"Our problem is that we have to wait until July 19 for the qualifiers
which is a ridiculous sort of a championship. Lads will go back to their
clubs and some will decide to go abroad so it’s going to be hard to
pick things up but we’ll give it a shot. The danger is that lads will
be poached by American clubs which is something I totally disagree with
because it is not only takes away from the county team, it also hits the
clubs."
Longford boss Luke Dempsey is unhappy at the prospects of what will
happen to his squad as they wait for the football qualifiers to kick in
nine weeks after they exited the Leinster championship against Westmeath
“The core skills are certainly kicking and passing and that’s
what people want to see - good kicking, good catching. There are excellent
kickers around but sometimes it seems that all teams are trying to do is
retain the ball at all costs, pass for the sake of passing rather than with
real purpose."
Galway manager and coaching guru Liam Sammon would like to see the
skills of gaelic football improve, which he feels might be helped by looking
at the amount of handpassing in the game
“We had a night out after the league win and the players had a bit
of craic. We did celebrate it. The league went well and we something out
of it. It was nice to get a bit of silverware after a few years. But the
celebrations are well and truly over. We sat down on the Tuesday after it
and said that was it. At the end of the day, nobody remembers the team that
won the league. We won leagues all round the place in the 1990s but never
made the same impact on Ulster. Maybe that’s what our main priority
is now."
Derry’s Fergal Doherty explains that the league winners’
priorities have quickly switched to the championship
"As far as All-Ireland contenders is concerned, we are a long way
off that to be honest. You can close that gap very quick with two or three
more young hurlers and, if they get that bit more experience in the campaign
this year, you never know what might happen."
Antrim’s Sean Delargy is realistic over his county’s All-Ireland
hurling hopes this season, but won’t rule out a major push from the
Glensmen in the near future
"Stephen has played a few club games and he’s slowly but surely
coming back around to fitness. He’ll be getting another few games over
the next while. Fingers crossed, we’ll have him back sometime over
the summer.”
Tyrone ace Sean Cavanagh is still hopeful that the recently retired
Stephen O’Neill may make an intercounty comeback in the O’Neill
jersey
"IÕm just gone 31, youÕd swear I was 41 the way they were talking. I was
always going to come back this year. People outside Galway, even in Galway,
might have been writing me off but I had my own decision made long before
last year finished that I was going to give it another year. I know myself
I mightnÕt be the quickest in the world but you still can offer something
to the team, if you couldnÕt offer something you wouldnÕt be on."
GalwayÕs Padraic Joyce explains that he never even considered retiring
at the start of this year