The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179767#Comment_122179767

Conor was invited back in after the Lynch injury as I said a couple of weeks back. I found it strange that he was invited back in and then not even included in the match squad for Mayo - why bother pursuing him?

rrs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179874#Comment_122179874

It was said they were picking the players based on how they were going on training. but you'd think he make the 26 with limited forward options.

Was Conor Smith asked back in,? he was left off the panel this year to get injuries cleared

Thunderbirds

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122180079#Comment_122180079

He has been but wants a run at football injury free.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122181210#Comment_122181210

Yes I heard Conor Smith is taking the next twelve months. It’s a pity as I always thought he’d be the next big forward.

WAC had it that Caoimhin O’Reilly & Tristan Hoffman have left the panel as well.

rrs

That will probably be Caoimhin Reilly's county days done. He has been in and out of panels under a few managers now.

KeepTheFaith

The minors made a good comeback against Wicklow in the B Championship in Breffni today. Wicklow look to have been decent, beat Wexford, Carlow and Offaly and lost by 4 to Louth who then lost by a point to the eventual winners Longford.

Some sort of run of wins, even in a second tier competition, would be a boost.

rrs

Wexford beat Monaghan on Wednesday in the B championship. Leinster Minor would have been decent enough standard this year.

celt262

I think i will take my communion money out of the post office.

Can anyone tell me that Dublin (-11) at 10/11 with PP is not a good bet given the form we are in.

We don't have any scoring forwards.

Mayo beat us by 9 and got no goals which Dublin definitely will.

Tyrone probably would have beat us by 10+ only for the black card.

At this stage i'd imagine the focus is more on the Roscommon game.

rrs

I don't see them getting anything against Roscommon. Roscommon played some good stuff against Dublin,and have good quality in the forwards, they probably have better forwards then Mayo when they are all fit

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122189940#Comment_122189940

I’d have to agree. I think we’ll be limping out of the All Ireland series. We wouldn’t even win the Tailteann if we were in it again but at least we might have got a few results.

mylestheslasher

Is there any interest in Cavan in this match? I have a feeling rather than being the occasion I expected a few weeks ago, it could be a real damp squid of a game? I really fear we could take a really heavy defeat.

rrs

A couple of hammerings could have a knock on effect fot the following years panel,but hopefully not.

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197958#Comment_122197958

Doesn't seem to be any interest even over on Hoganstand there is no chat about it.

mylestheslasher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122198331#Comment_122198331

Unusual, those lads normally gorge on negativity

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197958#Comment_122197958

There's a few things.

In general, the format for the All Ireland series is well recognised as being a cod. People are voting with their feet and there is no buzz about it at all. The condensed season doesn't work. The weather isn't helping, it doesn't feel like championship. Barring a few Ulster outliers, most of the games have been poorly attended. It's going to have be looked at because its not working.

From a Cavan perspective, I think many of us heading to Castlebar thinking we would give Mayo a decent rattle. The manner of the defeat has put a serious dampener on the mood of most of us. And then to be facing a team that has won 9 of the last 13 All Irelands isn't exactly a handy one to restore confidence!!

Having said that, if the sun comes out and there's a buzz about Cavan on Saturday evening then even a credible showing might improve our collective mood.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122191419#Comment_122191419

You can't please some people!

Either we are in the Tailteann and we will have everyone moaning about having to play Offaly, Longford and London and moaning about beating them and what value is that and so on.

Or we play the very best teams in the country and learn about how the top teams are set up, how standards need to rise, forwards need to create space.

As sickening as it was to go to Castlebar to see such a flat performance, would i swap that for another trip to London? Or a trip to see us play Wicklow, or Laois or yet another game against Down or Fermanagh??

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197958#Comment_122197958

Dublin could only get 11k to Croker last weekend so I can’t see a big crowd in Breffni.

The game being on GAA Go will hit the attendance too.

Christ, the Dub journalist We Are Cavan had on was hard listened to. We know the Dubs only have to turn up against us Saturday night but the rest of the country may just pack up their bags too and hand over the AI going by him.

rrs

Dublin will probaly bring a decent crowd with the bank holiday weekend. They are tired of going to the games in Croke Park unless its a big game. The Roscommon last weekend should have been in Parnell Park. At least there would have been a demand for tickets with a 10 to 12k capacity.

dxhound2005

They didn't bring much of a crowd to Kilkenny last year.

Dublin cruise to comfortable win over Kildare

Watched by a disappointing 8,216 crowd at a venue designated Kildare’s home ground as Newbridge’s St Conleth’s Park undergoes reconstruction, the defeat leaves the Lilywhites in a precarious place ahead of the final round of games. 

etuzyuk

The TC vs AI pros and cons argument is a double edged sword. I absolutely don't want Cavan lower than Div 2 in the league, you really don't want to be lower than that, so I guess that puts me firmly in the AI camp, but I understand the logic that if we can't actually win the TC, we have no business in the AI competition. We're sort of in football limbo at the moment, couldn't improve to win TC so hard to see how we'll improve getting a few drubbings here. Falling between the two tumbling stools is not going to get the hype going.

Onto the game. Roscommon gave the Dubs a good workout at the weekend, gave as good as they got for a bit, showed some good forward intent, but ultimately got a 12 point drubbing in the home stretch. We don't have near the calibre of forwards as the sheep men, set up very negative and couldn't lay a hand on Mayo, so completely understand the zero enthusiasm for the visit of Dublin. Someone posted up odds for a -11 handicap on the jacks, looks like free money to me unfortunately.

Our match v the Rossies in a neutral venue looks like the one we ultimately will focus on to progress. But the loss of Lynch and manner of defeat in Castlebar, where team selection was to round peg anyone anywhere bar picking a natural forward, looks to have deflated whatever wind our sails had gathered in the Ulster championship.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122201408#Comment_122201408

I agree with all those points barring that "if we can't actually win the All Ireland we have no business in the competition".

Barring the Dubs and Kerry, who realistically has a chance? Derry, Galway or Donegal might be in the mix (possibly Armagh) to upset one of the favourites, but even then if one of Dublin or Kerry lose you would fancy the other to end up winning it. The rest of the teams are making up the numbers, hoping / dreaming of a scalp and a big day. Look at Monaghan last year.

But that's not unusual. Look at the last 20 years of All-Ireland football. Barring Tyrone (2005, 2008 and 2021) the outliers are Donegal and Cork. The rest is either the Dubs or Kerry.

baconsarnie

I didn't think he was too bad to be honest. It's an arrogance that is based on reality. It's much like the Kerry fans in the old days not travelling to semi finals "as they would save their money for the final". That Dublin team is the greatest team of all time. Fact. They have some of the greatest footballers of all time. Any of their bench would walk into any of the other teams (possibly barring Kerry).

The investment in Dublin in the 90s was necessary but it has spawned a monster that will create and demand inevitable success. I am based in Dublin and the numbers of kids playing is wonderful to see, but frightening long-term. Add to that the level of paid coaching that goes on means that even though Dublin will see a slump from a once-in-a-generation group of talented players, they always will be in the mix. Other counties (possibly barring Kerry) will have their peaks and troughs but the sheer numbers and structures in place in Dublin just means you can almost always bank they will be there or thereabouts for ever.

For ever.

baconsarnie

I wonder if the routine of dismantling Kildare had an impact. I think they will bring numbers on Saturday based on novelty, short drive, lots of Dubs living in Cavan and (hopefully) decent weather.

But fans who know they have bigger days ahead will likely save their money for bigger tests ahead. That's nothing to do with Cavan or Dublin, but a structural issue that is going to need to be addressed at some point soon.

And was alluded to above, having our flagship competition now competing with FA Cup finals, end of Premier League, rugby finals and champions league finals aint a good a idea long-term. Championship games always had a draw for your casual / fair-weather fan, and that was okay. They mightn't be seen in the league but a big game would often get them to Breffni or Clones. Are those days gone?

etuzyuk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122202038#Comment_122202038

I think you picked me up wrong Baconsarnie, I referred to the logic if we can't win the Tailteann we have no business competing for Sam.

If we were just a little stronger I'd be very happy to be "competing" for Sam every year.

To make a comparison to the club game, I think we're an average Intermediate team, who want to play Senior over the choice of playing Junior. Is there anything to be said for another competition 😁?

rrs

Well they have 3 tiers in Hurling. Leinster has the most Counties, but just one Division 1 team in Dublin. I saw Anthony Moyles tweeting that he has lost interest in County football, and the Dublin dominance has killed any hope for the other Leinster counties.

Though Kildare should be performing better with their underage success.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122202114#Comment_122202114

Ah sorry, i totally got you wrong. Sorry lad, that wasn't an intentional misrepresentation.

There probably is need for an intermediate competition but part of me in doing that is admitting that we have moved into a stage where only a handful of teams could ever possibly win the All Ireland (which is true unless there is a real drive in HQ to invest in "weaker" counties to the same way the Dubs got that level of investment) is quite sad.

Maybe it's a sign of the times and it doesn't seem to have any detrimental impact on the hurling.

etuzyuk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122202828#Comment_122202828

No need to apologise at all, I knew exactly what you meant.

I don't think an intermediate competition would necessarily be throwing in the towel for lesser counties. It's cyclic, and in a weaker year, you've an intermediate cup to compete for but if you have a great year and have a generational squad of talent, Sam is still there.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122202828#Comment_122202828

Here here re the investment in weaker counties. We’re at a stage where one of our county team is gone to work as a professional coach in Dunboyne GAA club yet we are only worried in investing in bricks and mortar and not coaching.

We can’t afford professional coaches for our county development squads but most clubs in Dublin have them.

Money needs to be given to every county for the basics.

rrs

I see Finn Sherlock has got a move to Hoffenheim from Shelbourne. He would have been a good underage Gaelic footballer for Cootehill.

https://t.co/1gWQfjBr4l

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122203853#Comment_122203853

Yeah best of look to him that's the 2nd lad from Cootehill gone to play abroad Senan Mullen is with Torino in Italy they must have decent coaching structures in Cootehill Harps…