Offaly U20 Hurlers 2025

[joe123]

Fooling nobody Joey.

Not trying to fool anyone.. expressing my opinion simples.. senior is more important than u20 end of story

I wouldn't say it's that simple but it has to be prioritised, I agree. And probably needs matches to be looked at a case by case basis, as I said there should be a pragmatic approach where possible!

[Faithfully]

Fooling nobody Joey.

Not trying to fool anyone.. expressing my opinion simples.. senior is more important than u20 end of story

I wouldn't say it's that simple but it has to be prioritised, I agree. And probably needs matches to be looked at a case by case basis, as I said there should be a pragmatic approach where possible!

You've just caught yourself out rotten there Joey.

Quoting your own post saying you agree but it's not that simple.

Joey and One Time are the same person.

A true reveal magnifico for uibhfhaili.com! Who would have thought.

[Bord na Mona man]

If anyone is experiencing 'deju-vu', then the 2024 U20 topic is great for a laugh [link at the bottom].

Early on, a poster called 'joey1001' arrives as a sceptic, dismissing why Offaly would be favourites to beat Dublin, despite Offaly being favourites, expecting to win and actually winning.

Then it turns to dismissing Offaly's chances of progress in the U20, despite Offaly having reached the final the year before, backboned by still eligible players.

As Offaly progress in the competition, he changes tack, now supposedly backing Offaly, but the level of seethe increase as he fumes at how the U20s are not being depowered in favour of more important Joe McDonagh Cup games, like against Meath.

As the U20 Leinster final against Dublin approaches, again he still 'can't believe' why Offaly would give it priority over playing Kerry in the Joe Mc.

Then it descends into attacks on Leo O'Connor - who he expects to be sacked and grumbles about too many supporters getting on board with the U20s.

It's a hilarious for the rest of us, but at least it gives joe123 some assurance that his unconventional views are not a total minority, joey1001 agrees with him too.

viewtopic.php?t=7576&start=15

[Wing Back]

For game 1 v Waterford - Play all the senior players, no Under 20s. Give game time to as much of the senior squad as possible. Try and get the most out of the game.

Game 2 in 1B final - Honestly I don't mind what we do..........but I would side with not playing u20s again.....and play them in the group games - hopefully win them. They will be of higher standard than prelim or QF at u20 level. I'd sooner play the group games and ensure we don't have the prelim and QF to play at tricky time coming in the middle of Leinster championship.

Like others have pointed out the Antrim and Wexford senior games are at a tricky time with Leinster u20 semi final and final.....this is not ideal. However, it seems the obvious thing (at least to me) to try win the early u20 games now to reduce the fixture burden later on hopefully for both teams. Otherwise it could be potentially 4 knock out under 20 games slotted in amongst all our Leinster games.

Positives:
1. opportunities to give decent game time to senior squad who are not u20 - this will improve squad depth and experience
2. Potentially remove Prelim and QF u20 fixtures from our schedule at a tricky time, reducing fixture congestion for our senior u20s
3. Senior U20s still see game time in their group games
4. Less opportunities for injury and suspensions with reduced fixture congestion in late April and May
5. U20 can create a winning mentality again, as they've done since minor- this has seeped from minor in 2022 into u20 in 2023, u20 in 2024, senior in 2024 and senior in 2025. I think it definitely helps to bring on not just the current senior u20s, but also the ones coming behind, who will believe they can scale the heights also.

Negatives
1. senior u20s could lose out on exposure to games V Waterford - I agree that exposure to better opposition at senior level could be beneficial, so not ideal to miss out on this.
2. Reduces chance of winning 1B - I don't really care about this personally
3. Like the winning mentality for the u20s, We are playing quite well lately, and easing up by playing a somewhat weakened team may impact the psyche and unbeaten mentality we currently have - this is important I think.

There's probably more positives and negatives there than what I've outlined above.....But when I weigh them up, I'm with LS generally here and think we make the call for the fortnight around the Wexford and Antrim games at that time......But we will hopefully give a good account of ourselves in the Dublin, Galway and KK games in advance.

[Doon Exile]

For game 1 v Waterford - Play all the senior players, no Under 20s. Give game time to as much of the senior squad as possible. Try and get the most out of the game.

Game 2 in 1B final - Honestly I don't mind what we do..........but I would side with not playing u20s again.....and play them in the group games - hopefully win them. They will be of higher standard than prelim or QF at u20 level. I'd sooner play the group games and ensure we don't have the prelim and QF to play at tricky time coming in the middle of Leinster championship.

Like others have pointed out the Antrim and Wexford senior games are at a tricky time with Leinster u20 semi final and final.....this is not ideal. However, it seems the obvious thing (at least to me) to try win the early u20 games now to reduce the fixture burden later on hopefully for both teams. Otherwise it could be potentially 4 knock out under 20 games slotted in amongst all our Leinster games.

Positives:
1. opportunities to give decent game time to senior squad who are not u20 - this will improve squad depth and experience
2. Potentially remove Prelim and QF u20 fixtures from our schedule at a tricky time, reducing fixture congestion for our senior u20s
3. Senior U20s still see game time in their group games
4. Less opportunities for injury and suspensions with reduced fixture congestion in late April and May
5. U20 can create a winning mentality again, as they've done since minor- this has seeped from minor in 2022 into u20 in 2023, u20 in 2024, senior in 2024 and senior in 2025. I think it definitely helps to bring on not just the current senior u20s, but also the ones coming behind, who will believe they can scale the heights also.

Negatives
1. senior u20s could lose out on exposure to games V Waterford - I agree that exposure to better opposition at senior level could be beneficial, so not ideal to miss out on this.
2. Reduces chance of winning 1B - I don't really care about this personally
3. Like the winning mentality for the u20s, We are playing quite well lately, and easing up by playing a somewhat weakened team may impact the psyche and unbeaten mentality we currently have - this is important I think.

There's probably more positives and negatives there than what I've outlined above.....But when I weigh them up, I'm with LS generally here and think we make the call for the fortnight around the Wexford and Antrim games at that time......But we will hopefully give a good account of ourselves in the Dublin, Galway and KK games in advance.

Fully agree with this and with LS in his (excellent) post earlier.

I think the potential that the u20’s have to inspire the next generation of Offaly hurlers is somewhat ignored - I have an 11 year old that never leaves the hurl out of his hand from morning to night. Barely plays the play station anymore. And I’m sure there’s many more like him.

And I really couldn’t care less about the league final. I see it as more important to give the senior squad players meaningful game time in both games than the u20’s as we’ll need them more as the season progresses.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Brilliant; brilliant; brilliant!

I think the potential that the u20’s have to inspire the next generation of Offaly hurlers is somewhat ignored - I have an 11 year old that never leaves the hurl out of his hand from morning to night. Barely plays the play station anymore. And I’m sure there’s many more like him.

[Doon Exile]

Couldn’t make the game tonight as it clashed with our u12 training.

Any reports from the game?

[private joker]

50 -50 first half. Clare took over in the 2nd.

[frankthetank]

There was a 2nd half?????

I was sure they would have abandoned that to keep all players, whether they are on the senior panel or not, fresh for the biggest occasion in Irish sport - The Division 1B League Final.

[JimBwobb]

Have we won many challenge games so far?

[joe123]

Not trying to fool anyone.. expressing my opinion simples.. senior is more important than u20 end of story

I wouldn't say it's that simple but it has to be prioritised, I agree. And probably needs matches to be looked at a case by case basis, as I said there should be a pragmatic approach where possible!

You've just caught yourself out rotten there Joey.

Quoting your own post saying you agree but it's not that simple.

Joey and One Time are the same person.

A true reveal magnifico for uibhfhaili.com! Who would have thought.

Oh shock horror feck sake how did i manage that.. listen I'm an Offaly supporter but anyone prioritising underage over senior is deluded and glory hunting.. and the fact is most lads are hypocrites here. If Offaly had zero chance of winning at u20 level, most lads here would be calling for the "best" u20 players to be playing senior and the tune would be totally different. I played u21 for Offaly and very little senior, the senior challenge matches meant more to me than the u21 championship matches, any player will tell you the holy grail is playing senior inter county, an all ireland u20 medal will be nice but mean very little if you don't go on to play senior even if the senior team play mcdonagh or tailteann or whatever.. I've been to plenty of games where Offaly had little chance of winning underage and senior . Last year I had to choose between the u20 final and the senior final, I went to the senior final! I want the u20s to win but if it comes down to it, Offaly losing an u20 leinster final to whoever will have absolutely zero impact on Offaly hurling in the future but losing the game to Antrim a few days later will most certainly have a big impact and if our u20s aren't ready for that, things might go wronf.. it's that simple. The best way of ensuring the best outcome for the senior team is to ensure that all players give priority to that team above all else and if that means not playing u20 then so be it.. that gives the senior team the best chance and it means more younger players will be exposed to top level hurling at u20 which can only be good for the future, if we blood 4 new players at u20 level in place of the seniors, surely that's better for Offaly hurling future than winning the u20 championship?

[Wing Back]

How did we go in u19 match v Westmeath the other night?

[Faithfully]

How did we go in u19 match v Westmeath the other night?

Won 2-16 to 1-14 according to social media, I wasn't at it.

[Wing Back]

How did we go in u19 match v Westmeath the other night?

Won 2-16 to 1-14 according to social media, I wasn't at it.

That's great to hear. Westmeath beat kilkenny I had noted the week before. This group simmering along nicely, and will no doubt be putting their hand up and pushing the lads who are up to the age at u20.

[Glendassaun]

Have to say I was very impressed with Offaly v Westmeath. The quality of touch, movement and style of play was excellent, with Offaly pulling away well (10 points+) before we ran the bench.

With exposure to top quality training and competing in training against the more senior U-20's this side has the potential to be very competitive in next years U-20 championship, which would be a great bonus.

Add in some of the guys who are more likely to start on the U-20's or those who had previously played with Roscrea in their All Ireland victory and we have another very solid side that can be very much in the shakeup.