Brian hogan

Tipperary won’t give a care and who could blame them? They’re number one, it’s All-Ireland number two for Liam Sheedy and number three for those older players he felt so compelled to return to the sideline to steer to glory.The most one-sided All-Ireland final since 2008, Tipperary’s biggest win over their neighbours since they won the decider by the same margin in 1964, it was coloured by the loss of Richie Hogan to a red card two minutes before the end of regulation-time in the first-half. But was it a deciding factor? .Tipperary, after a start almost as shaky as their semi-final performance against Wexford, had settled by the time Hogan departed, so much that they were leading Kilkenny by a point at that stage having been five points in arrears in the 21st minute.Indiscipline has been an issue for Tipperary going right back to the opening day win over Cork on May 12 and by half-time TJ Reid had eight frees to his name. The downpour of rain that beset the … [Read more...] about Tipperary deliver the telling blows after Hogan dismissal

“Do you reckon this will be Cody’s last year, Enda?”“What??? Are you nuts???!!! The man will be feckin’ carried out…”(Conversation had annually with randomers since around 2012) So here he is, this Mount Rushmore figure of a man, sitting in the incongruous setting of Langton’s tearooms, a place so delicately decorated and genteel as to be straight out of Jane Austen. He is faced for the umpteenth time by the supplicants of the media, and for the umpteenth time he touches on his favourite themes and tropes.Settled spirit, character (“it is either in a fellow or it is not”), hard work. He has elevated simplicity into a philosophy. Had Brian Cody run the country, there would never have been a crash. Everyone would have been too busy doing an honest, uncomplicated job.A striking number of non-Codyologists have commented during the past fortnight on how relaxed he’s looked. It has been that obvious, apparently. Sure enough, … [Read more...] about Brian Cody: He is relaxed. And little wonder.

There are match-ups all over the field that will be key. That’s the great thing about Tipperary-Kilkenny matches — both sides tend to go orthodox and are 15-on-15, says Brian Hogan“The obvious one is who is going to pick up Colin Fennelly on the edge of the square, because Colin has been arguably our most important player this year. He has been our one constants in the forward line. He sits on the edge of the square and then the rest move around him. He is the focal point. "He is the guy that is able to hold the ball while the support players arrive on the scene. He is so physically strong that he is taking two players into the tackle. Who picks him up is a question which Tipp will have to answer.“Down the other end of the field, the Kilkenny backs must limit the space afforded to the Tipperary forwards.“Huw [Lawlor] will be on Callanan. That is going to be a huge battle and feeding into it will be what the players do out the field to support Huw. … [Read more...] about Brian Hogan: How Tipp cope with Fennelly and Reid will be key

Wexford have taken the physical battle for possession to a level beyond even Kilkenny’s great four-in-a-row All-Ireland winners, believes former Cats captain Brian Hogan. Speaking on the Irish Examiner GAA Podcast, Hogan was struck by Wexford’s ability to crowd the man on the ball in Sunday’s Leinster final.“The thing that struck me, when the ref threw in the ball, Huw (Lawlor) was on the 21 waiting for his man to come in and his man wasn’t coming in. The rest of the Kilkenny backs and all the Wexford forwards were congested around where the ball was thrown in. Literally there was nobody from the 65 in to Eoin Murphy. It was like in the old days when a priest used come out and throw in the ball. “It was like an U12 match where all the players follow the ball to one side of the pitch. You’re constantly telling young lads to spread out and go into space. But that’s the way the game has gone. It’s about winning the collisions, winning … [Read more...] about Hogan: Wexford have taken the physical battle to new level