If you’re coming off a low base as a county, hurling isn’t the sort of sport where you can cotton wool lads if you have serious designs about ever winning a senior All-Ireland.
For far too long there was a culture in Dublin of “the underage is more important than the senior”. People thought the future would somehow take care of itself. But the future never came, because nobody in Dublin ever really believed it could.
Kilkenny can cotton wool lads. Limerick can at the moment. Others can’t.
You have to be thrown in and know what the standard is.
The most important thing in getting up to the standard is deciding in a serious way that your aim is a senior All-Ireland. If you do that, you have a chance of doing it, because most counties have decided they aren’t serious about winning an All-Ireland. The Offaly public will make the decision for the players that they are serious, because they will fill Tullamore for Leinster championship matches next year.
I’d agree with that 100%. Beat Antrim next year and they should stay up. Good building block for the class of 2005 then. Was just portraying the likely thoughts of those who thought they’d be better off in the Joe McDonagh for an extra year. But you’re always better going up when the opportunity presents itself.
To be fair a league and Leinster title wasn’t too bad an innings considering they started from a really low base. Dublin never won an All-Ireland during that period of underage success did they?
The Leinster title was an end, not a beginning. And no, they never won an All-Ireland at any inter-county grade, nor came close in any of the finals they reached.
The Dublin public never demanded hurling success. It was “oh, the hurlers won a match, very good, maybe I might think of going to a match one of these days”.
The floating Dublin public that turned up for that All-Ireland semi-final against Cork were like the Aussie public turning up for the International Rules. It was an optional entertainment event that they were curious about, but not passionate about.
If Offaly get a sniff of success at senior hurling the county will be alight, because it is their very identity.
Not so sure they are. Wexford were leading Dublin by 6 points on 70 minutes before falling asleep and conceding 2 goals in injury time to draw. Galway had 16 points from play on the board by half time against them and I’d be fairly confident would have won but for the David Burke sending off.
The laboured Dublin 5 point win over Carlow probably the most accurate reflection of where Dublin are at.
I always said that if you add a competitive Offaly into the 2019 Leinster championship then it could’ve been even more epic than it already was. Even if this group elevates them to a level where they’re consistently competing for that 3rd spot then it would be great for the Leinster championship. You feel there’s more in them than that though. How far do you think they can go and how quickly?
Further than Dublin went anyway. I don’t know how quickly. Clare came quicker with that bunch in 2013 than anybody thought possible, and then they didn’t raise another gallop for another five years, and then another four years after that.
A crap Dublin team who went on to lose to Antrim beat Clare out the gate in 2010, Clare were still dogshit in 2011.
In football Donegal were dogshit last year, and in 2010 before McGuinness took over the first time. Derry were before 2021. The gaps are never as big as made out. But they will always remain big if teams choose for them to remain so.
A special Central Council meeting has been organised for Sunday to discuss the possibility of flipping next weekend’s All-Ireland senior hurling quarter-finals and Tailteann Cup semi-finals.
Wexford have requested their game against Clare be pushed from Saturday to Sunday as they are hosting Feile na nGael on Saturday.
Their game is set to form part of a quarter-final double-header with Cork and Dublin in FBD Semple Stadium.
However, the pair might now be moved to Sunday and the Tailteann Cup semi-finals brought forward to Saturday.
It remains to be seen what the Tailteann Cup last four will make of the proposal.
Antrim, Down and Sligo have qualified for the games in Croke Park with Kildare and Laois facing off on Sunday for the remaining spot. RTÉ are due to show all four of hurling and Tailteann Cup fixtures.
The four All-Ireland preliminary football quarter-finals are also scheduled for next weekend.
Cork and Tyrone will compete in them and all four will be streamed on GAAGO.
They’ll have to win multiple Leinster’s and reach an All-Ireland final so. Great if that comes to pass. I’m very intrigued by Offaly. It’s the GAA story of the year so far. In fairness Clare won 3 consecutive U21 titles (2012-14) and had the U21 winners of 2009 like John Conlon too.
Offaly definitely need to back this group up with another group on a similar level, or they need to at least start generating consistent groups which produce two or three good senior players a year. One gifted group is great and can be the springboard for a massive improvement. But you do need to back it up with more at underage level.
In all seriousness whats the poimt of the Joe Mc teams playing in the Liam Mccarthy? Do away with the prelim QF and go straight to QF, losing provincial finalist at home to the 3rd place in the other province.
Clare vs wexford in ennis and Dublin vs cork in Parnell would both have great atmospheres also
Cork must be pushing for a change also or this wouldn’t get any oxygen.
Their game is at a ludicrous time. One would assume there’s a load of GAA underage activity on Saturday morning that will negatively impact a potential earner for the association.
The later fixture isn’t that unreasonable in isolation but I’m not a fan of playing major knock out games early on a Saturday if there’s a 2.5 hour drive involved.
Giving the Tailteann Cup precedence over the hurling quarter finals is pretty fucking stupid.
Not a chance a football quarter would be at 1 on a Saturday. I know people give out about donal ogs whinging but he’ll be dead right when he goes ape over that kind of shite.