Offaly v Kilkenny

[Observant 7]

Toxicity I agree with you we have great hurlers in Offaly but when I hear you go on about lads being played out of their position I wonder are you confused here??? I would have agreed with you in my earlier posts about having great hurlers but I did question are they with the panel - I don't know the full panel so I don't know the answer myself I can only hope they are and if they are did they get a run - what I mean is did all on the panel get a run in games to find out who can paly in all positions and who cant but I am sure I don't need to ask such a simple question as Management would have done that surely.

Talking about Intercounty hurling and lads playing out of their position!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Should they be on the County if they can't play in any position? Is that our problem, maybe we have too many hurlers on the County team who can only play in one or two positions and are just good club hurlers!

Good luck to all at the weekend team and management.

[sam88885a]

i agree with tox we do have good hurlers but our problem for me is the style of play .
we seem to be trying to play a running game with a sweeper.
no club in offaly plays like that .
we dont have many players suited to playing a running game .
look at limerick yesterday the moved the ball quickly into the forwards a lot of ball was just sent long and fast and the forwards competed like mad whereas tipp tryed to pass the ball forward to the advantage of the forward .

to me whelahan is trying to get us to play like tipp when i think with the players we have we should be much more direct.
i honestly think when u play with a sweeper in hurling ur stating loud and clearly to ur defence ur not good enough to mark yer men .
love to think offaly would go out and go for it and see what happens but i fear kilkenny wont conceed 5 goal or ANY goals and we just go out to try keep the score down.
i hope i wrong but im terrified what might happen to offaly hurling on saturday

[KillougheyGoBragh]

Good luck to everyone on Saturday, it will be tough but nothing is impossible!

[Bord na Mona man]

Lads, will ye man up and not be moaning like auld ones about Offaly's prospects. I'd say ye'll all be worn out looking down and doffing your caps to Kilkenny this Saturday.
Look at how our fellow Div 1B strugglers Leix and Limerick got on last Sunday.
There's no reason why Offaly can't go down there and give Kilkenny plenty of it! The players haven't spent the last few months of their lives ploughing through muck and mud to go out and play like lambs.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

The attitude and analysis here is deplorable. Save the post mortems and histrionics for another day.
One can take what they please from the charade that is the league. Tipperary just lost to KK in a much lauded league final. Set up for the championship they apparently were. Except they were roundhoused by Limerick last Sunday. A team we drew with in the league lest anyone forget.

Ignore the league and take each game on its merits. On Saturday we face a Kilkenny team with more uncertainty over it than at any time over the last fifteen years on the back of their worst championship in over a decade. All is not lost yet.

And Tox, for the last time Rory Hanniffy is 30/31 and not 34. It's not the first time you've made that particular mistake. Worse again that you use it to frame an argument. Time to learn

[Plain of the Herbs]

Sensible, measured, comment. Halle-fucking-luiah.

[babsandbond]

Greatdayfortheparish thank you for saying something that made sense cos neither tox or observant did."offaly have great hurlers"please enlighten me....where are they??they are great by offaly standards yes...joe bergin hurls a club match against drumcullen and socres 3-10 oh yes hes great...but the reality is he hasnt hurled a good 70 mins for offaly since the limerick game 4 or 5 years ago...we have to open our eyes...shane dooley is overweight and would not be starting only quirke is injured..we have noting at senior level since that limerick game...we drew with a very average galway team 3 years ago when john mcintyer was over them so that explains that result..no point blaming whelehan hes out of his depth..its the county board who are at fault...and realistically if we had brian cody in we wudnt be too far further forward..and whats worse when the core of that team go things only get worse cos theres noting coming.

[Droichead Binéid]

Be interesting to see how the great Brian Whelan can influence the current Offaly teams performance against an otherwise tired Kilkenny team (with exception to a few recruits). County board in Offaly needs to take a long hard look at what's what.... who's holding back the bench.... Jesus wept.... a 10 year build & plan is in order for both football and hurling. Various Radio station debate programs have Offaly listed as the 20th worst in Ireland!! Cronic news when you look at the top 2 teams in both football and hurling can't field half a panel for county duty. Has any club in the county got a few bright sparks with a bit of strategy and intuition sitting in the shadows that can be encouraged to come out and lead? Forget about pumping money into training for the minute... we've an awful lot to do first. I'm longer in the Faithful county than I was in the Marble... but my money still goes on Kilkenny to put a 15+ defecate between the teams at full time... at their ease

[Droichead Binéid]

Be interesting to see how the great Brian Whelan can influence the current Offaly teams performance against an otherwise tired Kilkenny team (with exception to a few recruits). County board in Offaly needs to take a long hard look at what's what.... who's holding back the bench.... Jesus wept.... a 10 year build & plan is in order for both football and hurling. Various Radio station debate programs have Offaly listed as the 20th worst in Ireland!! Cronic news when you look at the top 2 teams in both football and hurling can't field half a panel for county duty. Has any club in the county got a few bright sparks with a bit of strategy and intuition sitting in the shadows that can be encouraged to come out and lead? Forget about pumping money into training for the minute... we've an awful lot to do first. I'm longer in the Faithful county than I was in the Marble... but my money still goes on Kilkenny to put a 15+ defecate between the teams at full time... at their ease

[Bord na Mona man]

joe bergin hurls a club match against drumcullen and socres 3-10 oh yes hes great...but the reality is he hasnt hurled a good 70 mins for offaly since the limerick game 4 or 5 years ago...we have to open our eyes...shane dooley is overweight and would not be starting only quirke is injured...

Every hurling county in Ireland would be glad to have Bergin and Dooley in their ranks. Get over it!
These days every hurling topic here is getting ruined by a small group of posters putting up mindless, stream of consciousness drivel. dis lad shit. dat lad crap. county board bad.

[babsandbond]

BNM i stated a couple of facts...maybe if you and alot more of offaly supporters opened there eyes and see it as it is,things in offaly will start changing.The countyboard is noting short of a disgrace...il give 3 examples of why there so bad
A)the late appointment of u21 manager this year
B)baker,dooley,whelehan 3 managers with more or less no experince at this level
C)gear handed out to players in may

If u look at them points ud see that this goes on in no other county...the manager one yes maybe one appointment of a manager with no experince ud say ok give him a chance..but to make a mistake 3 times noting short of a disgrace.

By the way i never said any players were shit etc etc..i was reffering to toxs post about we have "great' hurlers..i asked where are they...and i also stated that bergin and dooley havent fulfilled there potential..and dont hurl in a consistent manner..il ask the question again when did bergin play a full 70 mins for offaly instead of drifting in and out of games...cos it been a while

[Plain of the Herbs]

Feature on Joseph Bergin in today's Indo is worth a read.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling ... 27260.html

As is the one on Shane Dooley in the same paper yesterday (which included alot of stuff about the lad which I did not know previously, and I'd say all the smart-arses around here didn't know either).
http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling ... 21160.html

And the local paper had this chat with Brian Carroll
http://www.midlandtribune.ie/articles/s ... -stalwart/

[sam88885a]

lads calm down its not fair to single out bergin or dooley NO offaly player has put a good 70 minutes in years . i agree the county board are to blame . they dont have a plan for hurling .
i dont think they care it seems to me to be all about power to those guys .they pick who they want no matter what harm is done.
finally dont read too much into us drawing with limerick . they were without 6 or 7 lads and should have won easilly but to be fair they were only in second gear and i think they were planning for the quarter finals and got caught on the hop .
we played a bit when r hanniffy got injured and we stop with the sweeper and play direct hurling .
hopefully b whelahan has a master plan we will need it

[Bord na Mona man]

Christ lads, do people not bother with a spellchecker and proper punctuation these days?
I'm getting sick of trying to translate badly spelled, lower case, mangled garble.

Surely it's time for some house rules here about post quality?

[Toxicity234]

Rory 31 Sorry. Someone keep tell me he 34.

Saturday is a huge chance for the Offaly hurlers to show just what they can do.
Reading Joe Bergin article in the paper this morning talking about people have a go at him, someone should have a word with him and tell him that there is always one way to shut them up and that go out and give a performance against Kilkenny.

Honestly by Saturday Evening I'll walk into Nolan Park believing that Offaly can win this game.

The problem over the last few years has been in our game plan and the misuse of the good hurlers we have.
Our half back are been told to carry the ball into the tackle. there is only one time then it is right for a back to carry a ball,that is when there is space in front of you.
Our lads are been told to take on their man but if they beat him they running into the next line of defence. This is leading to turnovers, over carrying and slow ball going into the forwards.

As for Bergin, Dooley not hurling for 70 mins, for any forward to hurler for 70 mins they need good quality, fast ball and our game plan doesn't allow for that.
if you put good quality fast ball in in front of Bergin, Dooley, Carroll, Quirke, these lads will take any defender to the cleaners.
Our game plans has been starving these lads of good possession. The ball going in is way too slow and they are out number.