The GAA Social: Bubbles O'Dwyer tips Cats to regain All-Ireland hurling title
- Published
John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer helped Tipperary win the 2016 and 2019 All-Ireland titles and he was also named in the 2014 All-Star team
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals |
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Date: Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 July Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Throw-in: Limerick v Galway (Saturday, 18:00 BST) & Kilkenny v Clare (Sunday, 16:00) |
Coverage: Watch both games on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer; live text commentaries & in-play clips, reports, reaction & highlights on BBC Sport website & app |
Former Tipperary forward John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer says Kilkenny will win this year's All-Ireland Hurling title and believes it will represent a triumph that is good for the game.
O'Dwyer told BBC Sounds' The GAA Social that current inter-county action is "over-coached and over-structured".
"If Kilkenny break Limerick that might bring it back to the more expressive brand of hurling," said O'Dwyer.
"For whatever reason, I just fancy Kilkenny to win the All-Ireland."
O'Dwyer, who retired from the inter-county scene earlier this year despite being aged just 31, added: "A lot of people won't want to see Kilkenny win again because they have won so many All-Ireland titles [36], but they just hurl.
"Kilkenny are not known for an over-expansive game but they still play a six v six game. They still tend to do that.
"They will set up with tactics but they still kind of play they way they did 10 years ago which is great to see."
For the Cats to remain in contention for the county's first Liam MacCarthy Cup since 2015, they will have to defeat Clare in Sunday's second All-Ireland semi-final following Saturday's opening last-four clash at Croke Park between four-in-a-row seeking Limerick and Galway.
Both this weekend's games will be live on on BBC Two Northern Ireland and the BBC iPlayer.
O'Dwyer believes Limerick will stay on course for a fourth straight title after being given a tough test by Galway but expects Kilkenny to beat Clare with something to spare.
John Kiely's Limerick side are regarded to have changed the way hurling has been played in recent years amid their highly structured approach and athleticism.
O'Dwyer admits the Treaty men are "brilliant to watch" but he doesn't necessarily think their method is a template which is going to be beneficial for the overall health of the inter-county game going into the future.
"Limerick are so structured but they are so brilliantly structured that they make it an interesting and enjoyable game to watch. Kind of like football, they are so compact at the back and then they leave their two men up forward.
O'Dwyer says inter-county attacks now parade "workhorses" as opposed to scoring forwards
"I don't think you would get away now with a Seamus Callanan, a Bubbles O'Dwyer, a Jason Forde and a Noel McGrath in the same team.
"Out of six forwards, you need four workhorses and two scorers.
"The game is getting less and less talented, for a natural hurler. It's become more size and power and strength instead of getting a ball and putting it over from 45 yards out from the sideline. It's gone so structured. I don't think I'd enjoy the game at an inter-county level now."
The entertainment value from modern day inter-county football is coming under ever more scrutiny amid the blanket defence tactics employed by many teams and two-time All-Ireland winner O'Dwyer fears hurling is in danger of going down a similar road.
"It's just the way that the game has got too structured. I wouldn't say physical. Physical is fine but it's getting more and more like [gaelic] football. Football is a poor sport to watch. I love playing it but a poor sport to watch and hurling is becoming more like it each day.
"The 2014 All-Ireland Final, probably the best All-Ireland Final of all time, it was so open and free-flowing. That free-flowing and enjoyment is going out of hurling."
O'Dwyer says watching this summer's action from the comfort of his sofa has only further convinced him that his decision to step away from the inter-county game was the correct one, although he continues to line out for his club Killenaule.
"I just fell out of love with the game. When you lose that kind of intensity where you need to be at for inter-county, you're just fooling yourself. I didn't have it in me to give 100%. I just called it myself," said O'Dwyer, who missed all of the 2022 inter-county season because of a knee injury.
'I would have liked a call out of a respect factor'
"It's like a weight lifted off your shoulders when you aren't playing for Tipperary.
"My mother loved to see me playing for Tipperary but when I stepped away she was delighted. She could have a conversation with me and I could go around and be relaxed instead of constantly being on edge."
The 2014 All-Star admitted that he felt that a "phone call" from new Tipp manager Liam Cahill this year might have appropriate during the winter even though he felt "100% done" with the inter-county game.
"I would have liked the call out of a respect factor. I've given nine, 10 years for Tipperary. Liam is from a club just six kilometres up the road. If I got the call to say 'you're not part of my plans'…….perfect….I'd take that no problem."
The BBC gaelic games podcast also heard O'Dwyer talk about the migraines which plagued him during his inter-county career in addition to the hilarious story about how he became known as Bubbles.