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Carlow GAA thread

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Replying To Viking66:  "Are any of the Football panel worth head hunting for the hurlers?"
Sean Murphy and John Murphy are definitely good enough. Kyle Nolan has potential.

CARPS (Carlow) - Posts: 1048 - 23/02/2026 16:21:14    2658200

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Replying To Bainisteoir:  "great to see folks here picking through the hurling panel to see who could be 'cannibalised' for the footballers ..."
You will recall that when the football dipped after Turlough and Poacher left the scene, Conor Lawler and Seam Murphy switched to the hurlers.

This kind of thing tends to happen in dual counties.

CARPS (Carlow) - Posts: 1048 - 23/02/2026 16:23:33    2658201

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Replying To CARPS:  "Sean Murphy and John Murphy are definitely good enough. Kyle Nolan has potential."
Mikey Bambrick and Aaron Amond are decent hurlers as well.

ACarlowGael (Carlow) - Posts: 37 - 23/02/2026 16:56:14    2658216

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Replying To CARPS:  "Sean Murphy and John Murphy are definitely good enough. Kyle Nolan has potential."
Shame that they're kicking ball then. You havent been far off being a solid Liam McCarthy side the last few years, an extra 3 starters would have probably put you up in that bracket.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18635 - 23/02/2026 16:57:39    2658217

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Talk of players switching codes here isnt helping anything. Hurlers are in a small bit of a transition period but you see time and time again they keep coming back good which is a great accomplishment.

The footballers are on the rise and that's something to celebrate. Joe Murphy certainly won't be trying to nab any of the hurlers, and he 100 percent won't bring them in this season.

Was at the game Waterford game and I actually think they played poorly. Which is a great criticism when they beat a team by 14 points. It should have been 30 plus nearly. It was great to see how the management experimented with the team. About 4 or 5 definite starters to come back in. What's great about this panel is the bench. It's unbelievably strong. I dont remember a carlow panel in the last 30 years with the dept this panel has. I think going into the more important games the likes of Sean Murphy and Darragh Foley will be used as impact subs. With 15 minutes to go and if it's a tight game bringing on the likes of Sean Murphy could be the winning of games as he would inject pace back into the team while the opposition could be out on their feet.

It certainly is exciting times ahead.

CarlowRising44 (Carlow) - Posts: 21 - 23/02/2026 17:05:41    2658221

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Some of the footballers would be huge additions to the hurlers.
Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy, Aaron Amond, Sean Murphy, Kyle Nolan & John Phiri would all add real value to their team/squad.
I see Jake Nolan from Kildavin is on the senior hurling panel now too though. He's a very capable footballer who was on the senior football panel last year.

Repeat1944 (Carlow) - Posts: 14 - 23/02/2026 17:11:46    2658222

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Replying To ACarlowGael:  "Mikey Bambrick and Aaron Amond are decent hurlers as well."
Aaron's brother Padraig was a decent hurler too wasn't he?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18635 - 23/02/2026 17:42:44    2658229

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Replying To Viking66:  "Shame that they're kicking ball then. You havent been far off being a solid Liam McCarthy side the last few years, an extra 3 starters would have probably put you up in that bracket."
No shame at all.

Collio (Carlow) - Posts: 86 - 23/02/2026 19:15:52    2658245

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Replying To CarlowRising44:  "Talk of players switching codes here isnt helping anything. Hurlers are in a small bit of a transition period but you see time and time again they keep coming back good which is a great accomplishment.

The footballers are on the rise and that's something to celebrate. Joe Murphy certainly won't be trying to nab any of the hurlers, and he 100 percent won't bring them in this season.

Was at the game Waterford game and I actually think they played poorly. Which is a great criticism when they beat a team by 14 points. It should have been 30 plus nearly. It was great to see how the management experimented with the team. About 4 or 5 definite starters to come back in. What's great about this panel is the bench. It's unbelievably strong. I dont remember a carlow panel in the last 30 years with the dept this panel has. I think going into the more important games the likes of Sean Murphy and Darragh Foley will be used as impact subs. With 15 minutes to go and if it's a tight game bringing on the likes of Sean Murphy could be the winning of games as he would inject pace back into the team while the opposition could be out on their feet.

It certainly is exciting times ahead."
'Talks of players switching codes here doesn't help anything' does anything we do here help anything? It's a forum for Christ sake

Collio (Carlow) - Posts: 86 - 23/02/2026 21:19:44    2658262

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Replying To CarlowRising44:  "Talk of players switching codes here isnt helping anything. Hurlers are in a small bit of a transition period but you see time and time again they keep coming back good which is a great accomplishment.

The footballers are on the rise and that's something to celebrate. Joe Murphy certainly won't be trying to nab any of the hurlers, and he 100 percent won't bring them in this season.

Was at the game Waterford game and I actually think they played poorly. Which is a great criticism when they beat a team by 14 points. It should have been 30 plus nearly. It was great to see how the management experimented with the team. About 4 or 5 definite starters to come back in. What's great about this panel is the bench. It's unbelievably strong. I dont remember a carlow panel in the last 30 years with the dept this panel has. I think going into the more important games the likes of Sean Murphy and Darragh Foley will be used as impact subs. With 15 minutes to go and if it's a tight game bringing on the likes of Sean Murphy could be the winning of games as he would inject pace back into the team while the opposition could be out on their feet.

It certainly is exciting times ahead."
True. Jesus lads let's give the hurlers a break. They have given us some unbelievable days over the last 10 years or so. They have been playing at a higher level to the footballers for years & yes yesterday was very disappointing but I have no doubt they will roll up the sleeves & come strong again in the Kildare game & later in the Championship. Sometimes when you are playing with such a small panel missing a few players can have a big effect. I still wouldn't put it past them surviving in the league but it won't be easy.
Lots to look forward to with our Hurlers & Footballers over the season

carlo (Carlow) - Posts: 314 - 23/02/2026 21:25:18    2658264

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When Tom Mullally stepped down as the Carlow senior hurling manager, it was always going to be difficult to replace him, fact. Tom was a Kilkenny man through and through and that included his attitude towards hurling, as a Kilkenny man it came through in his coaching skills during his time as Carlow manager over a five-year period.

Pat Bennett is a Waterford man no doubt about that, he learned his ply over the years with Waterford and further afield, the bottom line is they are two coaches with different approaches to their game including to that of the players, it is going to take time of getting used to and that may include results, it could be worth waiting for though.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3377 - 24/02/2026 10:55:36    2658323

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Replying To Repeat1944:  "Some of the footballers would be huge additions to the hurlers.
Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy, Aaron Amond, Sean Murphy, Kyle Nolan & John Phiri would all add real value to their team/squad.
I see Jake Nolan from Kildavin is on the senior hurling panel now too though. He's a very capable footballer who was on the senior football panel last year."
None of those would make any major difference to the hurling team while we're playing at division 1 level. Look at Donagh Murphy he's on a different league than all of them, All Ireland senior colleges A winner, and he's struggling to play at this level, taken off against Wexford and Antrim making almost no impact at all. None have the technical ability to play at the highest level.. in fairness they're intermediate club hurlers in carlow!
Amond spent years with hurlers, gets every opportunity under different managers, saw the witting on the wall and switched codes.
How many of current senior footballers would cut it in Division one football or make any of the division 1 teams, would any??? Let alone change codes..

Carlowtothecore1 (Carlow) - Posts: 116 - 24/02/2026 13:33:09    2658355

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Replying To supersub15:  "When Tom Mullally stepped down as the Carlow senior hurling manager, it was always going to be difficult to replace him, fact. Tom was a Kilkenny man through and through and that included his attitude towards hurling, as a Kilkenny man it came through in his coaching skills during his time as Carlow manager over a five-year period.

Pat Bennett is a Waterford man no doubt about that, he learned his ply over the years with Waterford and further afield, the bottom line is they are two coaches with different approaches to their game including to that of the players, it is going to take time of getting used to and that may include results, it could be worth waiting for though."
Any idea what the game plan is?

Bimb (Carlow) - Posts: 587 - 24/02/2026 14:02:43    2658359

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Replying To Carlowtothecore1:  "None of those would make any major difference to the hurling team while we're playing at division 1 level. Look at Donagh Murphy he's on a different league than all of them, All Ireland senior colleges A winner, and he's struggling to play at this level, taken off against Wexford and Antrim making almost no impact at all. None have the technical ability to play at the highest level.. in fairness they're intermediate club hurlers in carlow!
Amond spent years with hurlers, gets every opportunity under different managers, saw the witting on the wall and switched codes.
How many of current senior footballers would cut it in Division one football or make any of the division 1 teams, would any??? Let alone change codes.."
It's division 2 hurling. I think we definitely have 7/8 lads capable of playing at division 2 football level. Levels of football are also a lot higher due to fact that nearly every county plays it unlike hurling.

Collio (Carlow) - Posts: 86 - 24/02/2026 14:42:32    2658370

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Replying To Collio:  "It's division 2 hurling. I think we definitely have 7/8 lads capable of playing at division 2 football level. Levels of football are also a lot higher due to fact that nearly every county plays it unlike hurling."
When was the last time Carlow played in div2 of the NFL? when you got promoted to div3 in 2018 it was the first time you achieved that in over 30 years. And you came straight back down. You have had way more success in Hurling than you have in Football.
Nearly every county plays Football because its easier to pick up the basic skills, and costs less money for equipment. Both big issues back in the day when the GAA was young.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18635 - 24/02/2026 15:41:52    2658390

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Replying To Viking66:  "When was the last time Carlow played in div2 of the NFL? when you got promoted to div3 in 2018 it was the first time you achieved that in over 30 years. And you came straight back down. You have had way more success in Hurling than you have in Football.
Nearly every county plays Football because its easier to pick up the basic skills, and costs less money for equipment. Both big issues back in the day when the GAA was young."
Hence why I said 7/8, you would need 15-20 to compete in it. Your points about hurling are correct but also means you can't directly compare the divisions. Bottom half of 1B is Division 3 Football and 2A Division 4.

Collio (Carlow) - Posts: 86 - 24/02/2026 16:55:17    2658410

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Replying To Viking66:  "When was the last time Carlow played in div2 of the NFL? when you got promoted to div3 in 2018 it was the first time you achieved that in over 30 years. And you came straight back down. You have had way more success in Hurling than you have in Football.
Nearly every county plays Football because its easier to pick up the basic skills, and costs less money for equipment. Both big issues back in the day when the GAA was young."
You're making a claim I hear constantly, but the record doesn't really back it up. And I am saying this as someone who loves Carlow hurling.

In reality, Carlow have actually had more senior success in football than hurling: a Leinster SFC title (1944), an NFL Division 1 final (1954), an All-Ireland Senior B football title (1994), and six Leinster senior club football titles.

In hurling, Carlow have never won a senior Leinster, have one Senior B (1992), plus Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring wins. Good achievements, but all second tier competitions. In a code which, we have to be honest here, the field is far less crowded than in football.

Carlow may be more competitive in hurling in recent years, but historically, senior success tilts toward football. This is just a fact. And the footballers will play in the senior Leinster championship this year, the hurlers will not. We have to be honest.

CARPS (Carlow) - Posts: 1048 - 24/02/2026 17:15:26    2658415

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Replying To CARPS:  "You're making a claim I hear constantly, but the record doesn't really back it up. And I am saying this as someone who loves Carlow hurling.

In reality, Carlow have actually had more senior success in football than hurling: a Leinster SFC title (1944), an NFL Division 1 final (1954), an All-Ireland Senior B football title (1994), and six Leinster senior club football titles.

In hurling, Carlow have never won a senior Leinster, have one Senior B (1992), plus Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring wins. Good achievements, but all second tier competitions. In a code which, we have to be honest here, the field is far less crowded than in football.

Carlow may be more competitive in hurling in recent years, but historically, senior success tilts toward football. This is just a fact. And the footballers will play in the senior Leinster championship this year, the hurlers will not. We have to be honest."
I won't get into the tit for tat argument on the codes or players for panels etc. We are a dual county and we support both codes. You seemed to forget though -

All Ireland intermediate club hurling title
Leinster junior hurling titles
Leinster titles for clubs at senior, junior and Intermediate club level in hurling

We are indeed in the Joe mcdonagh this year but have played Liam McCarthy - on merit by winning the Joe MC. Currently that's the hurling system with tiers and winning your way up - it has changed over the years. Currently at football, every team has chance to play in Leinster/Sam McGuire (bar 1 by choice) with a tiered competition based on separate but linked criteria. It's not black and white!!
I am delighted to see the footballers going so well. We have players to support both panels to play at a v high level in both codes at the minute which is great to see. Having Carlow people involved in managements (this year and others) is also a boost to us as it shows we have the expertise internally. The hurlers had a bad day on Sunday but they ll bounce back as they have done before. A massive weekend for both codes and the most important argument here is - can we all make it to both over the weekend??!!

old yellar (None) - Posts: 2642 - 24/02/2026 18:06:44    2658422

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Replying To Viking66:  "When was the last time Carlow played in div2 of the NFL? when you got promoted to div3 in 2018 it was the first time you achieved that in over 30 years. And you came straight back down. You have had way more success in Hurling than you have in Football.
Nearly every county plays Football because its easier to pick up the basic skills, and costs less money for equipment. Both big issues back in the day when the GAA was young."
You're making a claim I hear constantly, but the record doesn't really back it up. And I am saying this as someone who loves Carlow hurling.

In reality, Carlow have actually had more senior success in football than hurling: a Leinster SFC title (1944), an NFL Division 1 final (1954), an All-Ireland Senior B football title (1994), and six Leinster senior club football titles.

In hurling, Carlow have never won a senior Leinster, have one Senior B (1992), plus Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring wins. Good achievements, but all second tier competitions. In a code which, we have to be honest here, the field is far less crowded than in football.

Carlow may be more competitive in hurling in recent years, but historically, senior success tilts toward football. This is just a fact. And the footballers will play in the senior Leinster championship this year, the hurlers will not. We have to be honest.

CARPS (Carlow) - Posts: 1048 - 24/02/2026 18:09:43    2658425

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Replying To Carlowtothecore1:  "None of those would make any major difference to the hurling team while we're playing at division 1 level. Look at Donagh Murphy he's on a different league than all of them, All Ireland senior colleges A winner, and he's struggling to play at this level, taken off against Wexford and Antrim making almost no impact at all. None have the technical ability to play at the highest level.. in fairness they're intermediate club hurlers in carlow!
Amond spent years with hurlers, gets every opportunity under different managers, saw the witting on the wall and switched codes.
How many of current senior footballers would cut it in Division one football or make any of the division 1 teams, would any??? Let alone change codes.."
I think it's well known on here that I prefer hurling to football, but collio is right... it's Division Two hurling. There's no point in pretending that it's Division One because the GAA wanted to make some traditional counties feel less bad about reverting to a form of the old league format.

Next year both of our teams will probably be playing in de facto Division Three. And it's also fair to say that football Division Three is more competitive than hurling's third tier. Because, yes, it's objectively true that considerably more counties take football seriously than take hurling seriously. It's been like that since before any of us were born.

I love hurling, but presenting false arguments does nothing to advance the game. Right now, I am pretty despondent about Carlow hurling. As previously voiced, I think the end of the club split season will do a lot of damage and I am concerned about what's coming up versus the lads who will step away over the coming years.

It's undeniable that hurling has been in a better place than football in Carlow for the vast majority of the past 20 years. Those who claimed otherwise were delusional. However, it's also correct to say that football is clearly in a better place right now and probably will be for the next few years.

That's just how it is. We are a small county and we have limited resources and playing numbers.

CARPS (Carlow) - Posts: 1048 - 24/02/2026 18:09:51    2658426

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