Re: Offaly Hurling 2021
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:18 pm
The manner in which the group has gone about their business in 2021 has been excellent.
A few observations.
- Offaly improvement. November vs. Down seems like years ago now. Fennelly has backed himself and has the trust of those at the top table. Bar a few protests that he was ignoring the 'Offaly way' of hitting away the ball as soon as humanly possible, his job never looked under threat.
The faster pitches have been a big help of course given that it's a younger group and the more expansive style they are trying to play.
The standard looks to have dropped in some counties and this is likely Covid related. For all our problems in Offaly I think we always try to give both senior teams the best support.
- Consistent performance levels. The usual caveats about opposition weakness, but this Offaly group plays consistently throughout the 70 minutes.
The old Offaly way against underdogs was to ease into a lead after 20 minutes, then pull the handbrake and allow the opposition recover. The kind of 'socialism' as POTH put it, has put Offaly teams into all sorts of sticky situations in the past. Sometimes we got away with it, other times we gifted breakthroughs to an array of underdogs by dropping down to their standard and making a contest.
I've no insight into the camp but I expect that Fennelly has corrected this mentality by setting out team and individual performance metrics to be hit throughout the game. Getting the group focussed on their own targets instead of players deciding what's enough to beat what's in front of them.
- Improved performance culture. There are a few lads dismissing stats, clipboards, GPS trackers etc as being snake oil but these are the kind of tools that help management monitor intensity levels and identify deficiencies in performance.
Thankfully quiet are the crows bemoaning that various club hurlers that should be on the panel and accommodated at all costs.
Perhaps there is growing recognition that county panels are increasingly elite performance bubbles and the players on them are the ones willing to put themselves through the heavy rigours to raise standards.
I believe in future years when we look back and assess this era, the genesis of 'Faithful Fields' will be seen as a key turning point. Whether success comes or not, I believe the 'big bellies and arses' culture that other counties mock Offaly about is in the past.
A few observations.
- Offaly improvement. November vs. Down seems like years ago now. Fennelly has backed himself and has the trust of those at the top table. Bar a few protests that he was ignoring the 'Offaly way' of hitting away the ball as soon as humanly possible, his job never looked under threat.
The faster pitches have been a big help of course given that it's a younger group and the more expansive style they are trying to play.
The standard looks to have dropped in some counties and this is likely Covid related. For all our problems in Offaly I think we always try to give both senior teams the best support.
- Consistent performance levels. The usual caveats about opposition weakness, but this Offaly group plays consistently throughout the 70 minutes.
The old Offaly way against underdogs was to ease into a lead after 20 minutes, then pull the handbrake and allow the opposition recover. The kind of 'socialism' as POTH put it, has put Offaly teams into all sorts of sticky situations in the past. Sometimes we got away with it, other times we gifted breakthroughs to an array of underdogs by dropping down to their standard and making a contest.
I've no insight into the camp but I expect that Fennelly has corrected this mentality by setting out team and individual performance metrics to be hit throughout the game. Getting the group focussed on their own targets instead of players deciding what's enough to beat what's in front of them.
- Improved performance culture. There are a few lads dismissing stats, clipboards, GPS trackers etc as being snake oil but these are the kind of tools that help management monitor intensity levels and identify deficiencies in performance.
Thankfully quiet are the crows bemoaning that various club hurlers that should be on the panel and accommodated at all costs.
Perhaps there is growing recognition that county panels are increasingly elite performance bubbles and the players on them are the ones willing to put themselves through the heavy rigours to raise standards.
I believe in future years when we look back and assess this era, the genesis of 'Faithful Fields' will be seen as a key turning point. Whether success comes or not, I believe the 'big bellies and arses' culture that other counties mock Offaly about is in the past.