HoganStand GAA Football and Hurling

National Forum

Wexford Hurling 2025

(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post

You need to Login to Post

Replying To OpenStandWall: "Yep, have heard he's concentrating on club hurling this year." Keith confirmed in the paper today he is going for surgery next week. Probably rules him out of championship with it being only 2 months away Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 448 - 12/02/2025 09:12:21 2590699 Link
Replying To Afinestick96: "Keith confirmed in the paper today he is going for surgery next week. Probably rules him out of championship with it being only 2 months away" Depends on the surgery Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 09:19:45 2590703 Link
Replying To hunting: "Apparently mac getting operation next week and ryan is still not ready but at present both still in plans." Both of them struggling a lot with injuries last couple of seasons. Might be a bit much to expect that they will be fit to start v Antrim on 20th April. Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 367 - 12/02/2025 09:26:25 2590705 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Of course they will. But you have to earn that right. So far we haven't earned the right to stay up, we have no points. There are very few lads in around the 1st team who are between 22 and 27 is the problem there when you are playing counties who have a good cohort that age. We haven't many from 27 to 30 either. They are physically more developed than 20-22 year olds." There's a limit to that point as well. In playing the better teams it has be a Gap that you have a realistic opportunity of closing. Would Donegal learn anything from playing Limerick? Maybe to give up hurling which would be a tragedy. The Tipp and Kilkenny performances suggest we have a realistic chance of closing that Gap. Really we have to look at all the games in hindsight to know where we're at. I'm not buying the second or third gear thing. Tipp and Kilkenny will really punish you if you keep letting them. We didn't, which is encouraging. I recall 2013. We thought we could compete for promotion. Dublin beat us by 23 points in the park. A few weeks later we drew in the championship. They went on to win Leinster that year. We also drew with Clare in normal time. They won the all Ireland. The relevance of this is how much you can achieve in a short period of time if your errors are basic. We will have lads back that will improve us. Do far we've seen us slow, disorganized, poor first touch, poor position, apparent absence of a plan and a fairly weak attitude. None of those things are insurmountable and can be rectified with hard work over two months. That should be enough to compete in Leinster. I've pretty much resigned to relegation now. The results don't matter too much, but it is essential that we start seeing cohesive 70 minute performances to build from. Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3412 - 12/02/2025 09:55:02 2590711 Link
Objective question for everyone on here. How often do your club discuss what they're doing to produce county minors? This may be an unpopular view. I love my club, but the primary function of the club is to produce Wexford players. If we win something that's great. But it's more important to me to see a Harrier's man on the steps of the Hogan in a Wexford jersey than winning a county title. Does anybody else share that view? Is that where we're going wrong? What it takes to win a county in Wexford may not be the same as what the county team needs from the clubs. Every club in Kilkenny is focused on producing players ahead of winning counties at underage. Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3412 - 12/02/2025 10:03:30 2590713 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "There's a limit to that point as well. In playing the better teams it has be a Gap that you have a realistic opportunity of closing. Would Donegal learn anything from playing Limerick? Maybe to give up hurling which would be a tragedy. The Tipp and Kilkenny performances suggest we have a realistic chance of closing that Gap. Really we have to look at all the games in hindsight to know where we're at. I'm not buying the second or third gear thing. Tipp and Kilkenny will really punish you if you keep letting them. We didn't, which is encouraging. I recall 2013. We thought we could compete for promotion. Dublin beat us by 23 points in the park. A few weeks later we drew in the championship. They went on to win Leinster that year. We also drew with Clare in normal time. They won the all Ireland. The relevance of this is how much you can achieve in a short period of time if your errors are basic. We will have lads back that will improve us. Do far we've seen us slow, disorganized, poor first touch, poor position, apparent absence of a plan and a fairly weak attitude. None of those things are insurmountable and can be rectified with hard work over two months. That should be enough to compete in Leinster. I've pretty much resigned to relegation now. The results don't matter too much, but it is essential that we start seeing cohesive 70 minute performances to build from." They're all good points Doyler Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 11:03:03 2590720 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "Objective question for everyone on here. How often do your club discuss what they're doing to produce county minors? This may be an unpopular view. I love my club, but the primary function of the club is to produce Wexford players. If we win something that's great. But it's more important to me to see a Harrier's man on the steps of the Hogan in a Wexford jersey than winning a county title. Does anybody else share that view? Is that where we're going wrong? What it takes to win a county in Wexford may not be the same as what the county team needs from the clubs. Every club in Kilkenny is focused on producing players ahead of winning counties at underage." I think that's going a little too far. Our club is more than a production line for intercounty players, or even good adult club players tbh. Obviously I support any of the lads that play county, and we are trying to up the standard, quality and quantity, of the coaching we offer, so that the young people of the parish get better and therefore enjoy playing more, and are then more likely to stay playing and being active into adulthood. And a spin off would be they will hopefully stay involved with the club for the rest of their lives, on and off the pitch. If we all do the same countywide, the general standard will rise, and then we should have more top level players to play for the county in the future. And hopefully more success at intercounty level. And that will in turn be good for the clubs, as intercounty success should encourage more young people to play hurling and football, which should make the clubs more sustainable in the future. In summary our clubs don't just exist to sustain our county team, they existed before we had any county teams, but rather a rising tide should float all boats. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 11:24:17 2590726 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "Objective question for everyone on here. How often do your club discuss what they're doing to produce county minors? This may be an unpopular view. I love my club, but the primary function of the club is to produce Wexford players. If we win something that's great. But it's more important to me to see a Harrier's man on the steps of the Hogan in a Wexford jersey than winning a county title. Does anybody else share that view? Is that where we're going wrong? What it takes to win a county in Wexford may not be the same as what the county team needs from the clubs. Every club in Kilkenny is focused on producing players ahead of winning counties at underage." Club first in my opinion. btwex90 (Wexford) - Posts: 34 - 12/02/2025 11:27:42 2590729 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "Objective question for everyone on here. How often do your club discuss what they're doing to produce county minors? This may be an unpopular view. I love my club, but the primary function of the club is to produce Wexford players. If we win something that's great. But it's more important to me to see a Harrier's man on the steps of the Hogan in a Wexford jersey than winning a county title. Does anybody else share that view? Is that where we're going wrong? What it takes to win a county in Wexford may not be the same as what the county team needs from the clubs. Every club in Kilkenny is focused on producing players ahead of winning counties at underage." It's club first. In every club, it's delusional to think it's anything else. I'll give you an example when clubs vote on proposals and structures etc they look at what's best for them not what benefits wexford overall. We voted in a hurling championship structure last year that completely reduces the competitiveness of our hurling championships which does nothing for wexford hurling and voted it in again as clubs like it due to safety net it gives them. It's clubs first, always. tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1450 - 12/02/2025 11:52:11 2590735 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "Objective question for everyone on here. How often do your club discuss what they're doing to produce county minors? This may be an unpopular view. I love my club, but the primary function of the club is to produce Wexford players. If we win something that's great. But it's more important to me to see a Harrier's man on the steps of the Hogan in a Wexford jersey than winning a county title. Does anybody else share that view? Is that where we're going wrong? What it takes to win a county in Wexford may not be the same as what the county team needs from the clubs. Every club in Kilkenny is focused on producing players ahead of winning counties at underage." I'd say 99% of clubmen in your club are doing it for the club and not the county Doyler. WexMurph (Wexford) - Posts: 256 - 12/02/2025 12:14:14 2590737 Link
Replying To tearintom: "It's club first. In every club, it's delusional to think it's anything else. I'll give you an example when clubs vote on proposals and structures etc they look at what's best for them not what benefits wexford overall. We voted in a hurling championship structure last year that completely reduces the competitiveness of our hurling championships which does nothing for wexford hurling and voted it in again as clubs like it due to safety net it gives them. It's clubs first, always." Most people who voted for it again did so to give it a chance. And most who voted for it in the 1st place did so because a panel of hurling experts came up with it. Any clubs I know the views of view it as anything but a safety net, more clubs are in the relegation mix after the group stages than were before. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 12:24:58 2590740 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Most people who voted for it again did so to give it a chance. And most who voted for it in the 1st place did so because a panel of hurling experts came up with it. Any clubs I know the views of view it as anything but a safety net, more clubs are in the relegation mix after the group stages than were before." Think you're wrong about the clubs' view of the safety net. From a club point of view, there are basically two main considerations: 1 - It absolutely 100% guarantees our place in the knock-out stages. That means that if we can put a run of three or maybe four wins in a row there, we'll be county champions, no matter what we do in our first six games. 2 - Hmm, four clubs instead of two will face the threat of relegation after the group stage. But there'll still only be one club out of twelve actually going down. I'd wager that far more people think about the benefits of the first one, rather than the potential trouble of the second. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2720 - 12/02/2025 13:19:45 2590751 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Think you're wrong about the clubs' view of the safety net. From a club point of view, there are basically two main considerations: 1 - It absolutely 100% guarantees our place in the knock-out stages. That means that if we can put a run of three or maybe four wins in a row there, we'll be county champions, no matter what we do in our first six games. 2 - Hmm, four clubs instead of two will face the threat of relegation after the group stage. But there'll still only be one club out of twelve actually going down. I'd wager that far more people think about the benefits of the first one, rather than the potential trouble of the second." Being realistic, how many clubs had genuine aspirations of winning the county title in their grade, especially in Senior and Intermediate? Half of them maybe? From talking to lads I know well in 4 different Senior clubs, they were of the opinion that if they stayed up they'd be happy with that. A Harriers man reckoned that if they could get to a Semi-final that would be great for the younger lads coming through, it might keep them around. He reckoned they had no chance of winning the title. A few lads I know in the Annes and Martins clubs were hopeful it might be their year, and the one lad from Oylegate I was talking to before last season reckoned they wouldn't come as close last year as the one before. I admit I wasn't talking to any Shels, Rapps, Ferns or Gorey men about the Championship, I presume Gorey would've liked to go back to back, but they were pretty poor in the games I went to that they were in. Any Shels lads I know are ultra competitive, so I assume they'd be giving it a good lash every year. So I'm not sure most clubs were thinking they'd vote for the new format so they could win Senior after losing all their group games. Its surely unlikely. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 14:27:41 2590758 Link
I still think the structure of club championship should ve been tweaked but tats different story . My view on today's topic is club first always. If clubs wanted to be only feeders for county at certain age then young players 14/15 would be brought into inter County set ups and not allowed play for clubs again unless dropped out of inter County set up . Very much like soccer,rugby in that regard . In the future that may happen but can't see it as if clubs want to see there best players play fir club , they can't afford to lose their best talent . Maybe better scenario would be clubs who win County titles are put into an elite league of other County title winners . Like a champions league format . Leave these clubs out of County club championships until the knock out stages of County. Run these inter County club championships instead of inter County. And have a more expensive club championship . Maybe run an inter County championship as knock out only early in year instead of national league . Again 2 extreme formats but either could work although revenue would be severely reduced for gaa country wide . Club first always Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 340 - 12/02/2025 14:34:42 2590759 Link
Replying To Viking66: "I think that's going a little too far. Our club is more than a production line for intercounty players, or even good adult club players tbh. Obviously I support any of the lads that play county, and we are trying to up the standard, quality and quantity, of the coaching we offer, so that the young people of the parish get better and therefore enjoy playing more, and are then more likely to stay playing and being active into adulthood. And a spin off would be they will hopefully stay involved with the club for the rest of their lives, on and off the pitch. If we all do the same countywide, the general standard will rise, and then we should have more top level players to play for the county in the future. And hopefully more success at intercounty level. And that will in turn be good for the clubs, as intercounty success should encourage more young people to play hurling and football, which should make the clubs more sustainable in the future. In summary our clubs don't just exist to sustain our county team, they existed before we had any county teams, but rather a rising tide should float all boats." Oh I appreciate that. I understand the importance of the club in terms of community, health, purpose, life skills and all those things. I also appreciate the majority of club players won't play county. However my point is should we not be looking at the ceiling of the sport from the beginning. In other words when young lads are in nursery should the ambition not be hurling for Wexford and the club is the means to get there? That's the case in other elite sports. I think we might be doing it wrong. Of course every single Wexford GAA person shares in the success of the county and all the clubs benefit from that. Is the biggest achievement of the harriers in my youth a county title in 01 or is it the brother being hoth in 96 ? I would take enormous pride in the fact my uncle hopper is the first Wexford town man to win Ann all Ireland medal. He's not even a member of the club anymore and I couldn't care less. Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3412 - 12/02/2025 15:18:21 2590763 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Being realistic, how many clubs had genuine aspirations of winning the county title in their grade, especially in Senior and Intermediate? Half of them maybe? From talking to lads I know well in 4 different Senior clubs, they were of the opinion that if they stayed up they'd be happy with that. A Harriers man reckoned that if they could get to a Semi-final that would be great for the younger lads coming through, it might keep them around. He reckoned they had no chance of winning the title. A few lads I know in the Annes and Martins clubs were hopeful it might be their year, and the one lad from Oylegate I was talking to before last season reckoned they wouldn't come as close last year as the one before. I admit I wasn't talking to any Shels, Rapps, Ferns or Gorey men about the Championship, I presume Gorey would've liked to go back to back, but they were pretty poor in the games I went to that they were in. Any Shels lads I know are ultra competitive, so I assume they'd be giving it a good lash every year. So I'm not sure most clubs were thinking they'd vote for the new format so they could win Senior after losing all their group games. Its surely unlikely." Think we're talking about closely-linked but different things here. Particularly since you're concentrating mainly on Senior, and I'm not. True that maybe only four clubs would be generally ranked as genuine contenders at the outset of each year for the senior title. But at the same outset of the year, I'd say there'd be nine, ten, eleven or even all twelve clubs who wouldn't believe they could put three or four wins together at some stage if things fell right for them. And with the current structure, if they did that at the right time, they'd be champions. And I'd say this is even truer as you go down the grades. The gap from 1st and 2nd down to say 7th and 8th in Intermediate 'A' and Junior probably isn't as big as the same gap in Senior. But even take title aspirations out of it, and just consider these two things instead: Football team: "If we don't go well in the group stage, we'll be out of the championship". Hurling team: "If we don't go well in the group stage, we'll still be in the championship anyway". Is that not a safety net for the hurling??? Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2720 - 12/02/2025 15:40:04 2590765 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Think you're wrong about the clubs' view of the safety net. From a club point of view, there are basically two main considerations: 1 - It absolutely 100% guarantees our place in the knock-out stages. That means that if we can put a run of three or maybe four wins in a row there, we'll be county champions, no matter what we do in our first six games. 2 - Hmm, four clubs instead of two will face the threat of relegation after the group stage. But there'll still only be one club out of twelve actually going down. I'd wager that far more people think about the benefits of the first one, rather than the potential trouble of the second." Exactly. It's completely looked at that way, every team has a 100% guarantee of making the knockout stages. It completely removes jeopardy and competivness which does nothing for wexford hurling overall but is of benefit to the clubs, hence the original point. It's club first, as another poster said if the harriers poster is genuinely thinking differently he's probably the only person in the room doing so. tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1450 - 12/02/2025 15:43:03 2590767 Link
Replying To tearintom: "Exactly. It's completely looked at that way, every team has a 100% guarantee of making the knockout stages. It completely removes jeopardy and competivness which does nothing for wexford hurling overall but is of benefit to the clubs, hence the original point. It's club first, as another poster said if the harriers poster is genuinely thinking differently he's probably the only person in the room doing so." Another example, from about three years ago: Chairman of the time suggested a system where the top team in each group would go straight to a semi-final, with the second and third-placed teams playing quarter-finals. On the face of it, a good system. A genuine and tangible reward for finishing first in the group, and a means to make the battle for other positions more competitive. Clubs were overwhelmingly against it, and I don't think it even got as far as a vote. As clubs saw it, if they supported it, they'd be voting for reducing their own chances of making the play-offs (just three teams going through, instead of four). They didn't care that it was something to make the championships more competitive and better overall. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2720 - 12/02/2025 16:11:38 2590771 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "Oh I appreciate that. I understand the importance of the club in terms of community, health, purpose, life skills and all those things. I also appreciate the majority of club players won't play county. However my point is should we not be looking at the ceiling of the sport from the beginning. In other words when young lads are in nursery should the ambition not be hurling for Wexford and the club is the means to get there? That's the case in other elite sports. I think we might be doing it wrong. Of course every single Wexford GAA person shares in the success of the county and all the clubs benefit from that. Is the biggest achievement of the harriers in my youth a county title in 01 or is it the brother being hoth in 96 ? I would take enormous pride in the fact my uncle hopper is the first Wexford town man to win Ann all Ireland medal. He's not even a member of the club anymore and I couldn't care less." The manager I mentor for gave a little motivational speech at the end of one of our club u14 winter hurling sessions there a few weeks back. I thought it was very good. Some of the boys are taking part in the u14 trials. He pointed out to the panel, especially the u13 lads, that their motivation shouldn't be to get onto the u14 development squad. He asked them why. Ideas like being disappointed at not succeeding were given. He told them their motivation shouldn't be to get on Wexfords u14 team. Or the minor team. Or to win a Leinster or AI at minor. Or u20. Or to make Senior hurling panel, or even the team. He told them what they should be aiming for is to win an AI medal for Wexford. That way they'd stay practicing at home, stay trying to improve, all the way through. What he was basically telling them is not to be setting a ceiling. If you set too low of a target in the 1st place, then you will ease off when you attain it, and maybe won't fulfil your potential. He's a passionate club man, he wants our club to improve on the pitch especially, but yes, you are right, the ultimate motivation for a top young hurler should go beyond the club, it should be winning an AI medal for Wexford. And if that young lad doesn't achieve his dream, but becomes a great adult club player, then that's pretty damn good for him too. I know you are into psychology Doyler, so here's a link to a good article from an unusual source, RTE. https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0211/1495965-gaa-underage-players-coaching-psychology/ In particular watch the Australian video on The Self Determination Theory. Our managers speech would have meant different things to different boys, but it contained an important life message. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 16:14:00 2590772 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Think we're talking about closely-linked but different things here. Particularly since you're concentrating mainly on Senior, and I'm not. True that maybe only four clubs would be generally ranked as genuine contenders at the outset of each year for the senior title. But at the same outset of the year, I'd say there'd be nine, ten, eleven or even all twelve clubs who wouldn't believe they could put three or four wins together at some stage if things fell right for them. And with the current structure, if they did that at the right time, they'd be champions. And I'd say this is even truer as you go down the grades. The gap from 1st and 2nd down to say 7th and 8th in Intermediate 'A' and Junior probably isn't as big as the same gap in Senior. But even take title aspirations out of it, and just consider these two things instead: Football team: "If we don't go well in the group stage, we'll be out of the championship". Hurling team: "If we don't go well in the group stage, we'll still be in the championship anyway". Is that not a safety net for the hurling???" Get you now. It is of course. I still don't believe that's why the change got voted in though, or why it was kept on. It was 1 vote away from being kept on without any of the other options even being discussed. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14978 - 12/02/2025 16:17:20 2590774 Link