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Bang on lads, Bang on!!

Anyone disagree with Donal Og and Ger Loughnane?

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 30/07/2014 18:25:40    1628656

I agree with them 100%.Ive always maintained that any duel player cannot be getting 100% out of either gsme.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 30/07/2014 18:30:55    1628660

Yep. Very true cuede!!

It's one or none at this level of sport.

It is impossible to play both at IC level at 100%

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 30/07/2014 18:39:36    1628663

i know im going against the grain here but im sure a few of the dublin lads were playing duel last year and they done ok,going back through the years teddy mac jbm and even further back jack lynch,Now i know the game has moved on and you must be 100p/c fit but i honestly believe we are listening to the premiership to much ie hes played 3 games in a week its a squad game hes tired he needs a rest,some of the training sessions are as hard as a match but you cant play hurling one week and football the next were told, but train like a loon all week because someone wants your place thats ok then, IF you look after yourself you CAN DO BOTH no panic dont listen to this soccer bull thats are problem were listening to the premiership to much,but to quote bill shankly you only get out of the game what you put into it so yes you can perform at the highest level in both codes if you apply yourself correctly imo

blackrockeddie (Cork) - Posts: 160 - 30/07/2014 18:59:20    1628671

Why is it that hurling people seem to be the only ones worried about this? Its not the first time Donal Og has made comments like this. Could it be they're scared of losing players to football? Surely not seeing as hurling is the great sport in the world or so we've been told...

football_dude (Roscommon) - Posts: 34 - 30/07/2014 19:23:06    1628681

They are 100% right. Looking at Aidan Walsh and Damien Cahalane this year proves it. Aidan Walsh has the potential to be one of the best footballers in the country if he would just concentrate on that. He was outstanding against Tipp when he came on for 10 minutes. Against Kerry he was at sea. You can ask any Kerry fella before that game and they were not one bit confident about Maher and Buckley, yet they dominated. Walsh was way off the pace.If his hurling performances were good then we could get over it. The odd point and bit of bravado aside, he has been very poor.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 30/07/2014 19:34:21    1628691

aidan walsh has been at sea on numerous occasions..nothing to do with hurling..the man is just way overrated...on the dual issue..should be one sport or the other

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 30/07/2014 20:07:38    1628711

Who is overrating him Fabio? He was an All-star and young footballer of the year and an All-Ireland winner in his first year at 19 years of age. He did this while lining out for 10 teams that year between hurling and football. That is kind of impressive. He has been regularly outstanding as a senior intercounty footballer. The major problem in the Counihan era is was the Counihan wanted him to play in every position and tried to do it. Now he is being pulled to play senior hurling as well. Walsh has been competing without been given a fair shot by those who should have his welfare in their interests.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 30/07/2014 20:24:23    1628719

Poor nuff argument being made here IMO

Are they fulfilling their full potential in one sport or the other?? Probably not but lets take it a step further.... is that reason enough to only play one sport....No!

You could also ask the same question are amateur players fulfilling their potential..probably not but is that reason enough to go pro...No!

But then isnt professionalism Donal Og's ultimate aim anyway? So is he looking at it from a professional viewpoint?

Its down to what the player wants and after that up to the manager to decide if he is good enough for each respective team.

omaghjoe (Tyrone) - Posts: 1191 - 30/07/2014 20:54:25    1628730

i think he has talent bennybunny no doubt but he has always been made out to be better than he actually is..he wasnt anything special the year cork won sam bar the final...found wanting on numerous occasions for cork against the top sides best shown in 2012 against donegal...he looks like a good football and ideal athlete but hes generally made out to be better than he is by the media and so on..he looks great running through the likes of kildare when cork are winning easily

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 30/07/2014 21:16:14    1628741

There is absolutely no doubt about this. And Football Dude...it is not just hurling people saying this. Any player who wants to play football for Dublin's Jim Gavin cannot play hurling as well. And he is right..if playing the games at county level these days is solely about winning. And indeed, at the top end, that is all it is about.

Back in the day when I was in secondary school, I played for a school where hurling was really the only game. One of our rival schools played rugby as well. We used to be delighted when they were doing well at rugby cos we knew when they were, that we would beat them. Their hand-eye coordination would be off, they would fumble the sliotar, and we knew we would be sharper than them.

Btw, Darragh Walsh wrote a similar piece in his column in The Irish Times a few months ago..the gist of it was, that the huge interest in hurling in Tipp and Clare was a copperfasten guarantee that those counties would never challenge Kerry's dominance in Munster

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1902 - 31/07/2014 08:32:20    1628764

I don't think Donal O'G is looking at it from a professional POV, I think he's looking at it from a Dublin POV. A young lad comes through the ranks, plays both football and hurling to minor level, but almost always will opt for football at senior intercounty level in Dublin, so why waste time developing him at the hurling at minor?
There's a few holes in Donal O'G's rationale, how is a youngster meant to know that at the age of 17 or 18 he's going to get a call up to the seniors and if he doesn't he could well turn out for the hurlers. How is a manager meant to know that either? That's just the downside of hurling in Dublin.

He's also looking at this through his Cork eyes, the hurlers in Cork are THEE team in town and the footballers wouldn't garner anywhere near the same support or profile in Cork as a hurler would. Its a very different world in lots of other counties, yet the likes of Donal O'G and other lads from the traditional hurling counties think they know how to develop hurling in the footballing strongholds where hurling is the secondary GAA sport, they haven't a clue.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 31/07/2014 09:52:47    1628800

Bricktop/Omaghjoe

My God lads! It is pathetic the amount of people that wait in the long grass waiting for the slightest chance to have a go at Donal Og! It is pathetic.

There were two people debating - Ger Loughnane was there as well. Interesting that you only focus on what Donal Og has said. Donal Og did not mention professional sport - he said elite sport. That is what the GAA is.

If either of you bothered to listen to what they actually said instead of venting your spleen about Donal Og, you may be more informed. They said that you can play both but you cannot reach your potential doing both. They are right. They mentioned how in Ulster counties, all players are dedicated to football and in Kilkenny they play hurling only. This gives them the advantage. Donal Og did not tell Dublin what to do, if you listen he said, given the money that they spend on hurling, they should ask themselves the philosophical question about what they actually want out of it (themselves - not what Donal Og wants for Dublin). Ger Loughnane then spoke of the return their senior county team has gotten from their investment in hurling. They then offered some solutions.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 31/07/2014 10:20:53    1628812

Players can obviously play both but they won't reach their maximum potential with both. It's got to be one or the other for the season.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7820 - 31/07/2014 10:42:01    1628828

Always said it can't be done. Look at the improvement in lee chin this year is a perfect example. You can't possibly operate at full belt for both teams and honor the same commitments to your club. It's not for on the player,the management,team mates or county in general. If you're playing the two one or the other will suffer. Inter county hurling And football are two separate full time jobs in my opinion

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 2624 - 31/07/2014 10:52:12    1628841

Disagree in the sense that it is just not as simple as that.For a start any elite athlete will always think that their potential is never fulfilled , regardless of what they do - should be in their nature.Its not a great arguement as anyone could make a case for unfulfilled potential.
In my own club we have our fair share of senior titles in both codes and our best players have always been the dual players . As a dual player , you grow up playing both and acquire both the individual and tranferable skills . What people are ignoring is that dual players actually enjoy playing both and are happy to put the extra training in to accomodate this.

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 31/07/2014 11:08:44    1628843

Disagree in the sense that it is just not as simple as that.For a start any elite athlete will always think that their potential is never fulfilled , regardless of what they do - should be in their nature.Its not a great arguement as anyone could make a case for unfulfilled potential.
In my own club we have our fair share of senior titles in both codes and our best players have always been the dual players . As a dual player , you grow up playing both and acquire both the individual and tranferable skills . What people are ignoring is that dual players actually enjoy playing both and are happy to put the extra training in to accomodate this.

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 31/07/2014 11:08:55    1628844

What a load of rubbish.

What is a player's potential? Who decides what it is? What is the measurement of potential?

I'm a Sport Psychologist specialising in talent identification and talent development and I've never heard such rubbish. It's just trying to get at guys. And to be honest, it's almost always the hurling lads at this type of stuff, a sort of snobbery that noone can be great at hurling unless they spend 24/7 thinking about and playing it. Anyone who doesn't eat, drink and sleep hurling 24/7 is branded as never being able to reach their potential. Which is just not correct.

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2550 - 31/07/2014 11:20:25    1628847

The crux of what Donal O'G was getting at was whether it was worth Dublin minor hurling management picking a lad who also plays intercounty minor football and should they ask for a level of commitment to hurling before picking them, I heard him only too well, that was the philosophical question he talked about. I believe that at 17 or 18 years of age how are you meant to know what code will want you at senior level??

Yes, they were both right in so far as you cannot excel at both sports at the highest level and when Donal O'G is reviewing Cork highlights the weaknesses in Aidan Walshes technique he doesn't miss which is fair enough, Donal O'G does know his stuff in this regard.
Clare had a few dual stars this year in the Collin's and Davy Fitz wasn't long in coming out saying it couldn't be done now Brendan Cummins is saying that a few Tipp minors are picking the football over the hurling which would be unheard off a decade ago. Players will just have to choose due to the extended intercounty seasons we have now.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 31/07/2014 11:29:01    1628850

I think what Donal Og really means is can a player be as good as he could possibly be at a given sport if he's playing another code and the answer to that can only be no.

I love listening to Donal Og - I think he's a class act on the Sunday game and is usually on the money with what he's saying.

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 31/07/2014 11:53:07    1628865