Hurling V Football

gerryirl · 28-07-2018 9:51pm #1

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 · 28-07-2018 11:41pm

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

gerryirl · 29-07-2018 12:19am

Davys Fits wrote: »

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

lol

frankled · 29-07-2018 12:40am

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 · 29-07-2018 4:01am

Different game

Sliothar travels faster then a ball

davegilly · 29-07-2018 9:38am

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 · 29-07-2018 10:52am

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 · 29-07-2018 12:43pm

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 · 29-07-2018 1:44pm

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 · 29-07-2018 1:48pm

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 · 29-07-2018 3:47pm

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

deaddonkey15 · 29-07-2018 4:22pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:13pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:15pm

This post has been deleted.

JustJoe7240 · 29-07-2018 5:16pm

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

average_runner · 29-07-2018 5:17pm

Patww79 wrote: »

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

They were ok but the standard was poor

threeball · 29-07-2018 5:17pm

Patww79 wrote: »

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

Galway Kildare and Kerry Monaghan were pretty good too.

average_runner · 29-07-2018 5:19pm

threeball wrote: »

Galway Kildare and Kerry Monaghan were pretty good too.

Really. Kerry didnt score from play till 32nd min

Bridge93 · 29-07-2018 5:24pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:38pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:44pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:44pm

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 · 29-07-2018 5:47pm

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 · 29-07-2018 6:01pm

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 · 29-07-2018 6:14pm

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 · 29-07-2018 6:31pm

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 · 29-07-2018 6:37pm

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 · 29-07-2018 7:25pm

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

29-07-2018 8:29pm

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 · 29-07-2018 8:34pm

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 · 29-07-2018 8:45pm

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.

Hurling V Football

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