I can’t sleep with excitement waiting for Thursday. This is almost as good as the BDO.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1081515, member: 377”]Phil Taylor didn’t take up darts until his mid 20’s and he went on to win two World Championships. All sports have late developers.
Sean Halpin didn’t start hurling until he was 12 or 13 and he went on to win 3 All Ireland medals and even captained Cork to win an All Ireland.[/QUOTE]
Taylor faded from darts almost as quickly as he came to prominence. In terms of longevity in their respective sports Fitzgerald was far more durable.
Sure the Australian lads with fuck all experience of using a round ball can hammer the cream if the Irish footballers whenever it suits em and they do a few weeks training 
Who the fuck wrote that? Was it a transition year student?
It’s on today, balbec
was it Declan Fanning who didn’t lift a hurley until he was 14?
@Sidney as an aside i presume we have the annual Probables Vs Possibles game in Donnybrook on Sunday afternoon to assess the state of play.
Nice to see Iain Henderson involved in the Wolfhounds, The Craigavon born Belfast Royal Academy old boy is a protege of Trevor Ringland who we know had a wonderful career as Co chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party.
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1081750, member: 367”]@Sidney as an aside i presume we have the annual Probables Vs Possibles game in Donnybrook on Sunday afternoon to assess the state of play.
Nice to see Iain Henderson involved in the Wolfhounds, The Craigavon born Belfast Royal Academy old boy is a protege of Trevor Ringland who we know had a wonderful career as Co chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party.[/QUOTE]
That reminds me
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1081750, member: 367”]@Sidney as an aside i presume we have the annual Probables Vs Possibles game in Donnybrook on Sunday afternoon to assess the state of play.
Nice to see Iain Henderson involved in the Wolfhounds, The Craigavon born Belfast Royal Academy old boy is a protege of Trevor Ringland who we know had a wonderful career as Co chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party.[/QUOTE]
There’s some great footage of Probables v Possibles matches from the 1920s and 1930s on YouTube, mickee.
Here for instance is the 1931 clash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-GjOqxXcwI
The two great old rivals have been duelling annually for so long now that they undoubtedly form the most traditional and storied rivalry in Irish sport.
It must have been great to watch these matches in the amateur era. The bantz must have been off the scale with the likes of Frano, Slats, Big Bill McBride, Moss Keane and Willie Duggan involved. When men were men. I have here before me a copy of “Doyler” by Mick Doyle which I’m going to read before the Five Nations championship to get me in the mood. I’d say there’s some banteriffic tales in it.
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 1081769, member: 183”]There’s some great footage of Probables v Possibles matches from the 1920s and 1930s on YouTube, mickee.
Here for instance is the 1931 clash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-GjOqxXcwI
The two great old rivals have been duelling annually for so long now that they undoubtedly form the most traditional and storied rivalry in Irish sport.
It must have been great to watch these matches in the amateur era. The bantz must have been off the scale with the likes of Frano, Slats, Big Bill McBride, Moss Keane and Willie Duggan involved. When men were men. I have here before me a copy of “Doyler” by Mick Doyle which I’m going to read before the Five Nations championship to get me in the mood. I’d say there’s some banteriffic tales in it.[/QUOTE]
im really looking forward to WNR tonight
we probably will have some brief Top Quatorze and Pro de deux to get thru but then itll be right into the buildup for this
id love to have gone for a drink with Mick Doyle and Paul Wallace, cigars, sheepskins coats and hardehars would have been de rigeur
@Sidney , Did the Blues also play the Whites back then?
The old calender was much more favorable with the much sought after interprovincial championships in November usually taking place after a touring antipodean side took on the might of one of our provinces on a Wednesday afternoon
around this time as well it was always good to check in on SWALEC or Schweppes cup action on HTV on a Saturday night.
Ebbw Vale were a personal favourite of mine, Neath led by Paul Thorbourn at the hostile Gnoll were always ferocious, who can forget their double in 1989 and 1990?
Open to correction but I think it was Declan Ryan who only took up hurling when he was 16 or 17. Remember reading an article with one of the Tipp players years ago and he said he was a late starter.
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1081787, member: 367”]around this time as well it was always good to check in on SWALEC or Schweppes cup action on HTV on a Saturday night.
Ebbw Vale were a personal favourite of mine, Neath led by Paul Thorbourn at the hostile Gnoll were always ferocious, who can forget their double in 1989 and 1990?[/QUOTE]
You sure you’re not thinking of Scrum V on BBC2 on a Sunday evening that contained the infamous ‘What the Butler saw’ segment?
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1081787, member: 367”]around this time as well it was always good to check in on SWALEC or Schweppes cup action on HTV on a Saturday night.
Ebbw Vale were a personal favourite of mine, Neath led by Paul Thorbourn at the hostile Gnoll were always ferocious, who can forget their double in 1989 and 1990?[/QUOTE]
That was a ferocious Neath side, coached by Ron Waldron.
Pontypool were a personal favourite of mine, a conveyor belt of tough forwards.
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1081785, member: 367”]@Sidney , Did the Blues also play the Whites back then?
The old calender was much more favorable with the much sought after interprovincial championships in November usually taking place after a touring antipodean side took on the might of one of our provinces on a Wednesday afternoon[/QUOTE]
They did, mate.
I also think a lot was lost with the abolition of “the big five” when it came to selecting the Irish team. Five heads are better than one.
Ulster had a great team in the Inter-Pros. They seemed to win it every year and I always looked forward to hearing the results on BBC Northern Ireland at 5:00 when those matches were on.
Tim Gudgeon’s rugby results round up on Grandstand, featuring the likes of Rosslyn Park, Blackheath, Orrell and Preston Grasshoppers was also a highlight.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1081809, member: 377”]That was a ferocious Neath side, coached by Ron Waldron.
Pontypool were a personal favourite of mine, a conveyor belt of tough forwards.[/QUOTE]
A Jonathan Davies-inspired Llanelli really put the clampers on them in the Schweppes Cup final in '88 however, in front of a then world record crowd for a club match. Llanelli never feared teams playing in all black.
Or perhaps Declan Carr?
Indeed. This is one of the best rugby/sporting documentaries I’ve ever seen. It went out on BBC Wales to mark the 40th anniversary of Llanelli’s win over New Zealand in 1972.
no, i remember around 1989/90 HTV wales had a highlights programme on a Saturday night