The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Looking forward to the game now.. Hopefully we can get a good result and a little payback for the tailteann Cup final

It seems like a long time ago since we played westmeath in mullingar

I can’t see Graham going that inexperienced even with the injuries.

I think we’re in trouble with the personnel missing. I’m certainly hoping Dara Mc jogs into the full forward or at least half forward line at the start.

We seem to regularly be missing players now through injury and it’s been a factor since the start of 2021. You’d wonder what changed that so many players seem injury prone.

James Smith, for example, is missing an awful lot of time. Like Thomas Galligan before him, he’s a player we don’t have more than we have.

Given the demands placed on modern inter-county players, I wouldn't have thought Cavan were any worse off or more immune to injury than any other county (certainly not over the last 5-10 years). Listening to the We Are Cavan podcast, it sounds like Offaly are missing an entire panel through injury, travel and lads not committing. In fact the point made a lot by people has been the relatively low turnover of players dropping off the panel. There's always going to be bad luck that no team can predict or manage. Look at the league game against Longford in 2021- Holla (cruciate) and James Smith (that awful neck injury).

Last year when we went into our biggest game of the year, we had our full panel to play with , albeit three players coming off the bench (Holla, Kiernan, Martin Reilly) were coming off medium to long-term injuries.

Are some players more prone to injury because of their physique or way that they play? Explosive sprinters tend to suffer repeatedly from hamstrings and players like Thomas Galligan and James Smith are such powerhouses they are willing to plough through tackles that others couldn't, but in return their ferocity and bravery means that they are more likely to pick up knocks I assume.

I assume Cavan_King will know more, but i was at a Lough game (Vs Gaels, first round of the championship) last year and James Smith had started the last two games clear and spoke to someone from his family- they said the advice from the club was to rest him for a few games, but that Smith was adamant he wanted to play. You've got to love that enthusiasm but sadly he picked up a bad blow that day and that more or less ruled him out of the championship (it was clear he wasn't remotely fit for the game against Gowna).

I have been reliably informed that James Smith started every single League and Championship game last year and given that we got to a league final and had 6 Championship games, he likely played more minutes in a Cavan jersey in a single year than most Cavan players in history. Maybe Cavan King was mistaking him for someone else.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Ryan O'Neill gets on if he starts on Sunday. I thought he looked very sharp against Tyrone. He obviously needs to make it tell on the scoreboard but his pace and ability to win ball out in front could be a real weapon if we get the men coming off him.

Maguire would be a good call and David Brady on the 40 to move into midfield for kick outs. I think O Rourke is going to get game time in the league but I don't think he has the engine for senior intercounty midfield. Very handy as a target inside though, and wouldn't be surprised to see him thrown in at some stage on Sunday.

O’Rourke made some very good catches when he came out the field at the end of the Tyrone game. He’s a man you could throw on or bring out the pitch if you were having a sticky 20 minutes.

Westmeath may go short though as Cavan are a big team so all this talk of big men needed at midfield may be pointless.

With experienced forwards like McKiernan & Lynch missing, could Conor Madden return from the cold? Is Oisin Pierson around the panel or injured?

There is absolutely no doubt of Madden's talent and he did get minutes in the McKenna cup as well. If he was firing, he's as good as we have. That's a considerable IF based on his brief cameos last year at county level, and his form for Gowna was patchy at best in the championship. I know he's had a lot of injuries and if they cleared up he could be magic. But...

Has Conor Smith been mentioned? As far as I know Pierson isn't in, he was just back with Gowna after missing almost a year.

Madden is inconsistent but still worth having on the panel ,as there isn't lots of alternatives.

Cormac Reilly, Caoimhin Reilly and TED opted off the panel or were let go from last year Squad. I'd have Madden over any of those.

Ryan O Neill capable of winning ball ,but hasn't looked like a scoring forward,yet anyway. He took the goal against Armagh but it was handed to him on a plate. Probably unlucky against Tyrone that he didn't win a few frees. Referee must have though he played for the free.

I said the very same thing last july.

We Are Cavan & the Celt are still running with the line that we need to decide where this team are as a group - are they the talented bunch that won Ulster in 2020 or a team that had three successive relegations?

Have the lads forgot they said the Tailteann Cup Final would decide that? The question was unfortunately answered in Croke Park last July IMO.

I think this is a huge year for Graham. Reaching an Ulster final 2019 and the win in 2020 are distant memories now because teams like Armagh that were behind us have now surpassed us.

We’ve had two poor years in 2021, an unmitigated disaster, & 2022, a year where the Tailteann Cup run was largely enjoyable but the last two matches left a poor taste in the mouth. The best that can be said about the League is that we got through it.

We can only hope now that we don’t see a League campaign which shows that Longford & Down are another two teams that have moved ahead of us with Westmeath.

Mickey needs to drop the passive laboured approach and start to move the ball quickly. Going on the McKenna Cup, I don’t have much faith that is going to happen.

Liam Kerins has more intercounty experience.

Andy McEntee has just as much experience, if not more. Has won a club All Ireland.

Conor Laverty is a development officer in Trinity so his full time job is Gaelic football.

I do sometimes wonder is Mickey a bit behind the time in tactics and are we still operating from tactics a few years back whereas other teams have moved into a quick counter attack.

I remember going to Terry Hyland’s first game in sole charge in the McKenna Cup against Down in 2013. I thought that day we were too slow on the attack. It’s terrible to think that it’s now a decade since that game and I still feel the same.

Have Armagh passed us? I don't buy that. Haven't even made an ulster final. Most over hyped team in Ireland and while they are decent I don't fear them in Breffni this summer.

Team named for tomorrow- I was close! Jason listed to start, Lynch named on the bench.

I wonder will Jason go centre back and Oisin brady go wing forward and allow dara into the full forward line?