Post by Admin on Dec 19, 2014 22:09:15 GMT
Michael McCarthy Irish Independent - 17th December 2014
The 2014 hurling season may be reflected on as a return to type. Another Kilkenny and Tipperary final. The relentless march of Brian Cody to his tenth All-Ireland as manager.
The exhilarating 2013 championship felt like an aberration with Kilkenny reclaiming league, Leinster and All-Ireland titles. Had the revolution even happened at all?
The truth is it had, and Kilkenny is actually the comeback story of the year.
When they lost to Clare in Ennis in the first round of the league, it felt like a changing of the guard. Kilkenny were still a massive scalp to be sure, but their best was behind them.
What evolved over the next seven months was a team that wouldn't accept a great run was over.
For the most part, the big stars of 2014 have been there before - TJ Reid, Richie Power, Paul Murphy etc - but it was notable that a lot of the older generation of Kilkenny legends, most obviously Henry Shefflin and Tommy Walsh, were more or less cast aside.
The core of this team has transformed. Maybe the transition took a year, but that's all it was. We could be looking up at Kilkenny for some time to come.
That said, we're not talking 2008 levels of dominance. Two replays were required, as well as a real scare in the All-Ireland semi final. JJ Delaney will be hard to replace.
There is plenty of hope elsewhere.
Tipp's comeback season was almost as impressive. There were points during the league when it seemed as though the team were falling off a cliff. When they lost to Limerick in June, civil war loomed in the Premier. The turnaround from that to being denied an All-Ireland by Hawk-Eye is incredible.
Let's not forget Limerick, who seriously rattled Kilkenny this year, or Cork, who won Munster and didn't show up in their semi-final, or Clare, who didn't show up at all, but will surely be a force in 2015.
It wasn't a return to type, it was the establishment claiming a part in the revolution. They haven't gone away. And they won't, at least not quietly.
Indo Sport
The exhilarating 2013 championship felt like an aberration with Kilkenny reclaiming league, Leinster and All-Ireland titles. Had the revolution even happened at all?
The truth is it had, and Kilkenny is actually the comeback story of the year.
When they lost to Clare in Ennis in the first round of the league, it felt like a changing of the guard. Kilkenny were still a massive scalp to be sure, but their best was behind them.
What evolved over the next seven months was a team that wouldn't accept a great run was over.
For the most part, the big stars of 2014 have been there before - TJ Reid, Richie Power, Paul Murphy etc - but it was notable that a lot of the older generation of Kilkenny legends, most obviously Henry Shefflin and Tommy Walsh, were more or less cast aside.
The core of this team has transformed. Maybe the transition took a year, but that's all it was. We could be looking up at Kilkenny for some time to come.
That said, we're not talking 2008 levels of dominance. Two replays were required, as well as a real scare in the All-Ireland semi final. JJ Delaney will be hard to replace.
There is plenty of hope elsewhere.
Tipp's comeback season was almost as impressive. There were points during the league when it seemed as though the team were falling off a cliff. When they lost to Limerick in June, civil war loomed in the Premier. The turnaround from that to being denied an All-Ireland by Hawk-Eye is incredible.
Let's not forget Limerick, who seriously rattled Kilkenny this year, or Cork, who won Munster and didn't show up in their semi-final, or Clare, who didn't show up at all, but will surely be a force in 2015.
It wasn't a return to type, it was the establishment claiming a part in the revolution. They haven't gone away. And they won't, at least not quietly.
Indo Sport