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You start off saying Defense is an issue but then go pointing out what ifs and comparisons to Cork and saying defense is more mismanaged ?? Is it an issue or not? Also don't forget Cork down a man for a good part of the game and this impacted on their defence. I think if we can work on turnovers conceded we'll go a way towards a better defense. royalproxy (Meath) - Posts: 63 - 26/05/2026 18:09:11 2675856 Link 0 |
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That is a very extreme POV. Are you not confident we can get a result in the next round and beyond? Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 853 - 26/05/2026 18:41:36 2675862 Link 0 |
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Look, the reality is you're never as good as people say you are, and you're never as bad either. This championship has definitely deflated me. Last year we had so many games full of big scores, comebacks, battles, and shocks. This year we've lost two games we were expected to win, and that's what everyone is focusing on. The frustrating part is that, even in those two poor results, they still put up massive scores while also going long stretches without scoring and arguably could/should have won. So the potential is clearly there for them to beat almost anyone outside the top three. But based on the defensive evidence - which, to be fair, others rightly pointed out a while back - I'd have to say no, I wouldn't be confident of a win. That was quite a restructure for a Brennan team, I don't see any more ability to reshuffle. A tactical change, to a more defensive structure might do something but realistically is that team suddenly going to change anything in a few weeks ? It seems like our short kickout game has become limited to eye of the needle sideline deliveries. We got a lot more short in the middle during the league. Will I still go, support them, and be on here beforehand speculating and theorising? Absolutely. royalcounty1 (Meath) - Posts: 108 - 26/05/2026 22:53:05 2675910 Link 0 |
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Question - was the work that was done on defence leading up to the Cork game focussed on preventing goals which meant we were more exposed to 2pointers? Now, I know Cork had a few goal chances but we scrambled well to keep them out. Had we too many lads back protecting the goals which meant there was more room around the arc? The worrying thing too with our defence is that we very little depth - what would happen if we had a few injuries? We would be bringing lads in that have next to zero minutes in defence. gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 205 - 27/05/2026 10:00:52 2675923 Link 0 |
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One thing that is confusing me - how exactly did we line out against Cork? I haven't seen two reports with the same lineup - some of them are wildly different. Couldn't make the game myself so would appreciate if someone could set out the definitive lineup. gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 205 - 27/05/2026 11:28:51 2675962 Link 0 |
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Banty, Frayne, Morris, Kinsella as the scoring forwards with Mattie as a rotation option there. Hickey & Jones/O'Neill at 10&12 to be physical around the middle and give protection for our halfback line. Flynn & McBride at midfield. I thought Menton did well at 6 in the first half v Cork but when he drifted into midfield for the kickouts it left us very open, I'd start Menton on the bench and spring him on if we start losing midfield (he doesn't really have 70mins in him anymore so a great option off the bench). I'd go back to our regular back 6, it's not ideal with how they've been this year but chopping and changing midseason doesn't work, give them that extra protection from our wing forwards and it'll improve things. When you look at our bigger wins last year we played with the likes of Curtis, O'Neill & Hickey who made the difference in breaking up the oppositions attacks around the middle of the pitch and brought good aggression, this year we've replaced them with attacking forwards like Lynch & JOC (who have done really well), usually along with a third midfielder at 10 but none are defensive players and it has hurt us badly in defence. Need to go back to what worked for us last year and build on it instead of rewriting the script. LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 106 - 27/05/2026 12:39:00 2675982 Link 0 |
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Looked like Menton lined out at 6 for both threw ins. I see alot of people suggesting more defensive players in forwards but forwards are not the issue. We have lots of scoring forwards so could actually go the other way and play some of the forwards as wing backs and at least they are a scoring threat going forward. Costello, JOC etc could play wing back. Some of our forwards are probably as good at tackling as our defenders. winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 1028 - 27/05/2026 13:28:29 2675994 Link 0 |