Offaly Hurling team for championship v Dublin

[wazzaman]

I heard Derek Molloy wont start due to injury maybe he'll get 30 mins!!! thats what i hear anyways

[Offaly2010]

I heard Derek Molloy wont start due to injury maybe he'll get 30 mins!!! thats what i hear anyways

Jaysus, will we have 15 at all?

[Lone Shark]

I heard Derek Molloy wont start due to injury maybe he'll get 30 mins!!! thats what i hear anyways

Jaysus, will we have 15 at all?

Bring your hurl, just in case.

[Long John]

If Brian Carroll is out thats a massive blow. Id rate him as Offalys best attacker. Disaster losing him.

I also have big worries about our backline. They concede massive scores in every game they play. This Dublin team has been putting up big scores and recently even though you can say it was a challenge game they put 26points up on Tipp and used their bench alot more than Tipp aswell showing a good strenght in depth.

[High School Musical]

I'm not from the hurling part of the county and I wouldn't claim to have the same knowledge of our players as most of ye posting on here. The general consensus from what I'm reading is that Joe Dooley was a bad appointment, a poor manager and has lost the respect of several players. Fair enough. But looking at our recent record at Minor & U-21, is it really any surprise that we're not competing at the very top anymore and the likes of Carlow & Westmeath are rapidly catching up with us? Have many of the current senior panel tasted success with the county at any level growing up? I know there was the Leinster minor championship victory some years ago, but thats pretty much it. The question is, do we have the players? I'd be inclined to say that we dont. If thats the case, then I dont care what manager we have, we'll win nothing.
I'll be there on Sunday cheering on the lads. We'll revel in the underdogs role and if we can put up a show anything like we did against Galway last year then we're in with a shout. Up the Faithful!

[Kevin]

Big task ahead on Sunday. We're a bit banged up in many regards. It might be tough to be optimistic based on what has transpired this year and what has and has not been done in the years leading up to this point.

There are a few reasons we can choose be hopeful on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how things pan out:

1. We are already beaten in the minds of many. Daly will take time out of preparations to warn his team of this trap. Good. This is a distraction. Dublin is a team that has yet to taste success in championship hurling regardless of how good they may be. Now they're being told to not overlook a team they have not beaten in this competition in 20 years! This in and of itself is very dangerous psychological territory. Let's see what happens.

2. Dublin, expected to win as they are, will want to push their 'advantage' early. Watch what happens if the nervousness gets in there and the wides start to pile up.

3. Our boys have nothing to fear, no expectations. They can hurl away with without any pressure. All Ireland Contenders are never in this position.

4. Our forwards can catch fire at any moment in a game. We've all seen it happen. Lets see how the opposition reacts to a steady stream of scores (hopefully we get some measure of supply). Does Dublin have the ability to weather the storm or will they lose their shape in the white heat of championship? Well, in fairness we don't know. Neither do they. I hope we all find out.

This Dublin team has a lot of questions to answer. Its our job on Sunday to ask as many of them as possible to see if a crack can be found. I'd expect them to be well prepared, but if things go wrong anything can happen. There is no track record of recovery for them as yet. Let's hope we can cause harm to them early. Perhaps confusion will reign for long periods of time. All the preparation in the world can't help predict how teams will react at the moment of truth. When the form book is tossed aside its too late for prayer.

Its been a long time since people got sick when our name was next on their fixture list. Unlike a number of others this may be the first time Dublin are happy to see us up next. Let's show them come 3:30 on Sunday that they were mistaken. It will serve as a warning to everyone else too.

YOU CAN DO IT LADS!!!

Please plan to be ahead by 2 goals going into injury time so we can finish a goal and a point clear...easy enough right!

UP THE FAITHFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[True Red]

Quote by Conal Keaney taken from RTE.ie

'If we perform on the day and don't let anything get to us like the hype, we'll be ok.

'It's not about Offaly. If we perform we will win. It's as simple as that.'

Nail this over the door of the dressing room in Croker.

[the bare biffo]

Just to show the value of context to quotes, Keaney also said;

'It doesn't matter who we're playing. If we're playing Tipperary, Offaly or Kilkenny, it's not about them any more. We just have to perform to our potential.'

Its just bit of confidence building stuff that goes on in every team.
Maybe Offaly need a little more of this and less of the humble nice guy stuff.

[Offaly2010]

Offaly team named tonight:

1.James Dempsey
2.Michael Verney
3.David Kenny
4.Stephan Egan
5.Dylan Hayden
6.Rory Hannify
7.Derek Morkan
8.Conor Mahon
9.Derek Molloy
10.Brian Carroll
11.Ger Healion
12.Colin Egan
13.Shane Dooley
14.Joe Bergin
15.Daniel Currams.

[townman]

best we have see Brian Carroll made it, the back line looks poor without Paul Cleary, James Rigney, and Franks
still i think we will sneak it bye 2 points please god.

[Plain of the Herbs]

HSM,

I do think there’s too much of a focus on the “we’ve won nothing at underage in yonks” stuff (this goes for football too, and you are, of course, welcome to comment on both on this forum!).

Any underage team will be divided roughly into three. There’ll be the stars, who will go on to hurl Senior anyway, there’ll be those who do the donkey work, and there’ll be those who make up the numbers. The success of an underage team depends on how many stars there are, and on the contribution the third category will make. Of course, you want as many of the first two categories and as few of the third, though that will depend on population trends. Offaly, or Carlow or the like will always be up against it in this regard. You still need to field 15.

I do feel that the problem is that players are being under-prepared for dealing with players from other counties (not being competent enough in the air, etc.). Phoenix, in a succinct summary of the Westmeath match says as much. We can only speculate as yet how many of that Minor team will go on to hurl at Senior level.

Joseph Bergin (who is one of the most talented hurlers in the country, in my view) had an inglorious Minor career, as far as results are concerned, yet made a big impact when he first hurled Senior on his first year out of Minor. On the other hand, Stephen Egan is one who slipped in under the underage radar. James Rigney too.

Yes, it would be nice to be successful at underage. I do think it’s more important to develop a few each year who would make an impact at Senior. Encouraging a more modern game among the youth would be critical.

I'm not from the hurling part of the county and I wouldn't claim to have the same knowledge of our players as most of ye posting on here. The general consensus from what I'm reading is that Joe Dooley was a bad appointment, a poor manager and has lost the respect of several players. Fair enough. But looking at our recent record at Minor & U-21, is it really any surprise that we're not competing at the very top anymore and the likes of Carlow & Westmeath are rapidly catching up with us? Have many of the current senior panel tasted success with the county at any level growing up? I know there was the Leinster minor championship victory some years ago, but thats pretty much it. The question is, do we have the players? I'd be inclined to say that we dont. If thats the case, then I dont care what manager we have, we'll win nothing.
I'll be there on Sunday cheering on the lads. We'll revel in the underdogs role and if we can put up a show anything like we did against Galway last year then we're in with a shout. Up the Faithful!

[atomic]

Did a Mr.Joe Bergin not score 5-10 out of 5-15 in a minor B finl against Raheen. Stephen Egan never was overlooked at underage level he always tipped as a potential senior player he just never seemed to stay on the panel long enough without dropping himself to make an impact. Also another lad who probably had to choose between hurling and football.

[townman]

Did a Mr.Joe Bergin not score 5-10 out of 5-15 in a minor B finl against Raheen. Stephen Egan never was overlooked at underage level he always tipped as a potential senior player he just never seemed to stay on the panel long enough without dropping himself to make an impact. Also another lad who probably had to choose between hurling and football.

yes Stephen Egan never stay with a panel long enough i know a few tullamore lads who told me up to a few years ago it was hard to get him to hurl
with tullamore even. as for minor i remember him playing again laois in Birr a few years ago corner back and done well

[Efan]

Its been a long time since people got sick when our name was next on their fixture list. Unlike a number of others this may be the first time Dublin are happy to see us up next. Let's show them come 3:30 on Sunday that they were mistaken. It will serve as a warning to everyone else too.

FYI, yhat game is on at 2.00 on Sunday. I assume we are on TV with Tipp and Cork in the 4.00 game

[High School Musical]

HSM,

I do think there’s too much of a focus on the “we’ve won nothing at underage in yonks” stuff (this goes for football too, and you are, of course, welcome to comment on both on this forum!).

Any underage team will be divided roughly into three. There’ll be the stars, who will go on to hurl Senior anyway, there’ll be those who do the donkey work, and there’ll be those who make up the numbers. The success of an underage team depends on how many stars there are, and on the contribution the third category will make. Of course, you want as many of the first two categories and as few of the third, though that will depend on population trends. Offaly, or Carlow or the like will always be up against it in this regard. You still need to field 15.

I do feel that the problem is that players are being under-prepared for dealing with players from other counties (not being competent enough in the air, etc.). Phoenix, in a succinct summary of the Westmeath match says as much. We can only speculate as yet how many of that Minor team will go on to hurl at Senior level.

Joseph Bergin (who is one of the most talented hurlers in the country, in my view) had an inglorious Minor career, as far as results are concerned, yet made a big impact when he first hurled Senior on his first year out of Minor. On the other hand, Stephen Egan is one who slipped in under the underage radar. James Rigney too.

Yes, it would be nice to be successful at underage. I do think it’s more important to develop a few each year who would make an impact at Senior. Encouraging a more modern game among the youth would be critical.

Well put 'Plain of The Herbs', some well written & valid points there.
I do understand the greater need to have a small number of exceptionally talented players coming out of underage every year rather than a larger number of players who will more than likely be there to make up the numbers.
This of course applies to the footballers as well. For the last 5 or 6 years I think the footballers have been making great strides in this respect. That said, I still see the footballers being able to come & go in terms of 'competing' for many years, due to the fact that its a game thats widely played among the counties of Ireland, and everyone is coming from a level playing field so to speak. My worry for the hurlers is that in the last 30 years we've managed to push ourselves into the category (about 10 team roughly) of elite hurling teams. Within that time we've won 4 All-Irelands (as many as Tipperary or is it 1 more). To fall out of that category is negligence on behalf of those involved, be it the County Board whoever. We have no God-given right to be in the upper tier of hurling counties (I think we worked bloody hard enough to get there in the 1st place), and we're in serious danger of falling out of it to be honest. The emergence of the likes of Carlow & Westmeath, while good for the game, puts serious pressure on Offaly as we fall further down the ranks. While I agree that its not all about winning things at Underage, I think the issue needs to be looked at all the same. Producing competitive u-21, minor & even underage teams will lead to a better future for Offaly hurling. Currently I think we seem to be getting less competitive, although maybe I'm judging this on a short time-period (i.e. 5 years) and maybe another crop of future all-ireland winners are taking their first puck now as we speak. To be honest, I know little of the makeup of the underage hurling setup in Offaly so I'm not a great man to comment on it I suppose, but I'm just eager as we all are to get back to them days such as the late 90's when we were at the top of the tree. Its not going to just fall into place for us so we need to lay down the building blocks of the future now.

Anyway, best of luck to both of the senior teams at the weekend. Hopefully we get the rub of the green to help us get the win in both cases, as theres probably not a lot to choose between the teams in both games