Maybe it should but the reality is that you need both and there have always been physical contests in hurling.
Realistically, all senior intercounty hurlers are very very skilful players. But unless your first touch is absolutely immaculate, an opposition player is going to get a chance to knock you off the ball and if you canât take that hit, itâs hard to survive.
I think thatâs it exactly.
He had a few bad hamstring injuries.
@peddlerscross you strike me as an auld man of 70 the way you continously go on about things being better in the past.
Wise beyont his years.
I was in college 2011-2015 and I saw some fair bad Fitzgibbon games in that time.
Jake Dillon was a boy wonder who had proper pedigree by 2014.
Heâd won a Harty and All Ireland schools as an Under 15 in 2008, he won a Munster Senior Club as an under 17 in 2010 and was starting midfield for the Waterford under 21s at 18 in 2011.
Pauric Mahony won a Harty and All Ireland schools as a 16 year old, played a Munster club final at 17 and scored 13 points in a Munster Senior final in a team that was hammered at 19 in 2011.
That same Munster final day in 2011 saw a huge crowd in early to see the minor game to see Tony Kelly play as everyone knew how good he was. Tipp werenât even in the minor final but the terrace was packed to get a glimpse of the great man and he didnât disappoint.
They just donât make them like that anymore.
He must have been some lad to wash the jerseys in college.
Itâs also, ultimately, just a hobby and thereâs lots more things to attract young lads now rather than hitting a ball off a wall for 3 hours.
Last Saturday week was the best day I ever spent in Croke Park so I think your point is moot.
But if a player did that now, it probably wouldnât count in your eyes because the quality isnât as good?
I canât speak for other counties tbh, but I know that, in Limerick, Cathal OâNeill has been ridiculously hyped since he was 14/15. Standout player at minor & at Harty, racking up huge scores; 0-5 from play on his U-20 debut at the age of 18. Called into the senior panel while doing his Leaving Cert, All-Ireland medal in the back pocket already. On pure hype, heâs the most talked about young fella in Limerick since Hannon & Dowling.
Similar talk about Shane OâBrien since he was 14. Again, talking about fellas that young is probably unfair on them, doesnât do them any favours.
Shane Meehan had a lot of talk about him, and into a senior panel very young. Joyce & Connery in Cork were similar.
Ah, I donât think so. There was always a glut of lads missed the league each year, off playing Fitzgibbon. There was nobody of note this year except Lynch.
The GAA in their wisdom are cutting the U20 age group back to U19 which means it will be all the harder for lads to step up. Saying that, last yrs Cork minor side was the most dominant minor side Iâve ever seen. If thats not a gnerational bunch with a glut of future senior intercounty starters we can forget about it.
IC managers this year have paid little respect to Fitz/Sigerson. Lads havenât been left off to play it. Look at Jack O Connor asking lads to play two games in one day, Joyce selecting Flaherty after his manic week.
Kiely has been the exception letting Lynch off.
Poor Mark Rodgers in Clare injured too and he on the go non stop since Christmas
A fair bit of truth in that. In 2016 Harry Kehoe and Eoin Moore would have been the elder statesmen in the Wexford team at the age of 26. Lads were saying at the time that hurling was a young manâs game.
Conroy in Mayo also. Iâm also aware of a current Div 1 player who quit a Fitz/Sig panel to concentrate on making the IC team.
I tend to agree with @peddlerscross , the young players coming through are decent but are not of a generational quality. Maybe these things are cyclical but it is unsual that no county is producing this type of player for last couple of years. Now maybe some of these âdecentâ players will turn out to be a generational talent, but its probably odds against. Even in my own county, despite the dominance of minor and U20 teams last year, I donât know would I class any if them generational. Possibly Ben OâConnor but thats about it.
Tbf, IC managers have treated the Fitzgibbon like shit for years; it was the same when I was in college.
Although, in these instances, theyâre only hurting themselves really if they end up picking up injuries because theyâre being flogged. At least theyâre playing hurling.
Someone like Lynch is probably in a different position because we know heâs going to start. The fellas that lose out for Limerick are the likes of the Boylans, Connolly, OâGrady who have seen significantly reduced league time because they are playing Fitzgibbon. They are fighting for positions and canât really stake their claim. Although CON & Coughlan have got starts while playing Freshers.
Lol. The crowd was for the Clare team that had spent the entire year upto that point kicking the heads off all comers. Kelly was excellent but it was certainly not a one man team. Galvin was his equal that year