Meath GAA discussion thread

CrabRevolution

awaywithyou wrote: »

Disappointing to read such comments and i very much doubt that outside of hurling people in Meath... the Meath people wont care... id be pretty sure that many Meath GAA folk will tune in to see how Jack will get on.. He is one of yere own.. comes from a very nice family in Rathmolyon... Best of luck to him...

Fair play to him, it's some achievement on a personal level to do what he has done. But the notion that this is good news for Meath hurling or that we should be proud is nonsense.

CrabRevolution

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

You seem to be speaking for a lot of Meath people. When Katie Taylor won her Olympic medal I watched it and was quite happy to see her win it as an Irish person even though I'm not from Wicklow. I'm sure there was people who didn't give a toss who live in Bray so it cuts both ways.

That's a nonsense comparison. Katie Taylor wasn't representing Wicklow in the olympics. She represented Ireland through the Olympic Council of Ireland so obviously everyone in Ireland was happy for her. For Irish people she was "our" competitor in that event. Unless you started cheering other nation's boxers you had no alternative. In Meath terms Fagan is not "our" competitor in inter county hurling. We have our own team and our own players.

Like I said, fair play to him on the personal achievement, but I find it a bit desperate and small time for people to say it's something Meath can be proud of.

rpurfield

Found this from the County Board PRO interesting in the last couple of days https://twitter.com/MrFlynnMeath/status/1335718797714579460?s=20

Surely doing this sort of thing should be a given. I don't want to turn the thread into a replica of the Leinster Football is Dead or Dublin Dominance ones but surely it is incumbent on the officers of the board to look at what Dublin do well and try to replicate as much as we can within Meath?

Obrieski

rpurfield wrote: »

Found this from the County Board PRO interesting in the last couple of days https://twitter.com/MrFlynnMeath/status/1335718797714579460?s=20

Surely doing this sort of thing should be a given. I don't want to turn the thread into a replica of the Leinster Football is Dead or Dublin Dominance ones but surely it is incumbent on the officers of the board to look at what Dublin do well and try to replicate as much as we can within Meath?

Too much effort for the dinosaurs that are in there to even consider. Would result in someone coming in and upsetting the apple cart at county board level. “And sure it wasn’t done 30 years ago so why do it now”.
Unfortunately we all know the types that go to these meetings - great GAA people for Meath over the years but the same faces doing various jobs.

On another note, all the money talk in recent days got me thinking. Any word on this new stadium in Navan, or status update? And more importantly, is it really a worthwhile investment? Seems like more and more a complete waste of money in my opinion when I think of what else the money could be used for? I don’t think a 20,000 seater stadium is of the most urgent or pressing matters we face as a county currently

rpurfield

Obrieski wrote: »

Too much effort for the dinosaurs that are in there to even consider. Would result in someone coming in and upsetting the apple cart at county board level. “And sure it wasn’t done 30 years ago so why do it now”.
Unfortunately we all know the types that go to these meetings - great GAA people for Meath over the years but the same faces doing various jobs.

On another note, all the money talk in recent days got me thinking. Any word on this new stadium in Navan, or status update? And more importantly, is it really a worthwhile investment? Seems like more and more a complete waste of money in my opinion when I think of what else the money could be used for? I don’t think a 20,000 seater stadium is of the most urgent or pressing matters we face as a county currently

Haven’t heard much on the new stand. It might not be the most pressing matter but a new stand at a minimum would be nice!

Cavan_King

Obrieski wrote: »

On another note, all the money talk in recent days got me thinking. Any word on this new stadium in Navan, or status update? And more importantly, is it really a worthwhile investment? Seems like more and more a complete waste of money in my opinion when I think of what else the money could be used for? I don’t think a 20,000 seater stadium is of the most urgent or pressing matters we face as a county currently

What else do you think the money could be used for? I think having a good county ground is a huge plus. You want somewhere that kids want to play, something to capture their imagination.

And, if nothing else, fook me that stand at Tailteann is freezing. I’ll never forget sitting in it for Meath vs Kildare in the League last year in the snow.

Obrieski

Cavan_King wrote: »

What else do you think the money could be used for? I think having a good county ground is a huge plus. You want somewhere that kids want to play, something to capture their imagination.

And, if nothing else, fook me that stand at Tailteann is freezing. I’ll never forget sitting in it for Meath vs Kildare in the League last year in the snow.

I would prefer to have kids who grow up wanting to play for a competitive Meath team who are competing at the highest level, like I was when I was a kid, inspired and awed by these men.

I'm not for one second saying we do not need a new stand but if it's snowing I'm not sure a new stadium will be any warmer! I've sat in Croke Park on some miserable freezing days too over the years!!

After all the talk in recent weeks about Dublin and funding etc etc, would it not be more prudent for it to into an overhaul of underage structures...full time coaches, S&C guys, full time person in the county board (CEO style not from a GAA background or club but a proven business person). The Dublin model needs to be looked at and if replicated if we are trying to go anywhere. How do Dublin players transition from minor through to U-20 where they are jumped massively in terms of physique, physicality etc. That takes coaching, facilities and a hugely driven group of individuals.

A 20,000 seater stadium is a fantastic facility...but give me a choice of a nice stadium or being back competing on a national level in 10 years time...and I know where I would prefer the money to be spent in the near future.

RoyalCelt

I'd normally agree but Navan is very old and if you leave it another 10/15 years it could call apart. It doesn't matter how much money we spend we probably won't beat Dublin again. And we're already competitive with everyone else. Just forget about Dublin and enjoy the games against counties.

jimd2

It's a real chicken and egg situation.

Without any success it is very difficult to envisage getting the numbers in the gates to pay for the development going forward. I know at home my family have way less interest that I did growing up. This is partly due to the lack of success but not all.

We had great support during the 80's / 90's but that was on the back of great teams and loads of publicity. I always said to myself fair play to other counties like Westmeath, Louth, Wicklow etc that kept up the support without very much success.

Over all, I would say the €6.2 million promised is a lot considering where country is now. A 4,000 seat stand is big - I would say halve it and put in decent lights and get it done.

After this year we may see many more games streamed and the days of needing 4,000 seats will be few and far between.

The money saved may not go to Meath but also they may not need to plough as much county resources into the project.

rpurfield

Seán Boylan is going to be named on the U20 management team in Down. Meanwhile we don't have an U20 management team in place at all

jimd2

rpurfield wrote: »

Seán Boylan is going to be named on the U20 management team in Down. Meanwhile we don't have an U20 management team in place at all

Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented.

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

SeBoylan is going to be named on the U20 management team in Down. Meanwhile we don't have an U20 management team in place at all

For the second year in a row! Think it was January this year that we put Ger Robinson in as U20 manager.

rpurfield

jimd2 wrote: »

Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented.

Its certainly not unprecedented, it happened 12 months ago! Its an absolute farce, like I said a few posts ago surely it is incumbent on the board to do all in their power to replicate whats successful elsewhere. I really doubt Dublin are without an U20 manager. I get there are longer term issues to be fixed but little things like getting managers in place in a timely fashion would be a start.

Cavan_King

Obrieski wrote: »

After all the talk in recent weeks about Dublin and funding etc etc, would it not be more prudent for it to into an overhaul of underage structures...full time coaches, S&C guys, full time person in the county board (CEO style not from a GAA background or club but a proven business person). The Dublin model needs to be looked at and if replicated if we are trying to go anywhere. How do Dublin players transition from minor through to U-20 where they are jumped massively in terms of physique, physicality etc. That takes coaching, facilities and a hugely driven group of individuals.

A 20,000 seater stadium is a fantastic facility...but give me a choice of a nice stadium or being back competing on a national level in 10 years time...and I know where I would prefer the money to be spent in the near future.

Listening to the We Are Cavan podcast (I know there's a We Are Meath iteration too - I used to listen before it required a subscription) last night, Damien Donohoe mentioned how he has spoken to Seamus Kenny in Meath who he said was taken on full time five years ago to oversee all permanent staff in Meath GAA such as coaches. Is this not happening in Meath then?

Damien pointed to Meath's recent underage success as a sign that Cavan need to get someone permanent into a role like Seamus does for Meath.

Hammer Archer wrote: »

For the second year in a row! Think it was January this year that we put Ger Robinson in as U20 manager.

The same has happened in Cavan. Unfortunately, since U21 moved back to U20, nobody seems to give too much of a care towards it now in most counties. Strange in Cavan given how our underage success with teams winning Ulster from 2011 to 2014 has eventually lead to senior success.

11 of Cavan's matchday panel vs Dublin was 22 or under and we've lads 18 and 19 in our senior panel now so players even seem to be bypassing the U20 team and being brought straight to senior panel now. Oisin Pierson and Cormac O'Reilly both did this already last year in Cavan - both remaining unavailable for the U20s due to being in the senior panel.

CrabRevolution

I think people feel that it's a matter of some quick fix (e.g. a review of coaching, appointing a head of games development, having a full time xyz officer) and that once you do that thing you'll leapfrog other counties.

Considering the constant arms race where every county is simultaneously trying new things and bringing in structures and people in an effort to improve, you'll often find that what you feel is your moonshot ticket to success is actually just what's needed to keep pace or maintain the distance you had before with other counties. Many of these quick options to success are based on the idea that every other county stands still.

So it's easy to slag people and plans saying they didn't work because we aren't winning all Irelands, but it's more likely that those are the things that have stopped us from falling further behind.

Now that's not to suggest that "not falling further behind" is an acceptable standard to hold ourselves to, but it's similarly ridiculous to say that since we're not beating Dublin our systems are a total failure.

Hammer Archer

Minors with another excellent second half performance to beat Westmeath 3-11 to 0-7. They kept Westmeath to 2 points after half time. TG4 were meant to be streaming it but had to make do with CiarFlynn's pitch side phone stream.
Laois in the semi final.

vapor trails

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Minors with another excellent second half performance to beat Westmeath 3-11 to 0-7. They kept Westmeath to 2 points after half time. TG4 were meant to be streaming it but had to make do with CiarFlynn's pitch side phone stream.
Laois in the semi final.

Conor Gray is a serious unit in that team. Just hope those pesky Aussie's keep their hands off him because he has all the attributes they'd be looking for in a young Irish player.

Dickie10

get him sorted with college , accomadation make life easy for him in ireland thats how you keep the ausies away

Hammer Archer

I don't really follow AFL much but as far as I can remember, their clubs were hit exceptionally hard by Covid financially. Given that there are minimum contracts and extras that are required to be offered to Irish rookies over and above what young Australian players would get, I think we could possibly see a drop off in the number of Irish players heading over there for a few years.

CrabRevolution

Dickie10 wrote: »

get him sorted with college , accomadation make life easy for him in ireland thats how you keep the ausies away

Someone posted the details of an AFL rookie contract here before; the base salary just for being in the extended squad, before any appearance related bonuses, media payments etc. is over €50'000.

I can't speak for everyone but if at 18 I was asked do I want either

1: To instantly start earning a minimum of €50'000 a year, plus if I play; €5000 a match in bonuses and then media payments on top, plus travel to Australia paid for along with accommodation. On top of this there's a potential to make a career earning 100s of thousands of euro within a few years.
or

2: Cheaper fees and accommodation in DCU/wherever which I likely wouldn't be paying anyway as I'd be on a scholarship.

I know which one I'd pick. Turn down the AFL and it might be gone forever, turn down college and it'll always be there as an option.

Now as hammer archer says above the Covid situation could stem the flow for now, but the idea that lads can be easily dissuaded from going to the AFL is just not true.

vapor trails

Dunshaughlin coaching put this tweet out a couple of months ago. He must be 6'4 at least already

https://twitter.com/DRG_Coaching/status/1310627058696048640?s=20

rpurfield

Great result for the minors yesterday. I missed it because I was out, but I think it’s been put up in full on the TG4 YouTube channel due to the technical issues.

Conor Gray looks a serious talent. I’d agree with what’s said above though I think it takes more than a cheap college course and accommodation to stop young lads heading for Australia if it’s offered. Sure Conor Nash had a very good chance of a rugby career here and he still headed over. I honestly don’t think it’s something to be stopped

Hammer Archer

The only thing that stops players from going is the distance and wanting to be close to home, I think. If a player is good enough and wants to try it, there's very little that can be done to keep them here.

awaywithyou

spent a few minutes there going thru some of the social media pages of some GAA clubs in Meath and all the hurling clubs and a few football clubs are wishing yere man the best in Croke park today... good to see and as i suspected GAA people in Meath whether its hurling or football will be keeping an eye on proceedings in Croker

Hammer Archer

Minor hurlers beat Wicklow by 16 in the truncated Minor B championship (only 4 teams competing). Down coming up in the final after they had a 46 point win over Louth.

CrabRevolution

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Minor hurlers beat Wicklow by 16 in the truncated Minor B championship (only 4 teams competing). Down coming up in the final after they had a 46 point win over Louth.

I posted a few months ago how I'd be disappointed if we didn't win this considering how weak the field is this year. I'd still say we'll have too much for Down in the final. A 46 point win is some going but that's more a sign of how bad Louth are.

rpurfield

CrabRevolution wrote: »

I posted a few months ago how I'd be disappointed if we didn't win this considering how weak the field is this year. I'd still say we'll have too much for Down in the final. A 46 point win is some going but that's more a sign of how bad Louth are.

I think there is only a handful of hurling clubs in Louth. I think 4 but I'm open to correction. You'd think Down will be a step up but hopefully the lads can do the business. I'm suprised the competition is only 4 teams this year, did counties not bother or are they playing in the full Minor championships.

Hammer Archer

Every now and then you tend to get a minor team in the B competition that you wonder why they're there. Like when we beat Sligo by 60+ points a few years ago.

Hammer Archer

Minor semi final is live tomorrow at 1230 on TG4 YouTube, assuming they bring the correct cable this time.

Hammer Archer

Minors are 2-6 to 0-6 up at half time. Was slightly worrying before the water break as we were being destroyed at midfield. For over 5 minutes, we had 7 or 8 of our own kickouts in a row that Laois won and put us under huge pressure. Water break seemed to do them a lot of good as they dominated after that.