Galway GAA discussion thread

nagirrac

Huge congrats to St. Thomas'. Another AI club title for a Galway club. Sounds like the conditions were poor which would not have suited them. Well done Richie Murray, a great servant to club and county.

nootroc

Great win for St. Thomas. they made hard work of it and the sendings off helped but it was a dog fight. Good to see a Galway team win a close one. Well done to St. Brigids as well. Pleased for Dolan and Curran though I cursed them often enough over the years.

nootroc

Ja Fallon to feature on Laochra Gael on Thursday on TG4 at 8.00 pm

Syferus

I was able to get better pictures of St. Thomas' presentation, ye are better at pretending you've been here before

I thought Robbie Murray gave one of the finest speeches to ever grace the Hogan Stand, it was absolutely wonderful. It was just a truly beautiful day, the best day I've ever spent in Croke Park.

The Saints carried the cups over the Shannon in Athlone together tonight, just as God intended. Up Connacht.

Sergeant

Galway hurling is in the best shape it has been in for many years. Thomas's are a very young team and other clubs are producing lots of talent at the moment.

MfMan

Sergeant wrote: »

Galway hurling is in the best shape it has been in for many years. Thomas's are a very young team and other clubs are producing lots of talent at the moment.

Unfortunately that remark needs revising. More later.

Sergeant

Sergeant wrote: »

Galway hurling is in the best shape it has been in for many years. Thomas's are a very young team and other clubs are producing lots of talent at the moment.

Club hurling yes maybe not at county level. Today showed once again that Galway are in trouble in a number of positions. Early in the year yet but Galway were well off the pace as they have been in their last few games. There is time to turn it around, whether we have the personnel to turn it around I'd be doubtful.

Congrats to St. Thomas' great result. Had to dig it out and they got the result which is all that matters on All-Ireland day. Really looking forward to an exciting county championship once again. There'll be plenty of candidates gunning for them from the off. I'm sure we'll see plenty of good matches and surprise results.

Edit: Also congrats to the u21 footballers today, big win over Sligo, Connacht semi-final against Mayo in Tuam next weekend. The seniors might be hard to look at at present but these lads deserve some support next Saturday.

MfMan

Very mixed long weekend for Galway GAA.

Senior footballer's defeat to Laois surprised nobody as they go from mediocrity to mediocrity. No matter what config the management come up with, the outcome seems to be the same. The team is finally paying for years of chronic awfulness at club level - is there one club player playing now, a player of quality, that you would go to see? (Unlike the days of Fallon, Donnellan, PJ etc.) Also, it may finally be time to ask if the management are all they should be; Galway football has seen heaps of bad days but they were never as poor or as rudderless as now.
On the flip side, the U-21s recorded a good and timely win over Sligo in Tuam, with a number of the forwards showing up well. Next up is Mayo next Saturday, thankfully at the same venue, as Mayo are reputedly very good this year and the home team will need all it can in its favour.

Kudos to St. Thomas' on a great win on Sunday, (and to me who tipped them for it last April!) The epitome of a dry day, fast pitch team, they've won all their important matches in the last 6 months on wet days and heavy pitches. While they were clearly the better team against opponents who really struggled in the forward dept., they seemed to nearly want to beat themselves due to missed chances and over-elaboration. Still, an AI win at first time of asking is something very few have ever done and they play a great brand of hurling when conditions allow and the humour is on them.

Senior hurlers decline is now worrying and continues a pattern that really set in in the 2nd half of the drawn AI final. Today's defeat also confirms that Tipp are a long way ahead of Galway in the pecking order and on today's display are the likely the best team in the country at present. They gave the home team a lesson in movement, control, pace, skill and finishing. Tony Og, who hasn't yet played in this season's league looks to be the big winner as Galway's woes at CHB continue. I said before, Kevin Hynes is a good hurler but is needed at midfield. Some of Galway's second-season players, Donohoe, N Burke, Glynn still look a long way short of what is required, with the latter in particular looking to be very limited when in possession. Another defeat at home to Cork next Sunday, very possible, would surely mean the management having to start afresh with team selection and tactics.

One final point; the great phantom of Galway hurling, the one-handed hurler, has sadly reappeared and run amok again this season. In all games I've seen Galway play, most of the players I've seen trying to raise the ball with one hand have made mistakes, ceded possession, missed out on scoring opportunities. Damien Hayes did it today in the second half when in a promising position and it directly resulted in Tipp getting a point at the other end. It cost St. Thomas' at least 1-1 in the club final. It is the one, single biggest thing that could improve Galway hurling overnight if all players could have it drummed into them to put 2 bloody hands on the hurl when lifting the ball.

Syferus

Haven't been following Galway's fortunes all that closely but what's the deal with Meehan? Since he's starting I have to assume his managing his ankle more effectively than he ever has before but what's causing the dip in form? Can he not turn like he used to, has he lost a step or is his touch just not there yet? Looked damn fine when he came on last May against us so it's a serious conundrum.

You said is there a Galway forward I would go to see? A fit Meehan in a heartbeat, any day of the year.

cat in the sack

looks like Galway are back to their old ways good one year brutal the next
that was a poor display at home yesterday again tipp.

its only march but i can't see galway beating kilkenny maybe 2 and tipp to win the all ireland this year, they have no full back or centre back
it was there down fall in last years final and they have done nothing to sort in this year, Joe Cooney fine hurler but way way to slow for championship
hurling at centre back.

MfMan

Syferus wrote: »

You said is there a Galway forward I would go to see? A fit Meehan in a heartbeat, any day of the year.

A fit Meehan, yes. Alas, it's starting to look increasingly likely that the great lad is very near the end, his mobility is just too compromised at this stage. Is he the best player of this era not to win an All-Star?

MfMan

cat in the sack wrote: »

looks like Galway are back to their old ways good one year brutal the next
that was a poor display at home yesterday again tipp.

its only march but i can't see galway beating kilkenny maybe 2 and tipp to win the all ireland this year, they have no full back or centre back
it was there down fall in last years final and they have done nothing to sort in this year, Joe Cooney fine hurler but way way to slow for championship
hurling at centre back.

Truth probably lies somewhere in between. They over-achieved last year in reaching the AI under new management and probably were the second (and for a time the best) team in the c'ship. However a lot of the players lost form badly from the drawn match and to the replay and haven't recovered it since. The trouble with this year is that they have slipped back into the pack with most other teams. Management are slow to adapt also and were tactically outwitted in the last 2 league games and the AI replay. When McIntyre was manager, it took him a long, long time to learn from his mistakes, I hope the present setup aren't going to be like that also. They also have a bit of a conundrum in that some of the older players just aren't quite good enough (e.g. N Healy, A Callanan, A Smith, prob. C Donnellan) while the newer ones aren't up to county speed yet (N Burke, J Glynn, N Donohoe). Inter-county fare is the top level of GAA and is the place to be improving players rather than be developing them. 'Fraid Anthony Cunningham and co are going to need a brand new bag.

Syferus

MfMan wrote: »

A fit Meehan, yes. Alas, it's starting to look increasingly likely that the great lad is very near the end, his mobility is just too compromised at this stage. Is he the best player of this era not to win an All-Star?

From a biased perspective himself and Frankie are the two that come to mind, though Frankie cut his intercounty career short he deserved one in 2003, he was the best forward in the country.

At least Meehan has an underage AI and that great AI win with Caltra, few players even have that on their resume.

gaillimh

Sadly it does indeed seem like Mikey is not the player he was due to his catalogue of injuries over the last 3 years or so.
He actually has 2 AI u-21 medals. He was corner forward on the 2002 team that beat the Dubs in the AI final while still a minor.
And won again in 2005 against Down.

AngeGal

Huge overreaction on here to a couple of below par performances by the hurlers. Have full confidence in Anthony Cunningham and the management team, Galway are still genuine contenders for Liam.

Hard to believe the dearth of football talent in the county.

nagirrac

Yes, but Galway football always emerges like Cork hurlers, they are like mushrooms. You can't keep them down, it is genetic and they will always emerge. Hurling is not as generic in Galway, thus its harder for them to make the breakthrough. It is really difficult to win an AI in football though, all 32 counties compete. How many truly compete in hurling? 11? How many have actually competed at the SF stage for the past 15 years?

Red Crow

nagirrac wrote: »

Yes, but Galway football always emerges like Cork hurlers, they are like mushrooms. You can't keep them down, it is genetic and they will always emerge. Hurling is not as generic in Galway, thus its harder for them to make the breakthrough. It is really difficult to win an AI in football though, all 32 counties compete. How many truly compete in hurling? 11? How many have actually competed at the SF stage for the past 15 years?

How many truly compete in the football either? There Are plenty of counties playing football that aren't up to much either.

Syferus

nagirrac wrote: »

Yes, but Galway football always emerges like Cork hurlers, they are like mushrooms. You can't keep them down, it is genetic and they will always emerge. Hurling is not as generic in Galway, thus its harder for them to make the breakthrough. It is really difficult to win an AI in football though, all 32 counties compete. How many truly compete in hurling? 11? How many have actually competed at the SF stage for the past 15 years?

Good luck with that.

nagirrac

Eli Manning wrote: »

How many truly compete in the football either? There Are plenty of counties playing football that aren't up to much either.

Look at the All Ireland winners in football over the past 15 years and compare it to hurling.

nagirrac

Syferus wrote: »

Good luck with that.

Since the country (well, 26 counties) gained independence in 1921, how many decades have there been where Galway did not compete in an AI football final? How many other counties can you say that about? Don't spend too long on the answer.

Red Crow

nagirrac wrote: »

Look at the All Ireland winners in football over the past 15 years and compare it to hurling.

Yeah but your saying its easier to win the Liam. It's not. There are 3 teams have won it since 2000. Whereas the football has a greater spread of winners.

Syferus

nagirrac wrote: »

Since the country (well, 26 counties) gained independence in 1921, how many decades have there been where Galway did not compete in an AI football final? How many other counties can you say that about? Don't spend too long on the answer.

If your logic is 'we were good so we will be again' you might as well join Cavan and Meath in 'genetically' pre-disposed to success category. Tradition is maintained by honest effort, not by arrogance or what a county did a decade and a half ago.

It's a poor attitude to have and one very few Galway supporters I've ever talked to ascribe to.

nagirrac

Eli Manning wrote: »

Yeah but your saying its easier to win the Liam. It's not. There are 3 teams have won it since 2000. Whereas the football has a greater spread of winners.

No, I'm saying its more competitive in football, hence more spread of winners. Football is harder to win because there is more competition.

nagirrac

Syferus wrote: »

If your logic is 'we were good so we will be again' you might as well join Cavan and Meath in 'genetically' pre-disposed to success category. Tradition is maintained by honest effort, not by arrogance or what a county did a decade and a half ago.

It's a poor attitude to have and one very few Galway supporters I've ever talked to ascribe to.

I understand the frustration, I followed Galway football though the late sixties /70s/80s/ and to 1998. Luckily I was alive and watched all of the 3 in a row wins, so I have a different perspective on winning and losing. Galway will come again, be patient.

antoobrien

AngeGal wrote: »

Huge overreaction on here to a couple of below par performances by the hurlers. Have full confidence in Anthony Cunningham and the management team, Galway are still genuine contenders for Liam.

Dunno about that, look at who they played last year.
Westmeath
Offally
Killkenny
Cork
Killkenny

The only decent team they played all year were Kilkenny. No offence meant to Cork but they are not the team they were in 2007, let alone the decade before that.

To give a frame of reference, Galway were 7 points worse in 2012 against Cork than they were in 2011. Could the 2012 Galway team have come back from a being 1-3 to 0-0 down after 10 minutes like the 2011 team did? The only time we saw Galway behind by more than 3 points in the Championship last year was against Killkenny in the replayed final.

There's a lot of questions to be asked and answered yet about this hurling team, Cunningham can't just ignore them like the fans seem to want to.

24yearslater

Bit worried at this stage - seems like all the usual problems are resurfacing again. Saw them v Dub in the Walsh cup (played ok when down to 14 men), Kk in the league (good win v a very understrength side), v Clare (only hurled for the last 20 mins) & Tipp last Sunday (atrocious for all bar about 10 mins), so I feel I'm well placed to comment on progress so far.
Regarding the goalkeeping position, the sooner Skehill is back available for selection the better. I accept he's a complete headbanger at times, but he is potentially the finest goalie ever in Galway, certainly since Mike Conneelys time. His agility is 2nd to none, and the whole puck out strategy is based on his ability to drive it long, fast & accurate. The other 2 lads are simply not up to intercounty, but are the best we currently have in the county.
As for the defence - Fergal Moore is our only truly world class defender. His reading of the game, his pace & his courage have bailed us out on numerous occasions already this year. The others are a mix of inconsistency & dad. Coen has great potential, but how many times does he have to get cleaned out before the penny drops with him. He was roasted again last Sunday. Hynes is good, but wheter he's a full back or not is still open to debate. Maybe Daithi Burke from Turlough is an alternative, but from what I hear he's in no mad rush to join the seniors. Collins isn't the same player he was pre his injury, but that's not his fault. Donoghue is honest, but took a bad roasting v Tipp, & is likely to always struggle against class forwards. No 6 is a disaster area for us - it's damndable at this stage that we haven't had a decent CB since Hodgkins. Tony Og got destroyed v Dub & only lasted 20 mins b4 being hauled off. He was also v badly culpable in both AIs last year. Maybe young Darragh Burke from Thomas' is an option, but Joe Cooney will never be good/quick enough for the role.
Midfield has gone stale this year - Tannian is a poor shadow of his '12 self so far, whilst I reckon David Burke would be a better option than Smith. The forwards have been very dissappointing so far (with the exception of JC & Hayes). Glennon played well in fits & starts last sunday esp under the dropping ball, but his decision making & distribution is poor. None of the other new lads (Brehony, Maloney, Haran, etc) look like they're going to seriously challenge for places come c'ship, whilst Niall Burke & C Donnellan have been very poor. Thomas' have a few fwrds like Regan, Cooney, etc to come back in, but I'd caution against comparing club form with intercounty suitability. It's almost like 2 completely different sports.
My biggest concern at the moment is that we won't make the league play-offs. Given the fact that we are likely to have no competitive match after we finish up in the league until the 1st Sunday in July, I thought that Cunningham would have seriously targetted a league final appearance. If we don't make the play-offs we could be sitting around throughout April May & June without a serious game (with the possible exception of a league relegation playoff). Given the fact that we're most likely to be meeting Kk in the Leinster final (& they'll surely be seriously fired up for it after last year), it's hardly ideal preparation.
Early days yet I know, there there are similarities to post '01 & '05 aready. Hope I'm wrong.

As an aside - best of luck to the U21 footballers on saturday in Tuam. They'll need all the help they can get v what is supposedly a very good Mayo side, so if anyone can get there to shout them on please make the effort. As for the senior footballers - I saw them in Portlaoise 2 weeks ago, & all that can be said about them at this stage to that they can only be pitied. The only vcounty I would be optimistic about them beating at this stage is Kk, & that's only a cautious optimism. Any other county in the country would fancy their chances against us at this stage, & rightfully so. They're an embarrassment - God alone knows what Mayo will do to them on May 19.

MfMan

24yearslater wrote: »

Bit worried at this stage - seems like all the usual problems are resurfacing again. Saw them v Dub in the Walsh cup (played ok when down to 14 men), Kk in the league (good win v a very understrength side), v Clare (only hurled for the last 20 mins) & Tipp last Sunday (atrocious for all bar about 10 mins), so I feel I'm well placed to comment on progress so far.
Regarding the goalkeeping position, the sooner Skehill is back available for selection the better. I accept he's a complete headbanger at times, but he is potentially the finest goalie ever in Galway, certainly since Mike Conneelys time. His agility is 2nd to none, and the whole puck out strategy is based on his ability to drive it long, fast & accurate. The other 2 lads are simply not up to intercounty, but are the best we currently have in the county.
As for the defence - Fergal Moore is our only truly world class defender. His reading of the game, his pace & his courage have bailed us out on numerous occasions already this year. The others are a mix of inconsistency & dad. Coen has great potential, but how many times does he have to get cleaned out before the penny drops with him. He was roasted again last Sunday. Hynes is good, but wheter he's a full back or not is still open to debate. Maybe Daithi Burke from Turlough is an alternative, but from what I hear he's in no mad rush to join the seniors. Collins isn't the same player he was pre his injury, but that's not his fault. Donoghue is honest, but took a bad roasting v Tipp, & is likely to always struggle against class forwards. No 6 is a disaster area for us - it's damndable at this stage that we haven't had a decent CB since Hodgkins. Tony Og got destroyed v Dub & only lasted 20 mins b4 being hauled off. He was also v badly culpable in both AIs last year. Maybe young Darragh Burke from Thomas' is an option, but Joe Cooney will never be good/quick enough for the role.
Midfield has gone stale this year - Tannian is a poor shadow of his '12 self so far, whilst I reckon David Burke would be a better option than Smith. The forwards have been very dissappointing so far (with the exception of JC & Hayes). Glennon played well in fits & starts last sunday esp under the dropping ball, but his decision making & distribution is poor. None of the other new lads (Brehony, Maloney, Haran, etc) look like they're going to seriously challenge for places come c'ship, whilst Niall Burke & C Donnellan have been very poor. Thomas' have a few fwrds like Regan, Cooney, etc to come back in, but I'd caution against comparing club form with intercounty suitability. It's almost like 2 completely different sports.
My biggest concern at the moment is that we won't make the league play-offs. Given the fact that we are likely to have no competitive match after we finish up in the league until the 1st Sunday in July, I thought that Cunningham would have seriously targetted a league final appearance. If we don't make the play-offs we could be sitting around throughout April May & June without a serious game (with the possible exception of a league relegation playoff). Given the fact that we're most likely to be meeting Kk in the Leinster final (& they'll surely be seriously fired up for it after last year), it's hardly ideal preparation.
Early days yet I know, there there are similarities to post '01 & '05 aready. Hope I'm wrong.

As an aside - best of luck to the U21 footballers on saturday in Tuam. They'll need all the help they can get v what is supposedly a very good Mayo side, so if anyone can get there to shout them on please make the effort. As for the senior footballers - I saw them in Portlaoise 2 weeks ago, & all that can be said about them at this stage to that they can only be pitied. The only vcounty I would be optimistic about them beating at this stage is Kk, & that's only a cautious optimism. Any other county in the country would fancy their chances against us at this stage, & rightfully so. They're an embarrassment - God alone knows what Mayo will do to them on May 19.

Of the other 2 goalies, I think Callinan is the better, and isn't too bad; I still have the hunch that he would have started in the replay had Skehill not. Mostly agree with the backs, though I'd persist with Donohoe, and Collins is hurling better than you think IMHO, very good in drawn final etc. Coen is good enough too, once his form improves again. Hynes *must* be midfield, good enough player to be there. Daithi Burke going travelling this year, someone said. Saw Tan in the 3 league games to date, and was actually better than is thought in the latter 2. His big problem is that he's too loose (and sometimes too lackadaisical), maybe a spell at wing-forward would do? I've feared a bit since last Sept. for N Burke, I though he lost form completely for the replay. One of his biggest problems I feel is that he isn't playing top class club hurling, virtually a necessity now I think. Bit harsh on Donnellan as he's really played only one half of league, though his use of possession must really improve at this stage. For this reason I don't think he or Jonny Glynn can play on the same team. Bit harsh too on Glennon, he's been one of our best performers in the league and has always been dangerous to defences. If Conor Cooney can reproduce the kind of performance he displayed in the drawn game v Loughiel, he'll be a big boost, but don't think Regan would be much of an improvement on what's there. From an early stage I've said that I don't think this will be our year, and unfortunately I haven't seen much to change that opinion.

The footballers remain rooted in the doldrums and could face another 10 years in exile at least. There's so poor at present that they could actually Mayo next May (and lose to Leitrim or whoever next time out)!

nagirrac

24yearslater wrote: »

My biggest concern at the moment is that we won't make the league play-offs. Given the fact that we are likely to have no competitive match after we finish up in the league until the 1st Sunday in July, I thought that Cunningham would have seriously targetted a league final appearance. If we don't make the play-offs we could be sitting around throughout April May & June without a serious game (with the possible exception of a league relegation playoff).

The biggest concern isn't missing out on a league SF or final, its been stuck in another relegation play off and maybe getting relegated. With this insane new format every game is vital and every team now will be going all out to avoid relegation. Cork are well capable of giving us problems as they have decent forwards and when have we beaten Waterford in Waterford, or for that matter beaten Watreford in any meaningful game?
If we don't up the performance level considerably the next day we could be looking at 1B next year and that would be a disaster for a young team with AI aspirations.

24yearslater

nagirrac wrote: »

The biggest concern isn't missing out on a league SF or final, its been stuck in another relegation play off and maybe getting relegated. With this insane new format every game is vital and every team now will be going all out to avoid relegation. Cork are well capable of giving us problems as they have decent forwards and when have we beaten Waterford in Waterford, or for that matter beaten Watreford in any meaningful game?
If we don't up the performance level considerably the next day we could be looking at 1B next year and that would be a disaster for a young team with AI aspirations.

I agree re not being worried about reaching a league semi & final, it's just we really need matches this year. Even a relegation playoff wouldn't be disastrous if we won it, especially if it went to a replay like last year. Arguably it was the 2 matches v Dublin last year that turned things around for us, then we had games v Westmeath & Offaly to prepare us for the Leinster final. We were full of hurling going into that match. My biggest fear is that we stay up, but have no hurling from March 31st until July 4th (except for a gimme leinster semi v westmeath/carlow/antrim). We'll be completely unprepared for a match v Kk then.

nootroc

The Galway team to play Mayo in the Connacht U-21 Semi-Final in Tuam Stadium on Saturday at 4.00 is:

1 Thomas Healy.

2 Liam Silke. 3 James Shaughnessy. 4 Philip Ezergailis.

5 Mark Loughnane. 6 Eoin Walsh. 7 Paul Varley.

8 Fiontan O’Curraoin. 9 Damien Comer.

10 Cathal Mulryan. 11 Sean Moran. 12 Padraig Cunningham.

13 Shane Walsh. 14 Adrian Varley. 15 Garry Kelly.

Subs; 16 James Healy, 17 Daithi Burke, 18 Gearoid Canavan, 19 Enna hEochaldh 20 Matthew Heskin, 21 Shane Maughan, 22 Conor Rabbitte, 23 Ian Burke, 24 Fiach Bearra