The Future

[Offalys Future]

Leaving Rath yesterday i found myself in good spirits. The first game was pretty one sided but i was impressed by some of the Kinnity hurlers.
The second game just re-iterated what i have been saying all along. That in Offaly there is plenty good quality hurlers.
They need to be trained coached etc to make them county hurlers but there is massive potential.

Kinnity
Three players stood out for me and they were
James Rigney
Colm Coughlan
Odhran Kealey

The first two have as good as touch as you will see anywhere and while Couglan is quiet small i feel there is massive potential.
Odhran Kealey though i feel could offer something to an Offaly panel. He has unreal pace and while he didnt play great i feel with correct coaching he could turn into a good county hurler. For a year i have been saying that Sean Ryan should be on the county team because he has massive potential, he is and Odhran Kealey is far from the finished article but if a good coach got them for a year they would be unreal.
Richie McRedmond scored a super point too one of the best i have seen all year. I dont think he would bring much now to a county panel. Still has flashes of genius though.

For Lusmagh i think Kieran Bermingham isnt a bad hurler either and has potential.

KK vs Rynaghs
For the kk's i thought Ciaran Slevin was superb in the 2nd half and he gave Hernon a torrid time.
Eamonn Lee got three nice points and Mahon didnt do too bad.
You add Daniel Currams to the three above. He is back from the USA now i think and he is a really good hurler.

For St.Rynaghs i think Fergus Shortt isnt a bad hurler, he was making a one dimensional player so it will be interesting to see how he would fair on a fast full forward.
Ciaran Flannery scored some nice points but isnt county standard, not sure about Colm Keane, he scored 1-02 and looked sharp.

All in all i was quiet happy, i have seen nearly all the above hurl a good few times over the years and they could offer something to a county team with proper coaching etc like i have said on countless times.

One thing i was disappinted in was the sideline for both teams. Horan made changes when they were winning and that upset the team. While kk played high ball constantly into full forward line. Okay it paid off in the end but if they had played ball to slevin and lee on the wings they would have won this game handy as they have lighting pace and were always gettin the better of their men.

St Rynaghs Won 5 and lost 5 of their puckouts in the first half.
In the 2nd half they Won 3 and lost 9. This ultimately cost them.


There is plenty good hurlers in Offaly we just need a good coach and trainer to work with them and turn them into very good hurlers.

[Offalys Future]

Lone Shark you are badly missed here.

In any other county after watching the kk/Rynagh's game there would have been plenty of people on this board giving their opinion.
But not here, i just dont get it.

The best Plain Of The Herbs can come up with is

I don’t remember much about the ’Rynagh’s / Kilcormac match which followed (it’s a kind of a blur!) and the constant pricking around by the scoreboard operator didn’t help.

pathetic

Is there anybody out there that really cares about the future of Offaly hurling, if so please do give your opinion.

[Biffo Army]

Offaly Future

You make some very valid points about the games at the weekend, but I would disagree with you on the notion that Mahon from KK is much of a hurler. The lad is obviously a fair athlete, but he cant strike the ball more than twenty yards!! This Colm Keane chap that you are unsure about is in fact young Paul Quirke, surprised a man so passionate about Offaly hurling and its future didnt know that. For KK I was impressed by John Grogan,Healion at full back, Cassidy, Leonard, Lee, and Slevin looked really sharp! For Rynaghs Wynne, Shortt, John Ryan, Flannery put in a good hour, Quirke, Gary Kelly and Mulhare when introudcued.

With regard to the first game, Lusmagh could have no positives really, a dreadful display they just never got going and missed Hanrahan sorely! Kinnitty on the other hand had good performances from Paddy Whelan, Bergin, Coughlan, Matthew McRedmond, Mark Robinson, Stephen Molloy and not forgetting James Rigney!![

[Biffo Army]

There is plenty good hurlers in Offaly we just need a good coach and trainer to work with them and turn them into very good hurlers.

The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players.
-Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach

Something to keep in mind!!!!

[Offalys Future]

but I would disagree with you on the notion that Mahon from KK is much of a hurler.

I said Mahon didnt hurl too bad. He is an athlete and to me he has way more potential than Derek Molloy ever will.

This Colm Keane chap that you are unsure about is in fact young Paul Quirke, surprised a man so passionate about Offaly hurling and its future didnt know that.

There only a certain amount any of us know and its a pity that the programme, scoreboard etc cant be right for the day of a county quarter final.
Oh ya also the linesman from Drumcullen was a joke, looked like he never seen a hurling game before in his life.
Surely at county quarter final stage the county board can make sure that there is two referees as linesmen. But then again its the offaly county board we were talking about. That would take a bit of organisation.

Just in regard to the players i picked out, these are players that i feel have potential to play inter county hurling if given a chance and trained, coached properly.

John Ryan, Colm Cassidy, Healion, Flannery, Gary Kelly, Mulhare, Paddy Whelan, Stephen Molloy will never make good inter county hurlers at this stage.

The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players.
-Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach

Something to keep in mind!!!!

Offaly over the last eight years havent had a good coach, obviuosly the players attitudes must change but first the county board need to get a good trainer.

Also they need to get a good trainer at minor and under sixteen level.

[kinnittyman]

How in the name of the lord say can you that Steven Molloy wont make a county hurler at this stage. He's only 20 years of age and hes Kinnittys most important forward by a mile.

[kinnittyman]

How in the name of the lord say can you that Steven Molloy wont make a county hurler at this stage. He's only 20 years of age and hes Kinnittys most important forward by a mile.

[Offalys Future]

How in the name of the lord say can you that Steven Molloy wont make a county hurler at this stage. He's only 20 years of age and hes Kinnittys most important forward by a mile.

I never said he wouldnt make a intercounty hurler i said he wouldnt make a good inter county hurler.
A good honest club hurler is my opinion of him.

Like i have said before because you hurl very good in club games in offaly that wont make you able to step up to the plate at intercounty level.
The standard of hurling between Lusmagh and Kinnitty was very poor don forget.

[kinnittyman]

I couldnt give a toss if its the worst championship that was ever played if we win it!

[Offalys Future]

I couldnt give a toss if its the worst championship that was ever played if we win it!

Well you shouldnt think like that, because the longer the standard of club hurling stays poor the longer Offaly teams will remain poor.

Oh by the way - ye havent a hope in hell of winnning the county final this year as bad in all that the championship is, so dont be getting your hopes up.

[True Red]

Jays Offaly's Future from reading your comments above and previous threads you seem to be a very bitter and small minded individual. Kinnittyman is obviously delighted that his team are in the semi's and who are you to pee on his parade with comments like that? Small clubs like Kinnitty are the bedrock of the GAA and provide a focus and outlet for a rural community that no other sport can. Its not Kinnitty's fault that Offaly hurlers are a touch off the pace

And dont come back to me with rhetoric about the bigger picture i.e Offaly senior hurlers and the club championship. At the moment Offaly has a bunch of players that will never be able to match the golden generation that came along in the eighties and nineties. For a small hurling community like Offaly having a good team capable of competeing for the top honour is cyclical. And for the time being at least we seem to have a somewhat competitive team that are just a touch short of getting their hands on silverware.

Live with it.

[Offalys Future]

At the moment Offaly has a bunch of players that will never be able to match the golden generation that came along in the eighties and nineties. For a small hurling community like Offaly having a good team capable of competeing for the top honour is cyclical. And for the time being at least we seem to have a somewhat competitive team that are just a touch short of getting their hands on silverware.
Live with it.

Your obviuosly from the football end of the county.
Firstly you cant judge teams from different genertations.

Secondly Offaly have plenty talented hurlers in the county, and in order to get then to the next level they need to be coached and trained properly.

Thirdly in order for the county team to become successful there needs to be proper coaches at Club level and county level where there isnt.
How can players possibly improve if they are getting coached at club level by some lad from the club that hasnt a clue. This is happening in nearly all hurling clubs in the county.

Fair play to Kinnitty for reaching a poor club championship semi final. Buts lets be very realistic Kinnitty are very poor, they have some promising hurlers but overall as a team they arent good. My judgement is that they havent a hope of winning the county final which in time will prove i am right.

Its attitudes of people like you the reason that GAA in the county is so bad at the moment. Instead of looking into why the county team is under performing, you take the easy option and say the playes arent good enough. Which is false. And then you go on about this small hurling community which is a complete load of rubbish. In Offaly there is as many senior teams as kilkenny. If players have some ability which alot have in Offaly and if they are trained and coached properly which they are not, they will be successful.

I'd even go further to say that you weren't even at the games in Rath last weekend.
Do me a favour stick to your football unless you have something constructive to add to this not the usually waffle that i am sick of hearing.

[Lone Shark]

I haven't had the time to weigh into this debate properly since I'm over "across de water" assisting with the RWC, and as such I missed the games last week. Hopefully I'll get time to chip in later on this though.

That said, while obviously it's going to take a collective effort to get Offaly hurling back up off it's knees, I don't think that picking on the smaller clubs that are putting the work in is really the way forward. Kinnitty won their last five county titles at a time when Offaly hurling was very strong, so in one sense they're probably entitled to nick a sloppy one if that's how it pans out.

Certainly bemoaning the state of Offaly club hurling in the context of a game between Lusmagh and them is very harsh. Both of these clubs are doing very well in the absence of either a huge pick or an individual "superstar". (I'm aware that a lot of superstars only come about because of the club environment, but even so). If you want to bemoan the state of Offaly hurling, have a look at K/K who've contributed two regular county players in about 15 years despite having a huge chunk of a parish, or Drumcullen or St. Rynaghs who traditionally used to provide the "hardier" players on county teams. Blame the fact that if a good hurler came along anywhere east of Tullamore the best he could play is junior hurling. Blame the fact that the best four intermediate teams are all second string senior sides and yet nobody sees anything wrong with this and yet we persist with thirteen senior clubs.

Picking on Kinnitty is harsh, since on a club by club basis they're doing their share from what I can tell.


On the greater picture stuff, I'll try to get back to this before the weekend. Subject to no more market moves on big games such as USA vs Tonga of course.

[Offalys Future]

Who the hell is picking on Kinnitty?

I said they havent a hope in hell of winning a poor club championship this year.
Now if any of you out there can honestly say they can ye're mad. And no they are not entitled to 'nick a sloppy one' because of what they did in the past. Jesus you cant be serious.

I've been to alot of the club games this year and the standard has been absolutely shocking. Here we are going into a county quarter final with Coolderry and Shamrocks and taking to a coolderry player a few weeks ago he told me things arent going good in their club and thinks they will be lucky to beat shamrocks. Now is this that Shamrocks have improved so much and are playing a high standard of hurling or is this because coolderry have gone back alot since they got a guy from their club to take over the team? The second option is what i am sure is the real problem.
But the attitude of the coolderry club is that why pay a manager a few thousand a year when we can get to the county semifinal by having a club man in charge. But ultimately they are ruining their club in the process.

Its obvious that lone Shark has a gripe with Kilcormac/Killoughey, but stop living in the past. Yes they were under achievers, but now they got in a good/qualified manager and you can see the difference in their hurling and their attitude. They have a long way to go but if people like you keep going back to the past what hope have they or anytime that is.
Kilcormac Killoughey were also robbed by the county board of taking part in this years county under twenty one final.

Blame the fact that the best four intermediate teams are all second string senior sides and yet nobody sees anything wrong with this and yet we persist with thirteen senior clubs.

Ballinamere are in the intermediate final and they beat Killavilla in the semi final so you are wrong with what you are saying here.
And for the rest well isnt that where our great county board and club delegates come in ya??

[True Red]

Your obviuosly from the football end of the county.
Firstly you cant judge teams from different genertations.

Your level of percpetion knows no bounds.I may be from the football end as you so eloquently put it but does this preclude me from expressing an opinion? I think not.Of course you can judge teams from different generations.And at the moment our current crop,while ever willing, hasnt got the talent of their predecessors in the nineties and eighties.That is not the county board's fault,the club's fault or even the player's fault.

In the words of Tupac Shakur,"thats just the way it is".

Secondly Offaly have plenty talented hurlers in the county, and in order to get then to the next level they need to be coached and trained properly.

I agree that we have some good stickmen in the county.However to say that they werent coached or trained properly in the last couple of years is a falsehood. It would be widely acknowledged that McIntyre would be an innovative and modern thinking coach and while his man management and tactical nous could be lacking it would be unfair to say that Offaly's skills work this year was below par.Also,at a recent county board meeting it was stated that over €500,000 was spent on County teams this season alone.That roughly breaks down to €250,000 apiece between big ball and small ball. So its obvious that funding isnt a problem.

Thirdly in order for the county team to become successful there needs to be proper coaches at Club level and county level where there isnt.
How can players possibly improve if they are getting coached at club level by some lad from the club that hasnt a clue. This is happening in nearly all hurling clubs in the county.

So you have been to a training session at every club in the county?Most hurling teams in the county are managed by genuine hurling men who have a deep love of the game.(I'd imagine or why else would they be doing it) I know my own club is only a junior A hurling side but they are proud hurlers (despite been from the football end)and have reached a semi final this year having been managed by a pure,driven hurling man.I am sure most other sides in the county have like minded individuals over them. As regards the skills quotient of players, I put it to you that it is the individual responsibility of players to improve their skill level on their own and not just rely on the collective training of their club or county.Is enough of this happening at club or county level?I doubt it.

Fair play to Kinnitty for reaching a poor club championship semi final

Surely its not Kinnitty's fault that the championship is a poor one?They can only play whats in front of them and will be rightly proud of getting to the last 4 in Offaly.

Its attitudes of people like you the reason that GAA in the county is so bad at the moment. Instead of looking into why the county team is under performing, you take the easy option and say the playes arent good enough. Which is false. And then you go on about this small hurling community which is a complete load of rubbish. In Offaly there is as many senior teams as kilkenny. If players have some ability which alot have in Offaly and if they are trained and coached properly which they are not, they will be successful.

This brought a broad smile to my face.So its my fault the footballers are in Division 4 and the hurlers are trying the scrounge their way back into Division 1? Eh, I dont think so.At the moment the best our hurlers could look at is a leinster final appearance and maybe giving someone a right good rattle in a All Ireland quarter final.The same applies more or less to the footballers.Sad as that may seem it is the reality.At the moment the requisite quality isnt there.

I'd even go further to say that you weren't even at the games in Rath last weekend.
Do me a favour stick to your football unless you have something constructive to add to this not the usually waffle that i am sick of hearing.

I have to hold my hands up here.Unfortuneately I wasnt at the games in Rath.However this was due to the fact that I was playing the big ball version of our National games. As regards adding something constructive I believe i did add something constructive to this debate.From what i can see all you want to say is that because I am from the "football end" I should "stick to the football".Ah yes,a very constructive and mature opinion.

All the same my club has 2 lads who won All Ireland medals with the county in 1994 and 1998.Sean Og Farrell and Cillian Farrell.
Not bad for a junior hurling team from "the football end."