![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
2. Offaly's phobia of Kilkenny becomes harder to justify. The players must realise now that it's needless.
3. Galway turned around a 19 point defeat to Kilkenny last year. We should use this to inspire us.
Any thoughts?
Even good teams can have off-days - when the result is not in doubt - plus for all Wexford's moderate abilities, they have no fear of Kilkenny and genuinely take them on for seventy minutes. Our offhand style means that replicating this is not really feasible. The Limerick game just proved how much Limerick have come on - and remember they only lost by a point to this same Galway team.Bord na Mona man wrote:1. One bad game?
Hardly. The quality of Kilkenny side has declined steadily over the last couple of years.
Very average Wexford and Limerick sides had Kilkenny struggling.
How superior to Offaly are both those teams?
Wexford took some bad hammerings - we took them year in year out where a nine point defeat was the high point. They at least had chinks of light intermittently.Bord na Mona man wrote: 2. Wexford have also shipped some bad hammerings to Kilkenny in the 00's and recovered.
Galway didn't completely change their line-up.
The main players who exited were from Athenry - who shouldn't lack self belief.
I had forgotten about 2000 to be fair - but I'd wager a lot of the players have as well, such has been the psychological scarring in recent years. As for the supporters (i.e. me!!) worshipping Kilkenny, it's far from worship, it's just calling things as they are. My instinct for looking at things in terms of odds means that I'd need to find a reason to believe that if we draw Kilkenny in the Leinster semi final again next year the handicap won't be Offaly plus twelve. Right now that's what it would be, so unfortunately yes, my optimism is a bit thin on the ground.Bord na Mona man wrote:
3. There are several Offaly players who have beaten Kilkenny.
In 2000 both our U21s and minors beat them.
I suppose you can hardly blame the players from prostrating themselves in worship of Kilkenny if the supporters feel the same way.
It seems some supporters are content to sit in kilkenny's shadows. how sadLone Shark wrote:Even good teams can have off-days - when the result is not in doubt - plus for all Wexford's moderate abilities, they have no fear of Kilkenny and genuinely take them on for seventy minutes. Our offhand style means that replicating this is not really feasible. The Limerick game just proved how much Limerick have come on - and remember they only lost by a point to this same Galway team.Bord na Mona man wrote:1. One bad game?
Hardly. The quality of Kilkenny side has declined steadily over the last couple of years.
Very average Wexford and Limerick sides had Kilkenny struggling.
How superior to Offaly are both those teams?
As for how superior Offaly are to a Wexford team that have beaten us in our last three competitive games? I'd argue not very.
Wexford took some bad hammerings - we took them year in year out where a nine point defeat was the high point. They at least had chinks of light intermittently.Bord na Mona man wrote: 2. Wexford have also shipped some bad hammerings to Kilkenny in the 00's and recovered.
Galway didn't completely change their line-up.
The main players who exited were from Athenry - who shouldn't lack self belief.
Galway didn't completely change their lineup - but they could bring in some fresh faces - just enough for the players to believe that things might be different. We don't have a lot of fresh faces to bring in - the likes of Lee and Bergin might shake things up a bit, but essentially they'll be peripheral players at best - they're still a long way from being first XV.
I had forgotten about 2000 to be fair - but I'd wager a lot of the players have as well, such has been the psychological scarring in recent years. As for the supporters (i.e. me!!) worshipping Kilkenny, it's far from worship, it's just calling things as they are. My instinct for looking at things in terms of odds means that I'd need to find a reason to believe that if we draw Kilkenny in the Leinster semi final again next year the handicap won't be Offaly plus twelve. Right now that's what it would be, so unfortunately yes, my optimism is a bit thin on the ground.Bord na Mona man wrote:
3. There are several Offaly players who have beaten Kilkenny.
In 2000 both our U21s and minors beat them.
I suppose you can hardly blame the players from prostrating themselves in worship of Kilkenny if the supporters feel the same way.
Turk, I feel sorry for your missus if that's how good you are at reading moods and being intuitive. Far from frickin' content, I can assure you. However we are in the shadows, and there's no point dressing it up any other way. We will be until we beat the hoors - and I for one see no reason why that's likely to happen any time soon. I'll travel, and shout and exhort, but content? No.turk wrote:It seems some supporters are content to sit in kilkenny's shadows. how sad
(I think that's a disgraceful comment).Lone Shark wrote:Turk, I feel sorry for your missus if that's how good you are at reading moods and being intuitive. Far from frickin' content, I can assure you. However we are in the shadows, and there's no point dressing it up any other way. We will be until we beat the hoors - and I for one see no reason why that's likely to happen any time soon. I'll travel, and shout and exhort, but content? No.turk wrote:It seems some supporters are content to sit in kilkenny's shadows. how sad
Lone Shark wrote:I don't think we're disagreeing as much as you do.
"going into matches expecting to lose is bad news. "
I agree - however I'm not sure how you condition yourself to believe otherwise when there's no logical basis for it. You can recite to yourself, and tell yourself all you like, but how do you believe we're going to win going into a game against Kilkenny, when at most one of our forwards would get on their forward line? When they would have at least four or five players (JJ, Hickey, Lyng, Tommy, Henry) who would be in or around the All Ireland XV were such a thing to exist, and we'd be scrambling to make a case for Breeder at most? How do you forget all that?
It's not a rhetorical question by the way, I genuinely mean it - I've never had any dealings with a sports psychologist before, so I've no idea how they operate.