Offaly Senior A Hurling Championship 2023

[private joker]

You could have senior A 6 teams, senior b 6 teams. Top 4 in senior A qualifying for q finals and semi finals. Top 2 in b, play in q finals. Bottom 2 out of the 4 senior A qualifying teams play the top 2 in the b for sem final place.

Better coaching and team play would aslo help. Old school , get it , hit it might win you a county but doesn't help the county. Coaching/encourage playing through the lines, short puckouts, decision making on when to go long and proper techniques when hooking, blocking. Lastly coach how to tackle properly.

[Fairplayalways]

reading loads of above debates and upfront its senior A i really only have a decent bit of knowledge on so no attacks if i say something wrong here..looking at intermediate semi final draw..for example Rynaghs and Colderry are participants..both currently senior A, if either of them win it out, I take it 'no other' propper intermediate with no senior go up..is it abit pointless if Rynaghs or Colliderry win it out, they move up to Senior B, where they are already senior if you get what ime saying..surely these lower competitions should be for teams with no possible higher grades in that year..ok what do the Banaghers and Colderry do with their extended players..i dont know, let them play in these lower competitions and win them if so be it BUT the team to be promoted is either team that finished strongest behind the bigger teams that won it out and if that involves a play off so be it..we can argue that all clubs are entitled to participate etc.and i know these so called weaker clubs are putting out their best and strongest teams only in these competitions and often win them, but the other side is what is it doing for the weaker clubs if your Banaghers, Birrs and Colderry win them, possibly adding replenished stock than already well stocked regime in ways, while weaker clubs remain weak two tiers down .. i hope i put the point across..no doubt many won't agree at all, so be it, dont go attacking..just a thought..

[private joker]

You could have a 2nd teams only competition separated from the 1st teams. If you don't win your level of county title or worse finished 3rd or 4th, you don't want to be promoted. Ideally you want to win your way up. In senior b, I still think either clara or clodaigh gaels will win it out. If carrig can't win intermediate, they don't deserve to be promoted, nor will they want to to be honest.

[faithfulfanatic]

You could have a 2nd teams only competition separated from the 1st teams. If you don't win your level of county title or worse finished 3rd or 4th, you don't want to be promoted. Ideally you want to win your way up. In senior b, I still think either clara or clodaigh gaels will win it out. If carrig can't win intermediate, they don't deserve to be promoted, nor will they want to to be honest.

Clara are any form of Lusmagh result against Birr away from being knocked out. And even if they do go through, they will more than likely face KK. So you think Clara will beat KK?

I honestly can’t see the problem with second teams playing in senior B and intermediate.

Is taking the second teams out and putting them in their own championship not just making everything weaker?

[frankthetank]

You could have senior A 6 teams, senior b 6 teams. Top 4 in senior A qualifying for q finals and semi finals. Top 2 in b, play in q finals. Bottom 2 out of the 4 senior A qualifying teams play the top 2 in the b for sem final place.

Sorry but this is a nonsense proposal. Why should the 7th and 8th best team progress further in the championship than the 5th and 6th best team?

You are either Senior A or you are aren't. No backdoor entry into it. It's an insult to the teams who play tough hard Senior A games and might be knocked out on score difference and a team from Senior B who has obviously played easier games goes further in the championship.

In fact what you are promoting is the same structure that sees the Joe McDonagh finalists progress further in the All Ireland series than the 4th place Leinster and Munster team and no one thinks this is a good idea.

[private joker]

You could have a 2nd teams only competition separated from the 1st teams. If you don't win your level of county title or worse finished 3rd or 4th, you don't want to be promoted. Ideally you want to win your way up. In senior b, I still think either clara or clodaigh gaels will win it out. If carrig can't win intermediate, they don't deserve to be promoted, nor will they want to to be honest.

Clara are any form of Lusmagh result against Birr away from being knocked out. And even if they do go through, they will more than likely face KK. So you think Clara will beat KK?

I honestly can’t see the problem with second teams playing in senior B and intermediate.

Is taking the second teams out and putting them in their own championship not just making everything weaker?

Clara will beat shamrocks, birr I feel will beat lusma. Clara absolutely could beat kk. Lost to them by just a point in game they should have won and kk more likely to lose players to senior A

[Onionbag]

After watching most of the teams so far in the senior championship these are my predictions..

KK, will reach and win the final. May have to tweak the way the ball is delivered but I think they will win. Winning games so far in second gear is a great sign this time of year.

Shinrone I feel will reach the decider but without the full strength 15 I feel they will come up just short. The hunger is still there in fairness to thetm and they could prove a lot of people wrong.

St Rynagh's, looking at the first game against Birr it was in stark contrast to the they met last year. Rynagh's dominated them then and barely scraped over a Cahill less Birr. Their performance against KK this year was similar. Beaten semi I predict.



Ballinamere will come up just shorty in a semi too. I feel a year or two too early. Although I could be wrong. Definitely going in the right direction though.

Belmont beaten 1/4 finalists, simply too much bad luck with injuries. Cruel on a team who could go close.

Birr, beaten 1/4 finalists, need Cahill back ASAP.

[jimbob17]

I think there is a problem with depth in Offaly in hurling and football. In the stronger counties there are probably 6 or 7 teams that would feel they have genuine chance of winning a championship. In hurling in Offaly that is probably 3 or 4 in hurling - Rynaghs KK Shinrone and Belmont probably thinking like that last few years with maybe Ballinamere joining that group this year. Previously, it was likely 2 or 3 teams at different times. It is probably bit more spread in last year or two with Rynaghs slipping off so much. There is a gap there now for a team that goes for it but maybe it is because they top teams of previous (Birr, KK and Rynaghs in recent times for example) were a lot more dominant in their peak years than the current co champions.

The depth of competition isnt really comparable to that of bigger counties and there is a major fall off in Offaly from the No1 team to the No8 team for example. By this I mean that the 7th or 8th best team in Offaly wouldnt compare favourably to a similar rated team in likes of a Galway, Tipperary, Limerick or Clare. This isnt to be disparaging and maybe we should be looking to help out the weaker clubs a bit more so to increase competition across the board.

The fall off is even more pronounced in football in Offaly when you compare Rhode/Tullamore to Clara / Shamrocks. That may be due to numbers but I think in both hurling and football, there are some clubs selling themselves a bit short when it comes to preparing properly for senior level competition

[Fairplayalways]

As always topic has slipped in another direction..in summary i suppose what i am asking is should club teams of Senior A status be competing in lower competitions..should these be only competed for by teams with no higher grade above them..basically you win your way to the top grade and get relegated from it if you finish bottom of your senior A group/relegation battle..Rynaghs or Colderry winning intermediate is of no assistance to promoting hurling in C&R or similar type club..

[frankthetank]

If a club X’s 1st team is incapable of beating Club Y’s 2nd team what business have they hurling Club Y’s 1st team?

Therefore a grade below Senior for clubs made of 1st teams only is not feasible.

For example Drumcullen lost to Coolderry’s 2nd team in the Intermediate Championship. Do you think Drumcullen should be in a higher grade just because it’s their first team? That’s not how meritocracy works.

[chimbonda]

After watching most of the teams so far in the senior championship these are my predictions..

KK, will reach and win the final. May have to tweak the way the ball is delivered but I think they will win. Winning games so far in second gear is a great sign this time of year.

Shinrone I feel will reach the decider but without the full strength 15 I feel they will come up just short. The hunger is still there in fairness to thetm and they could prove a lot of people wrong.

St Rynagh's, looking at the first game against Birr it was in stark contrast to the they met last year. Rynagh's dominated them then and barely scraped over a Cahill less Birr. Their performance against KK this year was similar. Beaten semi I predict.



Ballinamere will come up just shorty in a semi too. I feel a year or two too early. Although I could be wrong. Definitely going in the right direction though.

Belmont beaten 1/4 finalists, simply too much bad luck with injuries. Cruel on a team who could go close.

Birr, beaten 1/4 finalists, need Cahill back ASAP.

Would agree with most of this. Not sure Shinrone are far from full strength and wouldn't write them off but KK prob have to be favourites. Personally I think Shinrone and KK are a nice bit ahead of the rest.

[Fairplayalways]

If a club X’s 1st team is incapable of beating Club Y’s 2nd team what business have they hurling Club Y’s 1st team?

Therefore a grade below Senior for clubs made of 1st teams only is not feasible.

For example Drumcullen lost to Coolderry’s 2nd team in the Intermediate Championship. Do you think Drumcullen should be in a higher grade just because it’s their first team? That’s not how meritocracy works.

Your missing my point, my point is Drumcullen should not be playing Coolderrys second team in Drumcullens top tier which is as of now intermediate level, would it not be better leave Drumcullen with their own level of teams like C&R and other such teams, the winners (or both finalists) go up a tier promoted, one as intermediate champions the other just promoted for reaching final..other side then is the two bottom teams above them in Senior B replace them at intermediate next year..this gives these now less successful teams their crack at Senior B and who knows senior A the following year...only problem in Offaly is would there be enough teams to segragate it in that way that you would only have your Drumcullens and C&Rs etc competing for the grade they are in and you wouldnt have the big Senior teams lower tiers in them competitions..if the promoted team (or teams) get relegated again the following year so be it, saying if they cant beat team Xs B team is not a good enough reason to allow them win their own championship playing clubs and teams of their own pedigree..not playing strong second teams of senior A clubs who will always have excess good talent to stock their second team etc..

[Dodge83]

If a club X’s 1st team is incapable of beating Club Y’s 2nd team what business have they hurling Club Y’s 1st team?

Therefore a grade below Senior for clubs made of 1st teams only is not feasible.

For example Drumcullen lost to Coolderry’s 2nd team in the Intermediate Championship. Do you think Drumcullen should be in a higher grade just because it’s their first team? That’s not how meritocracy works.

Your missing my point, my point is Drumcullen should not be playing Coolderrys second team in Drumcullens top tier which is as of now intermediate level, would it not be better leave Drumcullen with their own level of teams like C&R and other such teams, the winners (or both finalists) go up a tier promoted, one as intermediate champions the other just promoted for reaching final..other side then is the two bottom teams above them in Senior B replace them at intermediate next year..this gives these now less successful teams their crack at Senior B and who knows senior A the following year...only problem in Offaly is would there be enough teams to segragate it in that way that you would only have your Drumcullens and C&Rs etc competing for the grade they are in and you wouldnt have the big Senior teams lower tiers in them competitions..if the promoted team (or teams) get relegated again the following year so be it, saying if they cant beat team Xs B team is not a good enough reason to allow them win their own championship playing clubs and teams of their own pedigree..not playing strong second teams of senior A clubs who will always have excess good talent to stock their second team etc..

So where is Coolderrys second team supposed to play ?? You are talking shite !! They championship’s are fine the way they are. Why complicate things ??

[greenairfield]

Should be only 8 teams in senior A.
And go back to intermediate and junior A scrap senior B.
It would be alot more competitive as it was a few years ago.

[faithfulfanatic]

If a club X’s 1st team is incapable of beating Club Y’s 2nd team what business have they hurling Club Y’s 1st team?

Therefore a grade below Senior for clubs made of 1st teams only is not feasible.

For example Drumcullen lost to Coolderry’s 2nd team in the Intermediate Championship. Do you think Drumcullen should be in a higher grade just because it’s their first team? That’s not how meritocracy works.

Your missing my point, my point is Drumcullen should not be playing Coolderrys second team in Drumcullens top tier which is as of now intermediate level, would it not be better leave Drumcullen with their own level of teams like C&R and other such teams, the winners (or both finalists) go up a tier promoted, one as intermediate champions the other just promoted for reaching final..other side then is the two bottom teams above them in Senior B replace them at intermediate next year..this gives these now less successful teams their crack at Senior B and who knows senior A the following year...only problem in Offaly is would there be enough teams to segragate it in that way that you would only have your Drumcullens and C&Rs etc competing for the grade they are in and you wouldnt have the big Senior teams lower tiers in them competitions..if the promoted team (or teams) get relegated again the following year so be it, saying if they cant beat team Xs B team is not a good enough reason to allow them win their own championship playing clubs and teams of their own pedigree..not playing strong second teams of senior A clubs who will always have excess good talent to stock their second team etc..

So where is Coolderrys second team supposed to play ?? You are talking shite !! They championship’s are fine the way they are. Why complicate things ??

Agree 100% dodge.
People looking to change things for the sake of it.
Offaly’s Senior B and Intermediate championships are very very competitive.