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It is happening in every county.

clubs that rest on their laurels and past glories generally get left behind and only begin to wonder what went wrong after it is too late
too many clubs keep too close an eye on what the neighbour is doing and keeping them down, instead of looking to see what the best run clubs are doing

clubs that have put plans in place to develop quality young players and bring them through to adult level will reap the rewards

kaiserchief wrote:

greenairfield wrote:Was at the minor final yesterday slightly worried at the standard of hurling but I suppose that's where Offaly is at..Cliodagh gaels are a plysical strong team with 7 or 8 very big hurlers but unfortunately I can't see any of them progressing to be huge players for Offaly in the future as there basic skill level was pretty much ordinary bar there full forward.

Also allstar maybe it's an indication while Cliodagh Gaels are doing well and Birr and the likes struggle maybe that's why Offaly hurling is poor cos the so called strong teams are not at the top anymore.

Why cant you see any of them hurling for Offaly in the future?

I am with all star, its great to see the spread of Offaly hurling happening. Its just showing how much work was going on in the 'so called' weaker clubs in the last 10 years and how much the stronger clubs where just focused on their senior team. This happening the Offaly system as well. Focus was put on the winning team of the 90's and we have suffered for this for the last 15 years.

Ah listen, fellas from Clodiagh Gaels and other clubs 'up there' are only a bunch of footballers swinging hurleys like hedge cutters. They only win games because of their fitness gained from football.
They'll be found out at adult level when their lack of tradition and and poor pedigree kicks in.

SearingDrive wrote: You can include Killeigh, Geashill, Ballinagar, in that mix, as Na Fianna draw from those areas along with Killurin.

Ah yeah, I was just picking Killurin as one example. Twas just to make the point that I don't care where the lads are from, as long as it's somewhere in between Moneygall and Johnstownbridge.

Bord na Mona man wrote:

kaiserchief wrote:

greenairfield wrote:Was at the minor final yesterday slightly worried at the standard of hurling but I suppose that's where Offaly is at..Cliodagh gaels are a plysical strong team with 7 or 8 very big hurlers but unfortunately I can't see any of them progressing to be huge players for Offaly in the future as there basic skill level was pretty much ordinary bar there full forward.

Also allstar maybe it's an indication while Cliodagh Gaels are doing well and Birr and the likes struggle maybe that's why Offaly hurling is poor cos the so called strong teams are not at the top anymore.

Why cant you see any of them hurling for Offaly in the future?

I am with all star, its great to see the spread of Offaly hurling happening. Its just showing how much work was going on in the 'so called' weaker clubs in the last 10 years and how much the stronger clubs where just focused on their senior team. This happening the Offaly system as well. Focus was put on the winning team of the 90's and we have suffered for this for the last 15 years.

Ah listen, fellas from Clodiagh Gaels and other clubs 'up there' are only a bunch of footballers swinging hurleys like hedge cutters. They only win games because of their fitness gained from football.
They'll be found out at adult level when their lack of tradition and and poor pedigree kicks in.

very true, who they think they are trying to compete with the lads from the hurling part of the county.

long as it's somewhere in between Moneygall and Johnstownbridge

Have we annexed a couple of square miles of Kildare?

Lone Shark wrote:

SearingDrive wrote: You can include Killeigh, Geashill, Ballinagar, in that mix, as Na Fianna draw from those areas along with Killurin.

Ah yeah, I was just picking Killurin as one example. Twas just to make the point that I don't care where the lads are from, as long as it's somewhere in between Moneygall and Johnstownbridge.

That's ok. My point is that Offaly should be able to pick hurlers on a county wide basis, rather than the so called traditional areas. The wider the area the better same applies in football.

ggggggggggggggg

Yes it is a frightening statistic...but with work finaly been done at underage again and more to come, in another couple of years I have no doubt it will change.

Now concentrate on your own club and don't be having sly remarks towards birr

18 titles between 2002-08 wow that's mad. That's not including leinsters and all Ireland's??

allstar2010 wrote:18 titles between 2002-08 wow that's mad. That's not including leinsters and all Ireland's??

just county titles - incredible really

6 Senior
1 Intermediate
3 U-21’s
2 Minor
2 U-16
3 U-14
1 U-12

Complaining about Birr's drought at underage now is like giving out to a lad for losing his fitness, while he's up on the treadmill. Yes,they let things slide, but there are some signs of things being done the right way in terms of coaching and they are making progress - it's hardly fair to hang them now that they have started to turn the corner. I wasn't at the minor semi-final between Birr and Na Fianna, but by all accounts it was a great game, and I wouldn't rule out for a minute that the best two minor teams in the county were in that game. I was at the Ferbane/Belmont vs Cuchulainn Gaels match and while it was entertaining and wholehearted, the quality was a little bit short of where you'd like an "A" semi-final to be, so Na Fianna will start as strong favourites in the final. I now that losing semi-finals is not what Birr GAA club is about, but one step at a time and all that. It certainly beats hurling in "B".

Admittedly, I think things will get worse before they get better for the club at senior level. One score - a fortuitous goal - in the closing twenty nine minutes of play against Coolderry is a big worry. Neither did they have an awful lot of strength in reserve on the bench. It's unclear whether or not Paul Cleary will come back after this latest injury, and you couldn't say for certain if Rory Hanniffy and Barry Whelahan will keep going into 2016 either. Those are three huge, huge players for the club and there are two or three lean years ahead before there might be something of a turnaround - though at that stage, they'll have to start thinking about replacing lads like Dylan Hayden and Brian Mullins as well.

The long term prognosis for Birr is a lot better than it was a couple of years ago, but that's the problem in the GAA system, where you can't import players - there's very little you can do about the medium term in the mean time.

Lone Shark wrote:Complaining about Birr's drought at underage now is like giving out to a lad for losing his fitness, while he's up on the treadmill. Yes,they let things slide, but there are some signs of things being done the right way in terms of coaching and they are making progress - it's hardly fair to hang them now that they have started to turn the corner. I wasn't at the minor semi-final between Birr and Na Fianna, but by all accounts it was a great game, and I wouldn't rule out for a minute that the best two minor teams in the county were in that game. I was at the Ferbane/Belmont vs Cuchulainn Gaels match and while it was entertaining and wholehearted, the quality was a little bit short of where you'd like an "A" semi-final to be, so Na Fianna will start as strong favourites in the final. I now that losing semi-finals is not what Birr GAA club is about, but one step at a time and all that. It certainly beats hurling in "B".

Admittedly, I think things will get worse before they get better for the club at senior level. One score - a fortuitous goal - in the closing twenty nine minutes of play against Coolderry is a big worry. Neither did they have an awful lot of strength in reserve on the bench. It's unclear whether or not Paul Cleary will come back after this latest injury, and you couldn't say for certain if Rory Hanniffy and Barry Whelahan will keep going into 2016 either. Those are three huge, huge players for the club and there are two or three lean years ahead before there might be something of a turnaround - though at that stage, they'll have to start thinking about replacing lads like Dylan Hayden and Brian Mullins as well.

The long term prognosis for Birr is a lot better than it was a couple of years ago, but that's the problem in the GAA system, where you can't import players - there's very little you can do about the medium term in the mean time.

Lone shark i agree birr seem to be improving at underage but my worry for birr is when a club slips from been the top club to been outside the top five ,its a long road back. Ask St Rynagh .
That why i think its vital for birr that R Hannify P Cleary M Verney D Hayden S Ryan B Walkins and B Mullins all continue to play in 2016 and beond if possible otherwise we could see birr in relagation trouble .

Who was it that said the Galway final would never return to athenry..any1??kevin was it you..I think it was no hope of it changing..

There changing 99% are happy about it

Keiap wrote:Who was it that said the Galway final would never return to athenry..any1??kevin was it you..I think it was no hope of it changing..

The success of the Galway Senior Football final being hosted in the football heartland of Tuam is believed to have been a major factor in the Galway Senior Hurling Final being hosted in Athenry.

Surely Birr is now well able to cope with an attendance of about 5,200, thanks to the great work done in the past year.

Remember the paying punter wins in the end as has just happened in Galway.