WHERE TO PLAY JOE BERGIN ???

[Offalys Future]

ha ha ya match programme for last years All-Ireland. Tommy has been telling lies i think!!!

[azoffaly]

I think they measure them lads in their football boots, standing on concrete. Some of them are crazy. Niall Mc 6' 3''. Tommy Walsh 5' 11'''? Tommy Walsh wouldn't be 5' 11'' standing on a milk crate

[Bord na Mona man]

If Brian Cody found out Walsh was only 5'8, he'd drop him straight away.
Only oversized bullocks are allowed plough up hurling fields for Kilkenny these days!

[Nbr6]

Tommy Walshes says he's 5'11'' because rte get the players to fill them out themselves!! Sure they said Damian Reale of Limerick was nearly 16stone and bout 5'6''!! As for Diarmuid Horan he is actually not as slight a build as you believe, he's nearly 13stone of pure muscle actually and is under an intense gym programme for a while.. I agree with the current half back line though Bergin in the middle allows two of our most skillful hurlers on the team to really get down to what their good at.. A hubert rigney style.. Agree?? Seemed the case against Galway..

[johntherobber]

After hurling full forward for the last two years it cant be easy for joe bergin to revert back to the backs and be outstanding in every game straight away,big difference between hurling there for club and county. I have no doubt that the more games he gets there at senior inter-county level he will come on in leaps and bounds and will develop into a fine centre back and i just hope for offalys sake that he is able to do that this year and i have no doubt he will,he`s a big strong man with a good hand on him and a great clearance!!

[Lone Shark]

I'm still wary. It's not long ago Joe Brady was one of the great white hopes of Offaly hurling, lording it down in WIT in the Fitzgibbon and generally looking all round like he was the natural successor to Hubert in waiting. Instead he stalled on his development a bit between the ages of 19 and 22, got horsed around between full forward, centre forward, centre back and wing back and generally became a jack of all trades and master of none.

Obviously it's not about pigeon-holing Joe Bergin into a certain role and deciding he must stay there, but I'd be wary of forcing him into centre back throughout the league, before shoving him back up into the forwards in May when Rory Hanniffy comes back and putting him up there with no scoring under his belt and a subsequent lack of confidence. Basically I hope that the management have a long term plan here.

The basic truth is still the same - he's still an excellent hurler with great physical presence and we need him contributing, either at 6 or in the forwards.