good shout then.

With the benefit of hindsight I'd say ollie canning, Whelahan, walsh and delaney are nailed on for the defence and 2 from 3 from lohan, Corcoran and Maher. With JJ's versatility the defence won't have a stagnant structure to it no matter what way you pick it.

wexico15 (Wexford) - Posts: 2602 - 06/05/2020 16:59:08    2277640

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This team is becoming very questionable no JJ and now no TJ. I believe the half forward line is Shefflin, Canning and Carey. DJ won 5 of his All-Stars at full forward that is the position he played most of his hurling don't understand how he is wing forward. Still would like to see a team picked where the players are picked playing the positions they actually played. If I had to start a team with the players left off so far I would have Ollie Canning JJ anf TJ no a bad start.

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 09/05/2020 13:33:45    2277810

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Replying To tiobraid:  "I'd have no arguments should Fitzhenry have got in but I'd argue on Maher. For me he's Tipps greatest ever player. In my bias opinion (and i'll probably get laughed at for this) he dominated/dominates games in the same way Whelehan did. Walsh and JJ dominated their own areas but Whelehan and Maher dominated the whole back line and the bigger the game the bigger performance.
Biased perhaps but that's my opinion. There's only two Tipp players i'd say deserve to be on the team and the other would be Eoin Kelly."
I think Seanie McMahon should be centre back. JJ delaney should be there for sure. The issue with Padraig Maher is he does occasionally get roasted for pace. And against the likes of Limerick last year in the Munster final he can be anonymous. Sean McMahon was always good,even on beaten teams. JJ Delaney is the best defender iv ever seen. How any team could leave him out is ridiculous. Canning for Corcoran aswell.

bloodyban (Limerick) - Posts: 1323 - 10/05/2020 12:08:06    2277858

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Replying To gatha:  "Just heard a podcast about the Sunday Game Hurling Team. I might be behind the times but they were up to the half back line. Since 1979 Kilkenny have won 17 All Irelands Tipp and Cork have 6 each. How does Kilkenny only wind up with 1 player of the 1st 7 and JJ Delaney, the best back Kilkenny ever had not get picked?"
I understand where you're coming from, but if we were to extend your logic, Waterford have not won an all-ireland in the time period, therefore we have to eliminate all their players, some of the greatest hurlers of the look last 2 decades. And I don't think that'd sit right with anyone (me included!).

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts: 366 - 10/05/2020 17:36:15    2277885

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Replying To bloodyban:  "I think Seanie McMahon should be centre back. JJ delaney should be there for sure. The issue with Padraig Maher is he does occasionally get roasted for pace. And against the likes of Limerick last year in the Munster final he can be anonymous. Sean McMahon was always good,even on beaten teams. JJ Delaney is the best defender iv ever seen. How any team could leave him out is ridiculous. Canning for Corcoran aswell."
Its a myth that Padraic Maher gets roasted for pace. All sorts of players (including Conor Lehane - the fastest player around) couldnt get the better of him. His hook in 2016 on Conor Cooney was the main reason Tipp went on to win the All Ireland that year and he should he's no slouch in that incident. Every player has an off day but the best have less of them. Paudie and Brian Whelehan usually are/were at their very best in All Irelands. Even JJ struggled against Gearoid Ryan in the second half of the 2010 final, which was possibly his last game at number 7. That's not a dig at him as I'd have still had him in the six backs.

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 2911 - 11/05/2020 20:40:02    2277968

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Replying To gatha:  "This team is becoming very questionable no JJ and now no TJ. I believe the half forward line is Shefflin, Canning and Carey. DJ won 5 of his All-Stars at full forward that is the position he played most of his hurling don't understand how he is wing forward. Still would like to see a team picked where the players are picked playing the positions they actually played. If I had to start a team with the players left off so far I would have Ollie Canning JJ anf TJ no a bad start."
I think people are looking too much at the current and not the overall period.

Granted you aren't pitting DJ against TJ but DJ has 9 All Stars compared to TJ's 4 and DJ won two less All Irelands than him. TJ has been with KK since 2007 and has 4 All Stars - which by the way he has been excellent in but people forget the names of people who are being left out here also.

The likes of Joe, Shefflin, DJ, Eoin Kelly and John Mullane were consistently excellent since their teens or early 20's all the way to the end or close to the end of their careers. TJ has definitely been at their level but not over the same period of time. He has also been substituted in a few finals.
You also have the likes of JBM, Nicky English, Ken McGrath, Ben O'Connor, Horgan and Eddie Brennan and many more who may not even get a look in. Some of whom have a lot less All Ireland's and more All Stars than TJ.

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 2911 - 11/05/2020 22:24:58    2277973

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Maher as I said earlier is probably Tipp's best player over the last 30 yrs. However He had his good games and his poor games. As a Kilkenny supporter I never felt he dominated Brennan, Larkin, TJ or Colin Fennelly. He had some very good games and there were games where he was quiet. As for JJ in 2010 he Jackie Tyrell and John Dalton were the only 3 that held their own in my opinion. If you were to pick a true Half Back line since '79 I think it would Whelehan, McMahon or McGrath and JJ.

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 11/05/2020 22:39:37    2277974

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Replying To gatha:  "Maher as I said earlier is probably Tipp's best player over the last 30 yrs. However He had his good games and his poor games. As a Kilkenny supporter I never felt he dominated Brennan, Larkin, TJ or Colin Fennelly. He had some very good games and there were games where he was quiet. As for JJ in 2010 he Jackie Tyrell and John Dalton were the only 3 that held their own in my opinion. If you were to pick a true Half Back line since '79 I think it would Whelehan, McMahon or McGrath and JJ."
I'm not sure he has marked any of them in big games apart from Brennan.
I think if you watch back the second half of the 2010 final you'll notice it was Gearoid Ryan who hit in a lot of crucial balls in that second half, particularly the one to Noel Mcgrath for lars goal but he got on the world of ball in that game.
As regards Maher there's no half back that rivals him for possession and his scoring rate is also the greatest for any half back. If memory serves me correctly, in 2017 he out scored Joe Canning from play in a game less and Canning got hurler of the year.
I'd personally have Tommy Walsh on the team all day long.

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 2911 - 12/05/2020 06:28:19    2277984

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How anyone could disagree with Cummins in goal is beyond me. The best keeper ive ever seen. Followed by Fitzhenry, and then maybe Murphy. Just my opinion

ConnollyDub (Dublin) - Posts: 1922 - 12/05/2020 09:20:26    2277987

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Replying To ConnollyDub:  "How anyone could disagree with Cummins in goal is beyond me. The best keeper ive ever seen. Followed by Fitzhenry, and then maybe Murphy. Just my opinion"
i would agree with you. Fitzhenry was brilliant he would be my 1st choice and Muphy would be 2nd. When Murphy is finished playing could possibly be the best.

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 12/05/2020 11:20:07    2277997

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Replying To tiobraid:  "I'm not sure he has marked any of them in big games apart from Brennan.
I think if you watch back the second half of the 2010 final you'll notice it was Gearoid Ryan who hit in a lot of crucial balls in that second half, particularly the one to Noel Mcgrath for lars goal but he got on the world of ball in that game.
As regards Maher there's no half back that rivals him for possession and his scoring rate is also the greatest for any half back. If memory serves me correctly, in 2017 he out scored Joe Canning from play in a game less and Canning got hurler of the year.
I'd personally have Tommy Walsh on the team all day long."
I consider all the Tipp- Kilkenny games big games. League semi finals, league finals, qualifiers, All Ireland semi finals and finals. He came across all of them at one point or another that's the way Kilkenny play rotating forwards as does most teams. He had his good games but don't really ever remember him dominating any of them. If you can pick out a few minutes of a half or even a whole half out of all the big games JJ played against Tipp to say he didn't play well it is a great testament to how great he was.

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 12/05/2020 11:26:54    2277999

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Replying To gatha:  "I consider all the Tipp- Kilkenny games big games. League semi finals, league finals, qualifiers, All Ireland semi finals and finals. He came across all of them at one point or another that's the way Kilkenny play rotating forwards as does most teams. He had his good games but don't really ever remember him dominating any of them. If you can pick out a few minutes of a half or even a whole half out of all the big games JJ played against Tipp to say he didn't play well it is a great testament to how great he was."
I don't think anyone is saying it's a battle between JJD and PM for a place on this (mythical) team. In my opinion, both of them should be there. Likewise, I'd have Tommy Walsh and Brian Whelehan, so if that means moving JJ to corner back, so be it. He would be way ahead of both Corcoran and O'Sullivan. Corcoran played few enough games at corner back and played a lot of his best hurling at centre back and full forward. I never saw O'Sullivan at corner back and he would be well behind Lohan as a full back. Maher never really got the chance to dominate any one Kilkenny player because Cody used rotate his forwards so much, but he has done well against the best of them all, Henry Shefflin, especially in the 09 league and all-Ireland finals when he was just 20 years old. Of course he had his off days, especially at full back, but over a long career (to date) his consistent brilliance earns him a place in the half back line. Having said that, it's a shame to have to omit the likes of Seanie McMahon and Ken McGrath, two superb players. At the end of the day, however, the omission of JJ from the team suggests nobody should take it seriously.

midlands (Westmeath) - Posts: 221 - 12/05/2020 17:20:55    2278030

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i dunno if its just me but i would have wayne sherlock ahead of both sully and corcoran.
sully was the man for the booming clearance and the crowd pleaser but for me,he wasn't in the jj/noel hickey/jackie tyrell/ollie canning/frank lohan of backs.
corcoran burst onto the scene in 92 was it,did he give up the game for years after that or am i remembering things wrong?he returned to play full forward years later,but was there a gap in the years in between?
i am not saying that he they were not great hurlers,but i think there was better than both in the last 20 years that weren't picked.

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3841 - 12/05/2020 19:46:14    2278038

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Replying To gatha:  "I consider all the Tipp- Kilkenny games big games. League semi finals, league finals, qualifiers, All Ireland semi finals and finals. He came across all of them at one point or another that's the way Kilkenny play rotating forwards as does most teams. He had his good games but don't really ever remember him dominating any of them. If you can pick out a few minutes of a half or even a whole half out of all the big games JJ played against Tipp to say he didn't play well it is a great testament to how great he was."
That's my point though. I was using him as an example to say that every player had a few poor mins but these guys have had less than most and I include JJ and Paudie in that. I think both should be there.

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 2911 - 12/05/2020 21:07:58    2278048

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Replying To gatha:  "This team is becoming very questionable no JJ and now no TJ. I believe the half forward line is Shefflin, Canning and Carey. DJ won 5 of his All-Stars at full forward that is the position he played most of his hurling don't understand how he is wing forward. Still would like to see a team picked where the players are picked playing the positions they actually played. If I had to start a team with the players left off so far I would have Ollie Canning JJ anf TJ no a bad start."
Who was picked midfield?

wexico15 (Wexford) - Posts: 2602 - 12/05/2020 21:22:56    2278053

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Replying To wexico15:  "Who was picked midfield?"
Michael Fennelly and Tommy Dunne

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 13/05/2020 12:01:25    2278062

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Replying To perfect10:  "i dunno if its just me but i would have wayne sherlock ahead of both sully and corcoran.
sully was the man for the booming clearance and the crowd pleaser but for me,he wasn't in the jj/noel hickey/jackie tyrell/ollie canning/frank lohan of backs.
corcoran burst onto the scene in 92 was it,did he give up the game for years after that or am i remembering things wrong?he returned to play full forward years later,but was there a gap in the years in between?
i am not saying that he they were not great hurlers,but i think there was better than both in the last 20 years that weren't picked."
I agree the full back line is completely wrong Barrett of the present Tipp team is ahead of Sully and Cochran along with the players you mentioned. Sherlock was a great player. I am surprised Sean og is not getting any support. Sean og would play with anyone on his day and he didn't have many bad ones.

gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 13/05/2020 12:08:52    2278063

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Replying To gatha:  "Michael Fennelly and Tommy Dunne"
Looking like no Ken McGrath too, Fennelly would be nailed on for midfield in my view, other midfield spot would be a good debate

wexico15 (Wexford) - Posts: 2602 - 13/05/2020 12:32:40    2278065

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Replying To gatha:  "I agree the full back line is completely wrong Barrett of the present Tipp team is ahead of Sully and Cochran along with the players you mentioned. Sherlock was a great player. I am surprised Sean og is not getting any support. Sean og would play with anyone on his day and he didn't have many bad ones."
the problem is it was a public vote,and the "crowd pleaser" will always get more votes,sully is a cult hero in cork so once people saw his name they would have voted for him.
sean og hadnt a chance really as tommy and sid had the 2 wing back positions nailed.

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3841 - 13/05/2020 15:40:38    2278070

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