Galway GAA discussion thread

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=163740

Barry Cullinane has withdrawn from the panel after not getting any game time in the opening three games.

Don't know much about him, is he a loss?

The article is incorrect; he was never really a regular first choice midfielder.

He wasnt great, terrible when he had to use the ball. But in fairness, he was capable of winning some primary possession which Galway lack, and probably did deserve a chance under Mulholland. Certainly wouldnt see it as a major loss though.

Galway will be begin the defence of their under 21 football All-Ireland crown when they take on Mayo under lights in Castlebar on Wednesday the 14th March.

Galway have been faring poorly so far, losing friendlies to Donegal, Westmeath and Limerick among others, but with 7 of last year's starting team underage again this year they should be better come championship. Mayo have star players themselves in Cillian O'Connor, Danny Kirby and young talent Conor o'Shea who is the younger brother of Aidan and Seamus. This Mayo team also reached the minor All-Ireland final three seasons ago.

Gerry Fahy is the new Galway manager, and has been experimental in his line-ups so far.
In defence, Johnny Duane, Gary Sweeney, James Shaughnessy (minor captain last year) and Conor Halloran will be the main men while Shane Coughlan from St. James has been ruled out of the clash.

The midfield paring of Flynn and O'Curraoin beat all round them on route to glory last year and have been playing together for the Galway seniors this year.

Up front fahy has a selection dilemma in the full-forward line, with Eric Monahan and Patrick Sweeney from last year battling it out with injury-prone Peadar O'Griofa and young guns Conor Rabbitte and Shane Maughan- both featured in the FBD league. Fahy's reluctance to play Maughan at centre forward thus far is an unusual move. At half forward the likes of Cathal Sweeney, David Wynne, Sean Moran, Adrian Varley and to a lesser extent Padraic Cunningham will be battling for positions.

Verdict- Galway have little confidence going in to this and Fahy's team selection could be an issue. Mayo should be better than last year and if Cillian O'Connor is given enough quality ball he could win this on his own. Coen, McDonell could be key in forwards too. Mayo by 5.

Anyone making the trip?

RealityCheck wrote: »

Galway team Vs Meath on Sunday.

1-Adrian Faherty
2-Kieran McGrath
3-Finian Hanley
4-Keith Kelly
5-Garreth Bradshaw
6-Diarmuid Blake
7-Gary O'Donnell
8- Greg Higgins
9- Joe Bergin
10-Gary Sice
11-Damien Burke
12- Niall Coleman
13-Nicky Joyce
14-Paul Conroy
15-Danny Cummins

I know he is resting players that are playing U-21 on Wednesday, but what the hell is going on with the half forward line. They're all backs or midfielders. Are we resorting to playing backs in the forwards like Corofin, out of desperation? Looks like it. There's a big difference between club and county.

Its an experienced team for sure, but just experienced in the sense that they know how to come out of the wrong side of results. Hard to see a win Sunday with that team.

Also I hear Armstrong is unsurprisingly injured again. No fault of his own.

Where are Doherty, Hehir and Boyle for half-forward? Mad team. And all three are over-age for under 21 before someone asks

More than late in the day for him to flourish at county level there. Playing him there in my opinion is daft. Corofin are a really good club team, with a track record of converting backs into good forwards at club level. The likes of this has rarely been been successful. Hanleys move to midfield last year being a prime example, or indeed Sice himself. Big difference between the needs of a club and that of inter county.

hmm, I dont think they are fair comparisons. Hanley never really played at midfield in the past. So it was asking an awful lot of him to do well there. Sice always played as a very deep half forward as well - he never really carried an attacking threat. On the other hand, when I have seen Burke play there for Corofin, he has looked good (Except against Brigids last year). He has driven at the opposiion defence whenever he had a chance. Also, he is far more attacking than people give him credit for. He was seen as an attacking wing back in his Jarlaths days, and only ended up at corner back because Galway had a serious problem there at the time. I think he is worth looking at for number 11 - it may not work, but I think it is worth looking at.

Not sure what is happening with Hehir - havent been able to make any Galway match this year so far but reports I have read suggest he may not be playing as well as he was last year??? I do agree Conroy is more suited to 11 than 14.

Last chance saloon. I think Mullholland is astute enough to realize that he has to persist with youth. He is resting some of the young players for the U21, which is indicative of this.

To be honest, I disagree. I think an astute manager is the one who realises that you cannot bring in young players en masse. He is the manager who realises there is value in holding onto some of the older players and that bringing in the younger players will actually help them as well as them helping the younger players. And I think that is what Mulholland is trying to do, and I commend him for that.

Is Michael Martin still eligble for the U-21's? He seems to have been scoring a lot. What is the reason for his omission?

I have no issue with him trying out players, but I just can't see this one working. There's too big a gulf between club and county. Although I suppose Eoin Brosnan of Kerry is a good example of a player moving away from one position to a completely different position or Bryan Sheehan for that matter. I guess there is precedent.

Maybe it wont work, but I do think it is worth looking at. Burke was never a conventional natural corner back so it is not as drastic a move as to what it looks.

I'm not sure I agree. I think he wants to be seen to be open minded to the players currently on the panel, but he's not stupid either. He realizes that those who have failed in the past are unlikely to be our future. I think the reintroduction of Coleman/ Bergin has been a forced one. O'Curraoin got injured playing for DCU, while I think Flynn picked up a knock last week. Up until then Mullholland was showing complete faith in two 19/20 year olds. Colemans returns also coincides with his own return from injury. Also some others like Boyle and Doherty have picked up injuries. Of course we do need senior players, but in my mind he should be quite liberal in terms the introduction of young players, at this stage.

Looks like we are gonna have to agree to disagree here so! I firmly believe that Bergin / Blake etc. have a part to play in the panel. They may have been part pf poor Galway teams in the past, but that could be an advantage. Perhaps, they were not surrounded by the right players then - Perhaps they will be now... I dont believe in discarding senior players; they should be integrated with these young talented players. I am not saying the senior players should be guaranteed a place - they should not be [Nobody should] but there is a benefit in keeping these lads in the frame at the moment.

As for Martin, he's about the same age as Conroy. In and around 23. Two years out of U21 at this stage.

Strange that he is left out so. I got the impression he was playing quite well recently.

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Looks like we are gonna have to agree to disagree here so! I firmly believe that Bergin / Blake etc. have a part to play in the panel. They may have been part pf poor Galway teams in the past, but that could be an advantage. Perhaps, they were not surrounded by the right players then - Perhaps they will be now... I dont believe in discarding senior players; they should be integrated with these young talented players. I am not saying the senior players should be guaranteed a place - they should not be [Nobody should] but there is a benefit in keeping these lads in the frame at the moment.

In terms of team building. My rational for dropping senior players would be along the line of drop them if there is no realistic chance of them being around in 3/4 years time when the current crop of young players begin to reach their peak. Obvious exceptions come to mind with the likes of Padraic Joyce. Now the likes of Blake/ Bergin etc need not necessarily be told to pack their bags altogther, but they should be told upfront that the management will be going with younger players in general. This may lead to Galway fielding weaker teams but I think in the long run we would benefit from blooding players early. They'd grow and mature as a group. The problems with too many mediocre older heads is that their bad habits die hard. You don't want it rubbing off the younger players. I'm paraphrasing a former player and selector with that, but for me I think its best.

MfMan wrote: »

Hehir maybe being held back for U-21, he's young enough again this year. Still a bit light for senior level I think. Management constrained rather in the team they can pick but the selection is starting to show signs of panic and return to the bad old days of the past decade in that they're naming much of the same old tried-and-unsuccessful players. Far far too many Corofin names there once again.

My feelings exactly. Although I suppose we have to field some team if so many are missing through being rested or injury.

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

This team in the last 10 years was full of poor players. It hasn't stopped. We've just gone from the Collerans to Fiachra Breathnachs. No star quality has been produced except for Meehan who may have done to much for this county. Don't be fooled by underage success. It means nothing in Galway. The hurlers are the same to a lesser extent. When the likes of Hehir come in they only have the Bergins or the Burkes types to help blood them in when in years gone we had Joyce, Donnellan, Declan Meehan to take a lot of the pressure off.

What? We've wasted way more talent in hurling. We hadn't won a match at U21 for 5 years before last years success. Outside of 2007, minors haven't been too hectic. Also, We still have Joyce.

In terms of team building. My rational for dropping senior players would be along the line of drop them if there is no realistic chance of them being around in 3/4 years time when the current crop of young players begin to reach their peak. Obvious exceptions come to mind with the likes of Padraic Joyce. Now the likes of Blake/ Bergin etc need not necessarily be told to pack their bags altogther, but they should be told upfront that the management will be going with younger players in general.

I just dont agree with that. Management has a responsibility to pick the best current team. By doing so, this will help the young players. Why pick a team full of youngsters that may get a bigger beating than a team with some senior players in it? Seems counter productive to me. If Bergin is playing better than any of the other midfielders, he should be put in there. If the younger lads are playing better, then they should be put in there. You are not going to hinder their development by picking somebody who is playing better than them ahead of them. If you constantly pick them when they dont deserve their place on the team, surely that sends out a wrong message I rate these young players highly, but I think a lot of people often make the mistake of saying "Get rid of the older lads and bring in these young lads" rather than actually trying to integrate them together. Clare hurlers actually are not in a completely dissimilar situation - they brought in lots of their successful U-21 team to the senior set up last year at the expense of many senior players. Be interesting to see how they get on this year & next year.

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

You can't really say they've wasted more talent. They are consistent in getting to Qfs. Galway have beaten Louth in 04. That's it. Joyce is practically fending off the grim reaper at this stage and he's the only true quality player left (Bradshaw has shown signs of it so far).


Lose today and we're surely in big trouble.

Going on Galways record at underage hurling, we should be winning All Irelands. Not getting to quarter finals, where there are only 12 teams in the championship. There's no comparison with football where its a lot more competitive.

Ah will ya give over with the negativity. You have to build from somewhere. We're at a low base yes, but with the right management and proper structures at underage, aimed not at winning things but at developing players capable of the senior grade, we will make progress.

We've lost a game in the league in year 1 of Mullhollands management, and people are saying we are a game away from real trouble. As you've rightly said we've been in real trouble for the last 10 years never mind the last month. As I've pointed out, if division 3 is where we belong at this point in time then so be it. We'll hopefully bounce back. Can't understand peoples obsession with the league when we've been in Division one for the past 10 years and haven't been able to beat teams outside the province and haven't won a game in Croke Park in the championship since that great day back in September 2001, when we beat today's opposition.

To sum up I think we need to keep the faith in the management despite how we do this year and we need to put pressure on the county board to focus on player development in the next few year.

I also hope the team go out and beat Meath today and put some of their criticisms to bed. That would be a tonic of sorts.

InchicoreDude wrote: »

I just dont agree with that. Management has a responsibility to pick the best current team. By doing so, this will help the young players. Why pick a team full of youngsters that may get a bigger beating than a team with some senior players in it? Seems counter productive to me. If Bergin is playing better than any of the other midfielders, he should be put in there. If the younger lads are playing better, then they should be put in there. You are not going to hinder their development by picking somebody who is playing better than them ahead of them. If you constantly pick them when they dont deserve their place on the team, surely that sends out a wrong message I rate these young players highly, but I think a lot of people often make the mistake of saying "Get rid of the older lads and bring in these young lads" rather than actually trying to integrate them together. Clare hurlers actually are not in a completely dissimilar situation - they brought in lots of their successful U-21 team to the senior set up last year at the expense of many senior players. Be interesting to see how they get on this year & next year.

But thats not what I said is it? I didn't say throw in all the young lads without any players with experience. Hanley has experience, Bradshaw has experience, Conroy has experience, Nicky Joyce has experience. But these aren't the type of players I'm talking about culling. I'm talking about mediocre players that have had countless opportunities at senior without making any real progress e.g O'Donnell. The likes of Bergin/ Blake are players who are either going to be too old in 3 years time or they are sadly too injury prone to be of any use to the side. There's no use having Blake around if he isn't consistently playing. You'll only end up with a player like Duane playing centre back every time he's out. That no use to you when your developing a team. Its a similar rationale to what I believe Anthony Cunningham is doing with the hurlers. They've dropped experienced players like Damien Joyce, Ger Farragher and Shane Kavanagh for exactly these reasons.
Mullholland actually played a very inexperienced team against Derry and they did really well. In my opinion, this type of thing should be persisted with. James Horan at Mayo and Pat Gilroy at Dublin did and see the progress they made. Albeit yes their players were probably at a better level of development.

You have to play them to blood them and give them experience. In my opinion players like Bergin rarely have good games, so why persist with them, based on what club form/training form?

Playing the younger players over some of the more experienced (albeit mediocre) ones, sends out the message that you have belief in them. That with time and experience they will be better players than the ones they've replaced ever will be. Your sacrificing mediocrity now for success in the future.

Galway team to play Tipp today in Thurles.

Team:
1. James Skehill
2. Declan Connolly
3. David Collins
4. Ger O'Halloran
5. Niall Donohue
6. Fergal Moore
7. Tony Og Regan
8. David Burke
9. Cyril Donnelan
10. Conor Cooney
11. Niall Burke
12. Iarlaith Tannian
13. Damian Hayes
14. James Regan
15. Bernard Burke

Subs:
16. Jamie Ryan
17. Padraig Shiels
18. Brian Flaherty
19. Paul Gordon
20. Joseph Cooney
21. Barry Daly
22. Eanna Ryan
23. Johnny Coen
24. Aidan Harte
25. Jason Grealish
26. Tadgh Haran