2017 Walsh Cup

[KeshaWantsTimber]

This bias argument is a pile of steaming shite in fairness. Some county stalwarts like Brian Lohan in UL and Davy in LIT have gone into colleges and put their shoulder to the wheel. They know that if Clare lads miss Fitzgibbon hurling that a crucial stage in their development in missing. Fair play to them. They are fighting their corner.

This brings me to my next point. 5 years ago Carlow IT were barely on the radar with regards Fitz hurling but a few people came together, workef hard and now its a very strong contender with considerable representation for lads from Laois and Carlow.

What is stopping some Offaly men starting a similar project in Athlone IT?

Instead lads are on here moaning about perceived bias. What a shower of whingers.

[old yellar]

Hey, I m from carlow! You were the ones who didn't know oisin kelly was with lit!
Not so long ago carlow it only had 15 for some of DJs first league games.
As for brian Lohan and especially Davy fitz doing it for the benefit of their County, you are sadly mistaken! You and I know that there's a greater motivating factor at play with some of these guys..
As for Athlone it hurling, well its an idea but not one that would be driven by a county board surely. There's only 2 carlow county seniors on carlow it panel by the way so its not like there's loads! Ye would nearly have had as many at times - short, mark Egan, Conor Clancy, doughan to name the ones I rem in last few years hurled down here.

[Plain of the Herbs]

A few things -

As long as the Offaly underage system (for want of a better word) continues in its present state, and young Offaly hurlers remain deficient in basic skills, Offaly hurlers are no use to a serious college team. There may be exceptions (Conor Doughan looked comfortable in last year's NHL quarter-final, for example). The follow on is that young Offaly hurlers will not experience the elite type training that Fitzgibbon hurling offers. They won't be training like elite hurlers, they won't be hanging with elite hurlers and they won't be living like elite hurlers. And while at enough of a disadvantage at age 18, they will fall further behind during their student years.

And as for the perception of bias - how many of the Clare lads chosen by Brian Lohan or David Fitzgerald have won one or more All-Ireland U21 championships? I'd say most of them. And good luck to them. Wails of 'bias' don't wash at all. Not from a county that treats several core skills as unnecessary.

The Offaly lads who hurled Fitzgibbon yesterday were -
Pádraic Guinan - played almost the full match for UCD in their narrow defeat to UCC
Joey O'Connor came on in the first half and scored a goal for Waterford IT in their big win over Trinity
Conor Slevin was in goal for Galway RTC in their defeat by DIT

And I think that's it.

As for hurlers from Offaly's main rivals at the moment -

Rowland, Palmer, Dwyer & Maher played for Carlow IT in their draw with Mary I, as did Carlow's Kavanagh and Doyle.
Gillen (goal) and Killian Doyle were on the DIT team pipped by Limerick IT. Tommy Doyle, Robbie Greviille and Derek McNicholas played leading roles for DIT.

[kaiserchief]

Galway only lost to Killkenny by 2 points today. God help us next Sunday.

[private joker]

Where is the Galway game been played?

[kaiserchief]

Think it's a double header in OCP next Sunday.

Probably 20 euro in..

[Plain of the Herbs]

Tickets €12 if bought in advance (a €2 increase on last year). It's €15 to pay on the day (same as last year). That it is a double header does not affect the admission fee.

Think it's a double header in OCP next Sunday.

Probably 20 euro in..

[kaiserchief]

Maybe offaly could use same approach when fixing double headers.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Well, the gate receipts from domestic club matches go towards preparing the County teams, so best leave the admission charges as they are.

Maybe offaly could use same approach when fixing double headers.

[sam88885a]

Best of luck to Sean Ryan as offaly captain for 2017 . Galway will be a big test so we need leaders ,
Will J Bergin J Mulrooney D king and S Kinsella be ok for selection ?

I Have not seen any games just read match reports from the walsh cup games so im completely guessing .
Will the team be something like this ?
J Demsey
M Cleary
D Shortt
S Gardner
B Connelly
C Doughan
P Camon
D King
S Ryan
P Murphy
J Bergin
J Mulrooney
S Dooley
O Kelly
S Cleary

Have we any chance of causing an upset ????

[jimbob17]

Absolutely no chance. While we have rattled Galway in the past, we will not be within 15 of them in my opinion. Cuckoos will come home to roost this year I am afraid.

[kaiserchief]

Im on the same line of thinking.

Galway have upped there game a bit this year and have a their eye on promotion and winning a leinster final in sight.

Offaly wont boder them in the slightest.

[sam88885a]

Galway have been fairly consistent last year and I think their team is more settled under the new managment so they will want to drive on .
They have more forwards other than Joe Canning now so he might have more freedom to express himself this year .
I agree sunday will be a struggle for us just hope we dont get hammered.
Can anyone tell me is it true that Galway poached Tips fitness coach from last year???

[jimbob17]

Yes - a Polish lad with good rep. Would be S&C coach with various teams for last few years....Lukasz Kirszenstein. http://www.the42.ie/galway-s-c-fitness- ... 7-Oct2016/.

There are plenty of lads like him around. The S&C piece of training, while important, is not the reason Offaly are behind - in fact Offaly would have highly regarded S&C coach this year and had last few years also - its the hurling coaching (and lack of best players) is the issue. They might only run one or two strength sessions per week.

You can't turn ducks into swans no matter who is training the team. The fact is that Offaly are short of ten of their best 20 hurlers and this will prove costly this year.

[kaiserchief]

very well said jimbob17..

its brutal honesty and fair play to the lads that are in there giving it their all.. we are just at nothing at the moment..

Christy Ring... here we come...