Ill start this by stating that I am an equal fan of my club and county. I feel there is a profound false perception of club football and hurling. Fans from counties that have very strong club sides cannot comprehend why there county teams are not doing well. Note to those people : THE DIFFERENCE IS ASTRONOMICAL; they are two contrasting entities. A good club scene is great and important but it doesn't really equate to a good county team. Lets look at Derry as an example. I have been talking to some good Derry folk of late , they say that they will be much improved when the Slaughneil lads come back , one fella actually claims that Slaughneil would beat the Derry team : NO THEY WOULDN'T. There will probably be three players to play on the Derry team. Equally in Galway , I have noticed that many posters feel that the Corofin lads will make a huge difference ; they probably will make a difference but again , THEY ARE NOT BETTER THAT THE GALWAY TEAM. I would fancy all division three county teams to beat Crossmaglen, Corofin or the Vinnies, I would almost back all division four sides to beat any of these sides. If Corofin or Vinnies played Mayo or Donegal or Dublin , they would get annihilated because the standard is so diverse. Having a good club side in ones county is great , I would love it if Donegal produced good club teams but our record is awful. I do however think that in some instances it papers over the cracks. I also posit that it leaves a false perception within that county and raises deceptive expectations.

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 23/03/2015 11:09:34    1705527

TheRightStuff
You raise interesting points there. An example that comes to mind in relation to your observation that having successful club teams doesn't necessarily carry through to inter county level would be the case of Carlow and to a lesser extent wicklow. Carlow have 6 Leinster senior club championship: Éire Óg won 5 in the 1990's and O'Hanrahan's won one in 2000. Wicklow's Baltinglass won one in 1989 and Rathnew won in 2001. Another example is in Laois where Portlaoise have won 7 Leinster championships, the most recent of which was in 2009. Far from lifting Laois football the success of Portlaoise seems to have an adverse affect on Laois football in general because of Portlaoise's near total dominance of club football within the county.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3004 - 23/03/2015 11:45:46    1705544

Thats interesting Lily. Meath, to my knowledge do not have a great tradition of good club sides ( I could be wrong ) and they have a superb record at county level . Tipperary , of late are similar in the hurling .

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 23/03/2015 11:58:20    1705550

Interesting opening post. You can find evidence for and against the argument.

Mount Leinster Rangers (Carlow), Loughiel Shamrocks (Antrim), Kilcormac Killoughey and Coolderry (Offaly) have all done well in recent years in the hurling (playing in All-Ireland finals) yet their respective county teams are not doing well.

The flip side of that however is that Ballyhale Shamrocks are the current champions and their county team is flying..

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 23/03/2015 12:23:35    1705567

As a general rule you need a strong club championship for a strong county team. They don't have to collect All irelands every year but you need 6 or 7 of a high level to really benefit a county longterm.

Only time a weaker county got any real extended boost from a strong club team was Offaly/Birr and that was just an exceptional crowd of men born in the same town at the same time.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1197 - 23/03/2015 14:25:54    1705623

Rightstuff a very good post.

It is not only in the weaker counties but in Kerry too. On paper Crokes look like they had a colossol team as good as most inter county teams as they were so dominant in the Kerry County Championships.
Also with Crokes being so dominant it meant that many of their players who were on the fringes of the Kerry panel in their peak were tied up with club duties thus other players on the fringes from other clubs were able to make a better claim to get on the panel at the start of seasons. This I think had an effect on 3/4 potential Kerry panelists from Crokes who never really got a shot during league campaigns

A case in point was Clonkakilty who a few years back won the Cork County Championship with not one player on the county panel.

Massive gulf in class and fitness between club and county

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 23/03/2015 14:27:55    1705627

im a galwayhurlingfan. Ye dont need to tell me that good club teams dont mean youll have a good county team. the same goes for intercounty underage sucess.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 23/03/2015 15:26:01    1705659

I seem to remember Dromore playing Clonoe is a Tyrone county final and only one county panelist between both teams - Ricey. Tyrone people may correct me on that - it was about 7 years ago.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 23/03/2015 15:33:48    1705663