If your were an intermediate hurler in tipp

timogen

With the news now that tipp will play senior players in the intermediate championship.If your were from tipp on an intermediate team how would you feel about the way your county board was treating you?
I understand why tipp cb have done this it has its advantages and big disadvantages.
But i do feel sorry for the players that were playing intermediate now being sidelined just to give young senior players game time.

premierstone

timogen wrote: »

With the news now that tipp will play senior players in the intermediate championship.If your were from tipp on an intermediate team how would you feel about the way your county board was treating you?
I understand why tipp cb have done this it has its advantages and big disadvantages.
But i do feel sorry for the players that were playing intermediate now being sidelined just to give young senior players game time.

The players from Intermediate clubs are still eligible if good enough though and the step has been taking due to the fact that there are now 32 senior clubs in Tipp and very few Intermediate clubs, they have struggled to field a team for the last number of years in the Intermediate grade and havent won a game for a number of years, 6 or 7 I would say at a guess, there are stipulations on players from senior clubs playing at this grade - They cant be a member of any other Tipp panel in hurling or football and they must be aged between 21 and 26.

In all other counties apart from Cork, Galway and Kilkenny players from senior clubs of any age can play on the Intermediate team. Off course the more sensible approach would be to reduce the number of senior clubs , but at least from this year on they have re-introduced relegation from senior and combined with this new practice it is a step in the right direction but nowere near enough, 16 or ata max 24 should be the maximum senior clubs in Tipp, I can easily name at least 12 Senior teams in Tipp that have zero chance of making a County semi never mind actually winning the bloody thing, what baffles me is what exactly these clubs think they are benefiting from in staying Senior and been repeatedly hammered but at least with relegation re-introduced it will make the Intermediate grade more competitive and encourage some of these clubs to relegate themselves in the long term interest of the club.

timogen

I do agree with most of what you say nearly all of it actually.But i think croke park should have stood firm as what they have done now will not help the weaker counties progress which is the main aim of them counties being allowed play senior players at intermediate.
Tipp need to cut back on the amount of senior clubs as you have said and that should have been the issue Croke park made them deal with, and then they would of had there intermediate team that was at the same level or there abouts as the rest of the country.
But i don't believe for one second that one or two at intermediate level players will miss out playing for their county because a player at senior level and well able for senior level from the likes of toomevara or thurles sarsfields will be playing instead of him.
Before people start,Tipp are ireland champions so they are at the highest level and part of the top three.

premierstone

tbh timogen the grade has become somewhat of a joke anyway at intercounty level, I remember when the grade was in its infancy I was at a few great finals between Tipp and KK, when you won an AI you had to field and entirely new 15 the following year and still no weaker county made any impact at the grade.

For the last number of years I know from talking to selectors and players that have been involved that more players whom were called up declined rather than accepted and it was a case of getting any 15 willing to play a few challenge matches out on the field, and the results more or less supported this. Tipp actually wanted to pull out of the competition, a motion that no Intermediate or Junior club objected to, and Croke Park proposed that they could play effectively their second string including senior players, it was the Tipp CB who added on the other criteria, which is a good idea IMO and hopefully players will see it as a realistic stepping stone to the Senior panel.

timogen

premierstone wrote: »

tbh timogen the grade has become somewhat of a joke anyway at intercounty level, I remember when the grade was in its infancy I was at a few great finals between Tipp and KK, when you won an AI you had to field and entirely new 15 the following year and still no weaker county made any impact at the grade.

For the last number of years I know from talking to selectors and players that have been involved that more players whom were called up declined rather than accepted and it was a case of getting any 15 willing to play a few challenge matches out on the field, and the results more or less supported this. Tipp actually wanted to pull out of the competition, a motion that no Intermediate or Junior club objected to, and Croke Park proposed that they could play effectively their second string including senior players, it was the Tipp CB who added on the other criteria, which is a good idea IMO and hopefully players will see it as a realistic stepping stone to the Senior panel.

I agree with all of that except the last 6 words.now i don't know the in's and out's but you can correct me but is it actually stated it has to be second string as in a player not on the intercounty senior panel or can you be on the senior panel and still play intermediate?

Diabhal Beag

If they're still eligible to play than you can't really complain. I'd like to think that for the money that fans are paying to follow their county that they would play their best possible team.

It's a shame if you're an intermediate hurler but there's isn't a lot you can do about it.

timogen

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

If they're still eligible to play than you can't really complain. I'd like to think that for the money that fans are paying to follow their county that they would play their best possible team.

It's a shame if you're an intermediate hurler but there's isn't a lot you can do about it.

The gaa are trying to improve hurling in the weaker hurling counties this will only serve to to keep the weaker counties down.

premierstone

timogen wrote: »

I agree with all of that except the last 6 words.now i don't know the in's and out's but you can correct me but is it actually stated it has to be second string as in a player not on the intercounty senior panel or can you be on the senior panel and still play intermediate?

No you cannot be on any Tipperary panel, hurling or Football, and while I agree with your sentiment on developing hurling in weaker counties I dont think the Intermediate grade is the appropriate vehicle for doing it, development of weaker counties can only come from within and at grassroots and underage

HHH

I play intermediate hurling in Tipp. Our team got to the county semi and got beat by the eventual winners. 7 of our team were called up for trials and 3 declined. 2 more are under 21 this year so only 2 of 7 went for it. I think if you're good enough you'll still make it. There was a lot of dodgy players on the Tipp intermediates last year imo.