Hurling V Football

gerryirl

Im no big GAA head but having watched football and hurling for many a year the hurling is a far far better game to watch most of the time. You get the odd good game of football but its nearly gone like rugby, pass it back to go forward. I would watch a rugby game quicker than a football game now. Im from a mostly football county ( some would even disagree with that). Theres a few hurling teams.
That was a cracker of a game again today between Galway and Clare. A draw was fair, no one deserved to lose. What can be done with the football to make it watchable again.
There has been some good changes to football I think the mark was a great idea. Rewarding for making a great catch. The black card thing baffles me most of the time. Do they put a limit to handpasses? Get back to the good auld days when you get it get rid of it as far up the field as you can..lol
I know the game has changed tactically big time. No more man to man 14 outfield players. Its all sweepers etc

Davys Fits

Simple solution...Give the footballers hurleys and a small ball

gerryirl

Davys Fits wrote: »

Simple solution...Give the footballers hurleys and a small ball

lol

frankled

We tend to compare the two all of the time and I'm not sure why, but I suppose it is only natural given how they operate side-by-side.

Being from Dublin I see more football, yet played more hurling back in the day and still pick up a hurl, but not a football. I don't think I have a favourite- hurling is a skill-set unrivalled by any other sport yet football is a very skillful game. Football has gone very tactical yet not always to the detriment of the sport as many would claim. Hurling has become more tactical too but you do see a lot of the same 'hit and hope' type of play- you don't get that with football.

I suppose all I can say is I love both- but they have to be appreciated and watched in different ways at times.

C__MC

Different game

Sliothar travels faster then a ball

davegilly

It's simple really.

Hurling doesn't have too much short passing or tactical defence. It has loads of lashing the ball down the field and hoping for the best. You then have two players fighting out for the ball. This leads to excitement.

Football in the main doesn't have this. Reduce the handpass down to one or maybe two before kicking would help in this regard I think. As would not being allowed to go back into your own half once you pass the halfway line.

I think the main reason for this though is the hurling championship in the main has teams of similar ability playing each other so they are happy to have a crack and let the chips lay where they fall. Football on the other hand has a completely unbalanced championship with teams of all varying ability playing, the vast majority with no hope. The teams that haven't a hope of winning playing attacking football have to resort to a defensive tactical game to try and succeed.

On a side note - if one of the weaker counties in hurling, like maybe Kerry or similar, ever decide to have a right bash at winning a provincial title then a defensive set up would be the only way for them to have a hope. Lateral passing and very little movement forward. We'll see how exciting hurling might be then

threeball

davegilly wrote: »

It's simple really.

Hurling doesn't have too much short passing or tactical defence. It has loads of lashing the ball down the field and hoping for the best. You then have two players fighting out for the ball. This leads to excitement.

Football in the main doesn't have this. Reduce the handpass down to one or maybe two before kicking would help in this regard I think. As would not being allowed to go back into your own half once you pass the halfway line.

I think the main reason for this though is the hurling championship in the main has teams of similar ability playing each other so they are happy to have a crack and let the chips lay where they fall. Football on the other hand has a completely unbalanced championship with teams of all varying ability playing, the vast majority with no hope. The teams that haven't a hope of winning playing attacking football have to resort to a defensive tactical game to try and succeed.

On a side note - if one of the weaker counties in hurling, like maybe Kerry or similar, ever decide to have a right bash at winning a provincial title then a defensive set up would be the only way for them to have a hope. Lateral passing and very little movement forward. We'll see how exciting hurling might be then

You can't go defensive in hurling as you'll be picked off from 50-60m with ease. It would be shooting practice. You could actually reverse your team putting your tough tackling backs up in the forwards to prevent short puckouts and leaving your sharp shooters deep to pick off handy scores.

gerryirl

threeball wrote: »

You can't go defensive in hurling as you'll be picked off from 50-60m with ease. It would be shooting practice. You could actually reverse your team putting your tough tackling backs up in the forwards to prevent short puckouts and leaving your sharp shooters deep to pick off handy scores.

in a way the football has started to go that way. Look at the Tyrone Dublin match. I think most of the scores in the first half were from half backs as the forwards couldnt get a kick at it.

Mantis Toboggan

I wouldn't compare the two their very different games both great imo. Obviously hurling is faster and more skillful and a lot better to watch. I think football as a spectacle will improve once they bring in the attacking mark.

Davys Fits

Why do hurlers drive the ball 90 yards down the field eliminating the need for hand pass after hand pass?
Why do hurlers score points from their own half of the field and eliminate the need for a blanket defence?
Why do hurling defenders 'hit and hope' from time to time while relieving an attack at one end and setting up a 50/50 battle at the other?

BECASUE THEY CAN....Different game!

gerryirl

Yes I've grasped there different games.lol.. what can football do to make it watchable again.

deaddonkey15

gerryirl wrote: »

Yes I've grasped there different games.lol.. what can football do to make it watchable again.

I think an easy fix is to reduce the number of players. More space to see some football being played, less players to cover it with a blanket defense. Should make games a little less sleep inducing.

mullinr2

Another hurling cracker. We've had at least 6 top class games. Haven't watched any football games this year. I just find the game has gone to the dogs

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

JustJoe7240

2 "Hurling is Better than Football" threads in less that 18 hours! :rolleyes:

average_runner

Patww79 wrote: »

Kildare Mayo and Armagh Roscommon off the top of my head.

They were ok but the standard was poor

threeball

Patww79 wrote: »

Kildare Mayo and Armagh Roscommon off the top of my head.

Galway Kildare and Kerry Monaghan were pretty good too.

average_runner

threeball wrote: »

Galway Kildare and Kerry Monaghan were pretty good too.

Really. Kerry didnt score from play till 32nd min

Bridge93

average_runner wrote: »

They were ok but the standard was poor

There was 41 wides in yesterday’s game. It was incredibly exciting to watch but the standard was not particularly high there either. Both have more to give next week
Enjoyment and standard tend to correlate but it’s not absolute

threeball

average_runner wrote: »

Really. Kerry didnt score from play till 32nd min

And Clare only had one point after 15 to 20 mins yesterday. A game is 75mins plus.

average_runner

Bridge93 wrote: »

There was 41 wides in yesterday’s game. It was incredibly exciting to watch but the standard was not particularly high there either. Both have more to give next week
Enjoyment and standard tend to correlate but it’s not absolute

The standard isnt just based on wides, also the blocking, the tackle and the big catches. Football lacks the skills now.

FrancieBrady

Hurling is good because it is simple stuff. That is not by any means a bad thing.
Football is much more tactical and is interesting/entertaining in it's own way.

It's like comparing a steak to and apple tart and cream. Both do different things but both are essentially food.
Pointless comparing the two imo.

Bridge93

average_runner wrote: »

The standard isnt just based on wides, also the blocking, the tackle and the big catches. Football lacks the skills now.

103 shots on goal doesn’t say much for the blocking or tackling

gerryirl

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

I think an easy fix is to reduce the number of players. More space to see some football being played, less players to cover it with a blanket defense. Should make games a little less sleep inducing.

ya cut it down to 11, stop them handling it and then put in an offside rule, no wait Im thinking of something else

average_runner

Bridge93 wrote: »

103 shots on goal doesn’t say much for the blocking or tackling

Well thats because they dont play negative tactics of passing the ball around their own half. Alot harder to block in hurling as at a high speed.

Football has gone backwards. Dublin v Mayo was the only game worth watching over the last few years

Niles Crane

Really getting sick of these hurling vs football nonsense threads that pop up every time there has been a good hurling game.Both games are completely different and pretty much always have been.

I used to love hurling but my interest has waned in recent years to me it has the opposite problem football has whereas football has become to defensive and stodgy at times hurling has become too loose and it is way way too easy to score to the point where the skill has been taken out of scoring in the game, everyone can put the ball over the bar from any position now.There are basically only 2 field sports in the world I can think of where it's as easy to score in and those are basketball and cricket.

15-20 years ago you had a lovely balance of ground hurling aerial game ,low and high scoring games and it made the game better as a spectacle as you had a contest all over the field whereas now the ball basically moves back and forth up the field constantly like a tennis match and there is not as much variety to the sport as there once was.I don't watch nearly as much hurling these days as I used to. Don't get me wrong it's a great sport but it's just lost something for me in recent years.

Hurling benefits massively from the fact that we only get to see the top 10 play against each other, turn the football championship into something like that and it would be a lot better.

deaddonkey15

gerryirl wrote: »

ya cut it down to 11, stop them handling it and then put in an offside rule, no wait Im thinking of something else

That would be an improvement in fairness.

I do think 14 or even 13 a side would open up so much more space for teams to exploit and probably inspire more use of the kick pass too. I don't think a blanket defensive system would be as effective with so much space and fewer players. Could lead to more 1 on 1 match ups and individual battles like hurling. Footballers might have to show a bit of skill and imagination even.

BloodyBill

davegilly wrote: »

It's simple really.

Hurling doesn't have too much short passing or tactical defence. It has loads of lashing the ball down the field and hoping for the best. You then have two players fighting out for the ball. This leads to excitement.

Football in the main doesn't have this. Reduce the handpass down to one or maybe two before kicking would help in this regard I think. As would not being allowed to go back into your own half once you pass the halfway line.

I think the main reason for this though is the hurling championship in the main has teams of similar ability playing each other so they are happy to have a crack and let the chips lay where they fall. Football on the other hand has a completely unbalanced championship with teams of all varying ability playing, the vast majority with no hope. The teams that haven't a hope of winning playing attacking football have to resort to a defensive tactical game to try and succeed.

On a side note - if one of the weaker counties in hurling, like maybe Kerry or similar, ever decide to have a right bash at winning a provincial title then a defensive set up would be the only way for them to have a hope. Lateral passing and very little movement forward. We'll see how exciting hurling might be then

You're clueless about hurling. There's no lashing the ball..that's gone for years

You can watch a Junior B football match in a bog here in Kerry and be enthralled.

You can watch a club hurling match and wonder if it should be included in the UN's definition of torture.

blanch152

Niles Crane wrote: »

Really getting sick of these hurling vs football nonsense threads that pop up every time there has been a good hurling game.Both games are completely different and pretty much always have been.

I used to love hurling but my interest has waned in recent years to me it has the opposite problem football has whereas football has become to defensive and stodgy at times hurling has become too loose and it is way way too easy to score to the point where the skill has been taken out of scoring in the game, everyone can put the ball over the bar from any position now.There are basically only 2 field sports in the world I can think of where it's as easy to score in and those are basketball and cricket.

15-20 years ago you had a lovely balance of ground hurling aerial game ,low and high scoring games and it made the game better as a spectacle as you had a contest all over the field whereas now the ball basically moves back and forth up the field constantly like a tennis match and there is not as much variety to the sport as there once was.I don't watch nearly as much hurling these days as I used to. Don't get me wrong it's a great sport but it's just lost something for me in recent years.

Hurling benefits massively from the fact that we only get to see the top 10 play against each other, turn the football championship into something like that and it would be a lot better.

It is exciting and boring in the same measure.

FrancieBrady

The worst sporting spectacles I have ever had the misfortune to be at were hurling matches it has to be said. A Fermanagh-Monaghan encounter being the worst ever. How men didn't die is beyond me.

Not all hurling is great.

Fred1983

Have to say the hurling is streets ahead of football this year. Football would be my first choice through the years but I’m getting it very hard to watch it now. Things will have to change or football will be left behind,

conor05

Bridge93 wrote: »

There was 41 wides in yesterday’s game. It was incredibly exciting to watch but the standard was not particularly high there either. Both have more to give next week
Enjoyment and standard tend to correlate but it’s not absolute

The standard wasn’t particularly high? You must be joking.
Some of the scores yesterday were the best I have ever seen.
The first touch of the Clare hurlers was immense from 20mins onwards.

fullstop

average_runner wrote: »

Well thats because they dont play negative tactics of passing the ball around their own half. Alot harder to block in hurling as at a high speed.

Football has gone backwards. Dublin v Mayo was the only game worth watching over the last few years

Why would they play it around their own half when you can knock it over the bar from your own half? Not comparing like with like at all

Dr. Bre

I won’t be happy until hurling gets the worldwide recognition it deserves

blanch152

I am not as convinced by hurling as a spectacle.

It is becoming pretty one-dimensional. All long-range scoring. There was a time when a good defence was essential. Nowadays, all you need is good shooting.

Shoot-outs are exciting, but it is a superficial experience.

mattser

mullinr2 wrote: »

Another hurling cracker. We've had at least 6 top class games. Haven't watched any football games this year. I just find the game has gone to the dogs

Football has been in decline for a good few years. Utterly depressing stuff.
The 2 hurling semis were a joy to behold. Really looking forward to Sunday's replay.

megadodge

average_runner wrote: »

They were ok but the standard was poor

If you thought the standard was 'poor' you're basically admitting that you don't want to enjoy a football match.

The Armagh-Roscommon match was the most enjoyable match I've seen in a long, long time and the vast majority of people who actually saw it were in agreement, if match reports, social media and general conversation is anything to go by. Some of the attacking play and scoring was of the highest order..... but of course the miserable whingers that usually complain about defensive football, all of a sudden did a complete U-turn and were complaining about 'poor defending'.

The reality is that some people just spend their time whinging and cannot be pleased.

bucketybuck

fullstop wrote: »

Why would they play it around their own half when you can knock it over the bar from your own half? Not comparing like with like at all

People scoring from their own half of the field, what does that tell you about the real state of hurling? All these big scorelines and people **** over them, to me it's no different to watching a game of basketball.

cms88

This always annoys me, the only one's who are worried about it are ''hurling people''

Still don't know who anyone can compare the two seeing as they're totally different sports.

Also if hurling is indeed the greatest sport in the world, why does it's fan have to belittle other sports to try and get that point across?

Bridge93

Without questioning which is 'better', I've always wondered why, if hurling is considered more enjoyable/skillful/pure etc etc, is Gaelic football played more widely across the country? Only about 9 or 10 counties play hurling in any serious capacity

ArielAtom

The sliothar needs abouts 3 ounces adding to it to eliminate 90mtr points. You cannot debate two different sports, both are good in their own right.

Akrasia

conor05 wrote: »

The standard wasn’t particularly high? You must be joking.
Some of the scores yesterday were the best I have ever seen.
The first touch of the Clare hurlers was immense from 20mins onwards.

3 points from sideline cuts yesterday and another one today. The standards in terms of skill is immense at the top level.
Agreed that both games saw periods where teams lost composure and made handling and tactical errors

Also, hurling, when the right referee is in charge is an intense physical battle with hard tackling and individual contests and battles around the pitch.

Football doesn't seem to have this anymore and the tackle in football needs to be properly defined to allow defenders contest for the ball

deaddonkey15

Nothing wrong with the long scores in hurling at all. It forces teams to be switched on and work hard as they'll be punished otherwise. Scoring from those distances is not as easy as people think either.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

JustJoe7240

BloodyBill wrote: »

You're clueless about hurling. There's no lashing the ball..that's gone for years

Last night's game would dictate otherwise.

honeybear

No contest!

Akrasia

Bridge93 wrote: »

Without questioning which is 'better', I've always wondered why, if hurling is considered more enjoyable/skillful/pure etc etc, is Gaelic football played more widely across the country? Only about 9 or 10 counties play hurling in any serious capacity

Hurling has unique skills that take years to perfect. Football can be picked up and played by anyone who has played soccer or rugby.

Edit: I'm not saying football isn't skilful too, just that you can develop lots of those skills playing sports other than Gaelic Football, but hurling skills need to be developed playing hurling. And the fact that the skills are difficult to develop and specific to the sport. Means that its harder for smaller clubs to field a full team of players at a competitive level throughout the development cycle and into senior level.

FrancieBrady

FrancieBrady wrote: »

The worst sporting spectacles I have ever had the misfortune to be at were hurling matches it has to be said. A Fermanagh-Monaghan encounter being the worst ever. How men didn't die is beyond me.

Not all hurling is great.

Yeah, sometimes I think the whole "hurling is the greatest thing ever" comes from those who tune into the odd game late in the championship when elite players are playing on the best surfaces in the height of summer.

Imo bad hurling is far more common than bad football. And at junior B level it looks like hockey for people with no hand eye co-ordination.

Niles Crane

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the long scores in hurling at all. It forces teams to be switched on and work hard as they'll be punished otherwise. Scoring from those distances is not as easy as people think either.

I'd disagree with that.

If only the very best players were hitting really long range scores you'd have a point but basically any player on the field at inter county level whether they are a corner back or corner forward can pop the ball over the bar from long range without much difficulty.

deaddonkey15

Niles Crane wrote: »

I'd disagree with that.

If only the very best players were hitting really long range scores you'd have a point but basically any player on the field at inter county level whether they are a corner back or corner forward can pop the ball over the bar from long range without much difficulty.

Well they'd have the range alright, but not always the accuracy. Especially when under pressure. No way would you pop one over from that distance when on the run. Games in Croke Park probably make the distance shooting look easier too with the stands providing a bit of a shelter from the elements.

Regardless, it keeps teams honest when they can be punished from that distance. Football teams can retreat deep into their own half safe in the knowledge that any shot taken out near the sideline or little further beyond the 21 there's a good chance it will go wide or drop short.