RTÉ GAA Podcast

Cathal Mullaney is joined by Ciaran Whelan and Nigel Dunne to look back on a breathtaking weekend of football action as the four semi-finalists for the All-Ireland were decided.
00:30 - Best weekend of football this year? Whelo says it is definitely a forwards' game now.
3:00 - Louth-Monaghan review. The story of the weekend. Monaghan like chaos and don't know what to do against 14. Missing McCaul and Beggan. Louth have every chance of beating Mayo. Gavin Devlin guarding against complacency. Sense of trepidation in Mayo. Louth the more seasoned team.
11:50 - Mayo-Cork review. Mayo play a high-risk defence. Looked open in first half. Kobe McDonald hand pass under Cusack: in the old days he’d have ended up in the stands, but Whelo has to admire his confidence.
16:15 - Dublin-Galway review. Importance of the midfield duo of Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne and Ciaran Kilkenny (most underrated footballer of all time, says Nigel). Galway are very frustrating. Fallen short consistently. Padraic Joyce still a great manager, says Nigel, but time to shake things up with younger players. Losing 1-08 to a point in closing stages suggests issues.
30:00 - Whelo’s memories of Paul Clancy. Remarkable ball player, wand of a left foot.
31:35 - Kerry-Tyrone review. Brilliant game of football, epitomised all that's good about new rules. Did Tyrone expose chinks in Kerry defence? A lot of things went against Tyrone but they maxed out their capabilities against a slightly off-colour Kerry. Missed chance for Tyrone. Why is Kerry's kick-out so good?
41:00 - Ranking the four teams that remain.
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The Shanes, McGrath and Dowling, join Cathal Mullaney to preview the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals this weekend.
How do they see Limerick getting on against neighbours Clare, and does Galway's gameplan stand up to the test of Cork?
While the lads also share a few ideas on how to improve the sport.
0:30 - Minor hurling final review as Limerick overcame Tipperary at the death.
08:10 - Limerick-Clare preview semi-final preview. Dowling reckons Clare were so poor in the round robin game against Limerick. After 13 years on the road are the Banner beginning to tire. Despite convincing scoreline, Dublin had lots of goal chances in quarter-final..
12:30 - McGrath believes Limerick are as good as they've been in last few years. Competition to even make panel is pushing performances to another level this year.
18:00 - McGrath describes Shane O’Donnell as unmarkable at times. Central to gameplan, but Clare need time and space out the field to deliver quality ball. Dowling says Limerick don’t worry about match-ups - defenders will play where selected and mark whoever they have to.
22:50 - Galway-Cork semi-final preview. That Leinster final performance is irrelevant. How good are Galway - was Leinster that bad or are they the real deal?
25:20 - Galway to stick with their blanket defence, trust their system. Cork to bring intensity and long distance shooters that Galway have not seen this year.
29:16 - Dowling describes Galway as not nice to watch. But fair play if Micheal Donoghue if he gets them to a final playing this way.
33:50 - Dowling insists something needs to be done with game of hurling. Keep three players inside the 45 and puck-outs go outside the 45. Try and solve the handpass problems. Increase goals to four points. McGrath talks about refereeing changes… more money to make the job more attaractive?
40:50 - Dowling would love to see players trying to buy frees this weekend have frees given against them.
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Cathal Mullaney is joined by Lee Keegan and Brian Fenton to look back on the Round 3 action last week, digest the draw and look forward to this weekend's quarter-final action.
The lads also touch on Lee's new-found fame as a Spanish World Cup meme and Brian catches us up on his travels - watching Dublin on his phone in a Malaga Airport queue that included Ciaran Whelan. That's a lot of Dublin midfielder for one airplane.
TIMESTAMPS
0:30 - Lee Keegan going global with new World Cup Twitter fame
3:10 - Everyone happy with their lot from that quarter-final draw
3:55 - Scary Kerry. Armagh brilliant for 35 mins, goal at half-time killed them. How do you mark David Clifford? Complemented by silky Dylan Geaney.
12:30 - Niall Morgan is the perfect test for Kerry. Tyrone will be fresh but this is a whole new challenge. Do they have the defence?
17:20- Galway next best after Kerry says Lee, based on squad depth. Can control a game and posess excellent kickers of the ball.
19:40 - Brian buzzing about Dublin. Very organised with Ger Brennan on the line.
24:35 - Both Lee and Brian pay tribute to Ciaran Kilkenny.
27:38 - Donegal burned out. Ran out of energy and momentum. Peaked too soon. did an obsession with Kerry cost them?
31:00 - Ross McGarry penalised for dropping the ball. ‘I think it’s ridiculous,’ says Brian. Black cards hurt Donegal more than Dublin, says Lee.
33:20- Mayo awful at half-time against Meath and red card a huge factor. Cork and Mayo both delighted with the draw. Hard game to predict, both teams have delivered very different performances.
39:35- Neither Louth nor Monaghan are ever beaten. Real belief they can make a semi-final. Stephen O’Hanlon importance going forward and in defence. Rory Beggan’s fitness is crucial. Could be the game of the weekend.
45:07 - Has the new format delivered? It’s a lot very quickly… little training if you’re not winning. Exciting for spectators, more space would be ideal.
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Shane McGrath joins Cathal Mullaney to rake over the coals of two very disappointing hurling quarter-finals and give his own input on the debate about how to improve the standard of hurling across the country and reduce the perceived gap between Leinster and Munster.
TIMESTAMPS
00:20- Shane McGrath holidaying in Costa del Centerparcs
02:30 - The step up for Offaly in terms of fitnes and physicality. Bigger picture is stronger counties will always be stronger
07:00 - How can Cork get the best out of Alan Connolly?
12:00 - How will Cork deal with Galway’s packed defence? Will Mark Coleman hold the line?
14:45 - David Reidy injury. Duty of care that players must have.
19:10 - Limerick bring out the best in Clare but too many bodies missing in Banner defence?
22:15 - Dublin don’t travel well. Reliance on Donal Burke. Man-on-man system doesn’t work, but they do have the personnel.
25:45 - Munster just way ahead of Leinster at the minute. Jarlath Burns' comments on time needed to fix hurling nationwide.
28:45 - Is hurling stronger than ever? Takes a long time to improve. Antrim example… too few clubs.
31:45 - Need strong culture as hurling is so hard and improvement takes a long time.
33:23 - How to improve hurling in short term? Start championship in May and look at structure of Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring.
36:20 - Looking forward to All-Ireland minor hurling final.

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This week on the RTÉ GAA Hurling podcast, Shane McGrath insists that - if Dublin want to pull one over on Clare - they need to drop Dónal Burke back as a sweeper. And Rory O'Neill explains to us why 'Hurling Man' is fearful - but he needn't be!
Cathal Mullaney and the RTÉ Sport team take a look at all the biggest issues in football and hurling, plus preview and review the weekend's action with RTÉ's top GAA analysts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.