Weir calls for greater hurling effort
April 30, 2011Westmeath hurling selector Nicky Weir has issued an impassioned plea to clubs and players to get fully behind the county team ahead of their return to the top tier this summer.
The Raharney clubman cannot understand why some players are still refusing to make themselves for county selection, despite the mouth-watering prospect of Leinster championship and Liam McCarthy Cup hurling this year. Weir says there needs to be a dramatic change in attitude by clubs and players alike for Westmeath to succeed at the highest level.
"We need to create a situation in this county where our best players are available to us at all times," he says.
"Sadly, that isn't happening at the moment and is something that needs to be addressed immediately. You cannot have a situation where some players are putting in a huge effort and the rest aren't even turning up for training. Kevin Martin is very keen to improve things and bring us to the next level, but he needs to get the cooperation of everyone for that to happen.
"The numbers at training aren't what they should be. When we went down to play Limerick in our second league game this year, we only had 19 players. Lads should be jumping out of their skins to play for the county, especially now that we're back in the Leinster championship. But while some have valid reasons for not wanting to get involved, which I won't go in to, others just don't want to know."
Weir, who joins former Offaly All-Ireland winner Martin and fellow selectors Noel Geraghty and Christy Murtagh on the 2011 management team (Murtagh doubles up as team coordinator), admits that the hurlers' cause hasn't been helped by the decision of Paul Greville and Brendan Murtagh to juggle both hurling and football. The hurlers have also been hit by Conor Jordan's decision to concentrate solely on football this year.
"It's become a huge issue in Westmeath - the whole dual player thing," he acknowledges.
"I feel sorry for Paul and Brendan because they are trying to serve two masters (Kevin Martin and his football counterpart Pat Flanagan). While I respect their decision to play both codes, their hurling performances are bound to suffer. Playing hurling and football at the top level is a very hard thing to do. They are two absolutely vital players for us and without them, we would be really up against it."
While welcoming the influx of players from last year's All-Ireland minor 'B' winning team into the senior squad this year, Weir laments the fact that several of last year's Christy Ring Cup winners have failed to reappear for the new campaign.
"It's great to see young players like Aaron Craig, Anthony Price and Shane Fagan coming into the squad. Cathal Scally and Tommy Doyle are also training with us, even though they have another year with the minors. And Derek McNicholas is also back with us after spending last summer in Boston.
"But on the minus side, we've lost eight or nine of last year's Ring Cup winning squad. No county can sustain losses like that, especially a county like Westmeath which has small numbers."
Reflecting on last year's successful Ring Cup campaign which has guaranteed Westmeath at least three years in the Leinster championship and Liam McCarthy Cup, Nicky says: "Our goal at the start of the year was to win the Ring Cup and we were delighted to achieve that.
"Things were slow to take off and we needed to pull out all the stops to stay in Division 2. Thankfully, the wins over Antrim and Down kept us up and we got a lift from that. We hit a nice bit of form in the knockout stages of the Ring Cup when we beat Down, Kildare and then Kerry in the final. A lot of people had installed Kerry as favourites on the basis that they had defeated us in an earlier round and had gone through the year unbeaten, but we did just enough to win by the skin of our teeth."
Weir was delighted for Andrew Dermody, who came off the bench to score the winning point in injury-time, after being dropped for the Croke Park decider.
"Fair dues to Andrew for coming on and doing the business. He was very unlucky not to start - we went instead for Paul Greville because of his greater experience - but Andrew showed his character by slotting over the winning score."
The three-time senior championship medallist with Raharney, who is a former Westmeath player, says retaining Division 2 status and beating Carlow in the first round of the Leinster championship are the Lake County's twin objectives for 2011.
"If we can stay in Division 2 and beat Carlow in the championship, it will be a decent year," he explains.
"The prize for beating Carlow is a home game against Galway in the Leinster quarter-final. If that were to come to pass, it would be like 2006 all over again when Kilkenny came to Cusack Park after we beat Dublin in the first round.
"The team got great support that year and I've no doubt that the crowds would turn out again if we got a run in the championship again. Support for the hurlers is huge when you get the thing going."
Nicky takes tremendous encouragement from the progress Westmeath hurling has made at underage level in recent times. In addition to winning the Christy Ring Cup last year, the Lake County captured the All-Ireland minor and under 16 'B' titles, while Raharney and Castletown-Geoghegan were crowned All-Ireland Feile na nGael Division 2 and 3 champions respectively.
But he warns: "The work that has gone in at underage level has been incredible, but the big challenge now is to harness the young talent and bring the players through to senior level. As things stand, players in the 19-20 age bracket aren't being properly looked after and we need to address that if we are to hold onto them." Tweet
