Corrigan calls for Parish Teams

[True Red]

For the Good Of Offaly Football, Clubs Need To Look Seriously At Forming Parish Teams

Thursday, 10 February 2011

Taken from the Midland Tribune

RHODE may have went very close in their recent Leinster Club Senior Football Championship final defeat by Kilmacud Crokes but despite that, there is no escaping the belief that the standard of club football in Offaly is slipping dramatically.

Last year, the general fare of club games, particularly in the league stages of the championship, rarely rose above the mediocre. There have been some outstanding games but these have been few and far between. Moments of genuine quality and excitement have been provided by individual brilliance rather than the excellence of a team unit.

With Offaly struggling at senior intercounty level, it is all too easy to paint a bleak picture and to be a prophet of doom - There is some light at the end of the tunnel for Offaly football and the emergence of some young players of real quality gives hope for the future.

In recent years, Offaly appear to have turned a corner: They have reached four Leinster Minor Football Championship finals and while defeat was their lot in all of these, they have at least begun to compete at this level.

Interestingly, Offaly's improvement at minor level has not been reflected in the U-21 grade and there is a need to make an impact in this competition.
Yet there is hope for the future, particularly with the quality of player that Offaly has produced in the past decade. Since Niall McNamee made his senior intercounty debut as a fresh faced seventeen year old in 2003, Offaly entered a bit of a barren spell but in the past three years, things have improved.

Niall McNamee may be the jewel in the Offaly crown but another Rhode man, Anton Sullivan is continuing to emerge as a county player of real potential. Walsh Island's Brian Connor should be a midfield power house for Offaly for the next decade plus and last Sunday another player to set the pulse racing emerged onto the scene, Tubber's Bernard Allen. Allen may still have it all to prove and we will watch his performances for Offaly in the Leinster U-21 Football Championship with particular interest (He really needs to do it at his own level first) but he is a very exciting prospect.

Interestingly, most of Offaly's best prospects are emerging in midfield or attack and developing quality defenders has to be a priority for a county that was always noted for the efficiency and toughness of its defenders.

Noel Graham and Paul McPadden are two other players that look equipped to play a lot of county senior football. Cappincur's, Graham is a powerful young man with a strong engine while McPadden, at the centre of a tug of war between Clonmore Harps and Rhode, is a very skilful and fast young forward.

Size is an issue with some of Offaly's brightest attacking prospects and Allen and McPadden are not big men. Defensively, Cian Donoghue, Joe O'Connor and Conor Lowry from last year's minor team have the potential to play at the highest level but they still have plenty of developing to do before they are drafted into a senior panel. Other young players with potential include Tullamore's John Moloney and Michael Brazil and Shamrocks' Nigel Dunne.

Offaly are producing good footballers and let no one be any doubt about that but there are major challenges ahead.
The standard of the club Senior Football Championship is one hell of a problem. It is just very poor and the situation that has emerged in the past couple of years where Rhode and Clara have been way out ahead of everyone is a very unhealthy one. Indeed it is down right worrying as Tullamore look to be the only club capable of getting up there to really challenge them at the moment.

Shamrocks remain a strong side but they have slipped and may slip further and while the likes of Ballycumber and Erin Rovers have done well in recent years, they are not good enough to win a championship.
The harsh reality is that this year, only three clubs, Rhode, Clara and Tullamore, will go to the post with a real chance of winning a championship, and there are doubts about Tullamore's prospects. Of course, a surprise can happen but that is unlikely and in any event, it would provide further grounds for concern about the standard of club football.

It is just an unhealthy situation and the time has arrived for clubs to have a serious look at the situation. Of course, clubs will be reluctant to give up their own identity and join forces with others but there is a broader picture that is way more important than any local interests. It is all about getting Offaly football back up the ladder and the club championship scene in Offaly is not conducive to that at the moment: And let no one be under any illusions about that.

Lets have a look at the clubs in the Senior Football Championship at the moment, starting with the parish at the top, Rhode. St Brigid's, relegated last year but favourites to bounce back and Clonmore Harps, the junior football champions last year are in that parish and imagine how powerful Rhode would be if they had the pick of the whole parish.

St Brigid's have quite a bit to offer to improve Rhode and the Casey brothers, Ken and Sean and David Egan would certainly make their team. Cian Donoghue would strengthen their defence and the increased competition for places would really drive everyone else on. It could be the spark that would transform Rhode from a team capable of challenging for the Leinster club championship to one capable of winning the All-Ireland.

Transfers from two Clonmore Harps players, James and Paul McPadden was approved at an Offaly GAA Management Committee meeting last week and has to be rubber stamped by a full County Board meeting while last year's junior footballer of the year, James Foy would challenge for a place in the Rhode attack.

At the moment, there is no hint that an amalgamation is on the cards but imagine if it did happen: It would certainly force every other parish to look at themselves as a parish outfit from Rhode would be unbeatable in the championship as it stands.
Edenderry would benefit from the two or three players that Ballyfore would provide, Walsh Island could certainly do with players from Bracknagh and Clonbullogue as their current team has too many weak links to win a championship.
Tullamore have a potent outfit on their own but they would be a lot stronger with the pick of players from Durrow: The Geraghty brothers, Brian and Niall would definitely nail down places and Paul Kinnarney would challenge strongly.
Imagine if the three clubs in Leamonaghan parish - Ballycumber, Erin Rovers and Doon - came together: Doon is among the front runners for the intermediate championship while Ballycumber and Erin Rovers have both done well in the senior championship. The three together would provide a very potent outfit.
Doon's James Coughlan, Trevor Phelan and Niall Kelly would all challenge strongly for places, among others while the bulk of the players would come from Ballycumber and Erin Rovers. Alan Flanagan,

Nigel Grennan, Richrd Dunne, Colm Quinn, Rory Guinan and Fergal Daly are among Ballycumber's best players while Erin Rovers have good players in Richard Fox, Jeffrey Cuskelly, Declan Kelly, Jason Devery, Alan Lynam and Barry Buckley. The three clubs combined would definitely provide a much more potent outfit, one that could possibly win a championship.

Then there are the parishes in the football end of the county that are not providing senior football at all. It is a travesty to note that there is no senior football team in Daingean (Ballycommon, Cappincur, Daingean and Kilclonfert) and Killeigh (Ballinagar, Raheen, Killeigh and Killurin) parishes and even if Kilclonfert or Raheen won the Intermediate Football Championship next year, they would not contend for the Dowling Cup.

No one in those parishes can stand over that situation and there is an onus on everyone involved to have a serious look at it.
Such drastic moves as clubs coming together will not happen over night but it is worth throwing it out there and giving people food for thought. And don't forget that Offaly football would improve if it were to happen.

For the record, the clubs in next year's Senior Football Championship are:
Group A - Rhode, Tullamore, Ferbane, Tubber, Edenderry and Erin Rovers;
Group B - Clara, Shamrocks, Walsh Island, Ballycumber, St Rynagh's and Gracefield.
Of these, only Ferbane, Shamrocks, St Rynagh's, Clara and Tubber (Which straddles both Offaly and Westmeath sides of the border) provide parish teams.
Grand In Theory But Smaller Clubs Suffer With New Minor Rule
THE thinking behind the new Offaly GAA rule that means minor players can only compete in their own grade until the group stages of the minor leagues are competed is grand in theory but it is proving to be a nightmare for some smaller clubs.
The rule means that minor players cannot play adult league during the group stages of the minor league. We understand the reasons for it and the need to protect minor players from too much football: They have a lot on their plate with schools and club football and exams but it is the smaller clubs who are suffering.

A couple of clubs, at least, broke the rule when the first round of the Adult Football Leagues took place last weekend. In one case, they would have had to concede a walkover if they didn't use minor players and that is a situation no one wants.
It is not nice or right to have clubs breaking rules but in this case we have to have sympathy for the predicament some clubs found themselves in.

The bigger clubs have an ample pick but a small junior or intermediate only club could find themselves stretched to the maximum by this rule: A club with three or four minor players good enough to be on their first team, a player or two not available because of county commitments and a few more unavailable because of injury or other reasons could find themselves unable to field a team in some games. And if that happens, it is a really sad situation.

The rule is well intentioned but is it political correctness gone mad? The MBTW is not sure but there is one certainty and that is that minor players are well able for plenty of games. Many are also dabbling in soccer and rugby and to stop them playing adult football is questionable. Maybe they do need to be wrapped in cotton wool and they need that protection in rules but we are not convinced.

All view points are welcome to kevin@tullamoretribune.ie.

[Lone Shark]

To extrapolate that logic further, then Offaly football is best served by dividing everyone in the county into two teams and having a county final with a wonderful standard of football since all the best players would be in it.

The simple fact of the matter is that clubs will do what suits themselves best. Doon, Ballycumber and Pullough are three clubs that all make a decent job of using the resources available to them, yet when they were amalgamated together they were collectively no better than Ballycumber are now. Players get the chance to grow and take responsibility within a small club and that works for them. Also, players would miss out, at every level. I don't know who's training with the under 21 footballers and who isn't, but Tom Spain is one of the brighter prospects in the county and a good half forward and I'd imagine a real contender to start for the county under 21s. Still, put him in a joint club with James Coughlan, Alan Lynam, Rory Guinan, Trevor Phelan, Donie Ryan, Nigel Grennan and a few others and he mighn't even get a start - how does that help Offaly?

Yes Daingean parish is a basket case, but they still field six adult teams. If you form one parish side, where do all those footballers go when the amalgamation only fields four at best? Who gets relegated to accomodate this new Frankenstein of a team?

Why would anyone in Clonmore work hard at keeping football going in the area when they'd only be a forgotten little suburb of Rhode? The three or four who'd want to play football at a decent level would do, everyone else would give up - how does that help?

Birr have provided more county footballers than a lot of traditional football clubs in recent years - what level do they play at? Do they get to amalgamate with Crinkill and Carrig & Riverstown and play senior football?

Does he honestly think that all those Ballyfore lads will happily go back playing for an Edenderry team now?

RHODE may have went very close in their recent Leinster Club Senior Football Championship final defeat by Kilmacud Crokes but despite that, there is no escaping the belief that the standard of club football in Offaly is slipping dramatically.

Last year, the general fare of club games, particularly in the league stages of the championship, rarely rose above the mediocre. There have been some outstanding games but these have been few and far between. Moments of genuine quality and excitement have been provided by individual brilliance rather than the excellence of a team unit.

Rhode were beaten by the favourites for the All Ireland club title after beating the champions of Carlow and Meath away from home to get to a Leinster decider. They did so after Clara ran them to within an inch of their lives in the county final, and if the two clubs met again tomorrow there would probably be little to choose between them once again. Clara proved that they were the real deal last year and possibly could have won a Leinster of their own if the game in Portlaoise had continued instead of being abandoned.

Offaly haven't won a Leinster club title since Ferbane in 1986 - how then is the standard "slipping dramatically?" From what? They heydays of 2002-2004 when Tullamore and Clara made first round exits to teams from Louth and Wicklow, and Rhode beat Clonguish before getting hammered by Portlaoise?

This is Daingean's problem, and to a lesser extent, a problem for Walsh Island and Killeigh/Raheen parishes. Even then, it's not a problem unless those clubs themselves feel it is. But a global solution to fix a local problem makes no sense.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Another week, another depressing article on the state of Offaly football from Corrigan. According to him, no matter what time of the year or the nature of the opposition, Offaly football is only loss away from complete and utter implosion. Constant negativity, it's getting tiring. Even more so at a time when the future has rarely looked brighter for the inter county team.

On the face of it whats the problem with the club football scene? Both the Senior and Intermediate Championships are reasonably competitive with only one 'B' team in the in second tier. Our last three senior champions (Rhode, Clara, Rhode) competed well on the provincial front. Thus their relative dominance over the opposition within our small county is merited and acceptable as they are clearly of a good provincial standard. Indeed we should consider ourselves lucky to have two such teams and not one.Time to worry when you're Senior Hurling champions canter through the Championship only to be dumped out by the Westmeath champions in the first round of the Leinster Championship. Corrigan has picked the wrong code to write his article on.


One area I do agree with Corrigan however is in his assessment of the Daingan and Killeigh parishes. To have no senior team in an area where hurls are unknown is a terrible indictment of the many, many clubs involved.

[joe123]

Wow some people really blurt out a loada horse s**t sometimes without thinking.
"IMAGINE" if Corrigan actually put some thought into what he was sayin.
I've never heard such a load of crap, made absolutely no sense at all.
Agree with lone sharks points, has some form of idea what he's talking about!!
Also Rhode have been narrowly beaten by the best team in the country in 2 leinster finals in the last few years, yet Clara were able to win a county championship in between with Tullamore not far behind and a few other teams very competitive against these 3 over last few years, actually shows that the standard of club football in offaly isn't too bad and has definitely improved.

[offalyman08]

Does he honestly think that all those Ballyfore lads will happily go back playing for an Edenderry team now?

Or be taken back for that matter??

[Fargo Boyle]

Does he honestly think that all those Ballyfore lads will happily go back playing for an Edenderry team now?

Or be taken back for that matter??

As Roy Keane once said in a famous RTE interview after Saipan "take me back, Take me back"

This parish rule props up on this forum at least once a month. It is not going to happen in the present structure of Offaly club football. There would need to be a radical overhaul in the system for this thinking to change. Anyway I'm sure the Ballyfore lads and the Clonmore lads get the greatest satisfaction pulling on their club jersey no matter what level they play at.. Most average club players enjoy playing with the lads who they have played with since they were young lads and who have struggled on with them successfully or unsuccessfully as the case may be. So lets just get on with it. We're one of the smallest counties split between both codes and have done exceptionally well with the All Irelands we have. And who knows when the glory days will return!!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

2 things spring to mind -

As I learned from this site last year, Clonmore is NOT in Rhode parish, it is in Ballinabrackey parish. Therefore their joining with Rhode for adult football wouldn't be on in a 'parish' amalgamation. Are they, and Shannonbridge, and Tubber, standing on their own, supposed to compete with the superpowers?

And -- say the Rhode/Croghan won the County title, who would represent Offaly in the Leinster Club championship given that amalgamated teams are precluded?

[bracknaghboy]

Not sure this article makes a huge amount of sense to me. Maybe its just me?

Since Niall McNamee made his senior intercounty debut as a fresh faced seventeen year old in 2003, Offaly entered a bit of a barren spell but in the past three years, things have improved.

Have they? A leinster final was reached in 2006. However the last 3 years have seen 1st round Leinster exits with out a fight to Meath (10 points), Kildare (6 points) and Westmeath (6 points).

Last year, the general fare of club games, particularly in the league stages of the championship, rarely rose above the mediocre.

Hardly a surprise considering the group stages are dragged out over 4 months and 4 teams qualify from each group. Bottom line is the big guns know they are going through so they don't put the foot to the floor in the early rounds.

It is just very poor and the situation that has emerged in the past couple of years where Rhode and Clara have been way out ahead of everyone is a very unhealthy one.

Cedit to Clara and Rhode for getting to this level. They are better than the vast majority of teams in Leinster not just Offaly so this must be 'unhealthy' for Leinster football also?

Of course, a surprise can happen but that is unlikely and in any event, it would provide further grounds for concern about the standard of club football.

This makes no sense. On one hand he is concerned there are only 2 teams that can win the county title. Yet if another team were to win it this would "provide further grounds for concern". I'm confused.

Of course, clubs will be reluctant to give up their own identity and join forces with others but there is a broader picture that is way more important than any local interests. It is all about getting Offaly football back up the ladder and the club championship scene in Offaly is not conducive to that at the moment: And let no one be under any illusions about that.

Is there a bigger picture? Surely the survival of clubs is what matters in GAA. The small clubs make the GAA what it is. We can't all be Senior County Champions. If you're club is Junior they are Junior.....ask any of the lads that play at lower level and it means the same to them to play and win a chmpionship game for their club as it does for a Clara or Rhode player.

imagine how powerful Rhode would be if they had the pick of the whole parish.

Indeed. Imagine how powerful Offaly would be if they had the pick of the best players from Kildare and Westmeath as well!!!

James Foy would challenge for a place in the Rhode attack.

Indeed he would. Niall Mc would also be a certain starter for Kerry. Should he look for a transfer?

Walsh Island could certainly do with players from Bracknagh and Clonbullogue as their current team has too many weak links to win a championship.

Walsh Island are a fine example of a team that has built strongly at intermediate level for the last 5-6 years and are now a solid senior outfit. Why o why would they want Bracknagh players?

Tullamore have a potent outfit on their own but they would be a lot stronger with the pick of players from Durrow: The Geraghty brothers, Brian and Niall would definitely nail down places and Paul Kinnarney would challenge strongly.

True. The kilkenny footballers would also be stronger if they had the pick of Carlow and Laois players!

Ah I could go on but whats the point.

[Plain of the Herbs]

How many others see a direct corelation between Niall McNamee's coming of age and a deterioration of Offaly's fortunes? Don't all shout at once

Not sure this article makes a huge amount of sense to me. Maybe its just me?

Since Niall McNamee made his senior intercounty debut as a fresh faced seventeen year old in 2003, Offaly entered a bit of a barren spell but in the past three years, things have improved.

[SearingDrive]

Just to remind GDFTP that hurling is very much alive in Killeigh parish. The parish differs from neighbouring Dangean, as it is divided into hurlig, Killeigh/Killurin area, and football in the Geashill/ Cloneygowan area.
Even then Killeigh and Killurin compete as separate clubs, with Raheen fielding a junior hurling team with some success in recent years.
Ballinagar,Raheen and Killeigh take part in the football championship.
To get united teams in hurling and football, would be an ideal solution, but there is a tendency to stick with the current situation.

[Harps Man]

clonmore is most certainly not in rhode parish,we are in ballinabrackey parish and very proud of it,and the mc padden lads transfers didnt get rubber stamped tonight.

[Bord na Mona man]

I think amalgamations are a cop out if the clubs involved should be getting their house in order instead.
Amalgamate, and the laws of diminishing returns probably apply. Increase the catchment area and maybe even less work gets done in promoting the games and producing players.

Perhaps the Kerry county championship system could be brought in for fellas from lower ranked clubs to showcase themselves.

[Lone Shark]

clonmore is most certainly not in rhode parish,we are in ballinabrackey parish and very proud of it,and the mc padden lads transfers didnt get rubber stamped tonight.

Clonmore for me is the perfect example of why this proposal makes no sense whatsoever. People in that area put in a huge effort to get to the point whereby they had their own club, and then they worked hard to get to intermediate standard from there, all because they're proud of their own community and want to represent it.

The more I read this, the more it looks like a man from Daingean parish getting frustrated that his own area can't sort out their problems, so they're trying to change the goalposts all over Offaly instead.

[Fargo Boyle]

Clonmore for me is the perfect example of why this proposal makes no sense whatsoever. People in that area put in a huge effort to get to the point whereby they had their own club, and then they worked hard to get to intermediate standard from there, all because they're proud of their own community and want to represent it.

The more I read this, the more it looks like a man from Daingean parish getting frustrated that his own area can't sort out their problems, so they're trying to change the goalposts all over Offaly instead.

Way off the mark there LS. As a Daingean parish man I have no wish to see an amalgmated Parish team as i know it would be a disaster. Plus I don't think the quality is in the 4 clubs to produce a good competitive senior team. Ask any of the 4 clubs and i think that it would be the same answer.

[Lone Shark]

Clonmore for me is the perfect example of why this proposal makes no sense whatsoever. People in that area put in a huge effort to get to the point whereby they had their own club, and then they worked hard to get to intermediate standard from there, all because they're proud of their own community and want to represent it.

The more I read this, the more it looks like a man from Daingean parish getting frustrated that his own area can't sort out their problems, so HE'S trying to change the goalposts all over Offaly instead.

Way off the mark there LS. As a Daingean parish man I have no wish to see an amalgmated Parish team as i know it would be a disaster. Plus I don't think the quality is in the 4 clubs to produce a good competitive senior team. Ask any of the 4 clubs and i think that it would be the same answer.

Sorry, my mistake - that was the idea I was going for, albeit I made a bit of a mess of it.