Offaly Hurling 2026

[backofthenet]

What county player would take offense at whats said to them on the field of play?

If our county players are that mentally weak we are going nowhere, they will get that in a lot of matches be they club or county and would have had it since about 15 id imagine. I would be shocked if there was an original jibe by the time they hit senior

[KeshaWantsTimber]

Will we have 15 for the league without the KK lads? We'll be in division 3 without them.

[faithfulfanatic]

Copy and paste the below and fill in with your predictions:

National League prediction for Offaly:
Championship prediction for Offaly:
Leinster Championship winner:
Munster Championship winner:
Joe McDonagh winner:
All Ireland winner:

Offaly star player 2026:
Outside shout for a starting jersey:
Offaly Young player of the year:
Top scorer from play:
Positional/personnel predictions:

Hurler of the Year:
Young Hurler of the Year:
Flops:
Intercounty prediction:

Offaly Senior A club championship winner:

[faithfulfanatic]

National League prediction for Offaly: Relegated with 1 point
Championship prediction for Offaly: Beat Wexford and Kildare, lose out narrowly to Dublin on H2H
Leinster Championship winner: Galway
Munster Championship winner:Limerick
Joe McDonagh winner: Antrim (not Laois)
All Ireland winner: Limerick

Offaly star player 2026: Charlie
Outside shout for a starting jersey: Eoin Burke
Offaly Young player of the year: Ter Guinan
Top scorer from play: Oisin
Positional/personnel predictions: Killian Sampson centre back

Hurler of the Year: Cathal O’Neill
Young Hurler of the Year: Rory Burke Galway
Flops: Cork
Intercounty prediction: in-fighting on Leeside, Waterford qualify from Munster

Offaly Senior A club championship winner: Birr

[Faithful Future]

National League prediction for Offaly: 0 points

Championship prediction for Offaly: Beat Wexford and Kildare.
Leinster Championship winner: Kilkenny
Munster Championship winner: Cork
Joe McDonagh winner: Laois
All Ireland winner: Limerick

Offaly star player 2026: Charlie Mitchell
Outside shout for a starting jersey: Ruairi Kelly
Offaly Young player of the year: Ter Guinan
Top scorer from play: Charlie Mitchell
Positional/personnel predictions: Ter Guinan midfield/wing forward

Hurler of the Year: Cian Lynch
Young Hurler of the Year: William Buckley Cork
Flops: Galway
Intercounty prediction: Clare 0 points in Munster

Offaly Senior A club championship winner: K/k

[oneshot]

Will we have 15 for the league without the KK lads? We'll be in division 3 without them.

don't forget we were also in the christy ring cup and division 2 B with KK lads hurling as well. it takes a county to win not just one club.

[frankthetank]

National League prediction for Offaly: Relegation with 0 points
Championship prediction for Offaly: Survival with a last day victory over Kildare. A hearbreaking loss to Dublin in Round 1 will knock the stuffing out of us.
Leinster Championship winner: Kilkenny
Munster Championship winner: Limerick
Joe McDonagh winner: Antrim
All Ireland winner: Limerick

Offaly star player 2026: Donal Shirley
Outside shout for a starting jersey: Shane Rigney
Offaly Young player of the year: Donal Shirley
Top scorer from play: Charlie Mitchell
Positional/personnel predictions: An influx of the Under 20’s onto Senior first 20.

Hurler of the Year: Aaron Gillane
Young Hurler of the Year: No idea
Flops: Galway obviously
Intercounty prediction: No Leinster team in the All Ireland final again

Offaly Senior A club championship winner: Kilcormac/Killoughey

[Lone Shark]

What county player would take offense at whats said to them on the field of play?

If our county players are that mentally weak we are going nowhere, they will get that in a lot of matches be they club or county and would have had it since about 15 id imagine. I would be shocked if there was an original jibe by the time they hit senior

First of all, to be very clear - I am not referring to any one player or any incident here. Ciarán Burke has been mentioned in this thread, and what I'm about to say is not about him specifically any more than it is about any other player when it comes to the topic of what the Americans call 'trash talking' or what would be more widely described as 'sledging' over here.

Like all things, there is a scale to this behaviour. As a lifetime junior B, the only sledging I ever heard were surgically accurate descriptions of how spectacularly useless I was as a player, so in that sense I've never been exposed to anything that was even remotely out of order. And quite frankly, if all we were talking about here is lads insulting your ability to puck or kick a ball, either at Junior B or senior intercounty, then there's nothing to discuss. Last year in his pre-county-final interview, Brian Duignan talked about the Rynaghs lads needling him about the missed penalty in the last few minutes of the semi-final, particularly as he walked up to take those frees late in the game. And to be clear, BD was perfectly fine with that, he saw that as part of the game.

That said, we've all heard the stories of the ones that go way too far. Anthony Daly has spoken at times about being accused of violence against his partner by a Waterford player. We had an incident in our club last year here in Roscommon where an underage player of ours was racially abused and there are plenty of GAA players who can tell that story, and there have been instances at intercounty level where players tried to use both their marker's loss of a sibling to suicide and the death of another player's child as suitable material to "gain an edge".

Slight tangent, I had the misfortune of being on holiday in a foreign country once with nothing to read except Cathal McCarron's biography (given to me as a present, I hasten to add!) and to this day I regret that I didn't just bin it after 50 pages, it enraged me the amount of truly appalling and disgusting behaviour he excused in the name of being 'part and parcel of Ulster championship'. So as an aside, never read that book.

Anyway, back on topic. I don't think I'm being too presumptuous when I say that I don't think anyone on this board would admit to being okay with any of the above; so we can accept there is a line, somewhere. And while defining where that line is, is not easy, I've often thought that the simple answer for this would be when you're marking a player with a reputation for crossing the line when it comes to verbals, to just tape a small voice recorder inside your jersey and let it run.

Plenty of those devices are out there, cheap as chips and very small, you wouldn't notice them either as a player or as an opponent. Then when something is said, make a point of taking it out, pressing stop and saying "thanks for that" and passing it over to one of your lads on the sideline.

If the player is happy enough that what he's doing is within the bounds of acceptable competitive behaviour, he'll have no problem with that being posted on social media the next day, or sent to the relevant CCC.

Or, on the other hand, if you're the type of person who thinks that sledging is fine but someone recording what is said to make the player publicly accountable is not on, then I'm quite comfortable in saying you're a twisted individual who should have no influence on how gaelic games are played and administered.

Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't come up already, and in my opinion it's a stonewall certainty that it will soon.

[backofthenet]

What county player would take offense at whats said to them on the field of play?

If our county players are that mentally weak we are going nowhere, they will get that in a lot of matches be they club or county and would have had it since about 15 id imagine. I would be shocked if there was an original jibe by the time they hit senior

First of all, to be very clear - I am not referring to any one player or any incident here. Ciarán Burke has been mentioned in this thread, and what I'm about to say is not about him specifically any more than it is about any other player when it comes to the topic of what the Americans call 'trash talking' or what would be more widely described as 'sledging' over here.

Like all things, there is a scale to this behaviour. As a lifetime junior B, the only sledging I ever heard were surgically accurate descriptions of how spectacularly useless I was as a player, so in that sense I've never been exposed to anything that was even remotely out of order. And quite frankly, if all we were talking about here is lads insulting your ability to puck or kick a ball, either at Junior B or senior intercounty, then there's nothing to discuss. Last year in his pre-county-final interview, Brian Duignan talked about the Rynaghs lads needling him about the missed penalty in the last few minutes of the semi-final, particularly as he walked up to take those frees late in the game. And to be clear, BD was perfectly fine with that, he saw that as part of the game.

That said, we've all heard the stories of the ones that go way too far. Anthony Daly has spoken at times about being accused of violence against his partner by a Waterford player. We had an incident in our club last year here in Roscommon where an underage player of ours was racially abused and there are plenty of GAA players who can tell that story, and there have been instances at intercounty level where players tried to use both their marker's loss of a sibling to suicide and the death of another player's child as suitable material to "gain an edge".

Slight tangent, I had the misfortune of being on holiday in a foreign country once with nothing to read except Cathal McCarron's biography (given to me as a present, I hasten to add!) and to this day I regret that I didn't just bin it after 50 pages, it enraged me the amount of truly appalling and disgusting behaviour he excused in the name of being 'part and parcel of Ulster championship'. So as an aside, never read that book.

Anyway, back on topic. I don't think I'm being too presumptuous when I say that I don't think anyone on this board would admit to being okay with any of the above; so we can accept there is a line, somewhere. And while defining where that line is, is not easy, I've often thought that the simple answer for this would be when you're marking a player with a reputation for crossing the line when it comes to verbals, to just tape a small voice recorder inside your jersey and let it run.

Plenty of those devices are out there, cheap as chips and very small, you wouldn't notice them either as a player or as an opponent. Then when something is said, make a point of taking it out, pressing stop and saying "thanks for that" and passing it over to one of your lads on the sideline.

If the player is happy enough that what he's doing is within the bounds of acceptable competitive behaviour, he'll have no problem with that being posted on social media the next day, or sent to the relevant CCC.

Or, on the other hand, if you're the type of person who thinks that sledging is fine but someone recording what is said to make the player publicly accountable is not on, then I'm quite comfortable in saying you're a twisted individual who should have no influence on how gaelic games are played and administered.

Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't come up already, and in my opinion it's a stonewall certainty that it will soon.

I dont condone the actions, but i do think using that as fuel on the field is the answer, i personally had lots of things said to me on the field of play, honestly they didnt bother me in the slightest & in general i took it as a great compliment to my abilities...as small as they were!

You cant control your opponent and their actions, you can only control yourself. Leave the rest to the referee.

On the topic of taping opponents...jesus i hope this is banned immediately and not allowed happen, what sort of game would we have if we had players running around with tapes...then with AI or careful editing or both we have an absolute disaster on our hands for what is a passtime and an ameteur sport.

[Jim Troy]

Is the master fixture list for clubs for 2026 available anywhere?

[chimbonda]

Any word on any newcomers expected to see game time in the Walsh Cup?

Personally I am hoping Ter Guinan can stay injury free and get a run of games in the team.

[Lone Shark]

I dont condone the actions, but i do think using that as fuel on the field is the answer, i personally had lots of things said to me on the field of play, honestly they didnt bother me in the slightest & in general i took it as a great compliment to my abilities...as small as they were!

The point I was going for before is that if someone is talking in your ear about your lack of ability, or your weakness under pressure, or anything that you could cut and paste to the player that he was marking a week ago, then yeah, that's harmless stuff and it would be as likely to be motivation as distraction.

But the point is that lines get crossed, and the idea that someone could start going down the road of racial or sectarian abuse, a family tragedy or something like that and that you would "use that as fuel" is not a reasonable expectation of anyone.

Do you mind me asking - and please be as vague as you like in responding, because I'm looking for scale rather than personal information - what's the worst thing that anyone said to you?

You cant control your opponent and their actions, you can only control yourself. Leave the rest to the referee.

The whole point about this area of behaviour is that it is effectively impossible for any official to hear it, and thus to act on it.

On the topic of taping opponents...jesus i hope this is banned immediately and not allowed happen, what sort of game would we have if we had players running around with tapes...then with AI or careful editing or both we have an absolute disaster on our hands for what is a passtime and an ameteur sport.

This is what I mean. So even on the extreme end of the scale, your idea is that doing the ONE thing that you could do to ensure someone is held to account for what they say needs to be banned, and the player should just keep taking it until the referee magically develops the hearing ability of an owl?

Once again, if the comments are within the bounds of human decency, nobody is going to judge the player badly for it. I don't think any less of a player as a person because they tackle fractionally high or fractionally late, which is a foul - and I'm not going to think any less of a player if they start chirping in their opponents ear about the manager getting the sub ready after you've just skated around them for a score, or if they've just put the ball wide from 30 yards out. Any player who taped that and released it would be ridiculed endlessly for doing so.

That is not the type of stuff we're talking about here.

[Lone Shark]

Is the master fixture list for clubs for 2026 available anywhere?

Nothing out yet. To be fair to Offaly GAA, the players/clubs here usually get that information earlier than most, and it's always freely accessible on the website as soon as it's out.

[backofthenet]

I dont condone the actions, but i do think using that as fuel on the field is the answer, i personally had lots of things said to me on the field of play, honestly they didnt bother me in the slightest & in general i took it as a great compliment to my abilities...as small as they were!

The point I was going for before is that if someone is talking in your ear about your lack of ability, or your weakness under pressure, or anything that you could cut and paste to the player that he was marking a week ago, then yeah, that's harmless stuff and it would be as likely to be motivation as distraction.

But the point is that lines get crossed, and the idea that someone could start going down the road of racial or sectarian abuse, a family tragedy or something like that and that you would "use that as fuel" is not a reasonable expectation of anyone.

Do you mind me asking - and please be as vague as you like in responding, because I'm looking for scale rather than personal information - what's the worst thing that anyone said to you?

You cant control your opponent and their actions, you can only control yourself. Leave the rest to the referee.

The whole point about this area of behaviour is that it is effectively impossible for any official to hear it, and thus to act on it.

On the topic of taping opponents...jesus i hope this is banned immediately and not allowed happen, what sort of game would we have if we had players running around with tapes...then with AI or careful editing or both we have an absolute disaster on our hands for what is a passtime and an ameteur sport.

This is what I mean. So even on the extreme end of the scale, your idea is that doing the ONE thing that you could do to ensure someone is held to account for what they say needs to be banned, and the player should just keep taking it until the referee magically develops the hearing ability of an owl?

Once again, if the comments are within the bounds of human decency, nobody is going to judge the player badly for it. I don't think any less of a player as a person because they tackle fractionally high or fractionally late, which is a foul - and I'm not going to think any less of a player if they start chirping in their opponents ear about the manager getting the sub ready after you've just skated around them for a score, or if they've just put the ball wide from 30 yards out. Any player who taped that and released it would be ridiculed endlessly for doing so.

That is not the type of stuff we're talking about here.

Honestly had stuff said about my abilities, physical appearance, my family, mother, father, sisters. It was fairly rare but it happened, and in general i knew i had that player beaten once they started...you generally cant concentrate on the game & hurl abuse at the same time.

I never once abused an opponent on the field myself i always thought it a tremendous waste of time & energy & would still argue it is.

I dont agree at all on players taping other players...i frankly think its a crazy idea with far reaching, dangerous consequences.

Imagine if something was caught on tape 5 mins into a game..is the ref meant to stop the game, go somewhere, listen to it & act? How do we determine the voices? How do we understand the context..ie player a abuses player b to get a rise & when they respond its caught on tape. What about tampering with the tape itself? Slander & defamation law suits? All over perhaps an intermediate semi final for example.

Lets get real here, this is not a major problem its isolated & would in my opinion be grossly exaserbated by taping.

[Lone Shark]

Honestly had stuff said about my abilities, physical appearance, my family, mother, father, sisters. It was fairly rare but it happened, and in general i knew i had that player beaten once they started...you generally cant concentrate on the game & hurl abuse at the same time.

Well all I can say is that you're a stronger man than me if they were real family issues that were raised and it didn't trouble you. The only senior matches I ever played were league games when the first team were stuck for numbers, by the time championship came around I was always back with the Junior A/B/C team, so it was never an issue for me, I was never worth researching.

But I know myself well enough that if someone was to bring up my son's death, even now the best part of nine years later, I'd be in a heap. The idea that I could "use it as fuel" is just miles away from reality. Of course, that is a hypothetical situation, albeit I've heard plenty of stories of family tragedies being used in this way. I was on the pitch for a game when a player decided to bring up a car accident that left his marker's brother in a wheelchair though, and that had a predictable end - an all out melee, two red cards and bad blood for years after it. Again, the only fuel that could have come out of that would have been in the form of a petrol bomb for the talker.

Likewise the racial abuse case I referred to earlier in the thread, the young lad and his family were absolutely distraught. It might be hard to concentrate on the game and hurl abuse, but if it cuts to the bone, it's utterly impossible for most people to play after it.

Recorders mightn't be ideal, but if the two options are that or for the player giving that sort of abuse to get away with it, then I would stick to my view that the recording is the lesser of two evils.

I'll hand it to you though - if you've walked the walk and you hold the view that the onus is on the person receiving the abuse to hold their nerve, then fair play. A lot of people who might say things like that have never actually been in that sort of situation and seen when it crosses the line into something genuinely personal and nasty. So you're more than entitled to hold that view.