The season begins

[swiftpost]

Offaly hurling manager Joe Dooley must plan without three key men for the Walsh Cup clash with Galway in Tullamore.

The Faithful County host the Tribesmen in Sunday’s historic match - the first involving the westerners in a Leinster competition - and the manager will be making do without the services of the trio, who’ll be on duty elsewhere.



Brian Carroll, Michael Verney and Sean Ryan have all been called up by University Limerick and, thus, will not be eligible to appear for their native county.

With Galway also reporting a glut of absentees, the landmark occasion is losing some of its lustre.

From Hoganstand, also missing Dylan Hayden,Colm Coughlan and possibly Stephen Wynne and James Dempsey who have hurled well for ul recently, dont know full panel. Anyone know?

[bracknaghboy]

Whats going on here. We have Offaly playing the first competitve game of the year and fellas are going to play in a mickey mouse university match instead. This is a joke. We already have the footballers with nothing to show after 2 games. The hurlers need to be trying win every game possible to build momentum. I've said before that winning games is a good habit and can't be turned on like a switch. Tommy Lyons went all out to win every game in '97 and when we got going look where it took us. I've never understood why the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon cups are held in such high regard? Whats the big deal?
Any man that would play a college match before lining out in the Green White and Gold would be told where to go!

[GreatDayForTheParish]

I don't have any problem with players lining out for their respective colleges, especially at this time of the year. The college season is in full swing now and all of those involved will be playing on good teams surrounded by good players. Best of luck to them I say.

What is important though is to have a full complement of players available for the start and duration of the league. Every effort must be made to gain promotion to Division 1 as soon as possible.

Asides from all that though, can't wait for the season to inter-county season to start. Here's hoping the year ahead is a good one.

[azoffaly]

bracknaghboy, UL are playing in the Waterford Crystal trophy, the equivalent of the Walsh Cup for Munster. As colleges now play in these pre-season tournaments, they are entitled, as per GAA rules, to first call on all their county players, hence the McKenna Cup situation of Tyrone, Armagh and Down players lining out for Jordanstown, Queens and Colraine against their own teams at times. Mickey Harte has had several rants about this.

In short, it's no reflection on the dedication of the Offaly lads, they have no choice.

[joe bloggs]

Whats going on here. We have Offaly playing the first competitve game of the year and fellas are going to play in a mickey mouse university match instead. This is a joke. We already have the footballers with nothing to show after 2 games. The hurlers need to be trying win every game possible to build momentum. I've said before that winning games is a good habit and can't be turned on like a switch. Tommy Lyons went all out to win every game in '97 and when we got going look where it took us. I've never understood why the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon cups are held in such high regard? Whats the big deal?
Any man that would play a college match before lining out in the Green White and Gold would be told where to go!

You obviously must never have had the privelge of taking part in a fitzgibbon or sigerson campaign. As already stated, for these pre season tournaments (i.e. Walsh and O'Byrne Cup) players line out with their college. As the start of the fitzgibbon cup is a matter of weeks away it makes perfect sense for players to line out with their college and do their best to make that team. Afterall we are hurling in division 2 this year, so if some of our younger players were exposed to a tough fitzgibbon campaign it would be great preparation for them for the rest of the year. Other players who are not involved in colleges will get a chance to stake a claim for a place on sunday. If joe dooley had a full squad on sunday only 21 players could get game time with the rest looking on. With some of the lads playing for their colleges it makes way for nearly all squad members to get some action. If you cant have an experimental team in the Walsh cup when could you have one? Galway too will face the same situation with regard to their college players, so that levels the field for sunday,
P.S. bracknaghboy If you have a spare weekend at the end of february go to watch a sigerson or fitzgibbon weekend and your eyes will be opened

[Lone Shark]

I'd be in complete agreement with the most recent posters above - lads spend their whole lives hurling with the one county and the one club, games where the eyes of all their peers are on them and where the pressure can be immense for even the most mickey mouse game. At Sigerson and Fitzgibbon level and possibly even the tiers below, the standard of preparation and play is top class, but without any of the baggage. Games like last year's Fitzgibbon final don't come along too often at any level, but I would argue that the psychological pressure that comes with intercounty play makes it difficult to happen there while the standard couldn't be that high in a club game.

As Joe bloggs mentioned also, this way as many as 35 or 40 Offaly hurlers will see a good chunk of Intercounty action this weekend - surely that's better than only 20 doing so?

As a slight aside, I've long argued that the closest thing to intercounty championship standard stuff on the GAA calendar are the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon championships towards the latter stages - and I include National league in that. My concern is not so much that Offaly are missing players in these competitions, it's that we're missing so few. Leaving aside UL which seems to have a definite Offaly flavour this year, it's scary how few of our hurlers are going to be playing a good standard of colleges hurling. I don't know if Kenny is still in NUIG, or if James Gorman will get his place for them, but outside of that there are a few lads in a middling GMIT team and that's pretty much it. DCU are improving and have a few, Trevor Corcoran is still playing well for DIT, but think of all the other contenders for this competition - UCD, UCC, CIT, LIT, Tipp Institute, WIT, and we have feck all if any in any of those teams. Sigerson is even worse I'd say. That should be our real worry.

[INOFFALYIBELIEVE]

just agreeing with the posts above wouldnt have any problem with the lads hurling for the colleges at this time, its as competitive as any other hurling they could be doing....

believe they lost the toss the other night for the venue of the championship match against wexford, but they know now so just have to get on with it and reality it shouldnt cause any fear for them...

As far as the match on sunday goes and the panel available, from what i understand Dylan Hayden is off the panel anyhow and Sean Ryan has opted solely for football this year... although if the last two sundays were anything to go by he might change his mind!!

As the season begins on Sunday, best of luck to all involved and hoping for a successful year ahead...

[bracknaghboy]

Sigerson and Fitzgibbon are little more than glorified piss ups. Players would be far better off lining out for their county. I would send out the strongest Offaly hurling team for every match. In division 2 we should be going after Carlow Down Laois etc and trying to humiliate them. Getting momentum going is the hardest thing for weaker countites. I could keep giving examples of it....Wexford footballers this years played every league game like their lives depended on it and lined out their best team each day...they remained unbeaten in the leage and nearly found themselves in an All-Ireland Final. Lining out different makeshift teams every week is a waste of time. Every game should be treated like an All-Ireland final. The last time any Offaly team attempted this was the footballers in 1997 and look what happpened.

[azoffaly]

Disagree completely with your assessment of the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups bracknaghboy, couldn't disagree more. The weekend after the team loses or whatever might be a piss up, college being college, but the preparation and standard of the games themselves is as high as any intercounty games up to the last few rounds of the AI series.

Anyway, it's a moot point, the players don't have a choice here, other than refusing to play for their college at all, ever, so you're solving the wrong problem. The issue is that the rule forces them to play with their college in these pre-season events, and that is perfectly understandable. You either exclude the colleges completely, which is one argument, or you allow the colleges to pick the players that they have access to. A college playing in these tournaments without their county players would be pointless.

In any case, the insinuation that this shows a lack of dedication to Offaly is off base.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Sigerson and Fitzgibbon are little more than glorified piss ups.

Tell that to the lads that have to go to training at 6:30am 3 days a week. I don't know what it used to be like but Universities see these competitions as a serious way of attracting students to the college and as such have pumped in a good amount of money into coaching and facilities. It's serious alright and I think the fact that you're the only one saying it's a piss up means that you should probably have a look again and see if things have changed since the last time you were involved.

[bracknaghboy]

Remove all univerity/College teams from Intercounty competition. The absurd notion of univerity teams in club championships should be ended as well. All nonsence. Let them have their beering session at the end of February but leave the county competitions to county teams and club competitions to club teams. Easy.

[swiftpost]

just agreeing with the posts above wouldnt have any problem with the lads hurling for the colleges at this time, its as competitive as any other hurling they could be doing....

believe they lost the toss the other night for the venue of the championship match against wexford, but they know now so just have to get on with it and reality it shouldnt cause any fear for them...

As far as the match on sunday goes and the panel available, from what i understand Dylan Hayden is off the panel anyhow and Sean Ryan has opted solely for football this year... although if the last two sundays were anything to go by he might change his mind!!

As the season begins on Sunday, best of luck to all involved and hoping for a successful year ahead...

What is the full 30 man panel at present?

[joe bloggs]

Remove all univerity/College teams from Intercounty competition. The absurd notion of univerity teams in club championships should be ended as well. All nonsence. Let them have their beering session at the end of February but leave the county competitions to county teams and club competitions to club teams. Easy.

You really don't understand whats going on here. Prior to colleges being invited to these pre season competitions, the college players often ended up having to play two matches at the weekend at this time of year. One for their college in a practice match as they were only weeks away from the first round, and then the next day line out for their county in the O'Byrne/Walsh cup. You would have some players burnt out before the league, and what if he were a dual player like Stephen Lucy UCD/Limerick. The demands being placed on these players was too much, so the simple solution was to bring the colleges into the competitions and give them their county players so no county manager could put undue pressure on a player, and afterall most of the practice matches played by the colleges were against county teams anyway. I dont think anyone really took any notice of the O'Byrne/Walsh cups etc. before the arrival of the collges, and the fixtures can throw up some interesting match-ups when say for example a Kilkenny player might have to line out against his own county.
The argument about university teams in club championships is a different ball game, one which has been debated at length and most people would agree that it should be left to clubs only. If you feel strongly enough about it why don't you put a motion down on it at club level and if its supported let it be brought to county board and congress. As they say your better off on the inside of the tent p**sing out, than on the outside p**sing in.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Some thoughts on the season ahead as Offaly prepare to get the year under way when they hurl Galway in the Welsh Cup. Rumours of “Welcome to Leinster” paraphernalia on the Bridge at Banagher have been greatly exaggerated!

Last year, with a championship opener against Laois followed by Kilkenny, Offaly would have looked to peak for the qualifiers in July, which they did. This year, with a championship opener against Wexford to be played on the last weekend of May, 2009 will be a very different year to 2008, for Offaly will need to be approaching their peak early in the season.

There’s no doubt Offaly owe Wexford one or three at this stage, Wexford having won the last three championship meetings by narrow margins. All three were matches Offaly should have won, but that old enigma of the second half fadeout blighted their performance on each occasion and Wexford finished the stronger.

This year is somewhat different with Offaly losing the toss for home venue. Privately I was hoping this would turn out to be the case! While Wexford is a long journey and only the most Faithful will make the trip, the away venue might just bring the edge to Offaly’s game. Playing in Tullamore would be percieved as to be bringing an advantage to the home side when, in fact, it wouldn’t, and would leave Offaly shorn of a vital edge to their game.

In any event, the problem of the long journey can be countered by the team travelling down in time and perhaps booking hotel rooms for an afternoon nap on arrival in the South-East, as Clare used do having landed in Dublin. Either that, or travelling by train, although the hassle of changing from Heuston to Connolly on a Bank Holiday Saturday might prove difficult in that event.

If you think Offaly get a raw deal when it comes to handing out home venues, it’s only in the ha’penny place when compared to Wexford! Wexford’s last home championship match was a Leinster quarter final in 1981 against Dublin, which they won, 2-20 to 0-8. Prior to that, you have to go back sixty years, to 1949, for their previous home match, when Kilkenny thumped them, 4-11 to 1-4 in New Ross.

Offaly will also be helped as they travel to Wexford Park for the league encounter, as they have an opportunity to get used to the surroundings. They may also travel down there in the Walsh cup or Shield if the pair have similar results in the quarter finals this weekend.

Playing in division 2 of the league will not hinder Offaly unduly in May as, fortunately, Wexford will operate in the same division, and should Offaly win, that Wexford match will be far better preparation for facing Kilkenny than Laois were in recent years.

However, the timing of the Championship opener will dictate that April will be a month of intensive training which will hinder Offaly’s league campaign. This, along with the scheduling of the league matches with the weaker counties coming up first and the stronger counties coming later in the campaign, may well ensure Offaly do not make the final. They should beat Carlow, Westmeath and Kerry, though Down and Laois will be tricky encounters. Down and Laois will both target the Offaly game for a win and both will peak around March anyway.

Still, the league campaign will be no doddle for Wexford as they must travel to Ulster twice during that campaign, and if Antrim can beat Wexford at home, the Saffrons might well have qualified for the final before they visit Offaly in April.

Losing to Wexford in the league in Wexford Park on Palm Sunday wouldn’t bother me unduly. Something in the region of a ten point win for Wexford might just be a blessing in disguise, and bring an edge to Offaly’s game come May. After all, the meltdown against Limerick in Tullamore last year didn’t hinder Offaly when it came to the championship in July. In fact, it probably reinforced a feeling of “we can’t lose to Offaly” in Limerick minds. History has shown that the Offaly psyche responds better to adversity than it does to unbeaten league runs.

Much water will flow under the bridges of the Shannon, the Slaney and many other rivers between now and then. Of more immediate concern will be the Walsh Cup first round on Sunday when Galway get their Leinster campaign under way. A good opportunity for both teams to try out some new hurlers with the University-tied lads absent.

Finally, some targets for the new hurling year, both probably related. Firstly, to find a solution to the bugbear that is second half fadeouts, the most recent of which came against Waterford last July. Second, to bring a bit more control to Offaly’s game and a more measured use of possession.