National Forum

All Ireland Club Hurling Series

(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post


Replying To Past hurler:  "If Ballyboden had Con O'Callaghan hurling for them they would have.

He was unmarkable for Cuala in some games."
He was good, and is still a dangerous forward, but he was playing with a very good team, and was properly utilised by Kenny and the other selectors.

He was pretty ineffective the last two years. Part of that down to the fact that Cuala are a shadow of the great team, but a lot due to Con having been left on his own at the edge of the square. He has only really showed well when abandoning this and wandering outfield.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3019 - 12/11/2023 08:21:59    2512492

Link

Replying To Corner flag:  "Weren't the Galway Senior Club hurling champions supposed to move into one of either Leinster or Munster provincial club championship as part of their deal to get their County Minors into Leinster ?"
Where did you hear that? I dont think there was ever even a notion of such a "deal". It would have been a VERY BAD deal for Galway club hurling if it was ever even contemplated.

Just look at the practicalities. Galway club final took place on 30th October iirc. (as early as it possibly could take place under the present structures) Today it's the 12 November and it's quarter final stage in the Leinster club championship and semi final stage in Munster. We would probably have had to nominate one of our BEATEN semi finalists to represent Galway in Leinster or Munster if we were to have a representative in it.

OK critics will say, run off the Galway club hurling championship quicker. First point, we have already altered the structure quite significantly to run it off in a shorter time frame. The number of "genuine" senior clubs has been reduced from 24 to 16 to facilitate the county championship being finished by the end of October. To finish it any earlier we would have to do one of 2 things: A) Reduce the number of clubs eligible to compete for the Callinan Cup from 16 to no more than 12. Or B) Reduce the number of games played in the county championship. At the moment, all of the 16 senior teams in the Galway club championship are guaranteed at least 3 championship matches. It doesnt require much brainwork to figure out that this IS in the BEST INTERESTS of Galway club hurling. Why would club players from the 80% of clubs that dont reach semi-finals /finals commit to heavy training just to play in one or at most 2 championship games.? Wouldn't they be better off switching to other sports like rugby or soccer where the ratio between training and playing meaningful games would be more balanced?

Liam Sheedy's article re the majority of clubs in Tipp not having enough meaningful games /fall off in player participation , would definitely become a reality in Galway too if we were to reduce the number of club games in Galway just for the sake of getting our champions into a Munster or Leinster championship.

Another relevant point is, we are a genuine dual county. We are not like Kilkenny where every weekend can be devoted to hurling. We have only every 2nd weekend from August to October to run off our club championship . But heaven forbid that we become like Wexford either,running off their club championships in record speed. Imo it is no way to promote the sports, or to give their club champions the best opportunity to progress at provincial / All Ireland level.

Imo the Galway club championship structure works as well as is possible for ALL hurling clubs in Galway and should not be tampered with further for the sake of squeezing our club champions into a provincial championship.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1950 - 12/11/2023 10:39:03    2512504

Link

Replying To Corner flag:  "Weren't the Galway Senior Club hurling champions supposed to move into one of either Leinster or Munster provincial club championship as part of their deal to get their County Minors into Leinster ?"
Obviously not.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3843 - 12/11/2023 10:54:42    2512505

Link

14 week layoff killing naomh Éanna here. Só many handling errors. They could be out of sight if they were sharper

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3072 - 12/11/2023 14:02:54    2512517

Link

Handy enough win for Na Fianna. Hard to tell much about how they will fare against better teams. Good going for their first day in school.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3019 - 12/11/2023 15:27:48    2512540

Link

14 week layoff for our club definitely didn't help either. All for the split season in carlow but at this stage I think the football should be the first season in carlow

MLR (Carlow) - Posts: 76 - 12/11/2023 16:49:29    2512561

Link

Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "Where did you hear that? I dont think there was ever even a notion of such a "deal". It would have been a VERY BAD deal for Galway club hurling if it was ever even contemplated.

Just look at the practicalities. Galway club final took place on 30th October iirc. (as early as it possibly could take place under the present structures) Today it's the 12 November and it's quarter final stage in the Leinster club championship and semi final stage in Munster. We would probably have had to nominate one of our BEATEN semi finalists to represent Galway in Leinster or Munster if we were to have a representative in it.

OK critics will say, run off the Galway club hurling championship quicker. First point, we have already altered the structure quite significantly to run it off in a shorter time frame. The number of "genuine" senior clubs has been reduced from 24 to 16 to facilitate the county championship being finished by the end of October. To finish it any earlier we would have to do one of 2 things: A) Reduce the number of clubs eligible to compete for the Callinan Cup from 16 to no more than 12. Or B) Reduce the number of games played in the county championship. At the moment, all of the 16 senior teams in the Galway club championship are guaranteed at least 3 championship matches. It doesnt require much brainwork to figure out that this IS in the BEST INTERESTS of Galway club hurling. Why would club players from the 80% of clubs that dont reach semi-finals /finals commit to heavy training just to play in one or at most 2 championship games.? Wouldn't they be better off switching to other sports like rugby or soccer where the ratio between training and playing meaningful games would be more balanced?

Liam Sheedy's article re the majority of clubs in Tipp not having enough meaningful games /fall off in player participation , would definitely become a reality in Galway too if we were to reduce the number of club games in Galway just for the sake of getting our champions into a Munster or Leinster championship.

Another relevant point is, we are a genuine dual county. We are not like Kilkenny where every weekend can be devoted to hurling. We have only every 2nd weekend from August to October to run off our club championship . But heaven forbid that we become like Wexford either,running off their club championships in record speed. Imo it is no way to promote the sports, or to give their club champions the best opportunity to progress at provincial / All Ireland level.

Imo the Galway club championship structure works as well as is possible for ALL hurling clubs in Galway and should not be tampered with further for the sake of squeezing our club champions into a provincial championship."
Dublin too are a genuine dual county but it seems that Galway want their bread buttered on both sides. They are "willing" to play in Leinster if and when it suits them. Very sporting of them.

BlueBeret (Dublin) - Posts: 54 - 12/11/2023 17:36:38    2512571

Link

Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Handy enough win for Na Fianna. Hard to tell much about how they will fare against better teams. Good going for their first day in school."
Quite a good match. Na Fianna got off to a great start and Raharney were chasing the game for the rest of the match. A good goal at the end added some shine to the score line.
Na Fianna deserved the win but it was a lot tighter than the score suggested.

35OLT (USA) - Posts: 95 - 12/11/2023 21:01:35    2512600

Link

Replying To BlueBeret:  "Dublin too are a genuine dual county but it seems that Galway want their bread buttered on both sides. They are "willing" to play in Leinster if and when it suits them. Very sporting of them."
Ha some dual county ye are alright where all the best hurlers play football as their number one sport!!!!
Anyway with the playing numbers ye have it's no bother to ye to supply the lads who are surplus to football with hurley sticks and sliotars to go off and play the other GAA game that most of ye have no interest in.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1950 - 13/11/2023 00:14:44    2512623

Link

Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "Where did you hear that? I dont think there was ever even a notion of such a "deal". It would have been a VERY BAD deal for Galway club hurling if it was ever even contemplated.

Just look at the practicalities. Galway club final took place on 30th October iirc. (as early as it possibly could take place under the present structures) Today it's the 12 November and it's quarter final stage in the Leinster club championship and semi final stage in Munster. We would probably have had to nominate one of our BEATEN semi finalists to represent Galway in Leinster or Munster if we were to have a representative in it.

OK critics will say, run off the Galway club hurling championship quicker. First point, we have already altered the structure quite significantly to run it off in a shorter time frame. The number of "genuine" senior clubs has been reduced from 24 to 16 to facilitate the county championship being finished by the end of October. To finish it any earlier we would have to do one of 2 things: A) Reduce the number of clubs eligible to compete for the Callinan Cup from 16 to no more than 12. Or B) Reduce the number of games played in the county championship. At the moment, all of the 16 senior teams in the Galway club championship are guaranteed at least 3 championship matches. It doesnt require much brainwork to figure out that this IS in the BEST INTERESTS of Galway club hurling. Why would club players from the 80% of clubs that dont reach semi-finals /finals commit to heavy training just to play in one or at most 2 championship games.? Wouldn't they be better off switching to other sports like rugby or soccer where the ratio between training and playing meaningful games would be more balanced?

Liam Sheedy's article re the majority of clubs in Tipp not having enough meaningful games /fall off in player participation , would definitely become a reality in Galway too if we were to reduce the number of club games in Galway just for the sake of getting our champions into a Munster or Leinster championship.

Another relevant point is, we are a genuine dual county. We are not like Kilkenny where every weekend can be devoted to hurling. We have only every 2nd weekend from August to October to run off our club championship . But heaven forbid that we become like Wexford either,running off their club championships in record speed. Imo it is no way to promote the sports, or to give their club champions the best opportunity to progress at provincial / All Ireland level.

Imo the Galway club championship structure works as well as is possible for ALL hurling clubs in Galway and should not be tampered with further for the sake of squeezing our club champions into a provincial championship."
I'd much rather we went back to alternative weeks to be honest, or even run off the football first.

I'd imagine it's similar in Galway but down here our clubs best hurlers are the best footballers too so it's hard on lads.

Our current structure is doing nothing for our clubs at provincial level.

14 weeks of a gap may as well be a year in hurling.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3072 - 13/11/2023 10:14:09    2512635

Link

Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "Ha some dual county ye are alright where all the best hurlers play football as their number one sport!!!!
Anyway with the playing numbers ye have it's no bother to ye to supply the lads who are surplus to football with hurley sticks and sliotars to go off and play the other GAA game that most of ye have no interest in."
I don't think that's very fair.

Hurling is the minority sport in Dublin, but how can it not be with the success they've had in football. Its also not for lack of effort.

Dublins improvement has done great things for leinster hurling.

I'd also remark that while they don't have huge numbers, Dublin hurling people are as devoted as any. We often see them on winters nights in hollymount for Walsh Cup games which is more than can be said for other counties.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3072 - 13/11/2023 11:08:20    2512643

Link

Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "Ha some dual county ye are alright where all the best hurlers play football as their number one sport!!!!
Anyway with the playing numbers ye have it's no bother to ye to supply the lads who are surplus to football with hurley sticks and sliotars to go off and play the other GAA game that most of ye have no interest in."
I think that's a bit harsh. In the majority of clubs in Dublin hurling and football is promoted equally. Can the same be said for Galway? Galway, for being a "proper dual county" have only won 5 hurling and 9 football All Ireland's and this is with most clubs being focussed on one code, hurling or football. Doesn't really put you in a position to slag off other counties really.

Could never understand where the Galway arrogance and confidence comes from haha.

Low2Joe (Wexford) - Posts: 54 - 13/11/2023 11:55:18    2512676

Link

Replying To Low2Joe:  "I think that's a bit harsh. In the majority of clubs in Dublin hurling and football is promoted equally. Can the same be said for Galway? Galway, for being a "proper dual county" have only won 5 hurling and 9 football All Ireland's and this is with most clubs being focussed on one code, hurling or football. Doesn't really put you in a position to slag off other counties really.

Could never understand where the Galway arrogance and confidence comes from haha."
You might care to follow your own advice, given Wexford are hardly in a position to be slagging Galway.

Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 879 - 13/11/2023 12:22:47    2512683

Link

Replying To Doylerwex:  "I don't think that's very fair.

Hurling is the minority sport in Dublin, but how can it not be with the success they've had in football. Its also not for lack of effort.

Dublins improvement has done great things for leinster hurling.

I'd also remark that while they don't have huge numbers, Dublin hurling people are as devoted as any. We often see them on winters nights in hollymount for Walsh Cup games which is more than can be said for other counties."
It's about as fair or unfair as his comment to me.
I agree, Dublin hurling people are generally a great bunch and are as passionate for the game as any you'll meet from any other county. When there is a bad egg among them typically it's usually a supporter whose main thing is football and doesnt understand the game.

What I said is my opinion , there's plenty in Galway who say they'd like our county champions to play in a provincial championship but I don't think they've fully thought out the implications/repercussions that such a development would have on the club game in Galway.

Anyway there's no big desire from Leinster or Munster counties to have our club champions play in their province so at this point it is merely an academic question. The question will only be raised by Leinster or Munster people as a live hot topic if / when the Galway club champions start to win All Ireland titles on a regular basis again which I dont think will be happening any time soon. Thomas's are an excellent club side but they are nowhere near the level of the great Portumna , Athenry, and Sarsfields teams of the past when it comes to playing teams outside the county.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1950 - 13/11/2023 12:31:14    2512685

Link

Have to suggest that the term "genuine dual county" is open to interpretation.

Galway, for example, has one fairly distinct region for hurling, and another fairly distinct one for football. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, football hardly gets a look-in around the south-eastern part of the county, and hurling hardly gets a look-in outside of that area.

They're not alone in that. Much the same applies in Cork, for example.

In Wexford and Dublin, there's no such distinction. Both games are played throughout the county.

Not saying one way is better than another - just pointing out that "genuine dual county" doesn't always mean the same thing!

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2531 - 13/11/2023 12:33:33    2512687

Link

Replying To BlueBeret:  "Dublin too are a genuine dual county but it seems that Galway want their bread buttered on both sides. They are "willing" to play in Leinster if and when it suits them. Very sporting of them."
There's one team dominating the Leinster football championship for donkeys years, as did another in the hurling, but oddly enough we never hear ye comment on that situation - it's handier for ye to take a swipe at Galway.

baire (Galway) - Posts: 1849 - 13/11/2023 12:50:09    2512690

Link

Replying To Ailteoir:  "You might care to follow your own advice, given Wexford are hardly in a position to be slagging Galway."
Definitely not slagging anybody, just pointing out facts.

Low2Joe (Wexford) - Posts: 54 - 13/11/2023 13:02:06    2512697

Link

Replying To Low2Joe:  "I think that's a bit harsh. In the majority of clubs in Dublin hurling and football is promoted equally. Can the same be said for Galway? Galway, for being a "proper dual county" have only won 5 hurling and 9 football All Ireland's and this is with most clubs being focussed on one code, hurling or football. Doesn't really put you in a position to slag off other counties really.

Could never understand where the Galway arrogance and confidence comes from haha."
"In the majority of clubs in Dublin hurling and football is promoted equally."

Really? Tell me where. Even a few examples.

ExiledInWex (Dublin) - Posts: 1254 - 13/11/2023 13:03:16    2512698

Link

Replying To Low2Joe:  "Definitely not slagging anybody, just pointing out facts."
The only factual part of your remarks was the no. of All Irelands you mentioned. The rest was just your opinion with no actual evidence to support it.

Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 879 - 13/11/2023 13:41:51    2512710

Link

Replying To ExiledInWex:  ""In the majority of clubs in Dublin hurling and football is promoted equally."

Really? Tell me where. Even a few examples. "
Of the 16 teams in senior 1 football championship in Dublin, 13 of them have hurling teams operating at high levels. Some would be higher than they're football teams. And then it's fairly similar all the way down the grades. Too many examples to type. If anyone's telling you otherwise they're wrong.

Fair enough in clubs with small numbers or in the far north of the county, they're better off sticking to one.

Low2Joe (Wexford) - Posts: 54 - 13/11/2023 14:50:24    2512729

Link