Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

[kaiserchief]

well said toxicity.

im sure greenairfield will have a problem with this as neither are from birr or they wont hurl well until we play in birr..

[greenairfield]

That match was 4 years ago tox didn't think u only have to hurl well once every 4 years to make the offaly team, maybe that shows where we are as county.



Regarding grants no I didn't make as I don't follow grants and didn't see any benefit in going to it.

You KK guys love sticking together.

[Toxicity234]

That match was 4 years ago tox didn't think u only have to hurl well once every 4 years to make the offaly team, maybe that shows where we are as county.



Regarding grants no I didn't make as I don't follow grants and didn't see any benefit in going to it.

You KK guys love sticking together.

Wash out your mouth. I'm a very proud Drumcullen man

[keyboardwarrior]

"Two good players that should be put in direct competition for the full forward position and let them push each other to keep the position"

Yes in an ideal world.

The last 'out and out' 14 Offaly had was Padraig Horan. The position was a revolving door through the 90's and with the fall off in options its understandable that we robbed peter to pay Paul when you need big men to contest puck outs and kill opponents momentum further up the field.

That said 14 isn't the target/breaker/poacher role it used to be in that so many teams these days play to take their scores from further out the field. Hannon for Limerick seems to still pay that role.

Joe had plenty of frustrating days in the tricolour so I hope he can enjoy and get the most out of what remains of of his inter-county career wherever he plays.

POTH you might explain why you refer to him as 'Joseph' so often - it seems almost maternal! Just curious as to whether it may be an 'Andrew' Cole job in that the man himself is particular about it.

[greenairfield]

For a Drumullen man you fair have your head shoved up k/ks hole

[Plain of the Herbs]

No problem, K. Eh, because that's his name!

JB would be commonly known as Joseph around Clareen way, which distinguishes him from his father who is also Joe. Seir Kieran teamlists refer to him as 'Joseph' on teamsheets too.

POTH you might explain why you refer to him as 'Joseph' so often - it seems almost maternal! Just curious as to whether it may be an 'Andrew' Cole job in that the man himself is particular about it.

[sam88885a]

greenairfield . lets be positive ,last sunday we got a big win and we saw a battling preformance in the second half from offaly .
that something that has been missing from offaly teams for quite a while .
its the first time in a number of years that i felt there is a proper team spirit .
your club man s ryan put his body on the line for the cause.
did u enjoy the game and where do u think e kelly needs to work on to develope this team for the limerick game?
do u think we can beat limerick?

[keyboardwarrior]

Spot on. Cheers. Something that always aroused curiosity.

[Toxicity234]

For a Drumullen man you fair have your head shoved up k/ks hole

May i suggest that it time that you have your Doctor checked your medication.
It's very much time to up your dosage.

The Joseph thing is something i never noticed. Great eye for details.

[Kevin]

do u think we can beat limerick?

YES!!!

[jimbob17]

While there is an element of positivity about our hurlers this year, there are bigger issues at play. I know its been discussed previously but its very relevant. We are in the position now in hurling because on one reason alone. Our underage hurling structures have been mismanaged for years - and have always been. Other counties have moved with the times. We have few decent coaches in our county working at youth level. I'd say there are countless clubs in Kilkenny Wexford and Dublin with higher numbers of decent coaches than we have in our whole county. There is an apathy towards improving coaching standards in the county and we as a county are paying the price.

We have an amount of average players - nobody really stands out in club championships- not like they used to at least. I'd say at least 50 lads have played league or championship in the last 3 years. County lads dont stand out any more in club level - From fitness point of view alone they should be standing out. That's not reflective of an elite level set up.

Lads waltz from minor into senior panel and then whinge when they dont get to play. Minors and U21 have done nothing in the last 10-12 years. Cant remember them even beating a wexford or Dublin and lose regularly to "lesser" counties. We are in disarray. Very often, lads arent treated right at underage and by the time they get to adult level, they just couldnt be arsed being involved in another "joke set up" as has often been the case. There is no prestige in being involved in Offaly hurling.

Standards and expectations are set very low and we get our just rewards. We are getting little or none through to play Fitzgibbon hurling - a significant bridge to inter county senior. Lads that wouldnt get near a fitzgibbon team in a WIT, UCC or UL are making our senior panel. Kildare Westmeath Carlow and Laois are outperforming us regarding Fitzgibbon numbers of late.

Skillful, tricky lads come through that don't have the speed or power, yet they are not given the tools to improve this area. Strong powerful lads come through that don't have the skills and we don't have the knowledge to impart how to develop these. What are the county board doing with regard to developing lads physically for county level. I know of other counties that have employed people to manage underage strength and conditioning programmes. If we were anyway smart, we should be getting good young sport science people involved and drive the thing from the bottom up.

I was at a level 1 coaching course there 2 yrs ago and some clubs had nobody in doing them. They were good courses and I learned a bit but there were lads there who really opened my eyes about our dearth of coaching practice. I know everyone is there to learn and improve and it was great they were there but some of the stories relayed were horrific - lads talkin about doing laps etc, horrendous stuff . There is another level 2 course that I intend to do in the next while and was talking lately to someone in Kilkenny from an intermediate club about it. He said that 4 or 5 from his club alone has a level 2 course done and at least 40 have the level 1 done. there is huge appetite for doing the whole coaching thing right down there and he reckoned Wexford werent too far off them in what they were at. I'd say Dublin are up there too......

He also that said nobody would get near being involved with a county team at any level without having a level 2 course or at least level 1 with a lot of experience at playing and coaching at adult club level. I doubt thats the case in Offaly where they are struggling to get anyone in some ages. He was surprised when i told him what was going on in Offaly with little appetite for attending the courses and little demand for them. Sure its no wonder we are where we are. We are not getting our heroes of yore to contribute anything. Now some might not be brilliant but there are good lads there that need to be tapped into. It seems Birr are on the right track again and this is badly needed as they have produced very little for us for the last few years.

Meanwhile, we go to play likes of Clare, Limerick and wexford - counties we should be able to compete with at the very least and get trimming after trimming. Last year was hugely embarassing. Eamon Kelly and his crew will ship some heavy water but I cant help thinking that it is worse its going to get. Laoise have gone and built their ship from the bottom up. We might sneak a win over them short term, but longer term, they are way ahead of us at the moment.

We will probably stay up but the scary thing will be how far we are off the Clares and Limericks. Lets hope that bridge can be closed with hard work but it'll take more than that if its to be sustained longer term.......

[keyboardwarrior]

Fair play to you Jimbob that is a very important post – it should be stuck at the top of every hurling related forum on this site. I would copy and paste it to any outsider who wanted to know the real picture behind our continuing slide.

Anything I say here is not to take from the important work being undertaken by Kelly and his committed panel but the dog on the street knows where the real problems lie.

Your example of the KK intermediate club representation on that course is as stark as you can get. I’ve always felt the relative success of our club senior sides in the muck and the shite of October to March have papered over the chasms (not cracks) that exist from the mid-tier senior clubs right through the OY championship. You can look to the results of OY intermediate sides against KK junior teams in the Leinster club championships in recent years to see this.

To add to a few points ..

Fitzgibbon representation – like – that is an absolute ‘must have’ in terms of minimum representation. That’s where new ideas and philosophies on the game are nurtured and spread. Look at the personnel in the management set-ups in last week’s Fitz final weekend … what aspiring county star wouldn't aspire to be in amongst any of those set ups when he’s filling out the CAO form?

Nevermind Clare and Limerick, you mention our neighbours Kildare. Have a read of this …

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic- ... 38486.html

While Naas would be an example of the emerging ‘superclubs’ in the game with resources and numbers it is up to OY clubs on the ground to respond to changing demographics and playing numbers with amalgamations and divisional teams and structures dedicated to hurling particularity in the northern urban areas of the county.

All things been equal and nothing changing we could be looking at the Lilywhites handing out proverbial trimmings to OY in years to come if nothing is done about the standard of coaching and elite level participation in OY. What would the south offaly massive make of that?

Anyone who succeeds in breaking away from the inanity that dominates prime airtime on wan on Friday nights to watch Seo Sport on TG4 is in for a treat.

Time and time again Paudie Butler rises above the pub-talk with real knowledge and insight. The very man who explicitly excluded OY in his assessment of nationwide county set ups. Aside from Liam Sheedy (who may be proving a worthwhile appointee), and I don’t know how PB operates but Paudie Butler should be brought in to conduct a root and branch evaluation and restructuring of OY underage club and county development panels with those parties who are committed to putting the work in on the ground.

Invariably everything begins with the parents and committed club men at club level. And with the parents it begins with less of the ‘drop them off for the 2 hour break’ and more ‘what can I do in any small way to help in the improvement’.

[theoutsider]

While there is an element of positivity about our hurlers this year, there are bigger issues at play. I know its been discussed previously but its very relevant. We are in the position now in hurling because on one reason alone. Our underage hurling structures have been mismanaged for years - and have always been. Other counties have moved with the times. We have few decent coaches in our county working at youth level. I'd say there are countless clubs in Kilkenny Wexford and Dublin with higher numbers of decent coaches than we have in our whole county. There is an apathy towards improving coaching standards in the county and we as a county are paying the price.

We have an amount of average players - nobody really stands out in club championships- not like they used to at least. I'd say at least 50 lads have played league or championship in the last 3 years. County lads dont stand out any more in club level - From fitness point of view alone they should be standing out. That's not reflective of an elite level set up.

Lads waltz from minor into senior panel and then whinge when they dont get to play. Minors and U21 have done nothing in the last 10-12 years. Cant remember them even beating a wexford or Dublin and lose regularly to "lesser" counties. We are in disarray. Very often, lads arent treated right at underage and by the time they get to adult level, they just couldnt be arsed being involved in another "joke set up" as has often been the case. There is no prestige in being involved in Offaly hurling.

Standards and expectations are set very low and we get our just rewards. We are getting little or none through to play Fitzgibbon hurling - a significant bridge to inter county senior. Lads that wouldnt get near a fitzgibbon team in a WIT, UCC or UL are making our senior panel. Kildare Westmeath Carlow and Laois are outperforming us regarding Fitzgibbon numbers of late.

Skillful, tricky lads come through that don't have the speed or power, yet they are not given the tools to improve this area. Strong powerful lads come through that don't have the skills and we don't have the knowledge to impart how to develop these. What are the county board doing with regard to developing lads physically for county level. I know of other counties that have employed people to manage underage strength and conditioning programmes. If we were anyway smart, we should be getting good young sport science people involved and drive the thing from the bottom up.

I was at a level 1 coaching course there 2 yrs ago and some clubs had nobody in doing them. They were good courses and I learned a bit but there were lads there who really opened my eyes about our dearth of coaching practice. I know everyone is there to learn and improve and it was great they were there but some of the stories relayed were horrific - lads talkin about doing laps etc, horrendous stuff . There is another level 2 course that I intend to do in the next while and was talking lately to someone in Kilkenny from an intermediate club about it. He said that 4 or 5 from his club alone has a level 2 course done and at least 40 have the level 1 done. there is huge appetite for doing the whole coaching thing right down there and he reckoned Wexford werent too far off them in what they were at. I'd say Dublin are up there too......

He also that said nobody would get near being involved with a county team at any level without having a level 2 course or at least level 1 with a lot of experience at playing and coaching at adult club level. I doubt thats the case in Offaly where they are struggling to get anyone in some ages. He was surprised when i told him what was going on in Offaly with little appetite for attending the courses and little demand for them. Sure its no wonder we are where we are. We are not getting our heroes of yore to contribute anything. Now some might not be brilliant but there are good lads there that need to be tapped into. It seems Birr are on the right track again and this is badly needed as they have produced very little for us for the last few years.

Meanwhile, we go to play likes of Clare, Limerick and wexford - counties we should be able to compete with at the very least and get trimming after trimming. Last year was hugely embarassing. Eamon Kelly and his crew will ship some heavy water but I cant help thinking that it is worse its going to get. Laoise have gone and built their ship from the bottom up. We might sneak a win over them short term, but longer term, they are way ahead of us at the moment.

We will probably stay up but the scary thing will be how far we are off the Clares and Limericks. Lets hope that bridge can be closed with hard work but it'll take more than that if its to be sustained longer term.......

Unreal. Goes to show that if you put your head down and put the effort in then you can reap the rewards. Whatever about the argument about hurling in Birr, the saddest thing in offaly is that there is no Hurling team in North Offaly serving players in Edenderry, Ballyfore, Clonmore, Rhode, Croghan, Clonbullogue, Daingean, Kilclonfert (Tullamore egible maybe?). Thats 7+ Clubs with no hurling whatsoever. Surely to god there needs to be some investment in Underage structures and Adult structures in this area? In the 90's there was hurling teams in Edenderry, Rhode, Daingean, Ballyfore and I think Croghan had a team for a while. Now there isnt one club between them and that my fellow Offaly friends is a disgrace!

[bracknaghboy]

So I assume its true that Edenderry have given up adult hurling now. Last I heard they were trying to assemble a panel for 2016 but with no luck. Is this the first time ever in the history of our county that no hurling exists that end of Offaly now? Depressing stuff.

[theoutsider]

So I assume its true that Edenderry have given up adult hurling now. Last I heard they were trying to assemble a panel for 2016 but with no luck. Is this the first time ever in the history of our county that no hurling exists that end of Offaly now? Depressing stuff.

No players interested so they cant field a team. I feel though there could be more done. If you got 3 hurlers from each of those clubs you would have a panel of 21. Edenderry with a town of 6,000 plus should be able to field a hurling team but as with 2015, there will be no adult hurling this end of the county.

I'm aware that Gracefield and Edenderry were in talks to join up at underage and adult level for Hurling only but no advancement on that........yet!