Carlow hurling has given us some unbelievable days in the last 20 years. I'll never forget beating Wexford in leinster minor Q/t final in 2006 & Offaly in semi. Winning back to back Christy ring cups in 2008 & 2009 Christy ring again in 2017 Joe Mac against Westmeath in 2018 Drawing with Galway in league in 2019 Beating Offaly in relegation final in 2019 Beating Offaly in Joe Mac final in 2023 Drawing with Kilkenny in Leinster Championship in 2024 Beating Waterford in league in 2025 I was lucky to be at all of the above & them lads have given us unreal service. I'm not here to write them off as I firmly believe if we get all our players fit & out on duty we will give the Joe Mac as massive cut this year. But but eventually all good things come to an end & we are not producing the same calibre of player to replace these lads so when they gone we will realise how good we had it for a time. Heads up lads & give the Joe Mac an almighty push. You owe us nothing
carlo (Carlow) - Posts: 315 - 08/03/2026 21:49:49
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I mentioned how bad days were ahead for Carlow hurlers last year to which I recieved a bit of hate and people saying lets revisit this in a few months and that I would be wrong - well here we are. As I said at the time it shouldnt be viewed terribly negatively as we should be so grateful for how good our team was and how much it punched above its weight. We were blessed with a golden generation but much like any county its cyclical and rebuilds happen.
I just think at inter county level to achieve what we have achieved with the playing population and tiny number of successful clubs of recent has been excellent.
A lot of backlash this year for hurlers and management which can also be put down to the fact we have set ourselves a high ceiling and expect better but thats because we have been so good. I know its a harsh reality but we are blooding in new lads and dont have the same quality that we once did so obviously results and performances will suffer and continue to suffer. Just think we should acknowledge that and realize bad days are ahead thats not being pessimistic just realistic.
I would have been alot more and am alot more critical of the footballers than the hurlers as the hurling has been and is quite literally David and Goliath stuff