Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

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greenairfield
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by greenairfield »

Both have a huge amount to offer, I would think murphy would be more suited to county hurling he is such a workhorse in ways he reminds me of a certain Maher from tipp the way he plays ,he can cause problems for anyone and it does not phase him if he is marking Joe Canning or a nobody..

LooseCannon
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by LooseCannon »

Kevin Brady anyone??? :D
Good Luck

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bracknaghboy
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by bracknaghboy »

LooseCannon wrote:Kevin Brady anyone??? :D
Feck it, why not and Big Joe as an anchor man for the edge of the square as well. No full back would want to see the big man coming his way!

On a serious note Johnny O'Toole Green will be called in after his aerial exhibition Saturday. Lack of ball winning in the air crippled the county hurlers this year. Mahon won some great high ball yesterday but when it comes to county it doesn't happen for him.
Brian Carroll showed yesterday that height (and age as well) doesn't matter when it comes to gaining possession...his timing is impeccable under the high ball.
They might be tempted to look at Kevin Connolly again but it would be a very specific role he could play only. Dylan Murray is developing into a very tidy hurler with great awareness of what's going on around him and is surely in line for a call up.

first_touch
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by first_touch »

Also David Nally is an excellent hurler and a great prospect for the future.

greenairfield
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by greenairfield »

Coolderry - Kevin Connolly (Hurler of the year has to start for offaly), Stephen Burke, Stephen Connolly
Kilkormac - Dylan Murray, Ciarian Selvin
Belmont - David Nally
St.Rynaghs - Sean Dolan, Joe O Connor
Birr - Oisin Murphy, Craig Taylor
Shinrone- Conor Doughan
KInnity - Young Callanan
Clareen- Sean Coughlan
Anyone from Senior b?

jimbob17
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by jimbob17 »

We are very bad at this in Offaly. There are good players in Senior B, Inter and possibly even Junior clubs in Offaly that could, if given chance and bit of time to get up to speed, contribute at county senior level. Seamus Harnedy is the first player from his club ever to hurl senior for Cork. kerry would have a lot less All Irelands if they excluded Junior and Inter clubs - think Eamon Fitzmaurice, Declan O Sullivan, Tadhg Morley etc list is endless. Conor Cleary the center back from Clare comes from west Clare - about 20 miles from closest hurling club of any note!

In the past we had Finbarr Cullen on a minor hurling team that could win an All Ireland and a few from Banagher (Mulhare etc) that could play senior for the county. Now, in a more educated time, all I hear from lads is that a fella cant play if he is not hurling senior! Look at Tom Spain who was one of our best this year - and Chris McDonnell other years before. If they hadnt Brosna Gaels at senior B, would they get chance if playing Junior?

There is an element of snobbery around "playing senior" in the county and this needs to be addressed. It shouldnt matter where a man is from. We dont have the depth to overlook anyone!

There are lads out there in both hurling and football that could develop if given chance. Darragh Corbett from Shannonbridge has played both at U21 level and could step up if given chance!

For the record, there are few at senior B if given a shot! While some are young, Ballinamere have a few that might not be ready straight away but could offer something in year or two. Brian Duignan and Gerry Spollen are two while likes of young Ravenhill, Magner and one or two more if they build themselves up physically, have plenty of hurling! Shamrocks would have likes of Cathal O Brien - a very good county U21 and Johnny O Toole Greene (brother of David) that could step up! Joey Keenaghan of Clodiagh Gaels has some promise and young Cathal O'Meara in Clara at intermediate level is a fine hurler if given a few years and I am sure there are others out there too! Ger Oakley and many like him never came from senior clubs. If it was okay to look when we were winning All Irelands, then it should be okay to look now too!
jimbob

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

One thing to add to jimbob17's point on players from non Senior clubs. I recall Seán Boylan, in a interview (don't ask me for a link, I can't even remember if it was audio or print) relating how he brought Robbie O'Malley and Bernard Flynn onto the Meath Senior panel as soon as they graduated from Minor. The reason being they were from a Junior club, he knew they had potential, and he didn't want them to lose ground by being left to play for their clubs for another year or two until they were ready for Senior.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

private joker
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by private joker »

If development squads are doing their jobs correctly, what club somone is from should be irrelevant.

Geansai Gorm
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by Geansai Gorm »

private joker wrote:If development squads are doing their jobs correctly, what club somone is from should be irrelevant.
That's it in a nutshell. Esentially all underage players are equal until they start playing adult football /hurling.
Certain clubs due to their size and status (senior etc) will have better conditions for young players to develop.
It's at this age that county needs to keep development going, keeping a wide pool of players at a consistent level of competition.

We all know 'good' minors who went on to become great seniors and then certain 'star' minors who never cut it at senior grades.

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Lone Shark
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by Lone Shark »

jimbob17 wrote:We are very bad at this in Offaly. There are good players in Senior B, Inter and possibly even Junior clubs in Offaly that could, if given chance and bit of time to get up to speed, contribute at county senior level. Seamus Harnedy is the first player from his club ever to hurl senior for Cork. kerry would have a lot less All Irelands if they excluded Junior and Inter clubs - think Eamon Fitzmaurice, Declan O Sullivan, Tadhg Morley etc list is endless. Conor Cleary the center back from Clare comes from west Clare - about 20 miles from closest hurling club of any note!
Just to pick up on this, I don't know that we're better or worse in Offaly at unearthing hidden diamonds, or anything like it. Firstly, Kerry has around 70 clubs, of which just 9 are senior. They have a divisional group system, which would not work in Offaly because of our dual culture here (largely speaking, anybody playing intercounty or divisional football in Kerry is expected to give up club hurling, and they won't be accommodated by fixtures if they try and do both).

Cork has over 200 clubs. It's logical that they will have huge numbers of good players playing junior etc.

Finally, around a dozen players from non-Senior A clubs played championship football for Offaly this summer. Surely that's about right - while there will be a lot of good footballers in the lower grades, is it not natural that the majority will be players from the strongest clubs??
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

NO55
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by NO55 »

Football

1- Cian Farrell - Edenderry
2 - Cathal Managan - Kilclontfort
3 - Carl Stewart - Clara

kingscounty
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by kingscounty »

I’ve said this many times on this forum down through the years every grade should have been looked at! Kilkenny as I’ve mentioned before were a prime example of this when they won their All Ireland’s. I was involved in club hurling for 30 + years and I seen some great talent from Junior upwards that was ignored because of the grade they played at or because they came from the so called wrong end of the county to hurl or play big ball. Lads going to trials and put in goals one end so he would be out of the way for fear he might actually be better than a senior club player! Someone mentioned Finbar Cullen, great footballer but I’ve seen a dozen or more lads from his club that would totally out class him on a hurling pitch and many more in the county that just didn’t get a chance, that was the luck of it I suppose that time. Hopefully attitudes today are beginning to change and we can find a few hidden gems across the board at all grades.

King Kev
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by King Kev »

I'd be really interested to here who these hidden gems either past or present day that your on about?

LooseCannon
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by LooseCannon »

King Kev wrote:I'd be really interested to here who these hidden gems either past or present day that your on about?
Maybe go to senior B, intermediate and junior games yourself. Also our u20s county team.

From that team that are no longer going to be in that grade next year, I was most impressed by Robilliard, Quinn and Hynes.
Possibly the keeper, name eludes me?

Johnson and Farrell are still u20 next year.
Good Luck

King Kev
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Re: Additions to County panels Football and Hurling

Post by King Kev »

I go to plenty of games all over the county. You can't compare Offaly to any of these bigger counties unearthing talent from junior clubs. The gaa circles in our county are very small in both codes. We are not a position in Offaly to not look at a player because he plays for a Junior/Intermediate club or from the so called "wrong end" of the county. If you havnt been picked to play intercounty it's more than likely due to the fact your not up to the required standard.

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