National Forum

How Do We Take Hurling On From Here

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "A lot of it is county boards. I knew a hurling chair in a weaker county and county board would often agree to stuff detrimental to hurlers and without consultation.

Hard to deal with that."
Yep, that is a big issue. Rounds of the football league scheduled for the night before an intercounty game is a big one. Hurlers dropped from football team if they dont attend. It happened to my son, in reverse , where hurling manager scheduled challenge matches to clash with football championship matches. This was within one club in a hurling dominant county. He was dropped from hurling team for playing the football. He and 2 others. The rest went to the hurling but the 3 felt they couldn't because they were on county football squads. They only got minutes from bench after that. We didnt get out of the group but won the football. Ironically the hurling manager is a former dual player and the football manager is a current hurler. Gaa politics.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 75 - 09/03/2026 16:34:21    2660698

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "Yep, that is a big issue. Rounds of the football league scheduled for the night before an intercounty game is a big one. Hurlers dropped from football team if they dont attend. It happened to my son, in reverse , where hurling manager scheduled challenge matches to clash with football championship matches. This was within one club in a hurling dominant county. He was dropped from hurling team for playing the football. He and 2 others. The rest went to the hurling but the 3 felt they couldn't because they were on county football squads. They only got minutes from bench after that. We didnt get out of the group but won the football. Ironically the hurling manager is a former dual player and the football manager is a current hurler. Gaa politics."
That's desperate.

There's been lots of similar in Dublin over the years. In 2010 Rory O'Carroll who was fine hurler was basically told that if he played in an under 20 Leinster hurling final - which we won - he might forget about playing senior football for Dublin.

We won Leinster and lost semi final to Galway. So Rory missed a Leinster final and was a big loss.

Ironically the football manager was Gilroy who later managed the senior hurling team. It was one time i seriously considered stopping going to watch the footballers. You could write a book about it back to 1920s.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4066 - 09/03/2026 16:58:02    2660703

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Replying To Viking66:  "Would slow down the game way too much if every contentious decision had to be looked at on VAR."
Not every decision should be reviewed. However all cards should be. Too often a player gets a yellow for accidental contact. Then he gets another deserving one but then sent off. A penalty decision should be reviewed making sure it is correct. Using example that all cars should be banned off the road because some crash is not correct.

Canuck (Waterford) - Posts: 3240 - 12/03/2026 18:02:05    2661028

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Replying To ExiledInWex:  "There is no doubt yesterday was one of the greatest hurling spectacles in the history of the game. A phenomenal game and credit to all.
But how can the GAA take the game in to counties outside the top handful of counties? I don't for a second believe you can get hurling taken seriously in every county in Ireland (and when I say seriously, I mean by county boards and on equal footing to football) but the biggest travesty in the GAA is that there were children in Uganda who had played more hurling than children in 20 counties in the country.
Jarlath Burns has talked about hurling and extending its reach, but he is from a club with no hurling himself.
Not an easy answer and GAA can gloat about the game yesterday all they want, the lack of hurling in so many counties is a stain on their administration.
I grew up in a county with unfashionable hurling and now live in a county where it is fashionable with limited success but it is not down to a lack of effort on the part of GAA administrators in the county.
Donal Og has long talked fanciful notions about hurling but is there any way the gospel can be spread? The GAA has no new hurling winner in 43 years and likely goes another 43 with no new hurling winner.
I do not have the answer, but no harm to start a discussion."
Great question. To make people do ANYTHING you usually have to give them incentive. I might be tired after working 8 hours but will work overtime due to the higher rate of pay. If you want hurling to take off in the WEAKER counties you must start with the young lads as the old lads are set in their ways. There are many other choices out there so you must make hurling the best choice with INCENTIVES.

SouthGalway (Galway) - Posts: 241 - 12/03/2026 18:23:32    2661030

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Replying To SouthGalway:  "Great question. To make people do ANYTHING you usually have to give them incentive. I might be tired after working 8 hours but will work overtime due to the higher rate of pay. If you want hurling to take off in the WEAKER counties you must start with the young lads as the old lads are set in their ways. There are many other choices out there so you must make hurling the best choice with INCENTIVES."
You cant make football counties hurl. Everyone forgets thst when discussing this topic. There is a very good reason that hurling hasn't spread. The clubs and county boards in football counties dont want it to. It really is that simple. The GFCs in football only areas are steadfast against it. They box clever though. In areas where hurling is introduced they arrange football training when there is an away hurling fixture etc, enter into arrangents with the local soccer club on training nights and generally silently squeeze the life out of any green shoots. They know that they dont need to be vocal. They remain silent, sometimes even feign support comfortable in the knowledge that they are making it impossible for young lads to take hurling seriously longterm. Even if they didnt do all this hurling would struggle. There just aren't enough clubs and therefore competitive games for the game to thrive. In a lot of weaker counties there are one or two dominant hurling clubs. They dont help. They take great pride in hammering the other clubs who just cant compete. Then you have the stronger neighbouring counties. Take your county Galway, they insist on you travelling to all games. The galway clubs wont travel to you. Galway has all county league and championship. You may have to travel to annadown or gort on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. If you cant field you are thrown out or not allowed play the following year. The obstacles that are in place when trying to promote hurling are huge and often insurmountable. Croke Park cant do anything about it either. The clubs and county boards control fixtures and competitions. Martin Fogarty tried to bypass them with the Tain and Cuchulainn leagues. They are somewhat successful in ulster but a failure in Connacht. They are a logistical nightmare and there are far too many walkover and mismatch games to be bothered. GFCs cant have fixtures on those nights but guess what, soccer can and do. Football then take the rest of the week.
The reality is this. Hurling wont grow without the goodwill and engagement of the existing GFCs and their county boards. That isnt coming anytime soon. CP can throw millions of euro at it and it wont make any difference until that changes. Its the same in hurling dominated areas.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 75 - 12/03/2026 23:14:08    2661042

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It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4203 - 12/03/2026 23:44:15    2661044

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Replying To 32_4_1:  "It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?"
Non traditional.
That's why its not played or is a micro sport in so much of the northern half of Ireland.

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 412 - 13/03/2026 07:56:46    2661047

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Replying To 32_4_1:  "It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?"
For starters, you're only scratching the tip of the iceberg. - Carlow hurling manager Pat Bennett believes that Croke Park "don't really care" about teams like Carlow and Kildare.

The Barrowsiders' boss was speaking after his side's Division 1B sixth round defeat to the Lilywhites in Newbridge on Sunday.

If what Pat Bennett says is true, why should anyone else bother?

The old saying you lead by example.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3380 - 13/03/2026 08:49:00    2661049

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Replying To 32_4_1:  "It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?"
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0322/1287753-hurling-census-2022-population-hurlers-density/

Looking at the hurling populations of Meath, Wicklow and Kerry - Tier 2 Joe Mac should be able to cater for counties like that at least. Leinster should expand to 8 and Joe Mac to 8 as well. If for any reason Leinster does not expand, Joe Mac should expand to 10 using 2 groups of 5 and quarter finals for 2nd v 3rd.
Joe Mac should be a mirror to the Tier 1 format at least. The lower tiers, most likely on merit containing counties with low club hurling numbers, can be smaller groups.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9522 - 13/03/2026 09:03:09    2661053

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Replying To 32_4_1:  "It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?"
You are back :-D

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18731 - 13/03/2026 09:14:54    2661054

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What Tadhg2020 says above is correct and is something I've often pointed out myself. It's basically like the old saying of how you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Unless there's a real will and desire on the ground in the "weaker" hurling counties to grow the game, then Croke Park could throw all the resources and incentives in the world at them, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. Even the County Boards in those places could decide they're going to throw more into efforts to promote hurling, but as long as the clubs and their officials/mentors don't buy into the idea, the County Boards would be at nothing either.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3393 - 13/03/2026 09:21:16    2661055

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Replying To 32_4_1:  "It's impossible to bring it to non traditional counties to be competitive. There has to be in instilled culture from birth, to grow up with the hurl in the hand, to have that finesse down the line.

Even counties like Tipp and KK struggle to keep up with Corks skill and finesse. What chance do the non traditional counties have?"
Until All Ireland final day that is.......and then Corks skill and finesse fall apart!

Past hurler (None) - Posts: 1026 - 13/03/2026 09:44:35    2661059

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "You cant make football counties hurl. Everyone forgets thst when discussing this topic. There is a very good reason that hurling hasn't spread. The clubs and county boards in football counties dont want it to. It really is that simple. The GFCs in football only areas are steadfast against it. They box clever though. In areas where hurling is introduced they arrange football training when there is an away hurling fixture etc, enter into arrangents with the local soccer club on training nights and generally silently squeeze the life out of any green shoots. They know that they dont need to be vocal. They remain silent, sometimes even feign support comfortable in the knowledge that they are making it impossible for young lads to take hurling seriously longterm. Even if they didnt do all this hurling would struggle. There just aren't enough clubs and therefore competitive games for the game to thrive. In a lot of weaker counties there are one or two dominant hurling clubs. They dont help. They take great pride in hammering the other clubs who just cant compete. Then you have the stronger neighbouring counties. Take your county Galway, they insist on you travelling to all games. The galway clubs wont travel to you. Galway has all county league and championship. You may have to travel to annadown or gort on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. If you cant field you are thrown out or not allowed play the following year. The obstacles that are in place when trying to promote hurling are huge and often insurmountable. Croke Park cant do anything about it either. The clubs and county boards control fixtures and competitions. Martin Fogarty tried to bypass them with the Tain and Cuchulainn leagues. They are somewhat successful in ulster but a failure in Connacht. They are a logistical nightmare and there are far too many walkover and mismatch games to be bothered. GFCs cant have fixtures on those nights but guess what, soccer can and do. Football then take the rest of the week.
The reality is this. Hurling wont grow without the goodwill and engagement of the existing GFCs and their county boards. That isnt coming anytime soon. CP can throw millions of euro at it and it wont make any difference until that changes. Its the same in hurling dominated areas."
That is why I have the upmost respect for Kilkenny.

Kilkenny went out of their way and still do to accommodate juvenile and senior clubs in Carlow and juvenile clubs in Kildare by facilitating them into their county leagues and even giving advise after matches on how to improve their games.

Past hurler (None) - Posts: 1026 - 13/03/2026 09:51:00    2661060

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Replying To Past hurler:  "That is why I have the upmost respect for Kilkenny.

Kilkenny went out of their way and still do to accommodate juvenile and senior clubs in Carlow and juvenile clubs in Kildare by facilitating them into their county leagues and even giving advise after matches on how to improve their games."
They're hurling people. They do it because they love it.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4320 - 13/03/2026 11:16:47    2661068

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Replying To Past hurler:  "That is why I have the upmost respect for Kilkenny.

Kilkenny went out of their way and still do to accommodate juvenile and senior clubs in Carlow and juvenile clubs in Kildare by facilitating them into their county leagues and even giving advise after matches on how to improve their games."
Yes, fair play to Kilkenny for accommodating Carlow teams over the years. But I'm always inclined to give a wry smile when I hear them being praised for doing so.

What many don't realise is that way back in the day, Wexford were actually first to do this. I'm talking probably early 1990s. Carlow went to Kilkenny first to seek permission for clubs to play there, were basically told "no, we can't have that", so they then came to Wexford and were allowed to compete in our Club Leagues of the time instead.

After a few years, Carlow decided they no longer wanted to take part here. And a few years after that, they went to Kilkenny again, and this time they got a "yes" answer.

Again, fair play to Kilkenny. But just to point out they're really just following our good example. :)

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3393 - 13/03/2026 11:59:32    2661079

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Replying To supersub15:  "For starters, you're only scratching the tip of the iceberg. - Carlow hurling manager Pat Bennett believes that Croke Park "don't really care" about teams like Carlow and Kildare.

The Barrowsiders' boss was speaking after his side's Division 1B sixth round defeat to the Lilywhites in Newbridge on Sunday.

If what Pat Bennett says is true, why should anyone else bother?

The old saying you lead by example."
Dont waste your breath s.s like ourselves your on your own, we got up doing it the kilkenny way and with the help of your ex Tom Mullalley so now we're up and we'er staying up and thanks to no one else. Theres lot of hurling feft in you lads so give it a lash and who knows after all its on the day, chin up stay proud

Cuhullain (Kildare) - Posts: 307 - 13/03/2026 12:39:11    2661084

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Weaker counties do it to other even weaker counties too. I know that one county in connacht makes clubs from other counties trave to them. At least they did. I dont see those clubs on fixture list anymore so they may not be allowed compete or have withdrawn now.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 75 - 13/03/2026 12:58:59    2661086

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