Is this team under-rated and under appreciated.
We all wish we had seen Mackey/Ring in their day.
We all go on about how universally popular the likes of the Rackards and the Foleys were.
We all love watching clips of John Fentons Goal (yes even me!)

But right now, at this very moment in our midst is the single greatest team to ever play GAA, hurling or football.

So my question is this. In 30 years time, people will drool over clips of Shefflin, Walsh, Delaney, Comerford. The tales will be legendary. Henry will be 6'8 and 4 foot wide. He will have once scored a point from his own square etc etc.......

In the here and now, is this team appreciated for what it is?

Simply, THEEE Best ever. Do we take them for granted and in some corners begrudge them.
I hope they do it this year. The best teams deserve the rewards. The giants deserve the respect. The greats deserve adulation from the masses.
I hope this KK team break every record in the book. Because more than any team in GAA history, they deserve it.

Mikeynora (Limerick) - Posts: 888 - 24/06/2010 12:02:49    685783

Mikeynora, a gentleman and a scholar.

I'm with you on this.

Let us have 5 in a row, and then the next 10 can be Galway (for Joe Canning), Waterford (for that wonderful team of the last decade), Wexford (to bring back memories of Tony Doran and the Buggy's), Offaly (for the missus), Carlow (for our little neighbours), Antrim (for the lads supporting hurling through thick and thin up there), the Dubs (for all those great hurling fans in a city and county of gaelic), Limerick (hopefully the dispute will be finished by then), Clare (for their mad supporters), and finally Laois (our other neighbours).

And then let Kilkenny have a crack at beating the 5 in a row.

I was priviliged enough to see the great Kilkenny and Cork teams of the 1970s. Saw the wonderful skills of Nicky English and Eddie Keher but this current Kilkenny team both collectively and individually has wonderful wonderful talent. Some of their performances as a team I doubt I will ever see again. We are blessed in Kilkenny to have witnessed this current crop.

And for a change, whilst the vast majority of the country have been cheering on the other team in the last 3 All Ireland finals, I think a lot of GAA fans would cheer us on if we get a crack at five just to say they saw history.

Still think Galway are the team that will beat us. But even if they do, we're owed nothing.

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 24/06/2010 13:08:13    685892

I think hurling is the real winner this year. All of us, not just those from Kilkenny, are hurling people and as such we should all be proud of this wonderful team. It doesn't really matter whether or not they do the 5. If they do, we'll have seen the greatest team ever set an amazing record. If they don't we'll have seen the team that beat the greatest team ever.

One thing that does worry me slightly is the air of invinceability that some commentators seem to build around KK. Yes they are great. Yes they do have some of the greatest players ever to catch a hurley. Yes they are wonderful characters, and yes we should give them their due and respect them as such............................However, they are human, they are beatable, and other teams should not let their respect turn into subservient admiration. When players from other counties genuinely state that they are as good as, and could beat KK (ie John Gardiner), they shouldn't be berated for perceived arrogance, but rather congratulated for their competitive spirit. The more players that actually beieve they can beat KK, the better the championship will be. I genuinely believe that Cork, Tipp, Galway, and Waterford could all potentially beat the cats!

Culchie (Cork) - Posts: 799 - 24/06/2010 13:26:53    685936

Its not shaping up like anybody will be good enough to beat them.
Tipp look to have gone a bit backwards, Galway would need massive improvement I cant see Cork or Waterford having the legs for an All Ireland challenge.
5 in a row would be a superb achievement but also an indictment of how far behind the other counties have fallen.
Domination is no good for anybody else.

sam57 (Louth) - Posts: 1502 - 24/06/2010 13:42:38    685956

Hard to believe the setup to create this current crop of Kilkenny players was formed out of disgust at losing a minor match.

Kilkenny have set the bar so high that many have tried and failed to reach it. But what I do always respect Kilkenny supporters and players alike for is their sheer honesty and how they play the game. Yes I would say I have occasionally bayed for blood of a couple of KK players (one incident with Tommy Walsh springs to mind!) but they play on the edge and if you play on the edge you will occasionally cross it.

The supporters are equally likable people, even if they do strike me as a bunch of muck savages. Gracious in victory and defeat. The county board let players hurl club matches when other counties put down the hurls for the summer months. It's a great hurling family they have and all other counties could learn so much from them about giving everyone a game in the summer in particular. Such frustration as most other club players have is not shared in kilkenny from what I can gather from the many people I know on the Noreside.

There is no secret to Kilkenny's success, they just do things how they should be done everywhere else.

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 24/06/2010 13:52:41    685980

what a golden age of hurling we have had for the last 10 or so years, even tho some would say it was better in the 90's. it may have been more exciting but it wasnt better! Not even close!
Pick a 00-10 team....impossible. What a team you could pick!

Cummins

Hickey
Brown (just to get him in there!!!)
Curran

O'Hailpin
Delaney
Walsh

O'Connor
Gardiner (just to get him in there!)

K. McGrath (see above!)
O. Moran
Shefflin

Mullane
E Kelly (Tipp)
B Corcoran

And thats leaving out Fitzhenry, O'Connor, Lohan, O Canning, Deane, O'Mahony etc etc etc etc

Breathtaking!!

Mikeynora (Limerick) - Posts: 888 - 24/06/2010 14:00:48    685992

how do you know they are the greatest ever? how do we know we are watching the greatest ever GAA team? correct me if im wrong but didnt cork and kerry win 4 in a row in hurling and football too. so what makes this team better? they CAN be better but right now they are NOT

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4156 - 24/06/2010 15:37:02    686134

'But right now, at this very moment in our midst is the single greatest team to ever play GAA, hurling or football.'

Simply no. You cannot compare a Hurling team to a Football team. To win Sam a football team has to play more games against opposition of higher ability. To win the Liam McCarthy Cup you need to win a handful of games. Kilkenny may be the greatest Hurling team of all time, no-one outside the 5 or 6 counties that bother with Hurling care. To say they're the greatest team ever to play GAA is a great disservice to the one true sport of the GAA

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 24/06/2010 15:43:55    686146

32-4-1 has a point, however, we'll all ignore the post after that.

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 24/06/2010 15:47:13    686156

PomeroyPlunkett do us all a favour and go and play in some traffic!!

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 24/06/2010 15:50:07    686164

HURLING is the true sport of the GAA , FOOTBALL is for lads that just cant play it.

dlegendcooney (Galway) - Posts: 263 - 24/06/2010 15:54:43    686177

pudders, you seem to think i have a personal dislike for kilkenny. i dont. some of my family come from there. but i just feel in this day and age things get hyped up a lot more than they used to. i feel the era in which kilkenny have won the majority of their 4-in-a-row is weaker than past era's. they beat a great cork team in their first all-ireland, but the cork team was past it and on the down. the following two years they met pretty weak opposition in the finals, which for me sumed up the era in which this kilkenny team was playing in. tipperary once again made a rise to the top, but that tipp team will hardly be remembered as one of the greats, and they gave as good as they got. add to this, the kilkenny 4 in a row team have the option of the back door, an option neither the cork and kerrys teams of yesteryear had. so it makes the whole 5-in-row a lot easier. kilkenny are a great team, but i just dont buy into the hype that they are the greatest ever

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4156 - 24/06/2010 16:50:33    686243

32-4-1...now I said you had a fair point but to counter some of your arguements...
Kilkenny in the period have never used the back door to win any of the 4 and so are comparable to the Kerry football 4 in a row, whereas Cork did lose a match in their 4 in a row, Tipp beat them in a postponed Munster final due to foot'n'mouth, so surely we can narrow it down to Kerry and Kilkenny.

Secondly, who is to say that the standard of hurling is weaker now....just because you have one team head and shoulders above the opposition, doesn't mean the opposition were all that bad....when kerry won their 4 in a row they really only had Dublin as competition.

I also don't think you can compare gaelic and hurling as they are two very different sports.

But what gets Kilkenny people, and not just me but i am one of the only posters on here, is that there is a clear lack of reconigition for this Kilkenny team by many hurling fans with some notable exceptions. I have said on here on many an occasion that the two best hurling teams I had ever seen were the Kilkenny and Cork team of the 1970s. But this team are better IN MY VIEW. And they can only beat what is put in front of them. And they beat one of the best Cork teams ever (aging or not - even though how many of the last all ireland winning team are still playing), one of the best Waterford teams ever (even though their final appearance was a couple of years too late but we did beat them in a semi before that) and a Tipp team that put on one of the greatest ever finals against us. Their scoring records are without question and ultimately they are a humble lot as you never get the Kilkenny players or coaches broadcasting how great they are. We have beaten every Munster team on the way to the four, as well as helping oursleves to a bag of Leinster and National Leagues.

In all honesty, I'd prefer to have 4 in a row in the pocket, the drive for five alive, than have everyone agree that they are the greatest hurling team ever. But IN MY VIEW, they are the greatest ever hurling team. No team in either code has gone 20 matches in the championship undefeated. Until last weekend. The list of records they have broken is endless. But its all about opinions.

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 24/06/2010 17:21:50    686280

and just to be clear in my earlier post

"we'll all ignore the post after that. " was referring to pomeroyplonker's post.

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 24/06/2010 17:27:38    686291

Pudders, What would Kilkenny people like by way of 'recognition?' Surely KK get, and deserve, more respect and admiration than any other hurling team?

But they are never going to be paraded through the streets of Thurles, or Cork, or Waterford, or Limerick or anywhere outside their native county. Kilkenny does not have any natural entitlement to be hurling's top dog. Other counties will, and should, always believe that their county can, and should, be top dog. Cork were top dog for a long time. Before that 'twas Tipp.

Whilst as a Corkman I have to recognise the greatness of this Kilkenny team, it is only natural that I will believe Cork could have been, and could still be, even greater. I do not believe that there is anything in the Kilkenny air that creates better hurlers than those of Cork, or those of Donegal. Consequently I believe there are reasons/excuses why Cork have fallen behind Kilkenny. But just because we may be behind doesn't mean we have to kiss £*s. We have to believe we are better than you guys, and we have to go about proving it. That's not arrogance, that's not diminishing or failing to recognise KK's brilliance, that's just palying game.

Culchie (Cork) - Posts: 799 - 24/06/2010 17:45:01    686314

They're the best hurling side that I've ever seen. I do not agree that they're possible 5 in a row will show how far behind the rest are but that it will illustrate just how far the Cats have raised the bar.

They've no arrogance, no pretentions, no airs nor graces. They just go out and hurl. Their dedication and drive is amazing. They're an example to any team in any sport.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13803 - 24/06/2010 17:51:43    686322

If anyone wants to know whether or not the standard of hurling has improved, just look back to an All-Ireland even 10 years ago. I often drag out that battered and worn out 1996 video and can tell you even in 15 years the speed of the game and the ability of the players has improved so much. And that is not disrespecting our former heroes which they were to so many of us and gave us so much enjoyment.
I'd say in fairness most of Kilkenny's plaudits come from fellow Leinster counties for whom they set the bar so high. From Munster counties much of it is begrudgery.

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 24/06/2010 19:47:24    686463

32_4_1 - kilkenny have the easy option of the backdoor, tougher route for cork...etc etc

when cork won their 4 in a row - the first year tipp AND kilkenny had to withdraw because of foot and mouth, in fact i dont think they beat tipp or kilkenny at all in any of the 4 years

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 24/06/2010 20:29:08    686496

Mickey nora you are wum, fair played to Kilkenny but you have not a clue

castlemaine (Kerry) - Posts: 546 - 24/06/2010 20:35:13    686499

I can respect Cork people's 'lack of respect' in so far as it is a genuine belief that they are or can be better, and the records prove that historically. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any argument about the status of this current Kilkenny team, no matter by what measure you judge them.

And as a Dub who has been on the worst side of them most of the time over more than 30 years I can honestly say they are good winners and - on the extremely rare occassion it happens to us anyway! - good losers. Most hurling people are by the way but the Cats have always been our nemesis.

And I think pinkie summed it up better than me and as a yellabellie he'd have more reason to be bitter.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 24/06/2010 21:32:38    686539