League & Championship hurling 2022

[greenairfield]

How many county finals in the last 10 years were played under heavy rain?

While Irelands weather can be poor we are not playing in monsoon season.
I think as someone mentioned you are bias to OCP and so much so you don't post here regularly anymore so when this topic came up it is pretty evident to see it is something that sores you for whatever reason because you have posted consistently on the the topic.

Let's promote hurling all over the county that is what makes sense. SBP is a fine ground and well able to hold a final OCP is even a better ground and can hold county finals split them for the better of Offaly hurling.

[Lone Shark]

It doesn't need to be a monsoon. Even moderate rain makes people want to come in for shelter, and there have been quite a few recent county finals played in very wet conditions. The drawn football final last year, it was wet for the hurling decider as well, albeit light rain, and Rhode's win over Tullamore in 2020 was in wet weather as well.

It's not exactly a freak occurrence that you get wet weather in Ireland in October, to be fair.

[llkj]

It is fair to say that if you are comparing venues purely on facilities alone that OCP is going to win hands down, in probably every category.

If you are going to make decisions purely on likely attendance numbers/financial impact, then you can't purely compare 2022 to 2023, as attendance is going to fluctuate depending on a number of factors - what teams are in the final, weather on the day, novelty factor of changing venue, etc. I think a better comparison would be the first 10 years of the final being played in OCP versus the proceeding 10 years at SBP.

The move to stage next years final in SBP goes beyond facilities and finance.

There is the 'community' aspect of spreading the game around the county - although having said that I really hope that this is not mistaken for "hurling belongs in Birr, as the people of the south are the only ones that can hurl" - as that attitude is partly responsible for why we find ourselves down in the lower tiers.

There is also the 'political/PR' aspect to this and Michael Duignan is well versed in that area. the man of the people bringing hurling back to the people - not having a cut at Duignan here, as it is a really clever move to keep everyone on board and showing that the election promises are being upheld.

Personally, I think it is a good idea to give SBP a shot again and perhaps alternate thereafter.

[private joker]

How does playing in birr better hurling in offaly?

[Dodge83]

I have seen a lot of comments on social media saying about time the county final was back in Birr , should never have left , back where it belongs , the home of hurling etc…I think it’s good to have it in Birr next year but where Birr people get the idea it should be there every year and “belongs” there is a bit silly. The home of hurling in any county is the county ground. And OCP is a fantastic ground. Yes the atmosphere might be better in Birr but in my eyes the final should be in OCP. It’s where all players young & old want to play. County finals from junior to senior should be there. Not many small clubs ever get to play there and reaching a junior final is a great opportunity for them to play there.

[greenairfield]

Dodge I am a Birr person and I certainly don't believe Birr is the "home of hurling" and if you are gonna go off some social media comments it's completely ridiculous the people involved in the club feel its an achievement that they eventually got hurling back in SBP they certainly don't believe hurling "belongs there".

It should be changed every second year to accommodate all hurling communities throughout the county.

No club or county should be labelled on what some and I mean SOME people say on social media.

[frankthetank]

Tradition is created. North offaly coming to the fore. Colaiste choilm lost to kierans by two points in leinster league.

Tradition is indeed created.

Created in fine fashion when St Brendan’s Community School WON the All Ireland Colleges in the 1980’s. Colaiste Choilm has a bit to go yet.

[Dodge83]

Dodge I am a Birr person and I certainly don't believe Birr is the "home of hurling" and if you are gonna go off some social media comments it's completely ridiculous the people involved in the club feel its an achievement that they eventually got hurling back in SBP they certainly don't believe hurling "belongs there".

It should be changed every second year to accommodate all hurling communities throughout the county.

No club or county should be labelled on what some and I mean SOME people say on social media.

It’s not just on social media , it’s a subject which I’ve talked about plenty of times in pubs and at matches , and a lot of the birr public do think that way. I’m well aware of the hard work the people involved in the birr club have done to get a county final back, and congratulations to them and I hope it’s a success but my opinion is the county finals should be in OCP

[greenairfield]

Not just Birr public south Offaly public

[Fairplayalways]

Great debate above and some excellent valid points, alternate between OCP and SBP seems a very good idea moving hurling finals (and semis) around will help keep hurling promoted North and South Offaly.. Ime going to try my hand at predicting the two semi finals scores, I'll probably be way out but here goes - Belmont 1-18 Shinrone 1-16, and Kilcormac/Killoughey 0-20 Birr 1-14...also possilities Shinrone might win with a late goal, and KK to beat Birr by 8 or 9 points..often the games we think will be close go to season form and the favourite wins well..covered alot of possibilities

[Buttons]

Slightly off topic but was the OCP lease payments ever sorted out, nothing much said about it recently.

As for having the final in birr yes I think it is a good decision, personally it’s about same distance for me to both venues, OCP wins no brainer apart from atmosphere, when you look at other county grounds it is well ahead of most of them. It is all about promoting the game and like with the minors this year will more young people go because they might never have been to a county final possibly, as for looking at official attendance I don’t know,it all depends on the teams involved, some will have bigger catchment areas than others especially if they reach the first final. It’s all about variation and if it’s good for hurling in general then alternating every second year ticks that box. Not only that but it brings a bit of money into businesses in birr too.

[Doon Exile]

Best of luck to Belmont this weekend.

[Fairplayalways]

indeed yes, as a neutral it will be nice to have at least one "new" team in a final..

[Onionbag]

Birr v Shinrone final for me

[Fairplayalways]

fair enough, I just cannot see how Birr have improved so much from earlier rounds (maybe indeed they have) but by all accounts while they were good in QF Ballinamere were poor, so somewhere in the middle lies Birrs current form, KK have been around now long enough to get results when they need them and barring Rynaghs they have been the ohter dominant club, I just think they will see off Birr..