The Joe McDonagh Cup incorporating Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and whoever else

[endakenny]

@balbec

The Dow gave a tour de france on the radio commentary. He gave the ref great praise for calling the steps on the stook.

The Dow is a stook.

[Turenne]

Looked stone useless, on top of being three stone overweight.

[Fagan_ODowd]

@endakenny

@Cheasty

Offaly will add significantly more to the Leinster championship than Laois would have.

Next year has the six counties you want in the Leinster championship.

Offaly are not ready for the physicality of senior hurling, they will be lucky to beat Antrim next year and stay up.

They’d have actually been better served winning this well next year and going up in 2026 when Screeney/Bourke/Brecon kavanagh are all ready.

I’d agree with that.

[Fagan_ODowd]

Sampson lifts the cup. He’s delira.

[ChairmanDan]

He picked the ref as his man of the match. How twee.

[Cheasty]

@endakenny

Offaly are not ready for the physicality of senior hurling, they will be lucky to beat Antrim next year and stay up.

They’d have actually been better served winning this well next year and going up in 2026 when Screeney/Bourke/Brecon kavanagh are all ready.

Psychologically Offaly will have none of the baggage that Laois always do whenever they play in Leinster and they’ll have big support behind them.

A history of success matters, it raises the ceiling of what players imagine they can achieve. No Laois player would imagine they could ever win an All-Ireland. Offaly do imagine they can. Development paths get altered on the basis of expectations.

[YellowBib]

What’s a nutrionalist?

[Fagan_ODowd]

A great example of a dull acceptance speech here. Special thanks to the nutritionalist. polite applause

[StoneCold]

They should really cut off the PA after 2 minutes of these speeches

[endakenny]

@Cheasty

@endakenny

Offaly are not ready for the physicality of senior hurling, they will be lucky to beat Antrim next year and stay up.

They’d have actually been better served winning this well next year and going up in 2026 when Screeney/Bourke/Brecon kavanagh are all ready.

Psychologically Offaly will have none of the baggage that Laois always do whenever they play in Leinster and they’ll have big support behind them.

A history of success matters, it raises the ceiling of what players imagine they can achieve. No Laois player would imagine they could ever win an All-Ireland. Offaly do imagine they can. Development paths get altered on the basis of expectations.

Of the established players (23-32 years old) on the Offaly team I think the Sampsons, Cillian Kiely and Connelly are the only ones that would even make a top tier panel.

Dan Bourke, Chalie Mitchell, Donal Shirley are all young but could be ready. Dan Ravenhill was injured today but if he gets himself fit then he will be too.

Adam Screeney, Cathal King, Colin Spain and a couple of more of those 18/19 year olds will get eaten up next year.

Cork will beat them by 25 points in two weeks time.

[myboyblue]

@Batigol

We fucked that away @myboyblue. The scum have won

Ah you cant hit 17 wides and expect to win shit. Offaly tied up, we had them ran down, despite the goals, and fucked it away

Pity

[myboyblue]

@Fagan_ODowd

Your heart would go out to Laois.

Ah we got what deserved really. I’d feel for a few lads who hurled savage out there but the finishers didn’t finish.

[myboyblue]

@StoneCold

He wouldn’t pick a score anyway going on his cameo

He’s been fucked with injuries all year. Never got a run at all. He hurled on memory out there and it showed. Him, Willie and Roddy to a lesser extent didnt do what they were brought in to do.

Corby and Paddy emptied themselves.

[Cheasty]

@endakenny

Cork will beat them by 25 points in two weeks time.

Probably but Clare beat Dublin by 18 points last year. Dublin could win a Leinster title this evening. Will Offaly win Leinster next year, no they won’t, but it is to say that teams can improve if they have expectations of competing and winning and a proper set up in place.

Because of Offaly’s history of success and recent underage success, the demands and expectations that will be in Offaly as regards senior hurling are far, far greater than they would be in Laois. Laois had they won today would have had no greater hope in the Leinster championship than to finish fifth on a perennial basis. This is true of the Laois team and public. Westmeath and Carlow would have lower expectations again.

Even the game today demonstrates this. Laois were in position A1 to win it and any rational reading of the game with 68 minutes gone said they would win it. Offaly were in freefall. But there were three points scored from then on and all of them were scored by Offaly, why, because Offaly are Offaly and Laois are Laois.

Offaly is a totally different ball game to Laois or the other Leinster minnows. They are a hurling county.

[Turenne]

@Cheasty

Offaly is a totally different ball game. They are a hurling county.

…they are shite. A rubbish Cork team would hammer them out the gate.

[Cheasty]

@Turenne

…they are shite. A rubbish Cork team would hammer them out the gate.

Cork aren’t rubbish. Cork will very likely hammer Offaly out the gate. The point is not about Offaly competing seriously at senior now. The point is about Offaly’s history of success and status as a hurling county meaning they are a different animal to Laois, Westmeath and Carlow in terms of what can happen in future.

[myboyblue]

theres a belief that, barring Offaly destroy that generation of hurlers, that’s as close as we’ll get for a decade. I’m not sure I’d subscribe to it but today was a real missed opportunity to keep our foot on their throat.

[Batigol]

Exactly. Offaly getting promoted is inevitable.

Missed opportunity from Laois to postpone it another year though.

[neilld]

Not much in it at all, Purcell’s shot that flashed over, different game if that’s a green flag. There was another clear goal chance butchered after that as well. The two Laois midfielders were brilliant.

[RunningBelowXg]

In the end of the day - It’s 2 years for Willie Maher at the helm and with McDonagh being the target, it’s a failure.

They were betting favs going into it this year.

I see Sean Flynn was part of the backroom team. By all means did absolutely nothing with Ahane when he was over them. Talks the talk on Twitter and the Examiner pod but in reality is just another Twitter Coach along with your Kevs etc