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From Gowran NS, a star in the making! Administrator (None) - Posts: 2230 - 07/05/2020 17:16:28 2277716 Link 4 |
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perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3841 - 07/05/2020 20:15:10 2277726 Link 2 |
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Phenomenal player, the buzz of excitement among the crowd everytime DJ got got possession. Some of the goals he got in particular were absolutely top drawer. Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 979 - 08/05/2020 15:44:13 2277772 Link 3 |
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Speaking to Kilkenny people down the years, I got the impression that he was never as personally popular as e.g. Shefflin? I know less than nothing about hurling, but I remember watching him in games (on the TV) and even I could see how gifted he was. i remember thinking, if, in a parallel universe, I could ever play hurling, that'd be how you'd want to play it. Just fantastic to watch. Like the sliotar was magnetised. essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 796 - 08/05/2020 21:19:02 2277794 Link 1 |
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I would have DJ ahead of any of the players of the Shefflin era including Henry.....one of the most skilful and effective hurlers I have had the pleasure to watch. ONdeDITCH (Limerick) - Posts: 428 - 08/05/2020 22:46:49 2277797 Link 1 |
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One of the greats of all time. It is fun but very hard to compare players who did not play with each other. There are so many variables Quality of the team, management, style the game is being played at the time. As for Henry and DJ, I would say DJ had more natural ability but Henry,who had enormous ability, got more out of what he had then almost any hurler I can remember. Glad they were both born in Kilkenny. gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 09/05/2020 13:23:43 2277809 Link 1 |
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I think the fact they both played with Kk probably exaggerated just how good they were. Players with similar ability with weaker counties will never get as much acclaim or exposure as lads playing top level year in and year out. Both very good players mind. catch22 (USA) - Posts: 1647 - 09/05/2020 19:21:58 2277827 Link 1 |
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I'd agree with you 100% with your comparasion.
Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 979 - 09/05/2020 19:45:58 2277828 Link 0 |
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Did you see Keher? Considering his length of excellant service, the number of games he scored crucial scores in, in addition to his lovely style for me makes him the greatest Kilkenny hurler i saw.
Oldertourman (Limerick) - Posts: 162 - 09/05/2020 20:59:22 2277832 Link 1 |
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Have to admit how much I admire and love DJ now although I'm sure I called him a lot of bad names in the past. He was the archetypal Kilkenny forward in that he could knife you with a goal and turn a game upside down in seconds and he had a beautiful skill set - I saw him hit a pass about 30 yards with his fist one day in Ennis, at least thats what it looked like from just outside the wire.He was also a very sporting player something that perhaps isn't regarded as a virtue any more. He was'nt as manipulative as Henry l don't ever remember him pulling a dirty stroke even though he got plenty of extra attention . A small quibble is that he got away with a lot of overcarrying (similar to TJ ) throughout his career but the little devils legs were going so fast it was hard to catch him (or fault him.)
UtahBlaine (Galway) - Posts: 38 - 09/05/2020 21:32:39 2277835 Link 1 |
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That's a good point. The weaker counties have one or two talented players, but because of their birth place, they never get the recognition the players in successful counties do.
MicktheMiller (Offaly) - Posts: 112 - 09/05/2020 21:36:58 2277836 Link 1 |
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I did see Keher fantastic hurler. Deadly finisher. Again game was played different back then but he had everything.
gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 09/05/2020 23:15:01 2277841 Link 0 |
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Agree some great players do not get the chance because they play for a weaker county. However to say Henry and DJ greatness is exaggerated is not fair. Both of them preformed a the highest level against the best in the country on the biggest stage. They were the stars of a great team. Are some players overated a bit because they were on a great team, absolutely, but these 2 weren't. They were probably the 2 best forwards of their generations.
gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 09/05/2020 23:22:25 2277843 Link 2 |
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DJ for me was one of the greats I remember a sublime handpass assist in All Ireland final and it is the one defining thing about him I remember. He was cleaned out but what a pass. Aloof, withdrawn he seemed to suffer most for off field lifestyle than most GAA stars. But that is not how you judge a player, it is what he does when he crosses the white line and he was the ultimate hurler, the first real modern hurler in the game. Love him arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4434 - 10/05/2020 00:22:02 2277845 Link 1 |
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+1 to this. sure if they had been born in england they might have been great soccer players,if they had been born in india they could have been great cricketers,in the us great baseball players,and so on. the reality is they were born in kilkenny.they were both incredible hurlers. the funny thing for me,is i can always remember the clamour in the stadium when dj got the ball.maybe it was because shefflin had so many other greats around him,but dj had great players around him and he still lit up the ground when he got on ball. shefflin was greater than dj in my opinion,but i loved dj more if i am being honest. perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3841 - 11/05/2020 10:18:23 2277931 Link 3 |
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Darjeeling Carey , be the Jaysus you're some pup alright. It's not that complicated sham.
catch22 (USA) - Posts: 1647 - 11/05/2020 23:07:45 2277977 Link 0 |
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My point is he was utterly dangerous as early as 1960, when Wexford brought Seamus Quaid back from the forwards to mark him, as they then they recognised him as the danger man in the Kilkenny forward line and and as late '75 and '76 he wrecked Galway and Clare in National Finals. He played in an age when backs did not spare the ash and yet for eighteen long years he was an automatic starter and a marked man every he went out. Added go all this he was the most classical striker and deadly on the close in free.That is why for me he is top of the pile.
Oldertourman (Limerick) - Posts: 162 - 12/05/2020 09:25:15 2277989 Link 0 |
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I agree with everything you say, but it is hard to say who was better when players played in completely different times . Keher is an automatic on any team. He played in the 59 minor All-Ireland and then was called up to the seniors for the replay against Waterford. This was in a time as you they did not spare the ash. Super player takes a back seat to no one.
gatha (Kilkenny) - Posts: 183 - 12/05/2020 12:19:18 2278001 Link 0 |
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all you can be is the best of your era and the best you can be of yourself,i think they all did both to be fair to them.
perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3841 - 12/05/2020 19:46:59 2278039 Link 1 |
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Towards the end of his career when his powers were fading, and Henry was establishing himself as the best forward in the game, there may have been an element of Henry being more popular than DJ. I think DJ's (well-earned, to be fair) reputation was such that any time he scored a routine point, the commentators would go way over the top in praise, whereas Shefflin could have scored 1-10 in the same match and not half the acclaim. And it may have rubbed some Kilkenny fans up the wrong way. Like, Kilkenny fans aren't stupid, we know DJ's a genius but don't be trying to tell us tapping the ball over the bar from the 21 is some Cu Chulainn-like act of the gods. I recall my mother giving out about some commentator (probably Morrissey) eulogising DJ in a match where Shefflin had been the best player, along the lines of "they never shut up about DJ Carey and it's Shefflin does all the scoring". I remember a Kilkenny-Clare match in Croke Park 2004 (draw I think) where Dj was quiet and Shefflin was immense, and a KK fan near me was saying "Shefflin's ten times the player Carey is" or words to that effect. So, there's a grain of truth to what you're saying, but I think now if you asked Kilkenny fans (of a certain age) who their favourite was of the two, the majority would say DJ. Shefflin was incredible and was the more consistent performer of the two, but didn't produce the number of "magic moments" (with apologies to Perry Como) that DJ did, and that's was people remember. I don't know if it's childhood memories playing tricks on me but I distinctly remember at his peak in the 90s, the buzz of anticipation in the crowd every time DJ got the ball (club or county, league or championship), no other player could generate it, and I don't know if any player has been about to replicate it since, even Shefflin or Canning. ballydalane (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1112 - 13/05/2020 02:04:12 2278055 Link 0 |