Well, its now official, Darren Sweetnam will sign for Munster Rugby Academy. Looked the real deal for the future
with the Cork hurler's this year. Anyway, best of luck to the young man.

eaglehaslanded (Cork) - Posts: 135 - 01/10/2012 16:47:41    1275857

Bad day for Cork hurling.

Muilleann (Tipperary) - Posts: 114 - 01/10/2012 16:51:25    1275863

bout time the rebels felt a pinch of the celtic tiger...thought it as only in the kingdom where we lost our best players

Patchy (Kerry) - Posts: 74 - 01/10/2012 17:11:08    1275888

It makes sense for the time being for him to pick rugby. He will earn a crust there. It is a chance for him to be a professional sportsman. The long term sustainability of Irish pro rugby may be in doubt. The fact is the English and French are not happy with what they see as the privilege afforded to Irish/Welsh/Scottish clubs in the European Cup. They may withdraw. The comp would be nothing without them and irish club rugby (the provinces at least) would be nothing without it. Interesting to see what pans out!

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 01/10/2012 17:40:45    1275917

Great talent, very bad news for Cork, following on the news of Kilkenny opting for Australian football, sad to see such talent lost to GAA.

corkcelt (Cork) - Posts: 4388 - 01/10/2012 17:45:26    1275925

Patchy, they also lost Tomas O'Leary didnt they?

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 01/10/2012 17:46:04    1275930

We lost Setanta O Hailpin to Aussie Rules. We lost Michael Shields for a while but he game back. Going back the years some other very promising players like Dave Barry (who won a few All-irelands with us), George O Callaghan chose soccer over the GAH!

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 01/10/2012 17:52:35    1275938

ah feck it....

pidge (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 01/10/2012 18:36:41    1275968

This is a disasterThis is a serious blow for not only Cork hurling but hurling in the Carbery division. This fellah has serious pace and skill and reminds me a bit a of a hurling version of Eoin Sexton.

Carbery haven't had an abundance of players on the Cork panel over the past twenty years with the exception of the great Mark Foley and Pat Kenneally despite having great hurling clubs like Kilbrittain, Argideen Rangers & Barryroe.

Hurling needs heroes in its regions to inspire and cultivate the game. Again a serious loss of talent for Cork but hopefully he will succeed in his chosen sport.

The_Bull (Cork) - Posts: 248 - 01/10/2012 18:38:35    1275972

Sure ya cant begrudge those lads going away the chance of playing sport professionally. Hundreds flock to England each year to try make it as soccer stars. Many return home, some lads broken psychologically by the failure of making it as pro's.

The Rugby/Aussie Rules has began to take Gaelic Footballers/Hurlers away from their county teams and while this is unfortunate, it can only be expected. I hear a lot about loyalty and a chance to represent your county and your hometown. But for most county players there isn't the chance of a handy media gig when they finish playing, and they are left pennyless after years of dedication to our national games. I especially feel sorry for those lads from counties of less traditions of success. There is very little monetary gain from staying on as a young lad and playing GAA.....and unless that changes.....the trend of lads trying their hand at other sports that are professional will just become an all too familiar occurance. Fortunately most of the GAA guys going playing rugby or Aussie Rules are lads who are quite intelligent, and in some cases very academic. So if it doesnt work out for them they can come back, play gaelic sports and get a proper education at third level.

Without sounding completely horrible here, a lot of lads who go to play soccer abroad wouldnt be academically strong and if they come home they have very few opportunites. So, while I applaud lads for trying to make a living from Pro sports....I always feel for them as I've see so many fail and not recover from that failure.

JayP (Dublin) - Posts: 1772 - 01/10/2012 18:57:11    1275990

lads,i wish him the best of luck and he'll need it. I've seen the munster acadamy in action,most of them have little or no hope of 'making it' and after the bulking up and protein drinks their body shape is totally unsuited to GAA or soccer and a return to top class hurling,soccer etc is unlikely.

eastgael (Limerick) - Posts: 629 - 01/10/2012 19:37:40    1276017

JayP
County: Dublin
Posts: 126

Without sounding completely horrible here, a lot of lads who go to play soccer abroad wouldnt be academically strong and if they come home they have very few opportunites. So, while I applaud lads for trying to make a living from Pro sports....I always feel for them as I've see so many fail and not recover from that failure.

A few figures on lads going over to England at a young age to play soccer;

1 in 5 will suffer from homesickness, bullying or with disciplinary issues.

85% of players aged 16 and under will be released by their club within three years.

Out of a crop 50 young lads who go over, at best only 7 or 8 will make it as a professional.

Never mind the pressure, fear of failure and depression that it can bring about.

Hopefully we see more lads stay here a bit longer before moving over, FAS schemes, college scholarships and talent programmes run by the FAI can help keep some young talented players in the country till they're at least a little bit older.

Most lads though will still go over with only their junior cert behind them. With little skill or experience outside of soccer. When they come home, they still won't have much more than that.

Compare that to lads like Kilkenny, a few years older and wiser, and a leaving cert behind him allowing him the opportunity to go to college if he wants to come home or doesn't make it over there, probably still be guaranteed a scholarship two years down the line if he wanted it.

Away from the sports themselves, I'd imagine that AFL players are just as well, if not better looked after and supported than young kids heading over to England.

If ever given the choice I'd think I'd rather throw my lot in with an AFL club than a Premiership one.

if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3692 - 01/10/2012 19:47:21    1276024

01/10/2012 19:37:40
eastgael
lads,i wish him the best of luck and he'll need it. I've seen the munster acadamy in action,most of them have little or no hope of 'making it' and after the bulking up and protein drinks their body shape is totally unsuited to GAA or soccer and a return to top class hurling,soccer etc is unlikely.
Sorry eastgael have to take you up on some of your points here as some of them are well off the mark
To say "most of the munster academy have little or no hope of making it" is well off the mark. Most academy members do go on to play many years of pro rugby though several dont and many dont play fully pro with munster once and go and play in england/france.
Most backs in the academy are at max 15 stone and most are between 11 stone and 14 stone and are more than capable looking at body size of playing GAA or soccer. You speak as if no GAA/Soccer players take protein drinks etc or bulk up.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 01/10/2012 19:55:31    1276028

i agree with the reasoning as the level of difficulty isnt the same but the rewards of premiership are far greater if you are in fact good enough

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 01/10/2012 19:58:13    1276032

I spent a year with plymouth as a kid, and didnt work out, you never now unless you give it a go. The lad that never made a mistake made nothing. Sweetman isnt of a gaa background, so it was always likely he would go rugby.

kerryrowz (Kerry) - Posts: 833 - 01/10/2012 20:00:06    1276035

Most of these players have little or no chance of making the Munster rugby team and after they bulk up they're too slow and inmobile to return to GAA.Rugby academies seem to be targeting young GAA players as most good school rugby players are burnt out by 18, a good GAA player can easily pick up a game like rugby with its low skill base.

updwell (Limerick) - Posts: 904 - 01/10/2012 20:06:13    1276039

updwell
County: Limerick
Posts: 113

.Rugby academies seem to be targeting young GAA players as most good school rugby players are burnt out by 18, a good GAA player can easily pick up a game like rugby with its low skill base.

why did you have to go and say that.
buzzer has just gone off and red light is flashing , ormandbanner man is coming to the aid of poor defenceless rugby.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 01/10/2012 20:45:51    1276072

Sweetnam is a capped Hockey player as well, so i concur, a multi-talented guy, exposed to a lot of sports. He obviously picked a sport that will offer him some reward and the abilty and means to stay at home. BUT how much a loss is potential? there is lots of potential out there, we'll never know forget it, the King is dead, long live the king and all that.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4956 - 01/10/2012 20:53:00    1276077

He showed more promise than anyone since the O'Connor brothers were minors. Very best of luck to him in his new path.

jerryp (Cork) - Posts: 104 - 01/10/2012 21:18:35    1276104

another sell out.
stop glorifying guys like him and kilkenny moving sports all this you cant blame them they get to play pro sports some people are acting in the manner of be littling gaa below any other sport just beacuse you dont get paid isnt that the reason the gaa is so popular that its not about the big money teams like the other sports.
we will continue to lose top young players as i have stated if people keep patting young guys on the back for choosing whichever sport pays

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 02/10/2012 10:03:47    1276188