Give Kelly a break
WHEN it comes to Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League, home advantage is worth it’s weight in gold. Just look at what happened last year.
Round 1: two home wins, one away win. Round 2: two home wins, one away win. Round 3: two home wins, one away win. Round 4: two home wins, one away win. Round 5: three home wins.
So no, I wasn’t surprised by what happened last weekend in the opening round of the competition – two home wins, one away win. Since the League moved to the 1A, 1B split, I’ve highlighted the ultra-competitive nature of the top flight, and how much the venue can make a difference.
It almost makes a mockery of the thought processes (form, personnel, tactics) that go into predictions. I was thinking of two home wins as a guiding rule when I made my predictions last weekend, it’s just I went for Clare as the away win. Tony Kelly’s red card played a part there. I’ll come to that separately.
It’s funny how that seems to be the case, even with all the different factors at work in the League. So watch out for the yo-yo effect again this weekend. It’s up and down from week to week, often depending on whether teams are home and away.
I’ve had the view for a few months now that Kilkenny are going to be a force in 2019. Huw Lawlor has made waves at underage level and I saw him in Sydney at full-back for Kilkenny and he was very impressive. He could be the answer at No3. To win so comfortably against Cork without Padraig Walsh, Cillian Buckley, Richie Hogan, Colin Fennelly and TJ Reid was very impressive.
At some point you have to wonder if Cork’s perceived softness is real. They seem to lack the stomach for the winter battle. We’ve seen other teams digging in over the years in spring, but once it started going against the Rebels at Nowlan Park, it all went Kilkenny’s way.
Liam Sheedy’s stamp was all over Tipperary’s opening win, even if leaving Padraic Maher free seemed to be a mad move by Clare. It’s hard enough to keep tabs on him even when he is being marked.
Seamus Callanan summed up the workrate and tackling. The move to make him captain could prove to be inspired. I really admire players like Callanan and TJ Reid. They had to serve a tough apprenticeship by being left out of the team at first.
With Callanan, questions were asked: ‘Can we trust him? Is he a little bit flaky?’ Look at the player he has become. His 3-9 against Galway in the 2015 All-Ireland semifinal was remarkable, just one in a series of signature displays.
TJ Reid is another lad who could have sulked. He talked about how close he was to walking away under Cody after becoming frustrated at not getting a starting jersey. But, like Callanan, he put his head down and became a great player.
Last weekend I suggested that Tony Kelly is another great player when referencing his undeserved straight red card for his challenge on Padraic Maher. Some disagreed. Does he have to retire before his talent is recognised?
This begrudgery thing is alive and well. Someone came back to me and said there were two better forwards in Clare at the moment – Peter Duggan and John Conlon.
I firmly believe that this is the greatest era ever for hurling. There are great players among us. Callanan, Reid, Kelly, Joe Canning, Patrick Horgan have all helped to bring the game to a new level.
Look at Kelly, Young Player and Senior Player of the Year at just 19, a bit of history in itself. If he is judged as having a poor game, it’s because he hit four or five wides. He is being judged by his own exceptionally high standards.
I was only sent off once, in a club match. It is a big thing, for a lot of players. Tony Kelly is a really skilful player and you could see he was completely shocked when a straight red was shown in Thurles.
I’ll argue until I die that it wasn’t a sending off. While Tipp ended up winning comfortably, Clare turned with the breeze and were on the way back. To lose someone like him who can do so much damage in full flow was a huge moment.
I don’t want to be overly critical of the referee Colm Lyons – quite a number at the match told me it looked like a sending off and Kelly’s arm was up – but the edict about match officials clamping down on head-high challenges just seems to be putting extra pressure on referees. There was a lot of talk last weekend from managers about the impact of assessors in the stand.
Inter-county hurling is always borderline. It’s a tough business. It’s not clean but I wouldn’t say it’s dirty either. It’s played on the line. People who don’t play the game have to realise that it’s such a physical and fast game that players aren’t always going to get it exactly right.
Even at club level, what gets me is the referee who is often mad to pull a guy up for five steps, for a technical thing, but he won’t see a dirty stroke under a dropping ball.
There is a lot of throwing going on with the handpass in hurling – or so we’re told.
The vast majority of the time, players are just trying to get the ball away fast. There is so little time on the ball now – half the time a player’s arm is being held or bumped.
The only way to get rid of the ball is the quickest of movements. Which is very hard for the referee to judge if it hasn’t been a textbook handpass. I don’t really understand the need to interfere here when there isn’t a whole lot wrong with the game right now.
As for the value of home advantage? It will be interesting to see if Cork-Wexford and Clare-Kilkenny completes a familiar pattern of two from three home wins.