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Meath Hurling 2022

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Working from a very small pick of clubs with players of county ability and alot of players have pulled out for various reasons. Very few guys from trim or rotoath in this year , there was 6 or 7 from each in before. Football would look to be reason for trim , not sure about ratoath , could be the same. Small hurling pocket like is in meath cant compete at this level unless they have everybody available. Some guys starting for us now are long finished at this level and even in club games are well off it. We have lost some of our best players , and its a shame because reports are the setup is very good. hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 416 - 07/03/2022 13:37:35 2404263 Link
The hurlers fitness level is not up to elite sport level. It is at best good for people playing sport for social reasons. Even though the footballers are not playing well at the moment their intensity levels really show up the hurlers badly. Could some top strength and conditioning people be brought in with an appropriately strict regime , This might thin the pack but would leave those who might deserve to be there ,It might also mean recruitment is neccessary. After all the hurlers demand to be treated as elite players with GPA membership benefits, mileage, meals after training, etc. They should at least have to do a tough training session. Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 07/03/2022 14:03:54 2404277 Link
Replying To hurlit: "Working from a very small pick of clubs with players of county ability and alot of players have pulled out for various reasons. Very few guys from trim or rotoath in this year , there was 6 or 7 from each in before. Football would look to be reason for trim , not sure about ratoath , could be the same. Small hurling pocket like is in meath cant compete at this level unless they have everybody available. Some guys starting for us now are long finished at this level and even in club games are well off it. We have lost some of our best players , and its a shame because reports are the setup is very good." We have every bit as big a pick as Westmeath, Kildare and Kerry, and bigger than Carlow and far, far bigger than Down. Not an excuse at all. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 07/03/2022 14:09:11 2404279 Link
Replying To Ashrules: "The hurlers fitness level is not up to elite sport level. It is at best good for people playing sport for social reasons. Even though the footballers are not playing well at the moment their intensity levels really show up the hurlers badly. Could some top strength and conditioning people be brought in with an appropriately strict regime , This might thin the pack but would leave those who might deserve to be there ,It might also mean recruitment is neccessary. After all the hurlers demand to be treated as elite players with GPA membership benefits, mileage, meals after training, etc. They should at least have to do a tough training session." my understanding is that there is a top class Leinster Rugby guy involved in S&C this year, pixey (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 07/03/2022 15:20:26 2404300 Link
Replying To Ashrules: "The hurlers fitness level is not up to elite sport level. It is at best good for people playing sport for social reasons. Even though the footballers are not playing well at the moment their intensity levels really show up the hurlers badly. Could some top strength and conditioning people be brought in with an appropriately strict regime , This might thin the pack but would leave those who might deserve to be there ,It might also mean recruitment is neccessary. After all the hurlers demand to be treated as elite players with GPA membership benefits, mileage, meals after training, etc. They should at least have to do a tough training session." I think this post says you dont know much about the setup in the last few years. hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 416 - 07/03/2022 17:12:24 2404335 Link
Replying To MillerX: "We have every bit as big a pick as Westmeath, Kildare and Kerry, and bigger than Carlow and far, far bigger than Down. Not an excuse at all." Carlow are way ahead of us , there club champions play senior leinster club champ Its a hurling county. Kildare are playing christy ring this year but with naas getting so good they should push on quickly. This is first time in a few years that our best players are not playing. Down have made huge strides in last 2 years , meath beat them easily in christy ring final 3 years ago We have loads of clubs yes , how many take it serious outside of the top 6? Standard outside of the top 6 or 8 clubs is dire hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 416 - 07/03/2022 17:21:45 2404339 Link
Replying To pixey: "my understanding is that there is a top class Leinster Rugby guy involved in S&C this year," Rugby is a very stationery game. If they want to be viewed as elite they need to be making a lot more effort. If they are happy just enjoying the game .Fine at least the County board should know this and stop wasting resourses Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 07/03/2022 19:47:06 2404358 Link
Replying To hurlit: "Carlow are way ahead of us , there club champions play senior leinster club champ Its a hurling county. Kildare are playing christy ring this year but with naas getting so good they should push on quickly. This is first time in a few years that our best players are not playing. Down have made huge strides in last 2 years , meath beat them easily in christy ring final 3 years ago We have loads of clubs yes , how many take it serious outside of the top 6? Standard outside of the top 6 or 8 clubs is dire" Carlow have 6 Senior clubs and up to a few years ago Meath competed with them and in fact quiet often beat them, Meath clubs were also well able to take on their clubs in the old Club Senior Championship. Down depend heavily on 3 clubs in the Ards peninsula that are exclusively hurling clubs, the clubs in the rest of the county that supply hurlers to the county team are all dual clubs with a strong emphasis on football. Kerry and Westmeath have about 8 clubs in their Senior Championship. This is the model we need to follow and reduce the SHC 8 teams. Talking about the top 6, some are not involved and I don't know whither the players won't make themselves available or the management are ignoring them. But if it's not sorted we are going nowhere. Needs to be sorted out and fast at that. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 07/03/2022 20:50:12 2404368 Link
Replying To MillerX: "Carlow have 6 Senior clubs and up to a few years ago Meath competed with them and in fact quiet often beat them, Meath clubs were also well able to take on their clubs in the old Club Senior Championship. Down depend heavily on 3 clubs in the Ards peninsula that are exclusively hurling clubs, the clubs in the rest of the county that supply hurlers to the county team are all dual clubs with a strong emphasis on football. Kerry and Westmeath have about 8 clubs in their Senior Championship. This is the model we need to follow and reduce the SHC 8 teams. Talking about the top 6, some are not involved and I don't know whither the players won't make themselves available or the management are ignoring them. But if it's not sorted we are going nowhere. Needs to be sorted out and fast at that." i love meath hurling and all the great traditional clubs in it. i really thought they had turned a corner from the bad old nicky rackard days of the late noughties and after. You are right as regards the number of clubs as it stands at the moment Meath have nearly as many Hurling clubs as offaly at the moment too, meath has more clubs than Kildare also,some say the quality is not in a lot of clubs but still numbers are there playing hurling in these clubs and numbers is always the foundations of moving on further in development and improvement. Down and Carlow deserve massive praise for the way they constantly punch way above their weight at county level, i dont know how they do it sligo looks to be looking like a new team going places with the tiny pick they have. Meath always had a tradition in hurling although not successful they were always in the leinster championship most years since the championship started and they held the legendary wexford team of the fifties to a draw in 1951 and played in a few leinster semis in the fifties. Even a few years ago meath were competitive in the preliminary group stage of the leinster and a decent westmeath barely got over ye in mullingar. its a shame that the trim players dont tog out as everyone that is good enough is needed to keep the county afloat. With the tradition, the number of clubs/players available, the quality of some of the players ie Regan, meath should be in the top 3 in division 2 not rooted in the bottom. preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 738 - 09/03/2022 18:05:55 2404671 Link
A new level of ruthlessness needs to be employed by the group as a whole, management, players etc. The setup looks dysfunctional at best with a lot of the best players in the county not committing. Why are they not committing? Why not take a few chances with newer players and lose to learn and develop to move forward, rather than stick with players that are not achieving and use the same failing formula. Drive competition not complacency. 3feetoftimber (Meath) - Posts: 113 - 10/03/2022 10:18:15 2404723 Link
Replying To preddan: "i love meath hurling and all the great traditional clubs in it. i really thought they had turned a corner from the bad old nicky rackard days of the late noughties and after. You are right as regards the number of clubs as it stands at the moment Meath have nearly as many Hurling clubs as offaly at the moment too, meath has more clubs than Kildare also,some say the quality is not in a lot of clubs but still numbers are there playing hurling in these clubs and numbers is always the foundations of moving on further in development and improvement. Down and Carlow deserve massive praise for the way they constantly punch way above their weight at county level, i dont know how they do it sligo looks to be looking like a new team going places with the tiny pick they have. Meath always had a tradition in hurling although not successful they were always in the leinster championship most years since the championship started and they held the legendary wexford team of the fifties to a draw in 1951 and played in a few leinster semis in the fifties. Even a few years ago meath were competitive in the preliminary group stage of the leinster and a decent westmeath barely got over ye in mullingar. its a shame that the trim players dont tog out as everyone that is good enough is needed to keep the county afloat. With the tradition, the number of clubs/players available, the quality of some of the players ie Regan, meath should be in the top 3 in division 2 not rooted in the bottom." I agree with most of what you say. Kildare and Meath had both to field without their Naas and Trim players involved in the club finals on the same weekend as both countries played the first round of the NHL. Trim had three county hurling panelists involved in their final. My guess is Kildare I presume had much more than three panelists missing due to their commitments to their club Naas and while I'm here I must truly congratulate the Naas club on their wonderful achievement in capturing the All Ireland IHC. The Nass players have I believed returned to the panel. Ours have not. However back to Meath's recent performances. Prior to the commencement of the League the aim appeared to be "to avoid relegation" and therein lies the problem. In 2016 we had a horrendous League but the management had a bigger focus, to win the Christy Ring Cup, not to remain in it. Heavy training took place during the League several players were used and the management knew exactly what role each member of the panel could play. The plan worked, the team was exceptionally fit and virtually every substitution worked to a tee. Antrim was simply ran off their feet in the second half of each game. We even won the refixture that resulted from Croke Park ineptitude. Is this the plan this year, no it's not. To quote a recent addition to the management team following last Sunday's debacle "There are too many bluffers on this team". Too many who are not ready from the start, two goals conceded in the first minute against both Down and Westmeath is symptomatic of guys not switched on. Going back through history, yes you are correct some very decent inter county performances and the funny thing is that those peak performances were achieved when football was also near or at the top of the tree. That team you mentioned drawing with Wexford in 1951 in Trim, also had three members who were also on the football panel that reached that year's final. It was the same in 1954. Our return to the Leinster Senior Championship in 1994 was achieved when football was also on a high. Currently football is at a low ebb in the county and hurling is following. Would a rising tide lift all boats? Not unless serious change is implemented from the top, the very top, too many bluffers there too. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 10/03/2022 11:19:38 2404744 Link
If you take 7 or 8 starters out of down , carlow , kerry they will struggle also. hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 416 - 11/03/2022 12:25:25 2404908 Link
So down we go, sounded like a much better game than last time they played carlow, will be very hard to lift the team for the McDonagh. Best wishes to the panel for the coming months. pixey (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 21/03/2022 14:03:35 2406206 Link
Where now? This was a complete shambles. Do we blame management or players? We heard from management of developing a "running game" utter nonsense, in the second half shortly after his introduction Kevin Keena went on a decent run and made 50 meters but was there anybody running in support or in modern speak 'off the shoulder' not in your nanny, so much for a change of approach also Eamon O Donnachadha won a lot of ball but no support. Time for change. I wish Shane Whitty well and wish him a speedy recovery. Strange that there was NO CARD shown, some are more equal than others. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 16/04/2022 17:04:07 2411124 Link
Replying To MillerX: "Where now? This was a complete shambles. Do we blame management or players? We heard from management of developing a "running game" utter nonsense, in the second half shortly after his introduction Kevin Keena went on a decent run and made 50 meters but was there anybody running in support or in modern speak 'off the shoulder' not in your nanny, so much for a change of approach also Eamon O Donnachadha won a lot of ball but no support. Time for change. I wish Shane Whitty well and wish him a speedy recovery. Strange that there was NO CARD shown, some are more equal than others." Carlow are not the team they were either so it's a v poor performance from meath alright.. A team underperforming badly preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 738 - 16/04/2022 17:50:46 2411132 Link
Wow that was some hammering. I don't post on hurling that often as I am not that familiar with the Meath team management or set up. But a few years ago we were beating Carlow and were competitive. What has happened since ? Was it a exceptional bunch of players ? Or have things gone totally off the rails ? royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 16/04/2022 18:08:24 2411135 Link
Root and branch change of meath hurling needed with fresh blood who have no agendas. hurling development group put together in 2020 to make recommendations. Have heard nothing more about it. Either they never did what they were asked or it's super confidential showforit (Meath) - Posts: 156 - 16/04/2022 18:25:24 2411151 Link
Replying To showforit: "Root and branch change of meath hurling needed with fresh blood who have no agendas. hurling development group put together in 2020 to make recommendations. Have heard nothing more about it. Either they never did what they were asked or it's super confidential" Hurling development group sounds laughable, the perfect example of how this isn't happening was the u20 group for this year . Had trials in January with a league starting in February , Trained once a week since January, trained on a Friday night with a game on a Saturday so couldn't go too hard on drills running etc… Like how is that going to develop a club underage team Nevermind a county team going on to play in a Leinster championship. They won one game all year which clearly isn't good enough and probably through no fault of their own. What's wrong with starting trials last October/November, having them in the gym or doing s&c over 2/3 months and then train twice a week come January. Reasoning why I'm mentioning all this is we need to concentrate on these younger lads coming through , I've heard reports that our minor hurlers are receiving great training from this year's management which is great to hear , but what's wrong with starting this group training for u20 next year in September/October this year just like minor footballers/u20 footballers. I know I'm on a rant about our underage but it has to start somewhere , todays match I felt confident going into navan but what I whitenessed was a holy show. It was that bad I don't think I could pick out one positive because carlow would be considered one of the "weaker" teams in the JmcD so I am very worried for what's to come . I want to see meath hurling thrive but it has to start from scratch, let's concentrate on some underage teams for next couple of years and make sure when they hit senior hurling that there ready to step up to the challenge and will have no excuses . Joe_soap1 (Meath) - Posts: 80 - 16/04/2022 20:31:24 2411210 Link
Underage will take years to change. Our senior championship is the main problem and can be fixed now. Way 2 many senior teams, 5 group games, everyone seems to qualify, means their is no bite, and lads not ready to step up to next level when their is something on the line. Like a pile of friendlies, then those lads expected to win tough J McDonagh games? Not gonna happen. truegael49 (Meath) - Posts: 14 - 17/04/2022 14:49:54 2411316 Link
Kildare clubs are playing in the Kilkenny championship at underage level. Didn't Naas win the Kilkenny minor championship last year? Is there anything similar that we could do? Not easy but some outside the box thinking required. stillaroyal (Meath) - Posts: 224 - 17/04/2022 15:40:55 2411323 Link