Clare GAA Thread šŸ

Sport
1

Clare GAA 2009

Since Wexford and Leitrim both have their own threads and there are a few Clare contributors on here I feel it only right that I start one over hereā€¦

national hurling league fixtures look something like this:
Limerick (A)
Waterford (H)
Tipp (A)
Cork (H)
Kilkenny (H)
Dublin (A)
Galway (H)

seems to be a decent set for usā€¦getting waterford, cork, galway and kilkenny all at home should mean that we should have a better league campaignā€¦

Word on the street is that Mike Mac is going to cull a number of lads that have been on the panel for a few years but havenā€™t been playing, the likes of Fergal Lynch, Tommy Holland, Peter O Brien, Declan O Rourke, Brain Lynch and Cathal Lafferty will be axed as I donā€™t thin they are up to it and hopefully Barry Nugent is dropped alsoā€¦

The likes of Damien Browne, Nickey O Connell, John Conlon, Conor Cooney, Gary O Connell, Caimin Morey and Patrick Kelly should all get a decent bit of league action as all of them have serious potentialā€¦

Frank Lohans departure means we need a new full backā€¦Conor Cooney will definately be clare full back for years to come but i reckon that he would be better off given a year in the corner to find his feet at intercountyā€¦I would like to see Brendan Bugler get a go at full back as i think he could do a smashing job there and he did most of his underage hurling for the county in the full back lineā€¦Darragh Clancy should be given a run as well to see how he goesā€¦

We need a change of style in the forwards, a bit more pace is needed and the likes of colin ryan or Darach honan wonā€™t be far offā€¦Gilli looks like he is going to stay on for another year as is Colin Lynchā€¦although i think that lynch should be held in reserve and would be a graet lad to bring on with 15 or 20 minute to goā€¦

If I had to pick a team For next summer it would like to see:
Brennan
Cooney-Bugler-O Grady
O Connell*-Quinn-Donnellan
Vaughan-Brian O Connell
Carmody-Diarmuid-Conlon
Griffin^^-Gilli-Clancy

  • either Gary or Nickey O Connell, whichever is more impressive in the league
    ^^I would only have griifin in the team if he is closer to 2006 form rather than 2008 formā€¦

Any of the boys from the west care to make a few comments about the footballersā€¦

By the Way the Legend that is Brian Lohan played his last game for Wolf Tones at the weekend when they won the Senior B finalā€¦

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in your opinion

3

seriously - there is no demand for a seperate thread about rural sports in clare

how many clare people even post here- have one general stick hurling thread- one trout tickling thread- one tidy town thread- one bigotball thread & one tops of the town thread

4

Puke - Ye are shit and Ye know Ye are. You will be doing well to win a game at senior level Iā€™d say and cetainly wonā€™t be in the running for any silverware of any description, in any grade.

Its like Ger Loughnane said - "its back to the days of praying for a rainy day in Milltown Mallbay.

5

[quote=ā€œtipptops*ā€]Puke - Ye are shit and Ye know Ye are. You will be doing well to win a game at senior level Iā€™d say and cetainly wonā€™t be in the running for any silverware of any description, in any grade.

Its like Ger Loughnane said - "its back to the days of praying for a rainy day in Milltown Mallbay.[/quote]

If you say soā€¦

6

Gerry O Conner has been named as the new Clare minor manager he will be assisted by Eamonn Fennessey(the bridge), Doanal Moloney(scariff), PJ Kelleher(luban dige) and the legendary Brian ā€œgusā€ Lohan (wolfe tones), best of luck to them, PJ fitzpatrick did a noble job over the last 2 yearā€¦

Looks like John Buns will continue on a 21s manager and Mike Mac as senior managerā€¦Havenā€™t heard who is over the intermediatesā€¦

lads that i have heard that have been asked to join the senior panel so far are john Conlon and Nickey O Connell (clonlara), Donal Touhy and Cathal Dillon (crusheen), Rocky Cooney (the mills) and Kenny Mac(scariff)ā€¦

7

mods- please delete this tripe

8

[quote=ā€œThe Pukeā€]Since Wexford and Leitrim both have their own threads and there are a few Clare contributors on here I feel it only right that I start one over hereā€¦

national hurling league fixtures look something like this:
Limerick (A)
Waterford (H)
Tipp (A)
Cork (H)
Kilkenny (H)
Dublin (A)
Galway (H)

seems to be a decent set for usā€¦getting waterford, cork, galway and kilkenny all at home should mean that we should have a better league campaignā€¦

Word on the street is that Mike Mac is going to cull a number of lads that have been on the panel for a few years but havenā€™t been playing, the likes of Fergal Lynch, Tommy Holland, Peter O Brien, Declan O Rourke, Brain Lynch and Cathal Lafferty will be axed as I donā€™t thin they are up to it and hopefully Barry Nugent is dropped alsoā€¦

The likes of Damien Browne, Nickey O Connell, John Conlon, Conor Cooney, Gary O Connell, Caimin Morey and Patrick Kelly should all get a decent bit of league action as all of them have serious potentialā€¦

Frank Lohans departure means we need a new full backā€¦Conor Cooney will definately be clare full back for years to come but i reckon that he would be better off given a year in the corner to find his feet at intercountyā€¦I would like to see Brendan Bugler get a go at full back as i think he could do a smashing job there and he did most of his underage hurling for the county in the full back lineā€¦Darragh Clancy should be given a run as well to see how he goesā€¦

We need a change of style in the forwards, a bit more pace is needed and the likes of colin ryan or Darach honan wonā€™t be far offā€¦Gilli looks like he is going to stay on for another year as is Colin Lynchā€¦although i think that lynch should be held in reserve and would be a graet lad to bring on with 15 or 20 minute to goā€¦

If I had to pick a team For next summer it would like to see:
Brennan
Cooney-Bugler-O Grady
O Connell*-Quinn-Donnellan
Vaughan-Brian O Connell
Carmody-Diarmuid-Conlon
Griffin^^-Gilli-Clancy

  • either Gary or Nickey O Connell, whichever is more impressive in the league
    ^^I would only have griifin in the team if he is closer to 2006 form rather than 2008 formā€¦

Any of the boys from the west care to make a few comments about the footballersā€¦

By the Way the Legend that is Brian Lohan played his last game for Wolf Tones at the weekend when they won the Senior B finalā€¦[/quote]

long overdue pukeā€¦fuck the begrudgers!

good to hear mike mac will be freeing up a few spots on the panel, likes of fergal lynch, b lynch & o rourke i just cant see ever makin a championship hurler. that said i would hope that nugent is given another chance.
lookin at the team id like to see bugler givin games at full back. hes got the build & pace to do well there. boc may be another option but he would be wasted there. think my fellow parishman dilleen wouldnt be far off it the team if he applied himself proper altho not in the full back line! half back/midfield is where he is best. might be a bit much to expect conlon to make the step up to intercounty altho he has all the qualities required. some great fielding of high balls & point scoring in that debacle of a u21 final. dont kno bout gilly - what age is he now? seanie was the best full forward by a mile in this yrs co champ but he wont be back unfortunately. two tonys are pivotal. if they are hurling at their best, they r both 27/28 so should be hittin their peak

9

Good stuff puke, must go off and set up a Laois thread.

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[quote=ā€œThe Pukeā€]Since Wexford and Leitrim both have their own threads and there are a few Clare contributors on here I feel it only right that I start one over hereā€¦

national hurling league fixtures look something like this:
Limerick (A)
Waterford (H)
Tipp (A)
Cork (H)
Kilkenny (H)
Dublin (A)
Galway (H)

seems to be a decent set for usā€¦getting waterford, cork, galway and kilkenny all at home should mean that we should have a better league campaignā€¦

Word on the street is that Mike Mac is going to cull a number of lads that have been on the panel for a few years but havenā€™t been playing, the likes of Fergal Lynch, Tommy Holland, Peter O Brien, Declan O Rourke, Brain Lynch and Cathal Lafferty will be axed as I donā€™t thin they are up to it and hopefully Barry Nugent is dropped alsoā€¦

The likes of Damien Browne, Nickey O Connell, John Conlon, Conor Cooney, Gary O Connell, Caimin Morey and Patrick Kelly should all get a decent bit of league action as all of them have serious potentialā€¦

Frank Lohans departure means we need a new full backā€¦Conor Cooney will definately be clare full back for years to come but i reckon that he would be better off given a year in the corner to find his feet at intercountyā€¦I would like to see Brendan Bugler get a go at full back as i think he could do a smashing job there and he did most of his underage hurling for the county in the full back lineā€¦Darragh Clancy should be given a run as well to see how he goesā€¦

We need a change of style in the forwards, a bit more pace is needed and the likes of colin ryan or Darach honan wonā€™t be far offā€¦Gilli looks like he is going to stay on for another year as is Colin Lynchā€¦although i think that lynch should be held in reserve and would be a graet lad to bring on with 15 or 20 minute to goā€¦

If I had to pick a team For next summer it would like to see:
Brennan
Cooney-Bugler-O Grady
O Connell*-Quinn-Donnellan
Vaughan-Brian O Connell
Carmody-Diarmuid-Conlon
Griffin^^-Gilli-Clancy

  • either Gary or Nickey O Connell, whichever is more impressive in the league
    ^^I would only have griifin in the team if he is closer to 2006 form rather than 2008 formā€¦

Any of the boys from the west care to make a few comments about the footballersā€¦

By the Way the Legend that is Brian Lohan played his last game for Wolf Tones at the weekend when they won the Senior B finalā€¦[/quote]

Griffin hasnt played properly in two years. We may have to accept that his 2006 form will not be repeated again consistently in a Clare jersey.

Agree that the likes of Fergal Lynch, Oā€™ Rourke and Nugent may aswell be culled now as they will never make good championship hurlers. Neither has the speed of feet or strike to make it in Thurles or Croke Park.

Interesting to see who will make full back this year. Would Gerry Quinn not be able for it. No stand out options so could really be a problem position. I thought Pat Vaughan was very good at corner back this year and that is where I would leave him. Pat Donnellan was crucified in a couple of games last year so hopefully he will have learned.

For the football I think there is an amount of bad injuries around. Hayes broke his leg playing rugby, niall considine destroyed his knee in the county final. Think there is a few more too. Hopefully the likes of Peter Oā€™Dwyer, Brian Considine, Noel Downes and Enda Coughlan make themselves available. But I severely doubt it. With that in mind the county board should save themselves a few pound and get rid of Doherty and give the job to James Hanrahan. Both county Junior teams should also be disbanded and the resource that saved to be pumped into underage

11

If griffin wants to get back to his best then he needs to be available for training the first week in january and train and play the whole way through, gilli had his best year in a long time last year because of thisā€¦Carmody, griffin, gerry quinn and mcmahon hadnā€™t a full winter/spring traing under their belts and it showed against cork in the last 15 minutesā€¦

Looks like clancy and BOC are heading to OZ for the winter so this could be a bit of a blowā€¦

Interesting to see who will make full back this year. Would Gerry Quinn not be able for it. No stand out options so could really be a problem position. I thought Pat Vaughan was very good at corner back this year and that is where I would leave him. Pat Donnellan was crucified in a couple of games last year so hopefully he will have learned.

Conor Cooney from the mills will be the clare full back for many years to come but next year might be a bit too soonā€¦outside of that its hard to knowā€¦As for pat donnellan i thought he was one of our best players this summerā€¦had a great game against waterford on seamus prendergast, mike fitz and pat kerwick bearly got a puck off him and he had a great battle with Ben O Conner in the Quater finalā€¦

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puke & Mbb - as you are the only gga fans in your respective counties on this forum to save time why not just keep your thoughts to yourselves?

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ccc1 and KIB man are clare men alsoā€¦and there are a few other claremen on hereā€¦more clare lads than leitrim on here nccā€¦infact more clare gaa fans than shamrock rovers fansā€¦

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[quote=ā€œThe Pukeā€]ccc1 and KIB man are clare men alsoā€¦and there are a few other claremen on hereā€¦more clare lads than leitrim on here nccā€¦infact more clare gaa fans than shamrock rovers fansā€¦[/QUOTE

there are loads of SRFC men on this forum

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Brilliant, just brilliant. Hook, line, sinker.

1 hour 18 mins though, you must be slipping.

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[quote=ā€œThe Pukeā€]If griffin wants to get back to his best then he needs to be available for training the first week in january and train and play the whole way through, gilli had his best year in a long time last year because of thisā€¦Carmody, griffin, gerry quinn and mcmahon hadnā€™t a full winter/spring traing under their belts and it showed against cork in the last 15 minutesā€¦

Looks like clancy and BOC are heading to OZ for the winter so this could be a bit of a blowā€¦

Conor Cooney from the mills will be the clare full back for many years to come but next year might be a bit too soonā€¦outside of that its hard to knowā€¦As for pat donnellan i thought he was one of our best players this summerā€¦had a great game against waterford on seamus prendergast, mike fitz and pat kerwick bearly got a puck off him and he had a great battle with Ben O Conner in the Quater finalā€¦[/quote]

He had a fine first two games no doubt puke. Pat Kerwick may not have got many scores off him in the Munster final but Donnellan made a litany of mistakes, getting hooked, miscontrolling the ball etc. Really thought he should have been replaced. May have just been nervous. He had a superb first half on Oā€™ Connor but was hardly within five yards of him for the second half. The failure to switch Donnellan with Gerry Quinn who was bottled up by Timmy McCarthy cost Clare badly imo. Hopefully the management team wont freeze on the line like they did that Sunday. Colin Lynch should definitely have been replaced that day aswell.

Does missing training in January really have an affect on a playerā€™s performance in July though?

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well diarmuid and tony griffin didnā€™t return to county training until the middle or end of april so it would have an affect alrightā€¦they would be able to catch up pretty quick in terms of fitness but as they arenā€™t what you would call wristy natural hurlers it is very hard to get your hurling up to the required level of sharpness for intercounty when you are giving lads a 15 week head start on youā€¦griffins cycling also changed his physique and he had little or know hurling played since the start of 2007, you would get away with it at club level but not to hurl in over a year and then expect to be up to intercounty standards in 6-8 weeks is almost impossibleā€¦

18

We are out in the waterford crystal next sunday against Tralee I.T in meelickā€¦Still not sure who is and who isnā€™t on the panelā€¦the O Donovan twins and John Conlon from Clonlara are there but nickey o connell has declined his call up for the time beingā€¦Donal Touhy and Danny Russell(surprise surprise) have also declinedā€¦Tom Holland, Brian Lynch, Cathal Laferty, Tadgh Keogh and Peter O Brien are gone off the panelā€¦Sean Collins couldnā€™t commit to the senior hurlers either and will instead play for the footballers and the 21s in both codesā€¦

Shane O Brien, Enda Barrett, Connor Cooney, Caimin Morey and Cathal Dillon have all been added to the panelā€¦

Hard to know what team Mike Mac will have out for Sunday as a few of th newer lads will be unavailable as they will be hurling for their collegesā€¦

Fergie Touhy has stood down as a selector alsoā€¦

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Just on Tony Griffen lads, was it him that went and cycled across Canada or something for Charity, nearly sure it was him, but could be Carmondy. If it was Griffen then i would excuse him, the training he done and the cycle he done would affect him for at least a year. Your muscles totally change in length. Iā€™d see what he was like this April before passing judgement.
For my money Clare have some very good young players, and new clubs are emerging with new talent. Thats what happened in Cork in and around 98-99. Only for been raped by the officials in Munster U-21 Clare would have been in All-Ireland finalk, then everyone would be saying they are a treat. I think Clare will be there or there abouts over next 5-6 years. When KK dwinddle a bit (and they will sooner rather than later) the championship will become wide open again, and i can see Galway, Clare, Cork, Waterford, Offaly and Wexford having a real chance of winning All-Ireland. I thinbk Tipp will win 2 in the next 2-3 years.

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Twas Tony Griffin that did the cycling alright, that along with studying in Canada for the past few years means he has little or no proper spring training for the last 3 yearsā€¦I reckon tony will be given every chance to get back to form in the league, he was a top class forward before the cycling and if we are to beat tipp/cork and win a munster championship we need him back to his 2004-2006 formā€¦

I would agree with your point about coming teams but I donā€™t see Waterford or limerick doing much in the next 5 years to be honest, tipp are 2 years away from winning an all ireland, they are still 3 or 4 players short