NHL Division 1B 2019

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
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allstar2010
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by allstar2010 »

I know I know it’s only February but I’m down in Kilkenny and there’s tears in my eyes after that result!!

kingscounty
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by kingscounty »

Disappointed and angry when the final whistle went, but walking out realization kicked in! Looking for someone to blame, managers, players, county board, the fact of the matter is this is where we are. These are the players the manager has to work with, this is the county board that was elected by the clubs. The game itself was dictated mainly by the wind, Laois built a lead in the first half with it and ultimately this won the game. Overall Laois looked better than us and were moving better with a lot of scores and movement coming from short passing and A Laois player running directly down the middle unchallenged with Paddy Purcell doing shocking damage. The early exchanges were even until a mistake from Flynn let Dunphy in for the first goal and this lifted the Laois team and supporters and this is essentially where we lost the game from here on in. We didn’t do enough with the wind in the second half and the goal at the end flattered the final score with Laois deserving winners which should have been more than 4 points. Looking further down the line both these teams are average and I really can’t see either team doing much in the McDonagh cup. It’s heart breaking every year going to these matches hoping for one win which might mean survival with no real hope of doing much more, can only imagine how tuff it is been a player with no success.

greenairfield
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by greenairfield »

I think that is well put kingscounty....
People can't say we don't have the best players on hand cos either do Laois.
They looked miles ahead of us all over the field, and too think when Dooley and Bergin go you would imagine by the end of this year it will be even worse.

I would put some blame on Martin I think we should be better prepared than we are he looks like he's the first one to go down on the sinking ship no fight at all he wants to do is finish out the year and it's only February!! :(

At some point people somewhere will do something for Offaly gaa but by the looks of it she won't be anytime soon...we are gone beyond fixing!

biffinbanner
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by biffinbanner »

theres an offaly man in kilkenny almost in tears.well theres one in clare in the same state sadly. ive seen it come full circle. but were lower now than we were in the 60/ 70s at least then we could get within a 5 or 6 points of kilkenny and wexford. and win an odd u21? i thought 3 years ago we couldnt get any lower.but i was wrong. were behind laois westmeath carlow .and possibly antrim and kerry. and im not insulting them counties .just stating facts. and ive no answers and i cant see any way up on the short term sadly. as stated when dooley and bergin go where are we?

pigeon house biffo
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by pigeon house biffo »

It was mentioned on the radio last night that offalys strength and conditioning coach had stepped away but he seems to still be involved with the underage teams, what's the story with him, is he just not involved with the senior set up anymore?

private joker
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by private joker »

Dave hare is the county GDA for S and C in offaly. He was working with seniors but they felt they weren't fit enough so went their own way.
He works with all squads from 13 up to U20. Both codes. Senior hurlers decided to go with what they felt would work for them.

Fairplayalways
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by Fairplayalways »

Bergin and Dooley will be a massive loss, but bear in mind most of their scores come from free's...we dont have even one "xfactor" forward to bang in 2 goals and a couple of points in every game..we were awful in the first half against Laois, and trying to claw back 13 points in the second half is not going to happen against most average teams...a source was telling me that the s&C man was doing great work but a few players thought some lads were not able to puck the ball properly and turned their ire on the S&C man!!...if that happened I dont know how you can blame the S&C man for players not being able to hit a ball, thats not his role...the manager needs to assert his authority over such things...if lads dont like it tough...2-16 scored last night 1-09 approximately from frees...leaving 1-07 from play..a big improvement in ways but nowhere near good enough to compete with so called stronger teams..our scoring difference is shocking to read...I think we might (and its only a might) get over Carlow, but what are we going to achieve after that??..mark my words we will be in the same state next year and the results will be the same/similar..Ime terrified to think what might happen to us if we go to Div 2A..anyway...Carlow and Galway to come..

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bracknaghboy
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by bracknaghboy »

Fairplayalways wrote:source was telling me that the s&C man was doing great work but a few players thought some lads were not able to puck the ball properly and turned their ire on the S&C man!!...if that happened I dont know how you can blame the S&C man for players not being able to hit a ball,
In my final years hurling I hit the gym particularly hard and eventually looked like the 1988 version of John Rambo and can say for certain it never impacted my ability to strike a ball, if anything I was hitting it 20 yards further than before so this makes no sense to me!

LooseCannon
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by LooseCannon »

bracknaghboy wrote:
Fairplayalways wrote:source was telling me that the s&C man was doing great work but a few players thought some lads were not able to puck the ball properly and turned their ire on the S&C man!!...if that happened I dont know how you can blame the S&C man for players not being able to hit a ball,
In my final years hurling I hit the gym particularly hard and eventually looked like the 1988 version of John Rambo and can say for certain it never impacted my ability to strike a ball, if anything I was hitting it 20 yards further than before so this makes no sense to me!
Bracknagh? Hurling? Did ye use sledges? :wink:
Good Luck

ryot
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by ryot »

This episode with the S & C reminds me so much of the footballer who quit because "training was too hard".

We are a joke in fitness terms. No way we can start to win , even at our own current level, until our teams are as fit as their opponents and for years we have been way behind, hurling & football.

Kevin
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by Kevin »

ryot wrote:This episode with the S & C reminds me so much of the footballer who quit because "training was too hard".

We are a joke in fitness terms. No way we can start to win , even at our own current level, until our teams are as fit as their opponents and for years we have been way behind, hurling & football.
If our fitness is not on par, there must be people who know specifically why and steps to cure it must be immediately apparent.

it will take time to fix unfortunately.
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

pigeon house biffo
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by pigeon house biffo »

ryot wrote:This episode with the S & C reminds me so much of the footballer who quit because "training was too hard".

We are a joke in fitness terms. No way we can start to win , even at our own current level, until our teams are as fit as their opponents and for years we have been way behind, hurling & football.
In regards to the S&C question, has anyone purchased the S&C guide released by the offaly S&C coach? Would this give an indication into whats going behind the scenes in terms of preparation.

jimbob17
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by jimbob17 »

I could be wrong here but my info tells me that the S&C coach was let go due to a perceived or otherwise lack of fitness. As far as I am aware he did not leave of his own accord.

As for the reasons they are or were not as fit as Waterford, Laois etc, there are multitude of reasons.

Let me say first that from what i know, the S&C coach was well regarded by the players as he was previously when working with senior football team. He is a well qualified guy and more than that, is a good fitness coach with plenty of experience and more knowledge than majority of GAA people in the county.

As for the reasons for low fitness base, well lets just see. Have the current senior hurlers gone through an appropriate S&C programme through their development years? Was the resources put into them at underage in the same way that Laois did, that Waterford did, that Dublin did, that all hurling counties serious about their hurling do and have done for last 15 years.

Are we now paying the price of neglect of real underage development? Is the gap now too wide for even qualified people to fix? Should we surprised that a 22 or 23 year old is now 7 years behind a Laois, Dublin or Waterford hurler who started their strength development work at 15? Are the county underage managements who refused to engage with modern approaches to physical development culpable for passing on players without developing physically? Are the county board responsible for not equipping such squads with appropriate resources that other hurling counties had access to over that time?

These are all issues that were brought up in these threads over the last 10 years. The S&C coach is doing good work with the dev squads when he has access to them but the culture around physical development needs to change in a lot of hurling clubs from underage to senior if Offaly want to compete again at top table. We will not win Joe McDonagh this year and I could easily see us ending up in a play off to stay in it baring in mind we are probably behind Laois and Westmeath now and the other two teams ie Kerry and Antrim would really fancy a go at taking us!

I am hopeful that with more experienced lads back that we will make a final. I am sceptical though that if we fail to win it in next two years, that we will get out for a long time..... We are now seeing the fruit of the last 10 to 15 years of our "underage development programme"!
jimbob

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Good piece, jimbob17.

Kevin Martin did indeed refer to a deficiency of fitness when interviewed in the aftermath of the Waterford match. And I agree, the deficiencies in fitness are rooted in underage neglect of the last two decades.

So the S&C expert was let go, to be replaced by what? That hasn't been made public, as far as I know. I fear they now do a few laps, a few press-ups and then play hurling for the evening?
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

"Offaly's hurling is exact and abrasive: full of assurance on the ball, devoid of fumbling and slicing and sod-busting". Kevin Cashman RIP (September 1994).

Fairplayalways
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Re: NHL Division 1B 2019

Post by Fairplayalways »

2 great posts above, and let me add that I too don't blame the S&C man for the fitness levels, aren't they too separate aspects?..S&C to me is having lads strong enough to physically hold their own on the pitch in physical challenges etc...fitness then is you match fitness to be able to play the game at maximum fitness for as long as possible during the game...this whole " neglected underage" issue is very true, but I am listening for the last number of years that its only now we have the structures in place, which we have to accept is the situation, but WHEN is all this going to bare fruit? 2010 is now 9 years ago, players who were 13/14 then are now 22/23 and surely have had access to "modern" training over the last 9 years...I remember Offaly playing Kildare off the park one Saturday evening some years back in an AI qualifier game I think it was, we tired in the second half and if the game went on 5 more minutes not only did we loose but our players would have had to be air lifted off the pitch as they were out on their feet...I don't see any much great improvement in our footballers fitness level since then to be honest..If in 10/15 years time we are still in the doldrums in both codes what will the verdict be then, if all these modern training facilities we supposedly now have don't yield any rewards, and the jury is out on whether its just down to facilities either ime beginning to think..its an debate we could go on all day with and everyone will be right and everyone will be wrong such is the complexities of it...

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