All Galway hurling in Leinster

derealbadger

i think that it time for Galway to move underage as well as senior teams into Leinster whats the point of getting to an A.I final with a team that doesn't even know itself if its good enough

cremeegg

agreed. no brainer really. but the clowns who hold the clout wont do it because of money power etc...

incredible frustration really

derealbadger

derealbadger wrote: »

i think that it time for Galway to move underage as well as senior teams into Leinster whats the point of getting to an A.I final with a team that doesn't even know itself if its good enough

ah your dead right. galway needs more tests and games. they are well able to produce the youngsters no doubt but need more games

derealbadger

i was in Thurles last night and i really felt for the lads but we have one or two lads good enough to make the step up #4 #8 both had good games

ShamoBuc

They took the first step - the seniors. The minors and u21's will have to be next. Same for Antrim. It might take another few Hammerings like that of sat night to make it happen, which is a pity. U21 finals are usually very competitive and full of entertainment, while Saturdays game was really only enjoyable for Tip fans - not that they minded of course.

Flukey

Edited due to double post. Mod, please remove this one.

Flukey

We've done this debate often. It is the Galway senior team that should be moving, back to Connacht, and the work put into the other counties in Connacht that really needs to happen. Galway are the one county in Connacht that doesn't have any problems in Hurling, yet for some crazy reason all the focus is on them. The problem lies in the other four and that is where the work needs to go. Likewise in Leinster, there are counties there that need help. Yet we have the crazy situation where you bring in two outside counties into a province and deny some that are in that province the right to compete - and then we are told it is for the good of Hurling. Madness. It is a no brainer putting Galway teams into Leinster? Wrong. It is someone with no brains that came up with the completely idiotic idea of putting them into Leinster, while ignoring the real problems in Hurling. As I said though, we've discussed this often, so we can leave it at that.

derealbadger

Flukey wrote: »

We've done this debate often. It is the Galway senior team that should be moving, back to Connacht, and the work put into the other counties in Connacht that really needs to happen. Galway are the one county in Connacht that doesn't have any problems in Hurling, yet for some crazy reason all the focus is on them. The problem lies in the other four and that is where the work needs to go. Likewise in Leinster, there are counties there that need help. Yet we have the crazy situation where you bring in two outside counties into a province and deny some that are in that province the right to compete - and then we are told it is for the good of Hurling. Madness. It is a no brainer putting Galway teams into Leinster? Wrong. It is someone with no brains that came up with the completely idiotic idea of putting them into Leinster, while ignoring the real problems in Hurling. As I said though, we've discussed this often, so we can leave it at that.

no senior AI title in 22 years you don't think this shows maybe a slight problem

ShamoBuc

Flukey wrote: »

We've done this debate often. It is the Galway senior team that should be moving, back to Connacht, and the work put into the other counties in Connacht that really needs to happen. Galway are the one county in Connacht that doesn't have any problems in Hurling, yet for some crazy reason all the focus is on them. The problem lies in the other four and that is where the work needs to go. Likewise in Leinster, there are counties there that need help. Yet we have the crazy situation where you bring in two outside counties into a province and deny some that are in that province the right to compete - and then we are told it is for the good of Hurling. Madness. It is a no brainer putting Galway teams into Leinster? Wrong. It is someone with no brains that came up with the completely idiotic idea of putting them into Leinster, while ignoring the real problems in Hurling. As I said though, we've discussed this often, so we can leave it at that.

Couldn't disagree with you more. There are basically NO other hurling teams in Connacht - do you expect galway to play themselves - that didn't work, that couldn't work.
The only way to improve hurling in Conn is to develop the couties there MINUS galway. Now Galway are gone, the remaining couties can be developed as they are all at the same low level- this of course needs to happen, it could never happen with galway there.
It does galway no good whatsoever to have little or no competitive games - just ask their u21's!
Finally, if it is ok with you of course, some of us might still like to discuss it:rolleyes:

g5fd6ow0hseima

Flukey wrote: »

We've done this debate often. It is the Galway senior team that should be moving, back to Connacht, and the work put into the other counties in Connacht that really needs to happen. Galway are the one county in Connacht that doesn't have any problems in Hurling, yet for some crazy reason all the focus is on them. The problem lies in the other four and that is where the work needs to go. Likewise in Leinster, there are counties there that need help. Yet we have the crazy situation where you bring in two outside counties into a province and deny some that are in that province the right to compete - and then we are told it is for the good of Hurling. Madness. It is a no brainer putting Galway teams into Leinster? Wrong. It is someone with no brains that came up with the completely idiotic idea of putting them into Leinster, while ignoring the real problems in Hurling. As I said though, we've discussed this often, so we can leave it at that.

Being a Roscommon man, i've often thought of the following scenario:

Four Roads, Athleague, Oran and Padraig Pearses (Roscommon) & Toureen and Ballyhaunis (Mayo) should compete in the Galway intermediate league while the other 'senior' clubs from both counties should compete in the junior league.

If im correct, the three Down senior clubs - Ballygalget, Portaferry and Ballycran do the same in the Antrim leagues, while having their own Senior Hurling Championship with the winner progressing to play in the Ulster club championship. Therefore, I cant see why this wouldnt work.

So, if there's any Galway hurling folk on here, do you think this would be feasible / a welcoming suggestion to Galway hurling folk? Given the geographical distance between the Ards peninsula and the hurling heartland of north Antrim, the likes of Castlebar or Roscommon Gaels travelling to play league matches against the likes of Skehana or Ballygar isnt exactly madness.

I feel this is the only way actual progress could me made.

adrian522

It's amazing how well Galway have done underage with no tests before the semi's. Hope they get into Leinster and we'll have more competitive Minor and Leinster championships.

MfMan

No amount of time spent in Leinster is needed to prepare a management team to make onfield switches - how they left on a fullback who was getting annihilated for 50 minutes beggars belief.

aidan24326

Flukey wrote: »

We've done this debate often. It is the Galway senior team that should be moving, back to Connacht, and the work put into the other counties in Connacht that really needs to happen.

You seriously underestimate the sort of gap that exists in hurling between the top teams and those lower down the scale. It's much much wider than in football. With due respect to Leitrim and Sligo all the effort in the world is not going to have them competing with Galway in hurling. They're light years away from that level. You might as well be trying to get Mervue Utd up to the level of Man Utd. Good luck with that.

Mayo and Roscommon are a bit better but would still struggle to keep the ball pucked out to a full strength Galway team. We had a Connaught championship for years which usually ended up with a Galway-Roscommon final. That had to be disbanded as Galway were dishing out major wallopings pretty much every year. Getting hockeyed by 25 points every year isn't going to do much for Roscommon or any other team for that matter (in the case of Sligo and Leitrim it would more likely be 40 points)

It would make sense to move Galway into Leinster at underage level. It's daft that our U-21s can get to an All-Ireland final after one match. The Galway U-21 team this year wasn't good enough to be in an AI final but nothing they can do about the system they're part of. Or just scrap the provincial structure altogether as it's only being preserved to keep the precious Munster Championship alive at all costs.

yahoo_moe

derealbadger wrote: »

no senior AI title in 22 years you don't think this shows maybe a slight problem

Then there's an even bigger problem for the other counties in Connacht as none of them have ever won a senior AI, no?

I don't fully agree with Flukey - I think the provincial hurling championships have to go completely - but how anyone thinks Galway's AI chances (and preserving a warped version of the provincial system) should take complete precedent over Westmeath and Carlow's participation in Leinster or the development of hurling in ALL counties is beyond me.

Flukey

derealbadger wrote: »

no senior AI title in 22 years you don't think this shows maybe a slight problem

Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo: No All-Irelands ever. Now that's a bigger problem. Even Galway's gap of 22 years is not as big as the likes of Waterford, Limerick or Dublin, yet they are not looked upon as being a problem.

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Couldn't disagree with you more. There are basically NO other hurling teams in Connacht - do you expect galway to play themselves - that didn't work, that couldn't work.
The only way to improve hurling in Conn is to develop the couties there MINUS galway. Now Galway are gone, the remaining couties can be developed as they are all at the same low level- this of course needs to happen, it could never happen with galway there.

You are right that the other counties in Connacht need help to develop, which is my very point. By the way, who won the "Connacht Championship minus Galway" in 2009 and 2010? "What Connacht Championship minus Galway? " I hear you ask. "Exactly" I reply. The GAA shifted Galway out and then said to themselves, with a big congratulatory pat on the back, "Problem solved." They haven't even started to address the problem. After shifting Galway out it would have made perfect sense to have a Connacht Championship with the 4 reamaining counties, and probably London, but they didn't do it. It is something I've spoke about here before too. But the geniuses trying to improve Hurling could not see that blatantly obvious thing to do. The problem is that they only see Galway as the problem, and Galway aren't actually the problem. They never have been.

aidan24326 wrote: »

You seriously underestimate the sort of gap that exists in hurling between the top teams and those lower down the scale.

I don't underestimate it in the slightest. I know that Tipperary aren't exactly shaking in their boots at the thought of possibly meeting Leitrim in the 2014 All-Ireland final. I know they are a long way from that level, but unlike the GAA, I am up for doing something about it. I am well aware of the old Connacht Championship and Roscommon's beatings. Certainly it wasn't exactly good for them to be beaten by 25 points, but the GAA are basically saying it is better that they don't play at all.

The GAA keep avoiding the real problem and continue to try to do something about a thing that isn't a problem. It would be like you arriving into hospital with a leg that is very badly broken. The doctor in attendance then comes over and puts a bandage on your arm, which hasn't even a scratch on it and although you are screaming in agony and pointing at your leg which is obviously very bad with blood and bits of bone coming out of it, he doesn't even look at it. That is the GAA's attitude to the weaker counties, and not just the ones in Connacht.

Galway came within whisker of beating Tipperary this year, and yet they are considered to be a problem county. That's madness. Anyway, being in Leinster has made no difference. Go back to before this stupid experiment began, and you'll find they were playing the same counties anyway, so nothing has changed by putting them into Leinster. More importantly, nothing has changed for the counties that actually do need help. You can be pretty sure too that there won't be a Connacht Championship minus Galway in 2011 either, but we will hear a lot more about what we are going to do to help poor Galway.

I'd love to see Galway win the All-Ireland again. I've seen them do it before. I've Galway connections and so I'd be delighted if Galway won the All-Ireland again. I've also Roscommon connections and what I'd really love to see is something been done to help them, and the other Connacht counties and the other weaker counties. Unfortunately the very body charged with doing that, don't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in the task. Saying "They are too far behind, so there is no point in doing anything" just isn't good enough, is it?

Now, get off that hospital bed, run along and mind that arm of yours and... Hey! What do you think you are at? Leave those crutches here! What do you want them for? :rolleyes:

Flukey

Flukey wrote: »

You are right that the other counties in Connacht need help to develop, which is my very point. By the way, who won the "Connacht Championship minus Galway" in 2009 and 2010? "What Connacht Championship minus Galway? " I hear you ask. "Exactly" I reply. The GAA shifted Galway out and then said to themselves, with a big congratulatory pat on the back, "Problem solved." They haven't even started to address the problem. After shifting Galway out it would have made perfect sense to have a Connacht Championship with the 4 reamaining counties, and probably London, but they didn't do it.
It is something I've spoke about here before too. But the geniuses trying to improve Hurling could not see that blatantly obvious thing to do. The problem is that they only see Galway as the problem, and Galway aren't actually the problem. They never have been.



I don't underestimate it in the slightest. I know that Tipperary aren't exactly shaking in their boots at the thought of possibly meeting Leitrim in the 2014 All-Ireland final. I know they are a long way from that level, but unlike the GAA, I am up for doing something about it. I am well aware of the old Connacht Championship and Roscommon's beatings. Certainly it wasn't exactly good for them to be beaten by 25 points, but the GAA are basically saying it is better that they don't play at all.

The GAA keep avoiding the real problem and continue to try to do something about a thing that isn't a problem. It would be like you arriving into hospital with a leg that is very badly broken. The doctor in attendance then comes over and puts a bandage on your arm, which hasn't even a scratch on it and although you are screaming in agony and pointing at your leg which is obviously very bad with blood and bits of bone coming out of it, he doesn't even look at it. That is the GAA's attitude to the weaker counties, and not just the ones in Connacht.

Galway came within whisker of beating Tipperary this year, and yet they are considered to be a problem county. That's madness. Anyway, being in Leinster has made no difference. Go back to before this stupid experiment began, and you'll find they were playing the same counties anyway, so nothing has changed by putting them into Leinster. More importantly, nothing has changed for the counties that actually do need help. You can be pretty sure too that there won't be a Connacht Championship minus Galway in 2011 either, but we will hear a lot more about what we are going to do to help poor Galway.

I'd love to see Galway win the All-Ireland again. I've seen them do it before. I've Galway connections and so I'd be delighted if Galway won the All-Ireland again. I've also Roscommon connections and what I'd really love to see is something been done to help them, and the other Connacht counties and the other weaker counties. Unfortunately the very body charged with doing that, don't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in the task. Saying "They are too far behind, so there is no point in doing anything" just isn't good enough, is it?

Now, get off that hospital bed, run along and mind that arm of yours and... Hey! What do you think you are at? Leave those crutches here! What do you want them for? :rolleyes:

your right in what you say and another thing is that the GAA always use the excuse that gates revenue is "Going back into grass roots level".
Then why dont Leitrim and the likes have a good hurling team or Kilkenny and the likes have a good football team?
There's alot of nonsense about youngsters going off playing a 'foreign' sport but at the end of the day the GAA hardly do much for their own games now do they.
I dont think its a feasible system that Galway play one game to get to an all ireland final at any level though and im sure Galway would prefer the extra competitive games against strong opposition. perhaps have a round robin like Camogie amongst the strong teams?....i dunno

derealbadger

Flukey wrote: »

Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo: No All-Irelands ever. Now that's a bigger problem. Even Galway's gap of 22 years is not as big as the likes of Waterford, Limerick or Dublin, yet they are not looked upon as being a problem.



You are right that the other counties in Connacht need help to develop, which is my very point. By the way, who won the "Connacht Championship minus Galway" in 2009 and 2010? "What Connacht Championship minus Galway? " I hear you ask. "Exactly" I reply. The GAA shifted Galway out and then said to themselves, with a big congratulatory pat on the back, "Problem solved." They haven't even started to address the problem. After shifting Galway out it would have made perfect sense to have a Connacht Championship with the 4 reamaining counties, and probably London, but they didn't do it. It is something I've spoke about here before too. But the geniuses trying to improve Hurling could not see that blatantly obvious thing to do. The problem is that they only see Galway as the problem, and Galway aren't actually the problem. They never have been.



I don't underestimate it in the slightest. I know that Tipperary aren't exactly shaking in their boots at the thought of possibly meeting Leitrim in the 2014 All-Ireland final. I know they are a long way from that level, but unlike the GAA, I am up for doing something about it. I am well aware of the old Connacht Championship and Roscommon's beatings. Certainly it wasn't exactly good for them to be beaten by 25 points, but the GAA are basically saying it is better that they don't play at all.

The GAA keep avoiding the real problem and continue to try to do something about a thing that isn't a problem. It would be like you arriving into hospital with a leg that is very badly broken. The doctor in attendance then comes over and puts a bandage on your arm, which hasn't even a scratch on it and although you are screaming in agony and pointing at your leg which is obviously very bad with blood and bits of bone coming out of it, he doesn't even look at it. That is the GAA's attitude to the weaker counties, and not just the ones in Connacht.

Galway came within whisker of beating Tipperary this year, and yet they are considered to be a problem county. That's madness. Anyway, being in Leinster has made no difference. Go back to before this stupid experiment began, and you'll find they were playing the same counties anyway, so nothing has changed by putting them into Leinster. More importantly, nothing has changed for the counties that actually do need help. You can be pretty sure too that there won't be a Connacht Championship minus Galway in 2011 either, but we will hear a lot more about what we are going to do to help poor Galway.

I'd love to see Galway win the All-Ireland again. I've seen them do it before. I've Galway connections and so I'd be delighted if Galway won the All-Ireland again. I've also Roscommon connections and what I'd really love to see is something been done to help them, and the other Connacht counties and the other weaker counties. Unfortunately the very body charged with doing that, don't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in the task. Saying "They are too far behind, so there is no point in doing anything" just isn't good enough, is it?

Now, get off that hospital bed, run along and mind that arm of yours and... Hey! What do you think you are at? Leave those crutches here! What do you want them for? :rolleyes:

OK lets go down your road so for 2011 Galway play Leitrim in the first game beat Rosscommon in the hard fought Counnught final and play Tipp in there next game in the all Ireland semifinal for a chance to play the winner of Killkenny v Antrim in the all Ireland final thank god thats the all Ireland hurling championship sorted good man delighted that we have forward thinking people like your self

aidan24326

Flukey wrote: »

Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo: No All-Irelands ever. Now that's a bigger problem. Even Galway's gap of 22 years is not as big as the likes of Waterford, Limerick or Dublin, yet they are not looked upon as being a problem.



You are right that the other counties in Connacht need help to develop, which is my very point. By the way, who won the "Connacht Championship minus Galway" in 2009 and 2010? "What Connacht Championship minus Galway? " I hear you ask. "Exactly" I reply. The GAA shifted Galway out and then said to themselves, with a big congratulatory pat on the back, "Problem solved." They haven't even started to address the problem. After shifting Galway out it would have made perfect sense to have a Connacht Championship with the 4 reamaining counties, and probably London, but they didn't do it. It is something I've spoke about here before too. But the geniuses trying to improve Hurling could not see that blatantly obvious thing to do. The problem is that they only see Galway as the problem, and Galway aren't actually the problem. They never have been.



I don't underestimate it in the slightest. I know that Tipperary aren't exactly shaking in their boots at the thought of possibly meeting Leitrim in the 2014 All-Ireland final. I know they are a long way from that level, but unlike the GAA, I am up for doing something about it. I am well aware of the old Connacht Championship and Roscommon's beatings. Certainly it wasn't exactly good for them to be beaten by 25 points, but the GAA are basically saying it is better that they don't play at all.

The GAA keep avoiding the real problem and continue to try to do something about a thing that isn't a problem. It would be like you arriving into hospital with a leg that is very badly broken. The doctor in attendance then comes over and puts a bandage on your arm, which hasn't even a scratch on it and although you are screaming in agony and pointing at your leg which is obviously very bad with blood and bits of bone coming out of it, he doesn't even look at it. That is the GAA's attitude to the weaker counties, and not just the ones in Connacht.

Galway came within whisker of beating Tipperary this year, and yet they are considered to be a problem county. That's madness. Anyway, being in Leinster has made no difference. Go back to before this stupid experiment began, and you'll find they were playing the same counties anyway, so nothing has changed by putting them into Leinster. More importantly, nothing has changed for the counties that actually do need help. You can be pretty sure too that there won't be a Connacht Championship minus Galway in 2011 either, but we will hear a lot more about what we are going to do to help poor Galway.

I'd love to see Galway win the All-Ireland again. I've seen them do it before. I've Galway connections and so I'd be delighted if Galway won the All-Ireland again. I've also Roscommon connections and what I'd really love to see is something been done to help them, and the other Connacht counties and the other weaker counties. Unfortunately the very body charged with doing that, don't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in the task. Saying "They are too far behind, so there is no point in doing anything" just isn't good enough, is it?

Now, get off that hospital bed, run along and mind that arm of yours and... Hey! What do you think you are at? Leave those crutches here! What do you want them for? :rolleyes:

You know what, I agree with alot of what you're saying. In an ideal world it would be great if we had the same spread of teams competing in hurling as we have in football. It would be great if we had a cracking Connaught hurling final between Galway and Roscommon where it went down to the wire.

But that hasn't happened in the century and a bit that we've had the GAA and it shows no sign of happening anytime soon either. I think there's a fundamental reason for this that people are passing over. Hurling is a very difficult skill to master to the highest level. A strong fit guy given a bit of good coaching can become a very decent gaelic footballer, but not so in hurling. That game needs to be in your blood.

And in alot of counties there just isn't the drive to promote hurling as it's much more difficult to coach. In a way I think hurling has become a victim of its own success in terms of how skilful it is The superb level of skill exhibited by Kilkenny and Tipperary in this year's All-Ireland final was a joy to watch but it also highlights how far away from that level most of the other counties are. At most about 7 or 8 other counties can compete in or around that sort of level (being generous) The rest are also-rans or complete no-hopers.

I would honestly love to see a proper national hurling championship that wasnt dominated by Kilkenny Cork and Tipp but I have no idea how you could make that happen. There would have to be coaching from the ground up all over the country. But most of all there would have to be a will to do it. It's that will that just isn't there in most counties.

Flukey

derealbadger wrote: »

OK lets go down your road so for 2011 Galway play Leitrim in the first game beat Rosscommon in the hard fought Counnught final and play Tipp in there next game in the all Ireland semifinal for a chance to play the winner of Killkenny v Antrim in the all Ireland final thank god thats the all Ireland hurling championship sorted good man delighted that we have forward thinking people like your self

That's not what I am saying at all. I am saying something should be done about the GAA for the weaker counties. Currently nothing is being done. How has moving Galway helped Roscommon or Cavan or Louth etc? It hasn't. Something has to be done. Moving Galway achieves nothing.



Aidan, you've identified a lot of the issues and indeed a lot of the solutions. The thing is the GAA isn't putting them into practice. Hurling is harder to coach, but it can be coached anywhere. As for it being in the blood, well I am not so sure about that. A newborn baby in Kilkenny has no advantage in Hurling over a newborn baby in Leitrim. After the final whistle of this year's final I am sure there were 5 year olds all over Tipperary out with a hurl in their garden pretending they were Lar Corbett scoring a hat-trick in the All-Ireland Final. But there were probably 5 year olds doing the exact same thing in counties like Louth and Donegal and Sligo etc. The ones in Tipperary would have no more skill than the ones in the other counties. The difference will be that their county board will be moulding them into the Hurlers of the future, while those other ones won't be given any coaching. If given the coaching, then they could be just as good as any Tipperary player.

As you said, there isn't the drive in some counties to promote Hurling, but that has to change. If a county board isn't promoting Hurling, then sack them and get one in that does. If I was in charge of the GAA the first county board I'd sack would be Kilkenny's for not promoting football. It is total bull that it can't be done there. Of course it could. While we are told there is no interest, you can be damn sure there will be many people in Kilkenny crowded around their TVs next Sunday watching the All-Ireland Final. When the final whistle blows, you can be sure there will be 5 year old Kilkenny kids out playing with the big ball too, trying to emulate what they just saw. Like the 5 year old Hurlers in Sligo, those Kilkenny kids won't be given any coaching though. There is so much Hurling talent in Kilkenny that most kids in the county would have more chance of being able to get on a Kilkenny football team than getting anywhere close to being even considered for the Hurling teams, even though they'd be good enough to walk onto any other county team in the country. There is a glut of GAA talent going to waste in Kilkenny, much of which could be diverted into Football. What they lack is a county board that is prepared to do the job. Next Monday morning there would not be much problem finding a load of Kilkenny kids dying to improve their football skills. The coaches could easily be got, but the county board won't bother their arses.

Every county board in every county should be promoting both games. There are lots of things that weaker counties could do, like bringing in outside coaches, or having their county teams organise friendlies with mid-range club teams from stronger counties. It wouldn't take much imagination to do things to promote Hurling. The 5 year old in Leitrim would want an All-Ireland Hurling medal just as much as the 5 year old in Tipperary. The difference isn't in the blood, but in the county board. If the will isn't there, then get somebody who has the will to do it. They can follow the kinds of things that the strong Hurling counties do, and some weak Hurling counties could even copy the structures they have in their own counties that make them good football counties. Dublin is doing it. Kildare is. It is not so long ago that the likes of Clare or Offaly or even Waterford would have been regarded as weak, but they have turned it around. Westmeath's 2003 Leinster Football title, their first ever don't forget, was built on the work done at underage level in the 1990s. If all the weaker counties started the work in the morning instead of just throwing their hat at it, then the ability level would improve all round in a few years. Tipperary still wouldn't be too worried about Leitrim, but they'd know that at least Leitrim would put up a respectable performance. That would be progress and it could be done. So sack those that don't have the will, and get people who do. There are no shortage of them in any county and there are plenty available to be borrowed from elsewhere. Moving Galway to Leinster won't help Leitrim. Getting in a few decent coaches will.

riffmongous

Flukey, ignoring the whole Kilkenny football issue which I'll leave for its own thread:D, I think your dead right in what you are saying. Something desperately needs to be done to strengthen Connacht and Ulster hurling. The money and the manpower are there so the coaches and the structure have to be brought in.

Carlow hurling has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years in a county where football has always been popular, if they can keep up the rate they are going at they'll soon be able to give anyone a competitive match, I'm not saying they will, but they won't be losing by cricket scores to the top teams which is what happened in Connacht. So the question is what's gone on in Carlow in the last few years and why hasn't it happened elsewhere? Is there anyone here who can shed a bit of light on it?

I'd be worried that if Galway leave Connacht completely then that might be the end of the Connacht championship forever and the other counties might just be buried by the GAA. Plus Galway have been producing good underage teams with the current set up for the last while, the last match could just have been a one-off to a very strong Tipp team

aidan24326

Flukey wrote: »

Moving Galway to Leinster won't help Leitrim. Getting in a few decent coaches will.

It won't help Leitrim of course but it helps Galway in the shorter term. As much as we want to promote hurling in the weaker counties let's not forget that it has to also be nurtured in the counties where it's already strong. Leaving Galway to rot in Connaught could kill hurling there too. Bear in mind that Galway weren't always a force in hurling, having been in the doldrums for decades.

That's why it makes sense to leave Galway in Leinster for now. If standards improved in Connaught to the point where there was a couple teams capable of challenging Galway then I'd be more than happy to see Galway return to playing in a Connaught championship. But even with coaching structures put in place that day is still a long way off.

But I'd agree with you that progress could be made. Like you say Dublin and Carlow are examples of counties that have significantly improved their hurling in recent times. Galway and Offaly also came from nowhere to be strong in the late 70s/early 80s and Galway hurling has gone from to strength to strenth ever since. But it will have to be done in small steps. Get the Sligos and Longfords up to even Christy Ring Cup standards first of all. That in itself would be a start.

Diabhal Beag

It really should happen. It improved the hurlers IMO and it would improve the future of Galway hurling in general.

Flukey

You are basically correct Aidan, but you are still falling into the "Galway need help" bit of spin that the GAA have put out. Galway don't need any help. They ran Tipperary to a point in the semi-final, better than anyone - writing off the Cork match as a blip of course. If you did up an end of year report on all the teams you'd find Galway in the top 3 or 4 of the 12 McCarthy Cup counties. There are counties worse off than them, with longer gaps since their last success, like Dublin, Limerick or Waterford. None of those are being singled out for help, though their needs are far greater than Galway. It is because Galway are in Connaught that they are made out to have a problem. It is the other 4 counties that have the problem and need help, not Galway. Going to a medical analogy again, it is like a doctor picking the healthiest person out of a room because they are surrounded by sick people.

What's worse is that Galway are being supposedly helped at the expense of others, namely the second tier Leinster counties. The Leinster Championship should not be closed to some counties, while open to Antrim and Galway. Galway could do what they were doing in recent years, which saw them playing some of the Leinster counties anyway. I am not saying they should be put into a Connacht Championship, but they definitely should not be in the Leinster Championship, especially at the expense of others. The last two Leinster Championships have done nothing for Galway that wasn't happening already, and it has done nothing for the Leinster Championship and nothing for the counties in Leinster that need help. In other words, the experiment has failed and failed abysmally.

On the wider view, the Liam McCarthy Cup should not be limited to certain counties. I would keep the other competitions like the Christy Ring Cup, but leave it to the counties themselves to decide which they want to enter. Obviously the likes of Donegal aren't going to opt for the McCarthy Cup, but some counties that are currently excluded and not far off the standard could. They should be allowed that option. We usually have the Championship draws in about November. There is no reason why they couldn't be held over to as late as April. Then, having an idea of how well they are playing so far in the year, counties could decide which competition they want to enter. So the borderline counties like Westmeath, Carlow, Down etc. would be free to enter the McCarthy Cup if they wanted to. It would be very easy to accommodate, even if it meant different amounts of counties some years.

Agus

Flukey wrote: »

You are basically correct Aidan, but you are still falling into the "Galway need help" bit of spin that the GAA have put out. Galway don't need any help. They ran Tipperary to a point in the semi-final, better than anyone - writing off the Cork match as a blip of course. If you did up an end of year report on all the teams you'd find Galway in the top 3 or 4 of the 12 McCarthy Cup counties. There are counties worse off than them, with longer gaps since their last success, like Dublin, Limerick or Waterford. None of those are being singled out for help, though their needs are far greater than Galway. It is because Galway are in Connaught that they are made out to have a problem. It is the other 4 counties that have the problem and need help, not Galway. Going to a medical analogy again, it is like a doctor picking the healthiest person out of a room because they are surrounded by sick people.

What's worse is that Galway are being supposedly helped at the expense of others, namely the second tier Leinster counties. The Leinster Championship should not be closed to some counties, while open to Antrim and Galway. Galway could do what they were doing in recent years, which saw them playing some of the Leinster counties anyway. I am not saying they should be put into a Connacht Championship, but they definitely should not be in the Leinster Championship, especially at the expense of others. The last two Leinster Championships have done nothing for Galway that wasn't happening already, and it has done nothing for the Leinster Championship and nothing for the counties in Leinster that need help. In other words, the experiment has failed and failed abysmally.

On the wider view, the Liam McCarthy Cup should not be limited to certain counties. I would keep the other competitions like the Christy Ring Cup, but leave it to the counties themselves to decide which they want to enter. Obviously the likes of Donegal aren't going to opt for the McCarthy Cup, but some counties that are currently excluded and not far off the standard could. They should be allowed that option. We usually have the Championship draws in about November. There is no reason why they couldn't be held over to as late as April. Then, having an idea of how well they are playing so far in the year, counties could decide which competition they want to enter. So the borderline counties like Westmeath, Carlow, Down etc. would be free to enter the McCarthy Cup if they wanted to. It would be very easy to accommodate, even if it meant different amounts of counties some years.

Fine. Have Galway in Leinster, but also allow the lower-tier counties their choice of whether to remain in last year's tier or move up one. That's that sorted. Any other objections?