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Hurling Championship 2026

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Replying To Viking66:  "I blame our defeats on not being good enough to win. And I personally dont have a problem with Galway playing in our Championship.
What I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food.
As regards Galway being in Leinster there are legitimate arguments put to me by friends about how its been holding Wexford hurling back the last 10 years. As a county a far higher proportion of our hurling population, adult and underage, play football and soccer at a comparable level to the level they hurl at than is the case in any other hurling county. Including the middle tier hurling counties. Whenever we win a Leinster title, there's a noticeable uptick in numbers pucking a ball around, especially in urban areas, towns and villages. In the last 10 years we might have won 3 or 4 more Leinster titles if you hadn't been in Leinster, including a 3 in a row between 2017 and 2019. We would probably have made the 2020 final also. That wouldve been massive for raising hurlings profile down here, and would have encouraged more young lads to take up hurling, more to stay at it, and more parents to get involved in coaching also. With obvious benefits to hurling in the county, at club and county level, on and off the field of play.
The worst thing about it is your lads winning a Leinster title at any level doesn't give the sport any kind of boost up your way, as you arent even from Leinster. It means nothing other than a stepping stone."
I hear your point but just do not understand how you think more players are playing top level football and hurling in Wexford than any other county. I think you are saying this with just knowledge of Wexford and nowhere else.
Even Cork for example have several dual players. I'd argue the best footballer in the county and one of the best football midfielders in Ireland plays corner forward for Cork Hurlers. There are 5 or 6 players in the current squad with senior club county football medals and several with county intermediate and junior also.
Dial players is a factor in many counties. Look at Dublin. Their Hurlers suffer the reverse of what the Cork footballers suffer, being the second sporting code out of the two in the county.

BaldyBadger (Cork) - Posts: 341 - 16/05/2026 21:03:43    2673386

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "I didn't complain about the Munster hurling championship - I was referring to the provincial system in the GAA, hurling and football.
The provincial system is lopsided. It's competitive in Ulster for football, not hurling. In fact I have met Ulster people who say that it's introverted and unhealthy in the football. I have great admiration for the hurlers of Down and Antrim, for their love of the native game and how they still play it against all the odds.
Munster is a hurling province not Gaelic football. As you write extensively about Munster hurling, I'll refrain.
The Munster football championship is uncompetitive.
New York and London are included in the Connacht football championship. I'd rather see that money and effort spent on developing hurling in the province.
The Leinster football championship can be competitive.
In my lifetime Leinster hurling meant KK, a few All Irelands for Wexford, then Offaly in the 80s and 90s. If Leinster was a viable hurling province Galway, Antrim and Kerry (3 different provinces) wouldn't be allowed next nor near it. Calling it the Leinster Championship is blatantly wrong. It's a lie but sure in Ireland lies are common when it involves money and power."
What exactly do you mean by not investing money in New York and London participating in the Connacht Championship. London have competed in All Ireland's as long as most counties in Ireland .
They also fund raise significantly to compete. They don't rely on handouts. Maybe Galway should share some of their significant budget spent every year for those poor little counties in the province where you want to promote hurling, they've had thousands of years to promote hurling and compete at the level they are, just like London do.
There are probably more Irish in london than the whole of Connacht, so if anything, more should be invested in London, not less or the pittance that currently is, outside of what is self generated.
I coach kids in London and the growth of home grown talent has seen the county team become far more competitive in recent years. Despite the obvious obstacles, the work being done in the county shows they are worthy of competing and were a single white flag away from playing in division 3 next season.

BaldyBadger (Cork) - Posts: 341 - 16/05/2026 21:15:46    2673396

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Replying To katser:  "My heart utterly goes out to Wexford......gone out of the Championship and the Swallows are only nesting its not even 1st of June.
Hopefully they can revitalise again."
I don't think we will unfortunately. Not for a long long time. We have lads hanging their hats on bringing Galway to extra time in the u20 the other evening for crying out loud!!

Goreylad1985 (Wexford) - Posts: 45 - 16/05/2026 21:34:31    2673400

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "By winning other big games. They flopped against Cork. They flopped against Clare in the 1B league final. I was at that and you could see that they just didnt believe that they could win it. They had the winning line in sight with the momentum and froze. They were poor and sloppy against Offaly and they were the same against Wexford. They are the 4 big games that they have played since beating limerick and they haven't come anywhere near that level in any of them. Therefore , you can only conclude, that they have had no benefit from that win other than a fond memory."
So what was it?

Wind, luck, alignment of the planets, ?

Only two unbeaten teams in championship and Limerick are not one of those teams.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4298 - 16/05/2026 21:44:29    2673402

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Replying To Goreylad1985:  "I don't think we will unfortunately. Not for a long long time. We have lads hanging their hats on bringing Galway to extra time in the u20 the other evening for crying out loud!!"
I think this is a strawman argument, no-one in Wexford is hanging their hat on bringing Galway to ET at U20 level

ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1240 - 16/05/2026 22:47:14    2673418

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People saying the dubs aren't playing well.they are doing what is required to get out of Leinster again and could knock kk out of championship next weekend..they have more options this year and changes they make are all working..
Last year they deserved to beat limerick on the day and remember it was done while down to 14 for most of the match..
They seem to be getting something extra from fellas this year and the return of Rushe has made a huge difference..that was a great win v Galway today cos not many teams go there and get a result..

CTGAA10 (Limerick) - Posts: 2686 - 16/05/2026 23:49:24    2673435

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "So what was it?

Wind, luck, alignment of the planets, ?

Only two unbeaten teams in championship and Limerick are not one of those teams."
I didnt see the game so i cant give an opinion yet. Its a surprise but not a shock. Let's see you back it up now in the next couple of games and the rest of the season. They yoi can gloat. Or is this result enough?

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 408 - 17/05/2026 00:48:17    2673441

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Very poor match between Clare and Tipperary last night. A lot of dirty stuff early on, which Clare seemed to moved on from but Tipp stuck with to their cost. Conlon at the back was superb for Clare but overall it was a damp squib of a game. Hard to believe given the circumstances and the teams involved.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1336 - 17/05/2026 09:17:03    2673458

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Replying To hlynch12:  "Galway to hammer the Dubs
Tipp to hammer Clare
Offaly to bate Wexford


50 treble.

Thank me later"
If only I had spotted it sooner, I'd have filled my boots....

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2050 - 17/05/2026 09:55:07    2673464

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Replying To Viking66:  "I blame our defeats on not being good enough to win. And I personally dont have a problem with Galway playing in our Championship.
What I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food.
As regards Galway being in Leinster there are legitimate arguments put to me by friends about how its been holding Wexford hurling back the last 10 years. As a county a far higher proportion of our hurling population, adult and underage, play football and soccer at a comparable level to the level they hurl at than is the case in any other hurling county. Including the middle tier hurling counties. Whenever we win a Leinster title, there's a noticeable uptick in numbers pucking a ball around, especially in urban areas, towns and villages. In the last 10 years we might have won 3 or 4 more Leinster titles if you hadn't been in Leinster, including a 3 in a row between 2017 and 2019. We would probably have made the 2020 final also. That wouldve been massive for raising hurlings profile down here, and would have encouraged more young lads to take up hurling, more to stay at it, and more parents to get involved in coaching also. With obvious benefits to hurling in the county, at club and county level, on and off the field of play.
The worst thing about it is your lads winning a Leinster title at any level doesn't give the sport any kind of boost up your way, as you arent even from Leinster. It means nothing other than a stepping stone."
If we were producing enough good hurlers we would make those finals regardless of the structure Viking.
Our problems are internal, not external.
Far from the hungry neighbour complaining about the food, I'd say its more akin to saying its his fault that my house is falling apart.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2050 - 17/05/2026 09:59:16    2673466

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "I didnt see the game so i cant give an opinion yet. Its a surprise but not a shock. Let's see you back it up now in the next couple of games and the rest of the season. They yoi can gloat. Or is this result enough?"
Not gloating at all.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4298 - 17/05/2026 10:23:27    2673469

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Replying To katser:  "My heart utterly goes out to Wexford......gone out of the Championship and the Swallows are only nesting its not even 1st of June.
Hopefully they can revitalise again."
Feeling extremely low today, but we just have to bounce back.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4513 - 17/05/2026 10:39:42    2673476

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Replying To hlynch12:  "Galway to hammer the Dubs
Tipp to hammer Clare
Offaly to bate Wexford


50 treble.

Thank me later"
The bookies must love you

LohansRedHelmet (Clare) - Posts: 2698 - 17/05/2026 11:18:40    2673483

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "Feeling extremely low today, but we just have to bounce back."
Wexford will bounce back....just think of the old Leinster Championship format when it was 3 horse race Kilkenny, Wexford and Offaly knockout.
Lose Leinster Semi Final and they were gone after just one match wasn't that worse.

katser (Galway) - Posts: 2833 - 17/05/2026 13:53:03    2673525

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "If we were producing enough good hurlers we would make those finals regardless of the structure Viking.
Our problems are internal, not external.
Far from the hungry neighbour complaining about the food, I'd say its more akin to saying its his fault that my house is falling apart."
Thats a good reply Storeystash!
But isnt that the point I was trying to make. Most of the best young hurlers in the county are also the best young footballers, best young rugby players, and best young soccer players.
A bit of success for our intercounty hurlers, Senior and underage, would sway some of these to concentrate on hurling rather than other sports, thats all I was saying there. And then we would have a larger pool of good young hurlers who might become good Senior players. In most of the other top hurling counties more of their top young hurlers dont even play Football, let alone soccer or rugby. With a few exceptions to prove the rule obviously.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19619 - 17/05/2026 15:46:19    2673558

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Replying To ElGranSenor:  "I think this is a strawman argument, no-one in Wexford is hanging their hat on bringing Galway to ET at U20 level"
I think the positive that can be taken out of it is that we went toe to toe with them. But that doesnt suit the agenda of those who are saying we are way behind the other top counties at underage.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19619 - 17/05/2026 16:09:37    2673560

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Incredible stuff from Limerick again, a few points behind with 15 minutes to go then they rattle off 2-8 without reply to cruise home, Waterford scored a late penalty but the game was already over.

No real excitement ahead of the final round in Munster this year with Tipp & Waterford already out. More interesting in Leinster where KK could finish anywhere between 1st and 4th, be some shock if they fail to emerge from the round robin.

We know about Munster's cut-throat nature but Dublin have had 4 decent results already & might miss out on a Leinster final. Offaly could go out next week after only losing 1 game.

M Lyster (Antrim) - Posts: 476 - 17/05/2026 16:36:10    2673572

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Replying To BaldyBadger:  "I hear your point but just do not understand how you think more players are playing top level football and hurling in Wexford than any other county. I think you are saying this with just knowledge of Wexford and nowhere else.
Even Cork for example have several dual players. I'd argue the best footballer in the county and one of the best football midfielders in Ireland plays corner forward for Cork Hurlers. There are 5 or 6 players in the current squad with senior club county football medals and several with county intermediate and junior also.
Dial players is a factor in many counties. Look at Dublin. Their Hurlers suffer the reverse of what the Cork footballers suffer, being the second sporting code out of the two in the county."
Im just back from Cork a couple of hours. Ive friends dotted all over the county. And the country. There are a good few clubs in East and North Cork that play very little if any Football. Same in East Clare, South and East Galway, parts of Tipp, most of Kilkenny, parts of Limerick, areas of Offaly, Westmeath, Antrim and Laois would all be predominantly hurling.
We dont have that same divide. We have very few hurling only clubs, you can count them on one hand. Most of our Senior hurling panel, nearly all of them would have played club football underage at around the same level as they hurled. And most still play adult championship football for their clubs, and most of these would be playing at a similar level to the level they hurl at. Near enough all the St Martins men on our Senior intercounty panel this year played for their Football team, and they won Intermediate to return to Senior. Chin was one of the top football players in Wexford, played intercounty football, Simon Donohue is still one of our best Footballers and has won County Senior Football medals. His club Shels are dual Senior. Conor Hearne and Ross Banville also play 1st team Football for Shels, and are starters for our intercounty hurlers. Damien and Shane Reck played a half dozen first team Football games for their club, the Barntown lads are Senior in Football and Hurling and most of their players play both also, St Annes were relegated from Senior Football in 2024 but were dual Senior before that, Fethard are dual Senior also and the likes of the Byrnes and Whelan and the lads they have had recently at minor and u20 all start first team in both codes. etc etc
Go through the Cork hurling panel and probably only a quarter or so play 1st team football for their clubs, if its even that high a figure. And the same would go for Galway, Kilkenny, Dublin, Offaly, and all the other Munster counties.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19619 - 17/05/2026 16:43:38    2673574

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