Offaly Hurling 2026

[oneshot]

Ben Conneely has to stay full back.

[oneshot]

Killiam sampson got 1-3 scored off him yesterday while his distribrution might be good thats not an ideal afternoon from any back whos number 1 job is to defend.

game is gone like that now watch tipp and limerick Eoghan connolly of tipp one of the best backs in the game yet aidan oconnor score about 5 from play off him same as craig morgan shane o brien got was it 6 from play off him the day of the tight defenders is gone.

[greenairfield]

Limerick hammered them off course the forwards cleaned them!

If you want to win you need your backs to win them battles

[oneshot]

noel mcgrath the oldest man on the field also got 6 from play as i said the day of tight marking is gone its you score i score now . its a scoring game now your backs have to nearly score as much as your forwards now.

[Conrad]

Question was 'if everyone fit & available'.
If he was fit & available, in my opinion he'd be involved and I'd have him in at no.6 no doubt.
Bit of a fantasy selection I know but that's all these starting 15 selections tend to be when your not in charge.

[PullHardPullOften]

Question was 'if everyone fit & available'.
If he was fit & available, in my opinion he'd be involved and I'd have him in at no.6 no doubt.
Bit of a fantasy selection I know but that's all these starting 15 selections tend to be when your not in charge.

Surely in that case, if they were fit and available, Brian Whelahan and Johnny Dooley would get the nod too?

[Géill Slí]

There is a very relevant discussion over on the football thread about the quality of the strength and conditioning programme available to our county players, and the impact poor practices (eg flogging the life out of lads) can have on the number of injuries we are currently experiencing. Surely this is something that could/should be coordinated and monitored across all county panels. It’s no accident or coincidence that we are down so many players to soft muscle injuries in both codes.

Yes, you will have managers or management teams who will want to build their reputations on the back of results, and player welfare/recovery might not always feature at the top of a list of priorities, but should it not be the case that there is some structure overseeing the programmes and, importantly, recovery protocols that players are following. It’s all very well getting high profile managers or coaches in, but surely there is a necessity for us as a GAA county competing in both codes to have a top class strength and conditioning programme in place, including injury prevention and recovery.

Look at what the Limerick or Cork hurlers have done, or (maybe a better example, closer to home), look at Kilkenny. Mikey Butler, Cian Kenny, Mikey Carey, even Huw Lawlor … these are not big colossus of men, but you will do very well to stop them breaking a tackle, or break through them in a tackle. And it’s especially true that for ourselves, with our small playing numbers and, relatively, small size around the field in both hurling and football that this is an area we should be targeting for a big improvement.

The previous poster who spoke about Brecon Kavanagh, for example … how much would Brecon benefit from a two or three year sustained programme, monitored at county level and consulting with his home club? On the other side of the coin, Killian Sampson has become possibly our most influential player as a result of serious physical gains over the last two years. If we are going to close the gap to the top counties, strength and conditioning and overall player development and monitoring has to be a major priority.

There are always situations where a lad will ship a bad belt or those rare occasions (thinking of Charlie Mitchell) where something else altogether forces a period away from the field, but what I’m talking about are injuries that could have been prevented or physical gains that could have been made.

All very well picking fantasy teams if everyone is fit and available, and don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying reading the debates and looking at the line-ups, but at some stage we have to start asking ourselves is there a better way we can make sure we have more lads “fit and available.”

[Fairplayalways]

I wouldnt say lads are picking their "fantasy team" like its not like we are blessed with who to pick..its merely who is our current strongesst 15 from what I read of the initial post..Ill be shot down by his nay sayers but a pity Cillian Kiely isnt involved, and if his speed is gone for no. 6 why not put him in the full forward line...he is able to win his own ball anyway and is will look after himself...but look hes not involved (this year) and owes Offaly nothing...we needed/need a few more with his drive regardless of what people thought of him...

[Géill Slí]

I wouldnt say lads are picking their "fantasy team" like its not like we are blessed with who to pick.

Ah no, I know that …. That’s kinda the point I was making …. and that maybe it’s not just bad luck why we are in this situation

[frankthetank]

Question was 'if everyone fit & available'.
If he was fit & available, in my opinion he'd be involved and I'd have him in at no.6 no doubt.
Bit of a fantasy selection I know but that's all these starting 15 selections tend to be when your not in charge.

K/K wouldn't even hurl him at centre back in the county final or against Ballyhale and you think he should be centre back for Offaly?

[Plain of the Herbs]

Just on this point. Brecon, as well as several others, is just out of U20. Those lads aren't going to be fully developed for a few years yet. Yes, they'll be on programmes, but there's a natural development too. And all the programmes and proteins in the world aren't going to give a 22 year old the body of a 25 year old.

The Offaly Senior management have taken a long view by introducing so many who will turn 21 this year. Which is fair enough- those lads represent the future of Offaly hurling. And people will just have to be patient.

It may well be 2030 before Offaly are in a position to make a real impact in Leinster Senior championship.

The previous poster who spoke about Brecon Kavanagh, for example … how much would Brecon benefit from a two or three year sustained programme, monitored at county level and consulting with his home club? On the other side of the coin, Killian Sampson has become possibly our most influential player as a result of serious physical gains over the last two years. If we are going to close the gap to the top counties, strength and conditioning and overall player development and monitoring has to be a major priority.

[Géill Slí]

Fair point POTH.

[private joker]

Very fair points. A county the size of offaly, forces a huge amount of u20s into playing more game time than the bigger ones. The issues that will appear are that not all of these young lads will be still around over the next 5-10 years. A nu.ber of them will stay the course but certainly not all. For many different reasons, jobs, travelling, injuries and natural fall off through interest levels. The real concern is what's coming behind to negate these issues, which all counties face.

[Fairplayalways]

Sorry, this ould lark of giving lads time, Adam Hogan, Adam English, Ruben Halloran - just picking them three off the top of my head, the first two played Munster Championship games in the weeks leading UPTO their leaving certs...Ruben Halloran a recent U20 with Waterford, looks more than at home from physical side, open play/frees, Darragh McCarthy has a miles even behind him at this stage....our lads are of similar age are on/off the team or worse still injured. I wont profess to know how one county can do it and we cant, but these are facts -it takes us years to "develop" these players, and as I said in other posts, lads now a days wont hang around for 6/7/10 years...they have lives to live and will rightly move on...the answer for Offaly is probably somewhere in the middle of the two scenarios..Other counties, prodigies come on and after a year or two there are main stays - we have a different 15 every week- for every game etc.

[faithfulfanatic]

Sorry, this ould lark of giving lads time, Adam Hogan, Adam English, Ruben Halloran - just picking them three off the top of my head, the first two played Munster Championship games in the weeks leading UPTO their leaving certs...Ruben Halloran a recent U20 with Waterford, looks more than at home from physical side, open play/frees, Darragh McCarthy has a miles even behind him at this stage....our lads are of similar age are on/off the team or worse still injured. I wont profess to know how one county can do it and we cant, but these are facts -it takes us years to "develop" these players, and as I said in other posts, lads now a days wont hang around for 6/7/10 years...they have lives to live and will rightly move on...the answer for Offaly is probably somewhere in the middle of the two scenarios..Other counties, prodigies come on and after a year or two there are main stays - we have a different 15 every week- for every game etc.

All of them lads named have had various injury issues over the last couple of years.
Reuben Halloran is 24.
You have picked an outlier from those counties - Offaly have probably looked to blood more young lads than any county.
Minor hurling all ireland 2021, Cork beat Galway.
From those teams, Diarmuid Healy might start for Cork this year, Joshua Ryan might start for Galway, nobody else.