You are entitled to your opinion PK but personally the only reason I watch football now is when the Dubs are playing or my club teams and that's nothing to do with entertainment I can assure you! You are equating the senior championhsip with the game in general whereas in fact it is only one facet, and the Cats are at the top of a large pyramid and exempify all that is best in the game. But it is just as exciting for people involved at every other level from kids teams through Junior D to Rackard Cup contenders. It is a wonderful sport involving brilliant people in all parts of the country and I would sooner watch Louth and Longford playing hurling as football to be honest!

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 09/04/2009 12:43:48    253038

God help us pk,you really have a distorted view of your native game of hurling and little or no knowledge of its popularity.I can assure you we've never been busier at under age,constantly growing,and we're a rural club. It obviously won't be up to the likes of you to make sure that our native game will prosper. I attend brilliant hurling games weekly at all levels,and i can safely say that we are lucky to be involved in the greatest field game on earth.Football is not a patch on hurling on any level.Boring really.

eastgael (Limerick) - Posts: 629 - 09/04/2009 13:15:56    253075

Though I pull for Galway I have to say Tipperary are Kilkenny's biggest threat and even that is unlikely at best. Kilkenny look unstoppable for years to come as they have talent at every age level. To beat them you better be good AND physical! And also not be wasteful with wides and giving away frees. Tipp are probably the CLOSEST to upsetting Mighty Killenny in my opinion.

pwalsh67 (Galway) - Posts: 100 - 09/04/2009 14:12:45    253144

Kerry were a huge force in football back in the 70's and 80's was football a farce then, no it was a joy to see in my opinion the greatest team ever to grace a football pitch play (at least in my lifetime). I think also the appearance of teams like Donegal, Derry & Down etc.. in the 90's would be contributed to that great team (they were an inspiration and a great advertisement for the game). It's good for hurling not bad because every county now has to raise their standards to compete with Kilkenny. I believe counties are at present trying to turn things around at underage level. I know this has been the case in Wexford for the last 4 or 5 years and it will take time but eventually I believe we will see a period in the next 9 or 10 years where hiurling will blossom. Dublin have been making huge strides in hurling. Even some of the lesser lights have been improving like WestMeath and Carlow. I really think this in the long run is a huge thing for hurling and rather than being bad it's actually good. Some counties will fall to the wayside but I believe alot of counties will take up the challenge.
I think also rather than focusing on the larger cities like Dublin the GAA should turn their attention to counties like Carlow, Leitrim etc.. to bring hurling on. I think they could have some success in these counties who have smaller populations. There aren't as many good hurling teams at senior level as there are at football and I think these counties would thrive in an environment where there is so much competition.

ColinWex (Wexford) - Posts: 901 - 09/04/2009 14:15:30    253146

Tipperary are Kilkenny's biggest threat and even that is unlikely at best. Kilkenny look unstoppable for years to come as they have talent at every age level.

Last year Kilkenny won the lot but only the senior final was a one sided affair. In the Intermediate they beat Limerick 1-16 to 0-13. With Limerick needing a goal 3 points down and time running out, Kilkenny got it. In the U21 they beat Tipp 2-13 to 0-15 and in the minor they were reasonably lucky to beat Galway 3-6 to 0-13.

It was an amazing achievement, but what Kilkenny are doing at under-age level is winning games, but not necessarily winning by huge margins. That is where I see things changing down the road, other teams will realise they can compete with them at underage level so will not fear them at senior.

Looking at the scores from the 4 finals, Kilkenny scored 9 goals and conceded one. That tells a lot about them at all levels.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6488 - 09/04/2009 15:55:13    253277

slayer County: Limerick Posts: 624 252809 dhorse wrote: hurling is now returing to what it was for generations, basically Kilkenny, tipp, cork. with limerick, wexford, galway, clare, waterford and laterally offaly making breakthroughs intermittently dhorse, do you ever see a time when Laois will compete in division 1 or in the McCarthy cup? I can remember back in 2003 playing Laois in a NHL/NFL double header in one of your county grounds and your hurlers giving us a torrid time. We won the game, but just about. I was impressed with them that day. What has happened since? They play in the mc carthy cup, but not compete. as for 2003, for the last 20 years laois have being on a slide with the odd sparkle of life. last real contenders was 80s team. less than half the county would be considered hurling area so straight away the numbers to even start with are small. in the early 90s a few people made great strides with football up to minor anyway, senior is another story. theres a similar effort being made now with hurling but it may be a bit late at this stage. even with everything clicking at once Laois could only expect to compete at the highest level every now and again, but its getting to the stage that it maybe too late, something just might light the flame again, whatever it will be it certainly wont be the platitudes being shown by croke park towards the lower echelons of hurling

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 09/04/2009 20:51:57    253648