Offaly Hurling 2020

[Plain of the Herbs]

Simon Whelahan was probably one of the first of the 'pure hurling' corner backs, with David Franks following a few years later, and then Conor Hernon and Michael Verney later again.

Can we actually name some out and out defenders in the game now? Not ball playing wing backs like Diarmuid Byrnes but actually defenders who would take it as an affront to their manhood if their man scored a point.

Damien Reale, Ollie Canning, Martin Hanamy, JJ Delaney, Noel Connors are examples of players I mean.

[frankthetank]

And in even more recent times I would classify Stephen Egan, Niall Wynne and Paddy Rigney as excellent defenders.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I was referring to ball playing corner-backs, something Offaly hurlers were pioneers of.

And in even more recent times I would classify Stephen Egan, Niall Wynne and Paddy Rigney as excellent defenders.

[bracknaghboy]

What skills have been lost?

1. Overhead striking
2. Pulling hard on the ground
3. Man on man pulling with breaking of sticks
4. The art of the goal poaching
5. Hitting the ball as far as you can and something spontaneous happening as a result

Don't be codding yourself POTH, todays intercounty hurling is utter muck played mostly by bulked up pre-programmed robots.
Luckily I'm a solution orientated guy and I've an idea that might help.
Lets make the ball even lighter and reduce the playing numbers to just 1 per team (the goalkeeper).
The 2 lads could then take turns shooting for full length of the field points and cut out all the bullshit in between.
The other 14 lads on each team could parade up and down the sidelines showing off their 6 packs and how well bulked they are.....perhaps some young ones could mark them out of 10 and the scores could be added up with keepers scores to determine a winner of some sort.
It couldn't be any worse to the torture of the 2 live games last weekend.
There is so little skill in the game these days that commentators yell out orgasmically "its a thing of beauty" when some lad catches a sideline cut right and it goes over the bar.
Thats where we are at. Can someone articulate whats good about the current way the game is played.

Oh great we've more live games this weekend.
15 gym monkeys from Galway v 15 gym monkeys from Wexford
15 gym monkeys from Kilkenny v 15 gym monkeys from Dublin

I go for a 0-45 each draw in both games and a total of zero risks taken by any of the 4 teams. Might put a tenner on that......although Kilkenny might get an aul goal or two and buck the trend!!

[Bord na Mona man]

It all depends what 'art of defending' is. There are less of the great man-to-man contests that used to key outcomes like years ago.
The more advanced teams aren't lashing 50-50s into their corner forwards any more.
They'll shoot when they get a look at the posts (anywhere from about 90 metres in these days), play it in closer to a loose forward, or carry it in if the pitch is open.
So the good defending here is making sure you're not offering them these options, by marking tightly, blocking lines of sight, covering overlaps and making it unattractive for a pass. A great defensive performance could mean the ball barely comes near you. It's not as obvious to onlookers.

The bigger issue is that the team without possession is at a massive disadvantage. Try winning the back the ball, now that charging, taking steps and throwing the ball are no longer offences.

In the old days you could shadow a ball carrier and after 4 steps he'd have to show the ball to solo or strike it.
The great defensive masters were brilliant at deftly flicking the ball away as soon as it didn't have a hand wrapped around it.

Nowadays how do you deal with a forward coming straight at you seeking a collision? He can take 6 steps, barrel into you, recover his balance, take 2 more steps and throw it to a team mate. Even if you've held your ground and he's on his arse, your chances of stripping the ball off him aren't great.

The problem is that this brand of collision hurling has happened because vested interests have set the tone of the debate to allow it end up this way. The "man's game", "let it flow" has become a Trumpian-like way of shutting down any sensible debate on the state of hurling.
What's worse, Offaly have been the biggest losers in this power shift, yet we have people cheerleading it.

[private joker]

What skills have been lost?

1. Overhead striking
2. Pulling hard on the ground
3. Man on man pulling with breaking of sticks
4. The art of the goal poaching
5. Hitting the ball as far as you can and something spontaneous happening as a result

Don't be codding yourself POTH, todays intercounty hurling is utter muck played mostly by bulked up pre-programmed robots.
Luckily I'm a solution orientated guy and I've an idea that might help.
Lets make the ball even lighter and reduce the playing numbers to just 1 per team (the goalkeeper).
The 2 lads could then take turns shooting for full length of the field points and cut out all the bullshit in between.
The other 14 lads on each team could parade up and down the sidelines showing off their 6 packs and how well bulked they are.....perhaps some young ones could mark them out of 10 and the scores could be added up with keepers scores to determine a winner of some sort.
It couldn't be any worse to the torture of the 2 live games last weekend.
There is so little skill in the game these days that commentators yell out orgasmically "its a thing of beauty" when some lad catches a sideline cut right and it goes over the bar.
Thats where we are at. Can someone articulate whats good about the current way the game is played.

Oh great we've more live games this weekend.
15 gym monkeys from Galway v 15 gym monkeys from Wexford
15 gym monkeys from Kilkenny v 15 gym monkeys from Dublin

I go for a 0-45 each draw in both gatotal of zero risks taken by any of the 4 teams. Might put a tenner on that......although Kilkenny might get an aul goal or two and buck the trend!!

You sound like a disgruntled ex senior hurler now playing junior B because you don't want to train unless its the week of a match. I assume your post was in jest !!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Overhead striking – ball breaks to the opponent covering behind.
Pulling on the ground – ball will more likely be collected by an opponent and a scoring attempt will ensue (item: Limerick’s 26th point last Sunday)
Breaking hurls – Why?
Goal poaching – fair enough
Driving it as far as you can – same as pulling on the ground

I must have written it about a hundred times on this site - if you give the ball away nowadays, you are giving up a scoring attempt.

What’s good about it? It depends what you’re looking for. If you like looking at the ball in the air, higgeldy piggeldy random stuff with dropped passes and lads getting blocked because they throw the ball up in a crowd, then All-Ireland Gold is probably your thing.

If you’re looking for excellence in performance – mid range passes that stick, excellent support play and continuity, an off the ball run that pays dividends, a five man passing move that is rewarded with a score, the ball in play much more, identifying plans and how they work, then like me you’ll look forward to this weekend.

As for the scoring returns, look, mid ranking teams in Offaly are well capable of having over 30 scoring attempts in an evenly contested match. A 75% return yields at least 22 scores, and that’s over 60 minutes. At that rate, it should be no bother to an intercounty team to score 26-30 times over 70 minutes.

Anyway, I expect Tipperary to produce goals against Limerick’s makeshift full-back line on Sunday. Kilkenny are generally good for a few goals too.

What skills have been lost?

1. Overhead striking
2. Pulling hard on the ground
3. Man on man pulling with breaking of sticks
4. The art of the goal poaching
5. Hitting the ball as far as you can and something spontaneous happening as a result

Don't be codding yourself POTH, todays intercounty hurling is utter muck played mostly by bulked up pre-programmed robots.
Luckily I'm a solution orientated guy and I've an idea that might help.
Lets make the ball even lighter and reduce the playing numbers to just 1 per team (the goalkeeper).
The 2 lads could then take turns shooting for full length of the field points and cut out all the bullshit in between.
The other 14 lads on each team could parade up and down the sidelines showing off their 6 packs and how well bulked they are.....perhaps some young ones could mark them out of 10 and the scores could be added up with keepers scores to determine a winner of some sort.
It couldn't be any worse to the torture of the 2 live games last weekend.
There is so little skill in the game these days that commentators yell out orgasmically "its a thing of beauty" when some lad catches a sideline cut right and it goes over the bar.
Thats where we are at. Can someone articulate whats good about the current way the game is played.

Oh great we've more live games this weekend.
15 gym monkeys from Galway v 15 gym monkeys from Wexford
15 gym monkeys from Kilkenny v 15 gym monkeys from Dublin

I go for a 0-45 each draw in both games and a total of zero risks taken by any of the 4 teams. Might put a tenner on that......although Kilkenny might get an aul goal or two and buck the trend!!

[joe bloggs]

The job of defending one on one is now almost impossible.
The ball carrier is permitted at least 8 steps, and if you do manage to hold him up the offload is a throw 9 times out of 10. The runner from deep now runs stright lines like a centre in rugby and nowadays a lot of players are dipping their head in the tackle, inviting the free for a high tackle.

[Liam2020]

The rule are not been applied 3 steps 2 catches, no throwing the Ball, no barging with the ball, if those rules were enforced , lads would have to move the ball instead of playing for frees.

What would Dj Carey score if player gave him a yard of space, best forward i ever saw by a distance.
There are many positives about modern hurling but the likes of Dónal Óg wants position type hurling and dismiss everything else as fools or backward. Trump like

[oneshot]

And in even more recent times I would classify Stephen Egan, Niall Wynne and Paddy Rigney as excellent defenders.
[/quote

now come on

[biffinbanner]

dj carey was a great hurler but was as bad as any one i ever seen for over carrying the ball. the skill he has was to look like he was going to play it any moment but not doing it. he got a goal that won a game against us and def too 10 or more steps before he scored a goal..and he got one against wexford he too 12.

[SearingDrive]

dj carey was a great hurler but was as bad as any one i ever seen for over carrying the ball. the skill he has was to look like he was going to play it any moment but not doing it. he got a goal that won a game against us and def too 10 or more steps before he scored a goal..and he got one against wexford he too 12.

Got away with the steps alright. Don't think other players would get the same latitude.

[oneshot]

whats the story about the senior team are they out next weekend in the christy ring cup
i see kildare beat wicklow and down beat derry. do offaly play one of them.

[private joker]

Play Derry next weekend.

[SearingDrive]

Christy Ring Cup teams.
Offaly Kildare Wicklow. Derry Down. Roscommon Sligo. Did I leave out any team?