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Wexford Hurling Thread

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "No, not at any age group. Not allowed by hurling. Not allowed at Celtic Challenge level either."
We stopped having dual players at intercounty level a few years ago too. Started with that years u14s and its working its way up as that agegroup get older. Although we do have lads who have been on both Football and Hurling squads, just not in the same year.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 06:44:50    2671026

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Good weekend for Wexford hurling . Minors now face Galway on Saturday in Portlaoise. U20 draw is being made today. We need to push on now and hopefully reach at least one of the provincial finals .
Saturday is shaping up to be a massive day for Wexford hurling.

Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 1046 - 05/05/2026 10:17:11    2671047

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "No, not at any age group. Not allowed by hurling. Not allowed at Celtic Challenge level either."
Not allowed by hurling .
Tbh how is that going to grow hurling in other weaker counties if no body holds anyone to task over these decisions.
Reverse the situation Football in the stronger counties dont allow lads play hurling as dual players too . Thats really going to help them develop .
A small success in a weaker county could br a trigger for growth but that will never happen as they will never have the strongest panel available .
We are all only looking after our own interests and cannot see the bigger picture .
Hurling is becoming more of an elite sport than ever before . With less and less counties looking like they are going to make any progress anytime soon .
It may be the greatest show on earth but the playing pool is diminishing and befire too long we ll all be asking how has hurling come to this.
Decisions made to improve standards in some counties ie no dual dev squad players in my opinion gives football dominant counties the same reasoning .
And hurling could all but disappear in these counties .
Even to the extent that munster is the only province worth watching byvthe purists at present .
All grand if you only like the game and not bothered which team you watch . .
Kerry Antrim carlow all dropping off ourselves on a knifedge
Been a long time since there was any breakthrough hurling county . Can't see that changing any time soon if we are not careful in wexford we could becone a 2nd tier county at present we are at bottom of the heap of tier 1 . Our decision to not allow dual players aligned with the other counties doing the same hurts the game in general maybe not in our own county yet but certainly as a game on general.
The gap between top and middle , midfle and bottom is ever widening. .

Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 586 - 05/05/2026 14:13:44    2671108

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Looks like the U20s have drawn the short end of the stick and are up against Galway rather than Dublin in the semis

I understand they wanted an open draw because both Wexford and Kilkenny had already played Kilkenny but I thought it would've been fairer had 2nd played 1st from the other group and then 3rd would play from 1st from their own group

Suppose that's a moot point now

ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1150 - 05/05/2026 14:25:33    2671114

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Wexford play Galway in both the U20 and minor

Probably the toughest team left in both

Anyone know about the venue?

Yellow (Wexford) - Posts: 590 - 05/05/2026 14:29:14    2671117

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Replying To Formertownie:  "Not allowed by hurling .
Tbh how is that going to grow hurling in other weaker counties if no body holds anyone to task over these decisions.
Reverse the situation Football in the stronger counties dont allow lads play hurling as dual players too . Thats really going to help them develop .
A small success in a weaker county could br a trigger for growth but that will never happen as they will never have the strongest panel available .
We are all only looking after our own interests and cannot see the bigger picture .
Hurling is becoming more of an elite sport than ever before . With less and less counties looking like they are going to make any progress anytime soon .
It may be the greatest show on earth but the playing pool is diminishing and befire too long we ll all be asking how has hurling come to this.
Decisions made to improve standards in some counties ie no dual dev squad players in my opinion gives football dominant counties the same reasoning .
And hurling could all but disappear in these counties .
Even to the extent that munster is the only province worth watching byvthe purists at present .
All grand if you only like the game and not bothered which team you watch . .
Kerry Antrim carlow all dropping off ourselves on a knifedge
Been a long time since there was any breakthrough hurling county . Can't see that changing any time soon if we are not careful in wexford we could becone a 2nd tier county at present we are at bottom of the heap of tier 1 . Our decision to not allow dual players aligned with the other counties doing the same hurts the game in general maybe not in our own county yet but certainly as a game on general.
The gap between top and middle , midfle and bottom is ever widening. ."
They dont. At least in Roscommon they dont anyway. 5 or 6 of the best u17 hurlers in Roscommon are on the football team/panel. They aren't allowed play for the hurlers
The u20 hurlers lost the all ireland B final last Saturday. The 2 or 3 hurlers on football panel weren't allowed play either( in any round).
I think its pretty common these days even for the lads numbered 25 or 26 to 35 on the panels.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 347 - 05/05/2026 14:33:47    2671119

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Formertownie, you are right. But it was ever going to be so.
Ultimately, the strong counties care not a jot about the development of hurling. Including our own. To be fair to the Leinster Council, they have made underage structures which at least give counties a chance to compete.
But take Kildare. Kildare will learn assuming they are relegated this year that hurling is a caste of elites paying lip service to everybody else and pretending to care while fawning over great provincial and All-Ireland finals or whatever.
Why would Kildare continue to invest in the game when their "reward" for years of work is straight back to McDonagh hurling? Would their county board not say "Why did we waste 10-15 years of time, money and coaching for that"? "Why didn't we just spend it on football where we might get a return on investment"?
And the reality is, there will be platitudes and condescending back-handed compliments from those at the top but nothing will change because it suits themselves to keep the game a closed shop.
"I'm alright Jack" is the order of the day.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2026 - 05/05/2026 14:43:42    2671124

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Replying To Yellow:  "Wexford play Galway in both the U20 and minor

Probably the toughest team left in both

Anyone know about the venue?"
Don't think they are the toughest team in minor, but hard to say how the game will go as we are talking about lads aged 15-17.
They have an excellent u20 team ok, but if our lads show the workrate and hunger they showed against Kilkenny they will have every chance of winning.
Minor game is in Portlaoise on Saturday. Not sure where the u20 game will be, but its fixed for tomorrow week.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 14:49:32    2671126

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Replying To Yellow:  "Wexford play Galway in both the U20 and minor

Probably the toughest team left in both

Anyone know about the venue?"
Disappointing to draw Galway again in the u20 . Would imagine its in Portlaoise? Big task for the u20s but I would expect them to give a much better account of themselves than the Galway game a few weeks ago.
Regarding the u17 that is a tight one to call . It would be great to get to a Minor Leinster final but at least if we do lose against Galway we will play one of the losing semi finalists in Munster . Think our minors beat Cork at that stage last year

Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 1046 - 05/05/2026 14:50:05    2671127

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Replying To Afinestick96:  "Disappointing to draw Galway again in the u20 . Would imagine its in Portlaoise? Big task for the u20s but I would expect them to give a much better account of themselves than the Galway game a few weeks ago.
Regarding the u17 that is a tight one to call . It would be great to get to a Minor Leinster final but at least if we do lose against Galway we will play one of the losing semi finalists in Munster . Think our minors beat Cork at that stage last year"
Year before

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 14:54:52    2671130

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "They dont. At least in Roscommon they dont anyway. 5 or 6 of the best u17 hurlers in Roscommon are on the football team/panel. They aren't allowed play for the hurlers
The u20 hurlers lost the all ireland B final last Saturday. The 2 or 3 hurlers on football panel weren't allowed play either( in any round).
I think its pretty common these days even for the lads numbered 25 or 26 to 35 on the panels."
Are you in the West of Roscommon? The hurling end? Or over Brigids way?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 14:56:02    2671131

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Replying To Viking66:  "Are you in the West of Roscommon? The hurling end? Or over Brigids way?"
South of county near athlone.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 347 - 05/05/2026 15:01:58    2671136

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "They dont. At least in Roscommon they dont anyway. 5 or 6 of the best u17 hurlers in Roscommon are on the football team/panel. They aren't allowed play for the hurlers
The u20 hurlers lost the all ireland B final last Saturday. The 2 or 3 hurlers on football panel weren't allowed play either( in any round).
I think its pretty common these days even for the lads numbered 25 or 26 to 35 on the panels."
Are you in the West of Roscommon? The hurling end? Or over Brigids way?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 15:03:18    2671137

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "South of county near athlone."
Ah ok. A really decent fella I know is a Brigids man and he gives me sliotars for the kids whenever he is down. 2 of his sons are good footballers, one plays intercounty. I watched most of their games last club season through Roscommon, Connacht, and then the AI series. Hopefully it will be third time lucky for that group, although it will be very hard to get back to another AI final.
Was up in Limerick the weekend and I gave a lad I was drinking with a commitment that Id go out with him and the lads from Ballybricken if they win Junior A this year! Thinking that might involve more than 1 night!!!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 15:18:32    2671143

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Replying To Viking66:  "Ah ok. A really decent fella I know is a Brigids man and he gives me sliotars for the kids whenever he is down. 2 of his sons are good footballers, one plays intercounty. I watched most of their games last club season through Roscommon, Connacht, and then the AI series. Hopefully it will be third time lucky for that group, although it will be very hard to get back to another AI final.
Was up in Limerick the weekend and I gave a lad I was drinking with a commitment that Id go out with him and the lads from Ballybricken if they win Junior A this year! Thinking that might involve more than 1 night!!!"
I wonder where he gets the Sliotars from! They wouldnt be fans of the small ball there.
Ballybricken have produced a few hurlers over the years particularly at underage. Probably most famous for Delores though. Junior is probably the hardest one to win traditionally but with a Premier Junior championship aswell its probably a bit easier.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 347 - 05/05/2026 15:40:31    2671150

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Unfortunately our national sport and prize asset of hurling is shrinking all because of blinkered approach and looking after their own interests.
All too easy to say we need teams competing . Competing yes but winning no thats for the elite .
We can say what we like about football they got their house in order and improved the game and throwing up surprises in provincial games where teams canxand do cause upsets.
It's become a more watchable and competitive game all because they seen there were problems abd addressed them.
A lot of the hurling faces are getting more one sided which is not goid for a neutral spectators point of view. It's getting to a stage where theres only going to be 5 or 6 teams max worth watching as a neutral . Not good for the game as a whole

Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 586 - 05/05/2026 17:55:34    2671185

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Replying To Viking66:  "Don't think they are the toughest team in minor, but hard to say how the game will go as we are talking about lads aged 15-17.
They have an excellent u20 team ok, but if our lads show the workrate and hunger they showed against Kilkenny they will have every chance of winning.
Minor game is in Portlaoise on Saturday. Not sure where the u20 game will be, but its fixed for tomorrow week."
Think we could do with playing a sweeper against Galway in the U20s, the game wasn't as one-sided as the result would suggest and we hit the world of wides but Niland beat us on his own that day and I don't think we've anyone to stop him really, may as well almost double-mark him with the sweeper

I think we have enough physical heft to break even with Galway in the middle third, it's just that they've serious firepower up front and I don't think we have the same firepower, O'Brien's a great talent but he's still U18 whereas the likes of Niland and Rabbitte are up to the age, our scoring from play has been better in the last few games but we'll need to take nearly every chance we get and we're also going to have to be a lot better on the frees

ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1150 - 05/05/2026 17:58:10    2671187

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "I wonder where he gets the Sliotars from! They wouldnt be fans of the small ball there.
Ballybricken have produced a few hurlers over the years particularly at underage. Probably most famous for Delores though. Junior is probably the hardest one to win traditionally but with a Premier Junior championship aswell its probably a bit easier."
Roscommon hurlers and underage hurling teams train there occasionally I think!
Met Dolores a few times in Murroe back in the late 90s, sound woman.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 20:59:56    2671196

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Replying To Formertownie:  "Unfortunately our national sport and prize asset of hurling is shrinking all because of blinkered approach and looking after their own interests.
All too easy to say we need teams competing . Competing yes but winning no thats for the elite .
We can say what we like about football they got their house in order and improved the game and throwing up surprises in provincial games where teams canxand do cause upsets.
It's become a more watchable and competitive game all because they seen there were problems abd addressed them.
A lot of the hurling faces are getting more one sided which is not goid for a neutral spectators point of view. It's getting to a stage where theres only going to be 5 or 6 teams max worth watching as a neutral . Not good for the game as a whole"
You're not wrong, but you've conveniently overlooked the fact that it's much easier to be competitive in football given the skill level is so much lower.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4488 - 05/05/2026 22:44:34    2671215

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "I wonder where he gets the Sliotars from! They wouldnt be fans of the small ball there.
Ballybricken have produced a few hurlers over the years particularly at underage. Probably most famous for Delores though. Junior is probably the hardest one to win traditionally but with a Premier Junior championship aswell its probably a bit easier."
Dolores was a sound woman. Met her a few times in Murroe back in the 90s.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19452 - 05/05/2026 22:56:35    2671218

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