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Meath 2024

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Is Meath club underage still odd ages for 2024 or has it changed to 14s/16s/18s etc

GAAHQ1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 9 - 04/12/2023 21:44:35    2515533

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Any nuggets of information from the game tonight? Saw Meath won 4-13 to 0-14.

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 515 - 04/12/2023 21:53:13    2515535

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Anyone hear anything about the state of Conor Grays fitness?

Coylesrighthand (Meath) - Posts: 11 - 04/12/2023 23:47:22    2515541

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Looking at the line ups last night and its great to see new faces and lads getting a chance. Hard to believe that no one from the Junior Champions have gotten a call. If a team are doing well then surely some of their players are on top of their game and would be worthy of a call into the training group. And before that theory is dismissed Boylan had a lot of Junior player in his ranks when he was successful. Small clubs / North Club syndrome still evident.

199710 (Meath) - Posts: 120 - 05/12/2023 09:14:43    2515557

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Replying To MarkMyWords:  "Any nuggets of information from the game tonight? Saw Meath won 4-13 to 0-14."
https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2023/12/04/meath-rally-to-see-of-regional-all-stars/

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 181 - 05/12/2023 09:21:25    2515559

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Replying To Sheridan2010louth:  "https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2023/12/04/meath-rally-to-see-of-regional-all-stars/"
Impressive performance from Rowe for the regionals according to that article. Anyone at the game? Would he be in contention to start in that meath forward line for next year?

3rdmanin (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 05/12/2023 10:59:15    2515580

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Replying To 3rdmanin:  "Impressive performance from Rowe for the regionals according to that article. Anyone at the game? Would he be in contention to start in that meath forward line for next year?"
No he wouldn't. A decent club forward.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1003 - 05/12/2023 11:27:49    2515587

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Replying To 3rdmanin:  "Impressive performance from Rowe for the regionals according to that article. Anyone at the game? Would he be in contention to start in that meath forward line for next year?"
He's been a very good forward for a long time but he's definitley not in contention to start for meath.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 181 - 05/12/2023 11:34:51    2515590

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Replying To 199710:  "Looking at the line ups last night and its great to see new faces and lads getting a chance. Hard to believe that no one from the Junior Champions have gotten a call. If a team are doing well then surely some of their players are on top of their game and would be worthy of a call into the training group. And before that theory is dismissed Boylan had a lot of Junior player in his ranks when he was successful. Small clubs / North Club syndrome still evident."
The majority of Kilbride's better players who would be good enough for county football, are more than likely involved with the Meath U20's, hence the reason they don't have someone on the Senior squad. There were three players from Junior Clubs and three from Intermediate clubs in the 26 man squad named for Meath last night. I am sure there are other players from Intermediate clubs on the squad as well who weren't involved last night. What more do you want? Every single player who is good enough has gotten more than a fair crack of the whip to impress over the last two to three years, between club games, regional games and being on the Senior squad. This notion that players from Junior clubs/North Meath clubs are being ignored is just wrong, plain and simple. If a player is good enough they will get a chance, regardless of where they are from. From the last Meath team to win the All Ireland in 1999, 19 of the 24 man squad on the day were from Senior Clubs, 4 from Intermediate and 1 from Junior. A similar ratio to the current squad.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 997 - 05/12/2023 11:50:04    2515592

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I think there is alot of talent in Meath under the age of 22 with many of them possibly better players than some of the older players currently on the Meath panel. I think the idea of keeping players with the under 20 group is not ideal when last year we failed to have success there and ultimately players were late joining the senior panel. I think a bit of common ground is needed particularly when alot of these young players are worthy of playing for Meath at senior level. The likes of Trevor Giles, Graham Geraghty and Darren Fay were key players for Meath when under the age of 20 and continued to have U21 success despite lining out at senior level. There is far too much emphasis on training and not enough on matches.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 06/12/2023 08:31:12    2515692

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Replying To winatallcost:  "I think there is alot of talent in Meath under the age of 22 with many of them possibly better players than some of the older players currently on the Meath panel. I think the idea of keeping players with the under 20 group is not ideal when last year we failed to have success there and ultimately players were late joining the senior panel. I think a bit of common ground is needed particularly when alot of these young players are worthy of playing for Meath at senior level. The likes of Trevor Giles, Graham Geraghty and Darren Fay were key players for Meath when under the age of 20 and continued to have U21 success despite lining out at senior level. There is far too much emphasis on training and not enough on matches."
I don't understand how people have a really high opinion of last years under 20's. They lost in the championship to Laois, ground out a win against Westmeath and went out with a whimper at home against a very average Dublin team. And yet they're better than some of our senior players. I think there's 8 or 9 of them called up to the panel now, that is an awful lot of an under 20's team that didn't make a Leinster final and were handily beat by Dublin back to back years

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1523 - 06/12/2023 08:54:31    2515694

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "I don't understand how people have a really high opinion of last years under 20's. They lost in the championship to Laois, ground out a win against Westmeath and went out with a whimper at home against a very average Dublin team. And yet they're better than some of our senior players. I think there's 8 or 9 of them called up to the panel now, that is an awful lot of an under 20's team that didn't make a Leinster final and were handily beat by Dublin back to back years"
the reason why last year u20s had a poor campaign was because of poor management tactics , stuck with a formation in all games bar the last 15 mins of the dublin game when the team was bet and if they had played with that formation they had potential to go a lot further than they did , a very talented bunch of players who were made look average with the game management . last years u2os were a combination of 2 u17s teams that won an all ireland and were bet in an all ireland semi final so thats why people had high opinions and high hopes for the team

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1973 - 06/12/2023 12:36:14    2515731

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "I don't understand how people have a really high opinion of last years under 20's. They lost in the championship to Laois, ground out a win against Westmeath and went out with a whimper at home against a very average Dublin team. And yet they're better than some of our senior players. I think there's 8 or 9 of them called up to the panel now, that is an awful lot of an under 20's team that didn't make a Leinster final and were handily beat by Dublin back to back years"
I mentioned talent under the age of 22 and while that includes last year's group, it also covers the year before and the years behind especially this year's U20 group. I actually think the group underperformed as a team last year but what I am talking about is individual talent. Most of these guys have leinster and All-Ireland medals in back pocket which is alot more than most of the older lads on Meath panel. Probably won't really know what actual panel for League will be until mid January and expect maybe more changes made towards end of League.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 06/12/2023 12:46:39    2515734

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Replying To winatallcost:  "I mentioned talent under the age of 22 and while that includes last year's group, it also covers the year before and the years behind especially this year's U20 group. I actually think the group underperformed as a team last year but what I am talking about is individual talent. Most of these guys have leinster and All-Ireland medals in back pocket which is alot more than most of the older lads on Meath panel. Probably won't really know what actual panel for League will be until mid January and expect maybe more changes made towards end of League."
While the future might look brighter, you can't expect a bunch of 20-22 year olds to be even close to senior intercounty level. Have watched a number of the so called star players from that bracket at senior club level and they are average with exception of those who were involved already. Takes time and no other county would even dream of dropping a load of untested young lads into a county team. Would destroy them and the county.

off_the_wall (Roscommon) - Posts: 71 - 06/12/2023 18:26:21    2515780

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Replying To brian:  "the reason why last year u20s had a poor campaign was because of poor management tactics , stuck with a formation in all games bar the last 15 mins of the dublin game when the team was bet and if they had played with that formation they had potential to go a lot further than they did , a very talented bunch of players who were made look average with the game management . last years u2os were a combination of 2 u17s teams that won an all ireland and were bet in an all ireland semi final so thats why people had high opinions and high hopes for the team"
They have close to the same pedigree as the 2017 and 2018 minor teams. The 2021 minors obviously went and won the all Ireland but only John O'Regan and Jack Kinlough off that team have been called up to the seniors and a few players off that team haven't kicked on at club level at all yet. I think there's 9 guys from last years under 20's now on the seniors Billy Hogan, Brian O'Reilly, Conor Gray, Kinlough, Alan Bowden, Eoghan Frayne, Ruairi Kinsella, Ciaran Caulfield and John O'Regan. I think too there's too much hype being put around these players. They were really good minors. But like I said so were the 2017&18 minors, and since a lot of them have been brought into the squad/team performance has got worse not better. That's probably no fault of those lads themslves, but senior inter county is such a step up. I don't think it's realistic that a group of 20/21 year olds who didn't come close to winning anything at under 20 will transform our senior team

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1523 - 06/12/2023 18:58:50    2515788

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Replying To off_the_wall:  "While the future might look brighter, you can't expect a bunch of 20-22 year olds to be even close to senior intercounty level. Have watched a number of the so called star players from that bracket at senior club level and they are average with exception of those who were involved already. Takes time and no other county would even dream of dropping a load of untested young lads into a county team. Would destroy them and the county."
100% this is my point. Mick O'Dowd did this with Meath in 2014 and 15 and it set us back years. The Dublin under 20's absolutely hammered out under 20's 3 years ago. The only player from that Dublin team that broke into the seniors is Lee Gannon. With a few exceptions almost all players have to cut their teeth for a few years and aren't ready at 21. I don't have an issue with a lot of players from last years 20's being called up either to the panel or development panel. But I think we need to be careful in hyping them up or anointing them too early

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1523 - 06/12/2023 21:57:43    2515796

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "No he wouldn't. A decent club forward."
A decent club forward is a nonsense comment, consistently carries a very poor club team. As good and better than many forwards in the squad. Deserved to be given an opportunity at some stage. Having watched a lot of club and county football over the years, there are plenty of worse players on the panel.

longroadback (Meath) - Posts: 330 - 06/12/2023 21:57:54    2515797

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Same oul story... too many young lads thrown into senior panel about 3 years before they are ready. We seem to be constantly building a team to be competitive in 3 years rather than attacking the here and now.

longroadback (Meath) - Posts: 330 - 06/12/2023 22:03:08    2515800

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "They have close to the same pedigree as the 2017 and 2018 minor teams. The 2021 minors obviously went and won the all Ireland but only John O'Regan and Jack Kinlough off that team have been called up to the seniors and a few players off that team haven't kicked on at club level at all yet. I think there's 9 guys from last years under 20's now on the seniors Billy Hogan, Brian O'Reilly, Conor Gray, Kinlough, Alan Bowden, Eoghan Frayne, Ruairi Kinsella, Ciaran Caulfield and John O'Regan. I think too there's too much hype being put around these players. They were really good minors. But like I said so were the 2017&18 minors, and since a lot of them have been brought into the squad/team performance has got worse not better. That's probably no fault of those lads themslves, but senior inter county is such a step up. I don't think it's realistic that a group of 20/21 year olds who didn't come close to winning anything at under 20 will transform our senior team"
Don't think many of the group you have mentioned there have actually got much of a run at all in games so how can you make any judgement about hype etc. Have the older existing players on the panel with the exception of Keoghan and Harnan really showed to be worthy of taking this group forward. Felt it was only when younger players were actually introduced into senior panel mid last year that things actually started to improve. Conor Grey, Caulfield and Coffey proved their worth. I wouldn't mind if we had exceptional players holding these young lads in reserve but I don't think we have.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 07/12/2023 09:31:14    2515821

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "100% this is my point. Mick O'Dowd did this with Meath in 2014 and 15 and it set us back years. The Dublin under 20's absolutely hammered out under 20's 3 years ago. The only player from that Dublin team that broke into the seniors is Lee Gannon. With a few exceptions almost all players have to cut their teeth for a few years and aren't ready at 21. I don't have an issue with a lot of players from last years 20's being called up either to the panel or development panel. But I think we need to be careful in hyping them up or anointing them too early"
The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. As you said mod tried this and it set us back years. Are we now going to do exactly the same thing in the hope it will work this time ?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/12/2023 10:45:03    2515835

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