mcpaddens for clonmore ?

[townblue]

heard if the lads want to play next season its to be with there home club .. no transfer to rhode
from clonmores point it a victory of sorts

[townman]

sure why play with Rhode when they are Clonmore lads, maybe underage with the numbers clonmore have
didn't clonmore have a great year last year they will be stronger with their young players staying with them.

[In the long grass]

Wonder will this prove to benefit anybody? Two very gifted footballers who are small in stature and the clonmore style of play might not necessarily suit them. i.e. long direct ball into the forwards.

And whats to say the lads will play for them, they might like others have done in the past sit out football for the year and try again to get a transfer to rhode next year.

[brian fantana]

the two lads are being stopped from playing football with the club they want to play with, its a disgrace, some people in clonmore would rather see them lads play no football atal than play with rhode. its a big mess now, they should off just let the decision up to the two guys, and accepted it.

[townman]

the two lads are being stopped from playing football with the club they want to play with, its a disgrace, some people in clonmore would rather see them lads play no football atal than play with rhode. its a big mess now, they should off just let the decision up to the two guys, and accepted it.

But look if the lads are from Clonmore and its there club and they have a football club and won a county title this year
why should they go and play with Rhode i would call that glory hunting, theres plenty of other footballers and hurlers down
the years that came from small and junior clubs but still won all irelands with there county and stayed with there small club
Nicholas English of tipp hurling Brian Stafford of meath football are just two that come to mind bet they could have had there choice
of clubs to go to but stayed with the club they were born into its just bulls.it that goes on in Offaly.

[Lone Shark]

the two lads are being stopped from playing football with the club they want to play with, its a disgrace, some people in clonmore would rather see them lads play no football atal than play with rhode. its a big mess now, they should off just let the decision up to the two guys, and accepted it.

I can't remember a post on this board that I've disagreed with more than this one.

For Clonmore Harps, this is not about the McPaddens at all - I'd say everyone in the club knows that the two lads will never pull on a hooped jersey, but what they're doing now is fighting for every good footballer that they will ever have in the future. If the precedent is set that you can just conjure up an address in another parish and move, then all of a sudden we'll get ourselves into a vicious circle like Waterford hurling did for decades. Down there the county selectors rarely looked outside of Mount Sion and Ballygunner - and Waterford had no parish rule in force. So anyone who was any good moved to the city, hurled with either Sion or Ballygunner, and the senior championship became a two horse race. As a result county selectors only looked at the big two, and so on.....

Clonmore Harps are an intermediate club right now, and if the McPaddens were to make themselves available, they would probably be crucial players to the cause. If they were with Rhode, chances are they'd only be playing intermediate football with them either.

If this transfer was allowed to go through, it would be like a tacit agreement that there is no place for small clubs in Offaly, and that's not a road I'd say anyone wants to go down.

[old yellar]

although i dont know the specifics of this case i see the same type of thing happening down here in carlow. we ve 2 clubs here who hoover up a lot of v good u16/minors from other clubs. this means you have 35 lads vieing for 15 spots on a minor/u21 side. they best get picked, they rest eventually get sick of warming a bench and drift away from the game. lads need to realise its better to be playing and putting yourself in the spotlight than not. i m sure these lads are grand chaps and all, but it ll be interesting to see where it all turns out for them in 2-3 years. if the dont play this year its a year they ll have lost and lost their sharpness, and then they ll have to try break into a team who were in this years leinster club and have their own v successful minor team lads chopping at the bit to break through..

[Long John]

I agree totally with Loneshark. This is a situation that needs to be stamped out straight away. The smaller club will cease to exist if any half decent player can transfer at his ease. Of course they will jump on the Rhode ship. They are guaranteed to win a couple of senior county medals (from the bench most likely for the near future anyway). Townman would call it glory hunting and I have to agree with that.

Clonmore won a junior title last year and that title I can guarantee meant more than any senior title Rhode have won in recent times. Its smaller clubs winning such titles that is what is so good about the GAA. They could push on now and try build on this with younger players like these McPaddens coming through but Rhode would appear to have put the pressure on to get these lads.

If Rhode succeed in recruiting them, whats to stop them recruiting every talented youngster in Clonmore. This has to be stamped out here and now.

[TRUEGAEL]

look lads these two lads are nice young men that come from a nice family.there home home adress is garr co offaly which is clonmore parish/ballinabracky all the jazz about farms and heard numbers we all know what that is.they are only aloud to play play for rhode og/st mickeals by permission from clonmore harps on a yearly basis which could change at anytime.if there was no clonmore harps they would be playing football for ballinabracky and that is fact.this was the case until the clonmore harps club was reformed in 1988.david bannon,pauric dunne, jason bannon,and all the clonmore lads would have had to play in meath.there is NO connection to rhode gaa not even in the same parish.just to clear that up for everyone.what ever happens with these lads let it be right, wrong, or indifferent these are the facts.i know because i lived it.our club motto is strength in unity.

[Lone Shark]

I agree totally with Loneshark. This is a situation that needs to be stamped out straight away. The smaller club will cease to exist if any half decent player can transfer at his ease. Of course they will jump on the Rhode ship. They are guaranteed to win a couple of senior county medals (from the bench most likely for the near future anyway). Townman would call it glory hunting and I have to agree with that.

Clonmore won a junior title last year and that title I can guarantee meant more than any senior title Rhode have won in recent times. Its smaller clubs winning such titles that is what is so good about the GAA. They could push on now and try build on this with younger players like these McPaddens coming through but Rhode would appear to have put the pressure on to get these lads.

If Rhode succeed in recruiting them, whats to stop them recruiting every talented youngster in Clonmore. This has to be stamped out here and now.

Just in case we go down the road of besmirching Rhode's reputation as a club here, let's be clear that it's certainly not a matter of public record as to whether or not Rhode are doing any chasing here. Every GAA club has the responsibility to provide games to players in their catchment area so if there is any dispute here, it's not for Rhode to back away and say that they don't want the two lads. If they encouraged the lads to switch, then that's another matter entirely, but right now it's not really appropriate to be posting on a discussion board such as this what the driving force behind the move is when it's anything but a matter of public record.

The important aspect here is that Clonmore appear to have got vindication of their right to retain players from their own home area. You can rest assured that there are a lot of junior/intermediate clubs in Offaly who would have been looking on at this with trepidation.

[joe123]

These 2 lads most really hate their home club for some reason or another to want to move a neighbouring club!!!
Someone posted about glory hunting?? does that mean the lads must think they have a better chance of winning an intermediate medal with Rhode than with Clonmore? Lets face it if they do move to Rhode they'll still be playing intermediate football next year and not senior. As for the idea that playing with a smaller club will "hinder their development". Well thats bull!!!! some of the top players in the country down the years played with intermediate and even Junior club teams.

[Harps Man]

its great to see that we are getting some support here for fighting for these lads,i really taught we were going to get slated for 'stoping' them from playing football for a year.the fact of the matter is we let these lads know last year that they were in our catchment area an not rhodes as they were led to believe,we decieded to fight this transfer because we are pis*ed off with the way some people in rhode treat us, with utter contempt.we are sick of rhode approching any underage players who show potential eg; jimmy foy,sean foy, stephen foy to transfer to rhode after underage. if we stood back and let this go on we as a club would have no future and if this were to happen these lads and everyone else in clonmore would have to play with ballinabrackey because we are part of ballinabrackey parish not rhode as alot of people belive.
longjohn said about us winning a jr title last year and he was spot on saying it prob meant more to us than any sr title rhode won in recent times,i personally know 2 of the men who are involved in clonmore harps since about 1985 when they started trying to reform the club,and the look of pride and joy on these 2 mens faces see'n their sons last year just in a county final never mind winning it will never be matched,sorry if im rambeling on here but the point im trying to get across is that these 2 men fought hard to get clonmore reformed over 20 years ago and are now fighting to stop our players bein takein by rhode,are they right,i certainly think so.
as for the mc paddens playing for us this year,well thats their decision and i know for a fact no one from clonmore will be hasseling them to play,i certainly hope they do and if they do they will be welcomed with open arms.

[townblue]

harps man .......... you cant say it fairer than that . hopefully its at a end now and sure maybe the lads will be in the field training 4 ye soon

[brian fantana]

well i doubt very much that they will be playing for yas. ever. I cant say i know anyone in rhode that treats clonmore with comtempt. its plain and simple, when two lads wanted a transfer to rhode clonmore wouldnt have it, but when two lads looked for a transfer from rhode to clonmore, we didnt stand in their way. its just a bit of sour grapes from clonmore at rhodes , sad, ah well.

[Sniper]

its great to see that we are getting some support here for fighting for these lads,i really taught we were going to get slated for 'stoping' them from playing football for a year.the fact of the matter is we let these lads know last year that they were in our catchment area an not rhodes as they were led to believe,

First of all I must start this post by admitting that I am from Rhode so forgive me if I come across as biased. I didn't intend to single out Harps man here but just some of the things you say in this post, I must pull you up on. So Ill start by telling you that no one in Rhode Gaa club LED anyone outside our catchment into believing that they lived in rhode. In fact quite the opposite. If they did they could have played the McPaddens at adult level anytime over the last 2 years. They didnt because they are not Rhode players.

we decieded to fight this transfer because we are pis*ed off with the way some people in rhode treat us, with utter contempt.

Dont know who you are refering to here but no one in rhode club treats Clonmore with contempt. Again quite the opposite as any of the Clonmore lads will tell you, when they tog out underage they are treated with the same respect as any other guy from Rhode or Croghan.

we are sick of rhode approching any underage players who show potential eg; jimmy foy,sean foy, stephen foy to transfer to rhode after underage.

Again not true

if we stood back and let this go on we as a club would have no future and if this were to happen these lads and everyone else in clonmore would have to play with ballinabrackey because we are part of ballinabrackey parish not rhode as alot of people belive.
longjohn said about us winning a jr title last year and he was spot on saying it prob meant more to us than any sr title rhode won in recent times,

Every championship win is cherished in Rhode be it under 10, Junior C or Senior. No more or no less than it is in any other club.

i personally know 2 of the men who are involved in clonmore harps since about 1985 when they started trying to reform the club,and the look of pride and joy on these 2 mens faces see'n their sons last year just in a county final never mind winning it will never be matched,sorry if im rambeling on here but the point im trying to get across is that these 2 men fought hard to get clonmore reformed over 20 years ago and are now fighting to stop our players bein takein by rhode,are they right,i certainly think so.

Every club has people like that. They are the life blood of the GAA

as for the mc paddens playing for us this year,well thats their decision and i know for a fact no one from clonmore will be hasseling them to play,i certainly hope they do and if they do they will be welcomed with open arms.

I hope so and fair play if it comes to pass

The main reason I came on here was to try and get this thing straight in my head. There is obviously alot of s###e talk and misinformation going on but what Id like to know is on what grounds was the transfer denied?
In have seen a transfer request form on a no. of occasions in the past and there are no grey areas involved. You must give your new address (posibly your old address), you must sign it to confirm all details are correct. The chairmen of both clubs must sign it to confirm all above board aswell. Now obviously Clonmore didnt sign the forms for the McPs so therefore it went to some sort of committee. From what I hear this committee looked at the case and probably questioned all parties and came to the decision that the two guys were now residing in Rhode and therefore allowed to transfer. This is the bit that I dont get. Somehow all the clubs in Offaly then get to vote on whether this committee made the right decision or not.
Clearly deciding that the committee was wrong and therefore the transfer was denied. Now how in the name of all that is sacred can people from many different clubs be in a better position than the committee that investigated the case, to make the final decision. Does this mean that a new committee must be formed as the clubs obviously dont have any confidence in the one we have or did the clubs just vote against the transfer because Rhode are fairly successful recently in an effort to keep a more level playing field.
I hope this doesnt come across as sour grapes as I dont mind either way whether the McPs play for Rhode or Clonmore, but i just dont see any logic in it. I just think its ridiculous that the playing careers of two guys can be decided upon by people who have little or no idea about the circumstances involved and who might use the opportunity to further their own clubs agenda.
For the record Harpsman I would have thought a lot less of Clonmore if they hadnt fought this case for their club and heres one Rhodeman who has great admiration for the way your club has prepared for and won two championship grades in 3 years. long may it continue(obviously not against Rhode though!!!). I have heard rumours recently of clonmore not allowing their youngsters to play with Rod Og and i sincerely hope this is just a bad rumour. It would not be in the interests of either club and certainly not in the interests of the future footballers of Clonmore. Let the adults have their disagreements but dont hinder the development of the youth