There was 3 ambitions at the start of the year and I think it put immense pressure on the players also. We were to get promotion in the league, retain the christy ring and re-enter the munster championsip next year. From the off we lost our first couple league games, straight away on the back foot and still talks of the above. It was mentioned several times after winning the christy ring last year what our ambitions were, cute-hoorism missing in hurling!

DanBreen (Kerry) - Posts: 73 - 18/05/2012 09:15:51    1174903

Getting promoted in the league was always going to be a big ask with McCarthy Cup teams Carlow & Werstmeath in the way.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4105 - 18/05/2012 12:59:04    1175101

The league restructioning was a joke. It scressed Down, Kerry & Wicklow.

saulgael (Down) - Posts: 553 - 18/05/2012 13:13:33    1175119

Noone it seems can answer this question. Why was the request for CR winner to join qualifiers not put through?

Secondly entering the Intermediate championship should be approved. The GAA doing a good job giving other sports a leg up.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9800 - 18/05/2012 13:25:34    1175133

Gega, people were also hurling in the strong hurling areas before the gentry decided to organize them for their own purposes; your inference that hurling originated in Kerry is baffling in the extreme. Was Cuchullain a Kerry man, then?

Your other points are well thought out. When Bernie O'Connor was the Kerry manager, he quit because of lack of attendance at training. He said that the clubs did not want their players training with the county squad. I also remember a Kerry supporter making almost the same point after another disastrous first round game against Cork. I can still remember the words: "The players are doing their best, but they need the commitment from the clubs and the clubs are not giving that commitment." And the despair was evident in the Kerry manager (a Kerry man this time) when asked if he would be continuing and he answered outright that he would not, that the team needed more than he could give them; they needed a high profile manager from another county. Perhaps the county should try for Donal O'Grady at this stage. He is the only man who will insist on things been done properly.

Midleton (Cork) - Posts: 646 - 18/05/2012 13:37:29    1175148

good Hurling people all around the country unfortunately are forced to over come many obstacles which are usually put in place by thier own county boards.

Stick at it Kerry Hurling folk, we shall over come!!!

Hurling ABU

hurling_abu (Tyrone) - Posts: 7 - 18/05/2012 14:08:26    1175186

Midleton, reading my post again I see how it may have been misinterpreted, I probably should have phrased it differently. I never intended to infer hurling originated in Kerry, that certainly would be a baffling statement.

There is, however, an impression out there that football is the only game played in Kerry and that we field a token hurling team much like Kilkenny do in football. I feel this does a huge disservice to the traditional hurling people of north Kerry who have kept the game alive, against all the odds, in this part of the country. My intention, in response to the thread title, was to point out that no matter how bad things get the game has and will continue to thrive here unlike what has happened in other 'football' counties.

As regards a high profile manager from outside the county. I thought Meyler was this man. I'm sure he insisted that things be done properly and he certainly got the response from the county board but not from the players this year. I would be delighted to welcome O'Grady as the man to take them to the next level. It would be a shame not to build on Meyler's progress.

Gega (Kerry) - Posts: 46 - 18/05/2012 14:51:48    1175238

6 years ago dublin beat kerry in a div2b final,while dublin have improved, kerry just dont seem to want to make the next step up

kerryluck (Kerry) - Posts: 2517 - 19/05/2012 10:14:42    1175668

I think it was always going to be difficult for Kerry this year. Both in league and Championship the structure didn't help them. Last year they were getting good games in division 2 (Limerick, Clare, Antrim , Laois etc.), this year they were getting games against bottom half teams in last years division 2 and then on to the Championship they were playing against the same sides as last year.

This seemed to happen to Westmeath a few years ago too where they went down, won the Christy Ring but weren't promoted and had a few poor years after that.

Kerry aren't as bad as this years results show. They made great progress for 2 years and won the Christy Ring comprehensively last year. I think there was a place for them in the Championship this year but being thrown into Munster wouldn't really have helped, playing a Tipp, Clare or Cork with players out to make an impression would have seen a worse result than Cork v Laois type scenario.

At least when Westmeath or Carlow moved up they could get games against teams they could be competitive against in Leinster and the qualifiers

I think the Championship has to give more to the likes of Kerry, Carlow, Laois etc and endeavour to have them hurling into June and early July.

Stuckinthepast (Galway) - Posts: 472 - 19/05/2012 10:32:32    1175676