National Forum

Fenway Hurling Classic

(Oldest Posts First)


I got a watch of the games this morning and found them to be really enjoyable. What are posters opinions on the format or the rules? Could they work in hurling here? Personally I feel the tap and go free would be worth a trial in the league.

PortInFaithful (Offaly) - Posts: 472 - 20/11/2017 16:57:16    2063109

Link

There was alot of skills on display which was good. However Im not a fan of making things easier so as to make the game faster or more attractive if that is the objective. So the tap and go free wouldnt work for me.
I do like the one consecutive handpass rule though. It didnt take long for the players to adapt to it.

ZUL10 (Clare) - Posts: 693 - 20/11/2017 17:32:13    2063116

Link

Players adapted to the rules quite well, it is a very fast and furious game, reminds me of a lot of conditioned games. I think there is some merit in exploring if its a runner.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 20/11/2017 17:47:46    2063119

Link

Enjoyed it in general I have to say. Action packed with plenty of skill. One thing that annoyed me was the penalising players for kicking the ball. It meant that if the players didn't rise the ball 1st time they often had to readjust their whole bodies rather than just dragging the ball in the direction they wanted and picking then. It lead to a lot more scrums for the ball as a result and slowed the game down a bit. Using your foot as well as your hurl to get the ball into space to pick is vital and taking that away was a mistake imo.

They could have easily allowed it but not allowed kicking the sliotar from the hand or direct off the hurl or kicking a goal on the ground.

A small tweak.

While I enjoyed the game the whole premise of hoping to grow hurling abroad is a little weird considering there's plenty of places in Ireland we could be growing the game instead.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13704 - 20/11/2017 17:58:04    2063120

Link

Rule-tinkering is a football thing. The format for the Classic works well enough for the type of audience it's targeted at -- for exhibitions abroad. Looks like a kind of game that would be enjoyable to play but from a spectator point of view, I wouldn't pay in to see it.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1902 - 20/11/2017 18:06:05    2063122

Link

Yeah not a great spectacle to be honest. For me it's all tippy tappy stuff. Its not physical enough, no shoulders. Suits the small little guys hence Clare won. It's hard to watch. I'd much prefer the International rules over Gaelic football but this 11 aside is total garbage

PeggyShippen (Limerick) - Posts: 300 - 20/11/2017 19:49:59    2063128

Link

well it was primarily a social event and I must say it was very interesting. A bit of a stretch to call it hurling, more like hockey. Ice hockey was a spin off from hurling up in the Canadian Maritime Provinces I believe. I think it should continue for the short term. Good spectacle for goalies and no this is not the end of this Galway team, nor is it any indicator of who will win in 2018. Too fast to ref. maybe.

suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1667 - 20/11/2017 20:42:23    2063131

Link

the international rules in OZ is worse than the hockey classic in Boston. The football hybrid is good for counties that have a high wide count like Mayo but apart from that it is rubbish.

maroondiesel (Mayo) - Posts: 1196 - 20/11/2017 20:47:24    2063132

Link

I enjoyed it to be honest and I thought Eamonn Sweeney went a bit over the top on it in this morning's Indo.

Moyle (Tipperary) - Posts: 86 - 21/11/2017 00:15:04    2063145

Link

@Mesamis I think it's probably that there's a bit of money in growing the game in a new large market. Which is fine especially if said money then went to develop the game in weaker counties.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4201 - 21/11/2017 06:49:38    2063147

Link

Pointless, dross.
I mean, even the schemozzle at the start was staged.
I do however think 1 handpass would be a good thing (as I think the vast majority of handpasses are throws) and I would not allow a score to be kicked, or even a ball to be kicked, unless it is on the ground.

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 21/11/2017 09:32:00    2063154

Link

I see something about the end of the interprovincals...could the this not be incorporated into the fenway instead of the 4 teams we seen Saturday..with the four provinces and 11 aside same game....

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 21/11/2017 10:40:37    2063157

Link

Pointless, dross. I mean, even the schemozzle at the start was staged. I do however think 1 handpass would be a good thing (as I think the vast majority of handpasses are throws) and I would not allow a score to be kicked, or even a ball to be kicked, unless it is on the ground.

Pinkie (Wexford) - 21/11/2017 09:32:00


You may not be a fan but this was far from "pointless dross" for many reasons:

i) It got a crowd of nearly 28,000 which was more than half the games in the hurling championship (not including the Leinster round robin games, which I'm sure did not have this attendance)
ii) My brother, his family and friends all attended this and the previous occasion. He said it was a great day out and a great opportunity to introduce his kids to hurling (they're born and bred in Boston)
iii) I'd imagine its a good means of showcasing the sport in America which may lead to increased interest, sponsorship, tv coverage (no matter how small) etc. Anything that can promote the game and / or provide funding for the growth of the GAA is a positive thing
iv) The game provides an opportunity to test out a few different rules and may spark the debate as to whether they can be implemented locally to help the evolution of the game
v) I'm speculating to an extent, but the amount of players who volunteered to be involved would suggest that it is a desirable event to play in its a nice reward for the hard work they put in during the year
vi) I enjoyed it, my family enjoyed it, several of my friends enjoyed it and a number of posters here enjoyed it. Any sporting occasion that's enjoyable isn't pointless

Kurt_Angle (Dublin) - Posts: 567 - 21/11/2017 11:52:01    2063165

Link

@Whammo - Good point. I hadn't looked at it like that.

I don't see the harm in it in anyways. c28,000 is a fairly decent crowd to be fair!

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13704 - 21/11/2017 12:31:18    2063166

Link

It was just a junket , plain and and simple and nothing at all can or should be taken from it .

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 21/11/2017 13:12:17    2063171

Link

Far too many penalties for innocuous things like kicking the ball but some enjoyable aspects too. Tony Kelly's goal from a semi-penalty was just class.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 21/11/2017 16:14:28    2063186

Link

It was harmless enterainment for a Sunday night......nice junket in a good city.

I watched it true withiout any emotion but am sure it was fun for the lads

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 22/11/2017 10:52:13    2063255

Link

Replying To witnof:  "It was harmless enterainment for a Sunday night......nice junket in a good city.

I watched it true withiout any emotion but am sure it was fun for the lads"
Exactly,
If the Clare, Dublin, Tipp and Galway lads had a good time, no harm done.

Personally don't like the variations on rules, but some are driven by the small pitch.

As for the extra TV audiences, unless we start adding timeouts and the likes for the ad breaks which blight US sports coverage then the American networks won't be interested.

Staged fights were an embarrassment, beggorah, fighting Irish and all that nonsense.

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 22/11/2017 11:29:45    2063261

Link

Replying To keeper7:  "Far too many penalties for innocuous things like kicking the ball but some enjoyable aspects too. Tony Kelly's goal from a semi-penalty was just class."
Agreed. And moving the ball up to the 20 metre yard line from the opposition posts after a foul is a bit much. The Clare goalkeeper was my player of the series. He pulled off some outstanding saves.

It would be interesting to see a Gaelic football version of this. There already is a 5-a-side concept for gaelic football called Pella (its hurling version is Puc Pella) and it works well. I've seen 10-a-side Pella played in schools and club training its brilliant for coaching basic skills.

http://pella.ie/what-is-pella/

gaelicgab (USA) - Posts: 878 - 22/11/2017 17:11:28    2063296

Link

Replying To PeggyShippen:  "Yeah not a great spectacle to be honest. For me it's all tippy tappy stuff. Its not physical enough, no shoulders. Suits the small little guys hence Clare won. It's hard to watch. I'd much prefer the International rules over Gaelic football but this 11 aside is total garbage"
What about the schemozzles in the two opening games?

thelongridge (Offaly) - Posts: 1735 - 23/11/2017 15:50:26    2063385

Link