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Cody, to his credit, has always been involved with James Stephens through out while being manager of the cats. Think I recall Colin Fennelly getting injured one year in a club game between final and semi final of an All Ireland. Simply impossible for that to happen in Cork as our little warriors are wrapped in cotton wool.
bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 13/12/2018 21:35:52 2154237 Link 0 |
so let me get this straight,you think the off season for the club player is october to march,yet every club back training 1st january? and the county player off season is during the club championship,do they not play in those games?last time i looked at a county final in wexford in am sure i saw conor mcdonald and rory o connor and all playing. perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 14/12/2018 08:43:36 2154243 Link 1 |
Well my club certainly does not go back training until mid to late February. We have been off since the October. County players training load drops back a lot during club time of the year so technically its there off season. Normally the Wexford hurlers head off for a holiday during the club championships as well. Every player club or county will get at least 3-4 weeks of doing completely nothing unless your club wins the county final and ends up on a good run in the provincial championships. At that stage its not hard training its only maintenance of the fitness built up during the season. Once the county teams start back training the quicker the games start the better to lesson the amount of slogging around mud baths. If you were a Wexford footballer tomorrow would you prefer to train for two hours in ferns or play a competitive match in New Ross v Laois. hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 14/12/2018 09:59:36 2154247 Link 1 |
i'd prefer to do neither in december.it is totally unnecessary to be training or playing matches at this time of year. perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 14/12/2018 10:45:05 2154250 Link 1 |
Fairly stupid alright, let them enjoy the Christmas period before going back PyatPree (Cork) - Posts: 376 - 14/12/2018 11:11:26 2154253 Link 0 |
spot on, once a county player team is out of the championship they are straight into the club championship, maybe if you play for a poor county and a poor club team you will get plenty of time off, But if you play for a decent county and decent club team you won't get much time off during the year. Also then you may have guys playing colleges also, try to combine all those games and study. Then we wonder why so many lads are turning down the opportunity to be called up to county panels and why they are heading off to the states or going travelling for a few years. Its no wonder when they get the opportunity to take up AFL lads are taking it. In my opinion gaelic football and hurling are better games to play than soccer or rugby but due to poor management and the lack of a properly structured season, I can see why people may be more disposed to play those other sports ahead of GAA Rosineri1 (UK) - Posts: 2099 - 14/12/2018 11:42:00 2154256 Link 0 |
Fully agree. Let lads go out and enjoy their Christmas, how did the GAA reach this point that the best option for players was to play matches in December. This must be a low in terms of the attitude towards players. We don't need these games now. Nobody cares about them, play them on a Wednesday night in January for all anyone cares. I can't tell you any team who won any of the last 40 Walsh/McKenna/O'Byrne cups. Because nobody cares. StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1737 - 14/12/2018 12:32:58 2154259 Link 1 |
Take Mayo for instance, knocked out in early July, no club championship games played for six - eight weeks after their county team was done. And while local club players sat idly by the big guns from the Mayo panel headed to the USA for the cabbage, the green backs, the rolls of crisp $100 bills. I again ask the question would you rather play a competitive match on a Saturday in December or would you prefer to be slogged in a muddy wet pitch? Lads are taking up the opportunity to play AFL because they can become a full time professional athlete and get paid. hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 14/12/2018 16:03:20 2154292 Link 0 |
That was not the question though i'll repeat As a Wexford or Laois footballer would you prefer to play a competitive match tomorrow or go training in the muck and slop? Again I go back to the point that the PLAYERS voted to play the games in DECEMBER instead of January. Because of that decision players can go out over the seven days of Christmas and know they don't have to worry about games in the first two weeks of January. Believe me if the players were unhappy about games in December the GPA would be singing and dancing about it. hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 14/12/2018 16:07:25 2154293 Link 1 |
The benjamins
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4240 - 14/12/2018 19:01:05 2154310 Link 3 |
What vintage are you?? I recall vividly Meath playing in December in league and giving them guard of honor and vice versa the previous few years. Nonsense. Too many bloody snowflakes these days. I remember winning the Christmas turkey in the halftime draw ffs. I
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 14/12/2018 21:32:58 2154321 Link 0 |
Fair enough if players want these games to be played now but what the hell could any management teams possibly learn about players in the muck and rain this time of year. Absolutely pointless Mickey mouse competitions. Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 1913 - 15/12/2018 01:12:20 2154329 Link 1 |
So your argument is that because it happened years ago that makes it right? Anyone who says its something new is wrong and I agree with you on that but just because its been happening for years it doesn't mean that its right. A few things have changed over the years and certainly now training and playing in Winter today is a world away from where it was 30/40 years ago. The facilities these days are a world away from where they were years ago. Anyone who plays at the top level will be training most of the year anyway and will want to play games otherwise you will go stale just training all the time. The only problem I would have with winter games is putting pressure under college students to play both college and county games sometimes in the same weekend. To protect the players that should not be allowed and college should get priority. I am sure some players will want to play both but they should be allowed. zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1805 - 15/12/2018 05:23:19 2154334 Link 3 |
Very few if any college games being played in December and January due to semester exams. But you'd also hope that clubs and counties would respect this and allow students time off to concentrate in these exams if they prefer. The only opinions that matter are those of the players themselves. I can't see a few December games adding to player burnout as they'd be doing some sort of training anyway and might prefer a few games rather the gym or training. Someone said it right here though. Ideally run the league and championship together when the weather is decent and pitches are at their best. It would mean some counties putting out weakened teams for the league, would be also be a scheduling headache. More importantly I couldn't see top GAA brass going for it as they seem determined to push the Super 8s and a two or three tier championship that'll keep the strong stronger and the weak weaker. GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7360 - 15/12/2018 11:11:33 2154341 Link 3 |
I am of the age of the current player and while you might call us snowflakes, don't then ask why players are retiring so young. I don't care when you won a turkey, but I know a good few county players in college and they are all saying this is absolutely poxy time of year to play football. Plenty of them have exams, etc at present to juggle with without throwing more football in on top of them. Just because something was always done, doesn't make it right. StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1737 - 17/12/2018 12:09:22 2154477 Link 1 |
Do ye think we might see the day when counties pay students fees so they can study online to dedicate more time to the county hurling or football? GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7360 - 17/12/2018 13:18:02 2154491 Link 2 |
Surprising thing is that players voted to play the games in December. If these games were played in January a player could potentially have 4-6 games in two weeks between Preseason Cups and Sigerson, Fitzgibbon, Ryan, Trench Cup. As I have said before if the players were unhappy about this they would be up in arms over it. All players doing exams have been excused from O'Byrne/Walsh Cup matches in our county. The players had no problem going to Boston to play 11 a side hurling on a baseball pitch with soccer goals in November and they have no problem in playing O'Byrne Cup or Walsh Cup games in December. hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 17/12/2018 15:20:52 2154519 Link 0 |