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Galway Hurling thread

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Replying To 2maroonjerseys:  "Handed Clare the handiest all Ireland in 13 due to in house bickering. Win that QF and all Ireland in the bag."
So Ye would have easily beaten a Limerick Team that already beaten both Cork and Tipp and then gone to beat Cork, a side Galway have always flopped against in Finals. Typical Galway nonsense.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 03/09/2024 11:28:56    2568179

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Replying To katser:  "Yes Davy Fitz is who I would have liked but will give Donohoe his chance. Everyone deserves a chance before being judged! We all want whats best for Galway hurling so the best of luck to him and will see how it goes!
I still think MOD inherited a very good team that AC had moulded when he got the Galway gig 1st term and was lucky to be the man in charge when We won the All Ireland in 2017!
So the South Galway man who was smiling last year when we got knocked out in Pearce Stadium has work to do in his 2nd term!
Minimum requirement for 2025 is to win the Leinster title and sail straight through to the All Ireland Semi Final."
What is this ***** about 'the South Galway Man smiling?. Would not SON or King Henry have been smiling if they had led Galway to victory over Limerick or Kilkenny.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4468 - 03/09/2024 11:55:37    2568188

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Replying To 2maroonjerseys:  "Handed Clare the handiest all Ireland in 13 due to in house bickering. Win that QF and all Ireland in the bag."
Weren't playing well enough that year to win it, unlike '12 and '15.

Triffic (Galway) - Posts: 158 - 03/09/2024 12:12:35    2568193

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Replying To BostonGuy:  "There was one 1989 when Denton took care of Galway and Tipp hammered Antrim in the final"
The usual pre high definition hurling watchers wouldn't have a clue what you're on about. Couldn't have tipp not winning an AI every decade without some help.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 99 - 03/09/2024 13:27:08    2568211

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Replying To LohansRedHelmet:  "Ye should know well in Galway there is no such thing as a handy AI"
. The egos in Galway fell out in 13 when all they had to do was stick together. I said here clare always play like there's no next year in an AI final. Galway players think differently the usual if it doesn't happen this year there's always next year.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 99 - 03/09/2024 13:30:34    2568213

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MOD took over a panel at it's peak the last time. The complete opposite this time, so it'll be interesting to see if he is the man for a rebuilding job.

I would be all for a wholesale clearout and rebuild. What's there has been tried and failed the last few years so why not just go for it. Things can't be any worse than they were.

Low2Joe (Wexford) - Posts: 54 - 03/09/2024 13:39:50    2568215

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "So Ye would have easily beaten a Limerick Team that already beaten both Cork and Tipp and then gone to beat Cork, a side Galway have always flopped against in Finals. Typical Galway nonsense."
It won't always stay fine for ye.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 99 - 03/09/2024 13:59:46    2568217

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Replying To Triffic:  "Weren't playing well enough that year to win it, unlike '12 and '15."
In house bickering the egos got the better of them. Plenty of egos on the current team as well that need to go.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 99 - 03/09/2024 14:00:51    2568219

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "So Ye would have easily beaten a Limerick Team that already beaten both Cork and Tipp and then gone to beat Cork, a side Galway have always flopped against in Finals. Typical Galway nonsense."
Typical Galway nonsense indeed! So we're all the same in Galway and you can't shtand the sight of us! Must be very quiet on the Limerick forum! No exciting club championship then or is all the money gone into the county team?

Crashingwaves (Galway) - Posts: 74 - 03/09/2024 15:35:47    2568257

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Replying To Galway456:  "Anyone have any idea who the last member of the backroom team to be announced yet is?"
The 2017 All Ireland winning captain, I believe!

Crashingwaves (Galway) - Posts: 74 - 03/09/2024 15:42:08    2568259

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "The 2017 All Ireland winning captain, I believe!"
I wonder will O Donohue parachute johnny glynn back in before championship

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2088 - 03/09/2024 17:39:07    2568286

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Replying To Alwaysencourage:  "He needs to start looking at 18 to 23 year olds and a few older lads for experience.He has 4 tears and we need to give him that.We gave Henry 3."
He does but I question the work of the academy as we haven't seen many break into the senior ranks and complete with the older guys. When you are bringing back a 31 YO from NYC it doesn't say much for the youth structures. Its ok to appoint a new manager for seniors on a 4 year term BUT look at the programs for U 17, U 20 are they getting the right skills development, nutrition and S&C ? Whats their game strategy and how does it align with the seniors? It looks like each are in their own silos, some of the management in the academy may be comfortable in their roles and they may also need a shakeup there. If we are in for a rebuild, start at the foundation

BostonGuy (Galway) - Posts: 133 - 03/09/2024 21:59:11    2568320

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Replying To Bon:  "I wonder will O Donohue parachute johnny glynn back in before championship"
More likely car or bus I'd say. It's not the Superbowl.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3888 - 04/09/2024 07:43:31    2568335

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He hit journalistic rock bottom a while ago and has been digging ever since, but this might be the most shameful effort yet.

The man is a complete embarrassment, a grifter making money by throwing shade at amateur sportsmen over an incident everyone else, including the protagonsits, have on all known evidence, long forgotten about.

Imagine bearing someone else's grudge for that long, especially when that person seemingly doesn't have a grudge anyway.

It's almost impressive.

Almost.

Here is the article in question:

Question 1: Which county has won more All-Ireland minor hurling titles since 1990 than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Dublin, Wexford and Offaly combined?
Question 2: In the same period, which county has won more All-Ireland U-21/20 titles than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, Offaly, Dublin and Wexford?

Question 3: Since 1990, which county has produced two more All-Ireland senior club champions than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, Dublin, Offaly, Wexford and Antrim combined?

The answer is, of course, Galway. Vast riches across the club and underage fields then, but not so at senior inter-county level, where only one All-Ireland title has been harvested.

It came in 2017, presided over by Micheál Donoghue when Galway landed the big prize for the first time in 29 years. Galway assumed that liberation day had arrived and that the future was bright. Not so. The 2017 success was no more than the briefest escape from the badlands.

Donoghue left in 2019 after Galway finished fourth in Leinster and was replaced by Shane O'Neill. In fairness to the Limerick man, it was not a good time to take over as Covid made it difficult for a new manager to get to know the players or the culture in a different county. He was gone after two seasons, replaced by Henry Shefflin. It didn't work out for him either.

His departure after three years was unsurprising along with Donoghue's return, even if Dublin thought they had him for another year at least.

So how will it turn out for him? Is he a glutton for punishment in a county that has consistently failed to advance club and underage strength into a coherent senior force or will he replicate the 2017 success?

Galway were in a better position than they are now when he took over from Anthony Cunningham in late 2015. Cunningham was unfairly forced out by a player heave, despite having reached that year's All-Ireland final, where they lost to Kilkenny.

The players would argue that winning the 2017 All-Ireland vindicated their stance, although many would contend that Galway were lucky in the semi-final (v Tipperary) and final (v Waterford).

Seven years later, the enigma of Galway hurling continues. The sloppy performances, the inexplicable fade-outs, the inability to manage their way through crisis periods and a general sense of unreliability have all increased in recent years. All this against a background where the failure of successful underage players to develop (or, perhaps more accurately, be developed) into top-class seniors has remained a sorrowful Tribesmen mystery.

What happened the four-in-a-row All-Ireland minors from 2017-18-19-20? It brought Galway's haul to ten in 20 years, yet relatively few have made it at senior level. Limerick, in contrast, took five of the last six All-Irelands without having won any minor titles in the previous decade.

Good underage players don't always develop into top seniors, but Galway's inability to make so little of so much minor talent is unfathomable. It's equally baffling why so much All-Ireland club success hasn't nourished the county team.

Calling on Donoghue was the obvious path for the county's power brokers after their love affairs with outsiders over the last five seasons. The demands on him this time are different from his first coming.

Back then, he inherited a strong panel that Cunningham had assembled over several seasons.

Twelve of the squad that played in the 2015 All-Ireland final started the 2017 final.


It's different now and there will be massive interest in Galway when Donoghue names his 2025 squad. He needs to be ruthless - and not just among fringe players either.

This calls for a hard-nosed clean-out, including several big names, like what Cyril Farrell did in 1984 when there was a staleness about the squad similar to what currently prevails.

By the time Championship '85 arrived, only seven of the '84 team were aboard.

The impact was seismic as they went on to win two of the next four All-Irelands. The talent was there - it just needed to be given a chance under proper leadership.

Donoghue's appointment is the most interesting development of hurling's inter-county closed season. He has been given four years, but how successful he will be could well emerge as early as when he names his first squad. Culling time out west is called for.

Stool Pigeon (Galway) - Posts: 905 - 04/09/2024 09:57:00    2568354

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Replying To Bon:  "I wonder will O Donohue parachute johnny glynn back in before championship"
You're a fan of the Back to the Future movies I see!

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1955 - 04/09/2024 10:08:02    2568357

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Replying To Oldtourman:  "So Ye would have easily beaten a Limerick Team that already beaten both Cork and Tipp and then gone to beat Cork, a side Galway have always flopped against in Finals. Typical Galway nonsense."
I see today is the 30th anniversary of the 5-minute final.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3888 - 04/09/2024 10:11:52    2568361

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Then general point in the article is something every Galway hurling supporter has questioned for years, so he's not making any groundbreaking points there, but using it to air his grievances about Donoghue getting the job in 2016 is nonsense. His attempt to devalue the win in 2017 with this 'although many would contend that Galway were lucky in the semi-final (v Tipperary) and final (v Waterford)' is complete seafóid.
Galway were fully deserving of their win in 2017, edged out Tipp in a classic battle in the semi-final and should have won the final by more. We handed Waterford a very soft goal which kept them closer. We dominated the majority of that final, so there was nothing lucky about it whatsoever.
The fact is that's our only All-Ireland win in 36 years, so if there's one thing that was done right, it's Donoghue getting the job at the time.
You'd get the impression from the tone of his article that he was almost hoping we'd lose in 2017.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2197 - 04/09/2024 10:51:20    2568372

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Replying To Stool Pigeon:  "He hit journalistic rock bottom a while ago and has been digging ever since, but this might be the most shameful effort yet.

The man is a complete embarrassment, a grifter making money by throwing shade at amateur sportsmen over an incident everyone else, including the protagonsits, have on all known evidence, long forgotten about.

Imagine bearing someone else's grudge for that long, especially when that person seemingly doesn't have a grudge anyway.

It's almost impressive.

Almost.

Here is the article in question:

Question 1: Which county has won more All-Ireland minor hurling titles since 1990 than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Dublin, Wexford and Offaly combined?
Question 2: In the same period, which county has won more All-Ireland U-21/20 titles than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, Offaly, Dublin and Wexford?

Question 3: Since 1990, which county has produced two more All-Ireland senior club champions than Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, Dublin, Offaly, Wexford and Antrim combined?

The answer is, of course, Galway. Vast riches across the club and underage fields then, but not so at senior inter-county level, where only one All-Ireland title has been harvested.

It came in 2017, presided over by Micheál Donoghue when Galway landed the big prize for the first time in 29 years. Galway assumed that liberation day had arrived and that the future was bright. Not so. The 2017 success was no more than the briefest escape from the badlands.

Donoghue left in 2019 after Galway finished fourth in Leinster and was replaced by Shane O'Neill. In fairness to the Limerick man, it was not a good time to take over as Covid made it difficult for a new manager to get to know the players or the culture in a different county. He was gone after two seasons, replaced by Henry Shefflin. It didn't work out for him either.

His departure after three years was unsurprising along with Donoghue's return, even if Dublin thought they had him for another year at least.

So how will it turn out for him? Is he a glutton for punishment in a county that has consistently failed to advance club and underage strength into a coherent senior force or will he replicate the 2017 success?

Galway were in a better position than they are now when he took over from Anthony Cunningham in late 2015. Cunningham was unfairly forced out by a player heave, despite having reached that year's All-Ireland final, where they lost to Kilkenny.

The players would argue that winning the 2017 All-Ireland vindicated their stance, although many would contend that Galway were lucky in the semi-final (v Tipperary) and final (v Waterford).

Seven years later, the enigma of Galway hurling continues. The sloppy performances, the inexplicable fade-outs, the inability to manage their way through crisis periods and a general sense of unreliability have all increased in recent years. All this against a background where the failure of successful underage players to develop (or, perhaps more accurately, be developed) into top-class seniors has remained a sorrowful Tribesmen mystery.

What happened the four-in-a-row All-Ireland minors from 2017-18-19-20? It brought Galway's haul to ten in 20 years, yet relatively few have made it at senior level. Limerick, in contrast, took five of the last six All-Irelands without having won any minor titles in the previous decade.

Good underage players don't always develop into top seniors, but Galway's inability to make so little of so much minor talent is unfathomable. It's equally baffling why so much All-Ireland club success hasn't nourished the county team.

Calling on Donoghue was the obvious path for the county's power brokers after their love affairs with outsiders over the last five seasons. The demands on him this time are different from his first coming.

Back then, he inherited a strong panel that Cunningham had assembled over several seasons.

Twelve of the squad that played in the 2015 All-Ireland final started the 2017 final.


It's different now and there will be massive interest in Galway when Donoghue names his 2025 squad. He needs to be ruthless - and not just among fringe players either.

This calls for a hard-nosed clean-out, including several big names, like what Cyril Farrell did in 1984 when there was a staleness about the squad similar to what currently prevails.

By the time Championship '85 arrived, only seven of the '84 team were aboard.

The impact was seismic as they went on to win two of the next four All-Irelands. The talent was there - it just needed to be given a chance under proper leadership.

Donoghue's appointment is the most interesting development of hurling's inter-county closed season. He has been given four years, but how successful he will be could well emerge as early as when he names his first squad. Culling time out west is called for.
"
I think it's easy to answer one 'mystery' there anyway, that Breheny fails to get a handle on. That is the question of 'what happened' the 2017-2020 minors.

Imo, these titles were won because Galway were outpreparing other counties at that age group in that time frame. Galway had become very intensive about minors teams at that time, with A teams and B teams and Maroons and McDonaghs etc, all whipping each other into shape for months. It was obvious by u21 level that these players weren't cutting it remotely as well, when other counties particularly in Munster, seemed to be more intensive about u21 than minor.

The other comparative that doesn't stack up, is the bs comparison of 1984 and 2024. Galway were minor AND u21 champions in 1983. Narrowly lost the '82 u21 final also, and would win the '86 one. Right now, THIRTEEN seasons have passed since Galway won at u21 level, but the level of capacity and performance in recent u21 sides has been alarmingly poor to my eye, with perhaps just one or two exceptions. It's also disingenuous of Breheny to suggest as he does, that Limerick pulled their recent senior success out of their ass, when they were all well medaled at u21 level, logically a better level to be performing at than minor level, when it comes to prospective building blocks for a senior side.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3888 - 04/09/2024 10:52:30    2568373

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Martin seems to be baffled a lot.

A rather embarrassing admission for a journalist of his experience.

Nice of him to inform us that 'good minors don't always make good seniors' though. Cheers, son. That's where we were going wrong, said absolutely nobody else.

The saddest day of his professional career appears to be September 3rd, 2017, though happily for him he gets to reprise his favourite chestnut 'Cunningham was the victim of an unfair heave' but a school kid could come up with a better justification.

He'll spontaneously combust if we win another one in his lifetime

Stool Pigeon (Galway) - Posts: 905 - 04/09/2024 12:24:24    2568390

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Can anyone name some undervalued or young club players that with right coaching and SnC might be able to to make the step up to Galway senior team.

daveslad62 (Galway) - Posts: 37 - 04/09/2024 16:20:48    2568441

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