Meath Forum

2023 Club Hurling Championship

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Replying To RR:  "Kildalkey, as expected, sweep up in the replay. SHC/IHC/JHC treble completed.

A remarkable achievement, even if you count in the Ballivor lads and the fellas who have transferred from likes of Killyon and Athboy in last few years, it's still a small population in comparison to some of the teams they've given beatings to.

On the flip side, you now have two of the three Meath sides in Leinster who didn't win their championship. Will be interesting to see how NOM recover for a fresh Leixlip side next Saturday"
Kildalkey will be in the Leinster Intermediate and NOM will be in Leinster Junior. St Pats wont be representing Meath in Leinster.

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 352 - 23/10/2023 07:26:53    2509704

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I hear Kildalkey are starting a 4th team and going for the quadruple next year

ThePebble (Meath) - Posts: 2 - 23/10/2023 09:39:34    2509729

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What an achievement by Kildalkey and they can undoubtedly get ready for another trophy for Club of the Year. To be so organised and able to grasp the opportunity is a credit to them.
As a separate issue, I am really worried about the state of hurling in the county. The standard - bar those three or four at the top - has really fallen back. The bottom of SHC Group B and most of IHC is almost like 'Dads and Lads' hurling. You are talking old fellas, some desperate conditioning (jersey's being tested to the limit) and a sprinkling of young lads. That used to be the way at JHC and JHC 2 but it is starting to spread up as clubs struggle for bodies.
The number of teams at U15 and minor is dropping every year, and some of the amalgamations would really concern you. To see Clann na nGael and Kiltale playing together at minor... it's unheard off.

Roger (Meath) - Posts: 471 - 23/10/2023 12:20:46    2509814

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Replying To RR:  "Kildalkey, as expected, sweep up in the replay. SHC/IHC/JHC treble completed.

A remarkable achievement, even if you count in the Ballivor lads and the fellas who have transferred from likes of Killyon and Athboy in last few years, it's still a small population in comparison to some of the teams they've given beatings to.

On the flip side, you now have two of the three Meath sides in Leinster who didn't win their championship. Will be interesting to see how NOM recover for a fresh Leixlip side next Saturday"
Who transferred from Killyon and Athboy to Kildalkey in the last few years??? Elaborate please because I definitely didn't hear that one

Woodbutcher (Meath) - Posts: 34 - 23/10/2023 12:45:23    2509830

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Replying To Roger:  "What an achievement by Kildalkey and they can undoubtedly get ready for another trophy for Club of the Year. To be so organised and able to grasp the opportunity is a credit to them.
As a separate issue, I am really worried about the state of hurling in the county. The standard - bar those three or four at the top - has really fallen back. The bottom of SHC Group B and most of IHC is almost like 'Dads and Lads' hurling. You are talking old fellas, some desperate conditioning (jersey's being tested to the limit) and a sprinkling of young lads. That used to be the way at JHC and JHC 2 but it is starting to spread up as clubs struggle for bodies.
The number of teams at U15 and minor is dropping every year, and some of the amalgamations would really concern you. To see Clann na nGael and Kiltale playing together at minor... it's unheard off."
Spot on. But I think it's even reasonable to say that the standard including those at the top has gone back considerably. Trim, Ratoath & especially Kiltale seem to have a lot of key players abroad or are not playing for various reasons. Credit to Kildaley who always get a massive buy in from everyone in the parish no matter what age.

The overall drop in standard is reflected on the current state of our county team. I know Meath are just off the back of league and cup success at intercounty hurling but I'll be surprised if they pick up more than 1 or 2 wins in competitive games in 2024 where we will be operating at our traditional level (Westmeath, Carlow, Kerry etc).. Winning a Christy Ring in 2021 & 2023 is the equivalent of winning the Nicky Rackard since the formation of the Joe mc cup. We will yo-yo between Joe Mc and CR for the foreseeable if we're lucky.

The 'Group B' experiment has failed miserably and needs to be scrapped. I believe the current structure is under review at the moment, it'll be interesting to see what is proposed.

begining (UK) - Posts: 300 - 23/10/2023 14:01:12    2509859

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Is right only 3 teams in with a chance of winning a senior hurling along with kiltale who for now give most games a go but down the line they will be in trouble. Na fianna & Killyon try hard but Dunboyne seem to be a mess this year, blackhall make 8 and and the other 4 along with 4 IHC semi finalists should have their own championship call it what you like.
Play them in 2 groups of 4 just like football
This would give most teams a good chance of competing and would have to improve club hurling

glenny (Meath) - Posts: 1108 - 24/10/2023 07:57:20    2509969

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Championship structures have been talked about for 5 years here. You would hope after what Kildalkey have done this year the county board will change things.

2020Vision (Meath) - Posts: 29 - 25/10/2023 10:06:48    2510168

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Replying To 2020Vision:  "Championship structures have been talked about for 5 years here. You would hope after what Kildalkey have done this year the county board will change things."
Kildalkeys success should never be a catalyst for change. It's a credit to them what they've achieved, they were the best team at each grade this year and deserved everything they won.

No change in structure is ever going to make a club contenders. A quality underage structure over a period of 10+ years is the only recipe for success and that's down to the individual clubs.

The big problem at the moment is the gap between the A&B groups in the SHC and how it's widening year on year. Teams in the B need to be playing the 'top 4' regularly and not every couple of years as is the case. As I said you wouldn't be expecting the current B teams to be winning a SHC but something needs to be done before the gap widens further.

The B group needs to be abolished at a minimum for next year with a long term view of reducing the size of the SHC by at least 2-4 teams.

begining (UK) - Posts: 300 - 25/10/2023 13:27:13    2510231

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Replying To 2020Vision:  "Championship structures have been talked about for 5 years here. You would hope after what Kildalkey have done this year the county board will change things."
Survey gone out to all hurling players asking for their feedback on competitions and structures so at least County Board are open to feedback. Up to players to provide now.

Belt (Meath) - Posts: 253 - 25/10/2023 13:47:26    2510239

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Go to 6 or 8 team championship at most.
Cant see the lower teams from the b group too happy about it but to have 12 senior teams in a small county is far to many.

Look at possibility of running hurling off first then football or vice versa

hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 416 - 25/10/2023 15:30:52    2510269

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100% follow the wexford model of hurling first, then football. Its too much of a workload to do both at the same time. Might entice dual players who dropped hurling to come back and play.

Premier12345 (Tipperary) - Posts: 38 - 25/10/2023 15:48:04    2510280

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Replying To Premier12345:  "100% follow the wexford model of hurling first, then football. Its too much of a workload to do both at the same time. Might entice dual players who dropped hurling to come back and play."
100%. The current system is benefiting nobody. Players are either burnt out or giving up one for the other.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 935 - 25/10/2023 17:04:31    2510306

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Replying To Premier12345:  "100% follow the wexford model of hurling first, then football. Its too much of a workload to do both at the same time. Might entice dual players who dropped hurling to come back and play."
I'd agree on this. Only drawback is the wait to Leinster championship which I don't think is a good enough one given our track record

Belt (Meath) - Posts: 253 - 25/10/2023 18:51:42    2510324

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Replying To Premier12345:  "100% follow the wexford model of hurling first, then football. Its too much of a workload to do both at the same time. Might entice dual players who dropped hurling to come back and play."
The wexford system is not a success either, since they have brought in that system their county hurling champs have failed miserably in leinster dumped out of the first round and comfortably so by not exactly top teams either... There is far too much of a long lay off between the county final and the provincial campaign and they are caught out by lack of match sharpness etc. Raparees, ferns and the same will probably happen gorey against kilcormac.

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 740 - 26/10/2023 10:44:22    2510374

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Replying To preddan:  "The wexford system is not a success either, since they have brought in that system their county hurling champs have failed miserably in leinster dumped out of the first round and comfortably so by not exactly top teams either... There is far too much of a long lay off between the county final and the provincial campaign and they are caught out by lack of match sharpness etc. Raparees, ferns and the same will probably happen gorey against kilcormac."
Meath is not a hurling county. Wexford is. Leinster is not a priority for our hurling teams.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 935 - 26/10/2023 10:48:50    2510378

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Replying To Premier12345:  "100% follow the wexford model of hurling first, then football. Its too much of a workload to do both at the same time. Might entice dual players who dropped hurling to come back and play."
Not so sure that is deemed a success either, think that could be under review aswell, my thoughts are, the pre season cups need to be run off in pre season, there needs to be a slightly earlier start to the league with 1 week off in the middle of leagues both football and hurling, in the championship most players are finished after 5 games in football, in hurling something similar, again a week off in championship season might help here.
if we go a split season like Wexford and player on a J1 or long holiday/travel break could miss entire season for his club, at least with the current way he misses maybe 2/3 games and is back for knockout/relegation.

there is no easy fix unless we reduce number of games which players don't want either i imagine, but for me the Wexford model is not the solution, 3 championship games in 10 days in some cases, imagine a small rural intermediate club who gets 3 injuries in the lead up to 1st round, where players are out for 2 weeks, season over before it starts for that club.
rejig needed but we need to be careful what we wish for,

pixey (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 26/10/2023 10:54:51    2510380

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Replying To pixey:  "Not so sure that is deemed a success either, think that could be under review aswell, my thoughts are, the pre season cups need to be run off in pre season, there needs to be a slightly earlier start to the league with 1 week off in the middle of leagues both football and hurling, in the championship most players are finished after 5 games in football, in hurling something similar, again a week off in championship season might help here.
if we go a split season like Wexford and player on a J1 or long holiday/travel break could miss entire season for his club, at least with the current way he misses maybe 2/3 games and is back for knockout/relegation.

there is no easy fix unless we reduce number of games which players don't want either i imagine, but for me the Wexford model is not the solution, 3 championship games in 10 days in some cases, imagine a small rural intermediate club who gets 3 injuries in the lead up to 1st round, where players are out for 2 weeks, season over before it starts for that club.
rejig needed but we need to be careful what we wish for,"
Would agree on that, huge numbers lost to clubs earlier in the summer with J1s, travelling etc. for a lot of teams you're just about trying to keep the show on the road during June/July. And rather than attracting footballers back to play a bit of hurling you may have the opposite effect with some dual lads who realise the football is slightly later will head off travelling instead and forgo the hurling, as you say careful what you wish for!

This year the 3rd/4th place team in Senior A had the potential to play 8 championship games in total (Ratoath ended up doing so). I think that is at least one game if not 2 too many
The B Championship was worth a go but it seems it has failed, open to correction but I don't think any team from B group has gotten past the Quarter final since it has been brought in. Most of the games end up in 10+ point defeats so it has just turned into a token gesture as such. The gap when playing at B level all year to then go up to play an A team is just too big.
If it was an 8 team Senior championship (2 groups of 4) there is a multitude of ways to do it depending on how many games is desirable, 3 group games a semi and final makes it a 5 game championship, or 1st place goes to a semi and 2nd/3rd go into a quarter adds an extra game. Would there be slightly weaker teams in the 8?, probably, but they would be playing consistently against a better standard which you would hope would improve them in the medium/long term.

Or else you go with one 6 team Senior group with top four into semis and even out the numbers below between the intermediate and junior championships. 12 in the inter and 6 in the Junior as per this year seems quite unbalanced.

If the appetite from clubs was not there for the 6 team Senior and not enough games in a 8 team championship, then go with 2 groups of 5 at Senior same argument applies in terms of dilution of the standard but again you would hope in time persistent exposure would bring teams on.

Multiple solutions that all have their drawbacks, but current system doesn't seem to be working, 5-7 game championship in my opinion would be the optimum (5 game version most competitive I think) which would free up at least one (prefereably two) weekends during the championship which would give dual lads chance to recover, certainly better than they can now

Whoknows! (Meath) - Posts: 3 - 26/10/2023 11:51:18    2510403

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Replying To pixey:  "Not so sure that is deemed a success either, think that could be under review aswell, my thoughts are, the pre season cups need to be run off in pre season, there needs to be a slightly earlier start to the league with 1 week off in the middle of leagues both football and hurling, in the championship most players are finished after 5 games in football, in hurling something similar, again a week off in championship season might help here.
if we go a split season like Wexford and player on a J1 or long holiday/travel break could miss entire season for his club, at least with the current way he misses maybe 2/3 games and is back for knockout/relegation.

there is no easy fix unless we reduce number of games which players don't want either i imagine, but for me the Wexford model is not the solution, 3 championship games in 10 days in some cases, imagine a small rural intermediate club who gets 3 injuries in the lead up to 1st round, where players are out for 2 weeks, season over before it starts for that club.
rejig needed but we need to be careful what we wish for,"
Your scenario of a small rural club being decimated by injury due to scheduling is already happening in current system. Clubs like Longwood, Boardsmill etc playing a minimum 9 games in 10 weeks, leaving them with the bare bones come the end of Aug

Ideally, you'd start champo earlier and allow more rest weekends or at the very least structure the bye weeks favourably for the dual clubs to give them a chance

Belt (Meath) - Posts: 253 - 26/10/2023 11:56:57    2510405

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Replying To Whoknows!:  "Would agree on that, huge numbers lost to clubs earlier in the summer with J1s, travelling etc. for a lot of teams you're just about trying to keep the show on the road during June/July. And rather than attracting footballers back to play a bit of hurling you may have the opposite effect with some dual lads who realise the football is slightly later will head off travelling instead and forgo the hurling, as you say careful what you wish for!

This year the 3rd/4th place team in Senior A had the potential to play 8 championship games in total (Ratoath ended up doing so). I think that is at least one game if not 2 too many
The B Championship was worth a go but it seems it has failed, open to correction but I don't think any team from B group has gotten past the Quarter final since it has been brought in. Most of the games end up in 10+ point defeats so it has just turned into a token gesture as such. The gap when playing at B level all year to then go up to play an A team is just too big.
If it was an 8 team Senior championship (2 groups of 4) there is a multitude of ways to do it depending on how many games is desirable, 3 group games a semi and final makes it a 5 game championship, or 1st place goes to a semi and 2nd/3rd go into a quarter adds an extra game. Would there be slightly weaker teams in the 8?, probably, but they would be playing consistently against a better standard which you would hope would improve them in the medium/long term.

Or else you go with one 6 team Senior group with top four into semis and even out the numbers below between the intermediate and junior championships. 12 in the inter and 6 in the Junior as per this year seems quite unbalanced.

If the appetite from clubs was not there for the 6 team Senior and not enough games in a 8 team championship, then go with 2 groups of 5 at Senior same argument applies in terms of dilution of the standard but again you would hope in time persistent exposure would bring teams on.

Multiple solutions that all have their drawbacks, but current system doesn't seem to be working, 5-7 game championship in my opinion would be the optimum (5 game version most competitive I think) which would free up at least one (prefereably two) weekends during the championship which would give dual lads chance to recover, certainly better than they can now"
Agree on your thoughts on the current B championship. The gap is huge and its not of any benefit anymore.
However I will pick up on one of your points, the only team to ever benefit from the B champ was Trim when it was originally brought in. Team full of young inexperienced players and gave a pathway to 2 finals if I remember correctly ... finishing 2nd in the B in the first year it came in and got to a final through the quarters ...then in the B again the following year and got to a final I think?

countyman123 (Meath) - Posts: 34 - 26/10/2023 12:17:47    2510418

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Senior A
Kiltale Ratoath Kildalkey Trim
Kilmessan BHall Gaels, Na Fianna Killyon

Senior B
Athboy Dunboyne Longwood Dunderry
Kildalkey B, Navan Kilskyre/Moylagh, Ashbourne

Intermediate
Rathmolyan Kells Trim B, Boardsmill
Wolfe Tones St Pats Dunboyne B, Drumree

2 groups of 4. 1st into semi final and 2nd 3rd quarter finals. 4th in relegation.

Gaelic_Games (Meath) - Posts: 13 - 26/10/2023 15:46:33    2510491

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