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Replying To Tox73: "You didn't, you called it for what it was, it's a forum after all for people who follow all Wexfords teams to debate, analyse , a place to share info and look for. No one goes after young lads, some people overly sensitive about nothing that's all. Now back to the issues of the day. Let's start at the top end, someone said of the Antrim game about the Antrim team on the previous page "it's hard to progress at Senior if you're not really competing at either U20 or Minor" Does that mean Wexford are competing well at Underage?? Or that we compete a little better than Antrim but no where near top tier, would that be more accurate? I ain't gonna say anything about young lads as it's not their fault, they give the commitment, as did their families. There is no point sugar coating it we really are in the a bad place, probably worst ever in our history, even as low as the Colm Bonner era. It's been discussed to death as well. Optimism at all time low. Hurling is dying in our county.Last 4 years hasn't been good, it's hard to look at to be honest. The demise in our schools,St Peter's,Good Council. National Schools are doing little, Teachers need to drive it but won't take it on as an extra curricular, I hear tidbits but am no expert,so,don't take it personally. Clubs are really trying but seem to be losing the long term battle. Hopefully our current Chairman is able to turn the corner with fresh new ideas." Overall our schools are much better, but Peters and Counsel are worse because with Dept of Transport policy on secondary school admissions introduced a few years ago, even Bus Eireann school bus tickets, it's much harder to get children entered into those 2 schools, and more expensive for the bus if you are lucky enough to get a place.
On the other hand in a couple of years we are likely to have 4 teams hurling PP Senior A, which I don't think was ever the case before.
Hurling 365 was introduced a few years ago, but its up to the local club to supply volunteer coaches, as well as the school and parents to facilitate this.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 11:57:06
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Replying To hunting: "Attack the primary school with as much hurling as they can. Reduce the number of GPOs and pay the remaining ones proper money. The strength and conditioning that they are doing now is good in fairness but I suppose we are playing catch up with it. No more dual players from 13 up. Make every club link up with their local school(it not happening) and make sure it is supported by the county board. Improve the standard of hurling coaching in primary school, stop games like no man land etc.. and focus more on hurling skills during these trainings. Coaches need to be doing more than half hour/40.minutes of Gaa training once a week. Support secondary schools with proper equipment and make sure coaches are available in every secondary school to assist teachers etc..
On separate note, I'd dont know why I watch the Sunday game. We are apparently a one man team and Antrim had us on the rope for 2 x 20minutes periods of the game according to the Antrim selector on tv tonight. Talked about all the team but just mentioned Chin for wexford and that the two goals we got were badly conceded by Antrim" Agree with all of that. Not sure about clubs and schools in other areas but it's only the last couple years we have been able to get 365 going in our schools, thanks in the main to our coaching officer running it in one school, and new principal getting it going in the other. Our club bought and paid for helmets and hurls for both schools this year to support them. and sliotars and footballs.
Agree coaching for 1st class up should be skills based, but I think this is the case as it is in our schools.
TSG has always been like that, it's up to ourselves as a county to put the work in, get some success, and earn some respect.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:11:06
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Replying To Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin: "We've probably the longest gap without getting to all irelands at every grade out of the bigger counties not to mind win them, cus that stat is even worse. Senior 29 years, u21 10 years, minor 40 years, club 26 years. As someone who's questioned where we are with our game quiet a bit in my life we probably overachieve in many aspects but underachieve at every level at the same time….the complex nature of Wexford hurling, ups and downs. We had a good bit of success at provincial level in the early 00s but most of those lads ended up playing in one of the poorest eras of Wexford hurling ever but then you look at what the most successful team of that time, the 3 in a row u21 Limerick team, did or more over didn't do, maybe it was just a poor enough era of underage. It's hard to know if we are already maxing out our underage teams at senior level going by how little success we have. I will say you probably won't win anything at senior level without a few underage titles behind you, whatever about how hard it is to win at senior level with successful underage teams it's even harder to win without successful underage teams. It's kinda why I get annoyed about Wexford and just how little success we have, is why can't we win any of these competitions. An all Ireland at any grade would be huge for the county. Even the buzz around the place for those u21 all irelands 10 years ago was huge. It just makes it hard to get any break through. Ironically the 96 team was probably the last one to win without any underage all Ireland winners. I do appreciate there is good work going on and tbh probably won't see the results of the current work for a good few years. It's just weve always seem to be playing catch up at underage. Do see green shoots and have been impressed by what I've seen done in ferns, it is fairly impressive complex compared to a lot of counties who don't have anything close to it and our infrastructure throughout the county has come on a good bit. One criticism I will level at the county board is I've been to good few underage finals, mostly just the premier ones, and this might seem like a small thing but I've found the occasion and way it's run to be very amateurish and disrespectful to players and clubs involved..having finals in random club pitches not being played in county grounds, not having linesmen or own umpires, places with no scoreboards, I've seen a few counties streaming minor club finals, playing anthem before, basically not giving the occasion the respect it deserves, for a lot of those lads it's the biggest game they'll ever play. I played in u16 and u21 finals and they're the only finals I ever played in, I remember everything about them, even if we lost both. I've been to a few underage finals in other counties (Galway, Tipp and Kilkenny) and I've been very disappointed with how we treat our underage finals in comparison. Might be small things but it creates a great professional feel and experience which carries on..will it win us a minor, u21 or senior all Ireland? No but it's a small change which can have a big impact down the line." I agree up to a point. Minor success is no indicator at all. None of Limericks current team ever won a minor AI, while hardly anyone from Galways 4 in a row AI winning minor teams has had any success since, either u20 or Senior.
U20 success can be a help, Limericks team is backboned by lads who won an u21 in 2015 or 2017, but equally they won 3 u21s in a row as you say in the early noughties, but couldn't compete with that Kilkenny team, as couldn't we despite successive u21 Leinsters the same time.
As regards your last paragraph a big effort has been made to change that, even our u12 and u14 finals were in Wexford Park or Ferns last year, our u12s were lucky to play in both places, and you are spot on, it really made an impression on them.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:18:05
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Replying To WEXILE: "Having everything in place is no guarantee that you'll be competitive either. If the quality of player coming in from the clubs is not great then no amount of underage development is going to make them great.
They'll improve and they'll be fit and strong but if you're not great to start with then you won't be great just because you're in a good development atmosphere.
Nothing the county board can do to produce skilful hurlers, not an awful lot clubs can do either apart from good coaching and guidance.
Skills are honed at home on the days that don't count as training. You can roll lift a.ball on a Tuesday and Thursday from age 5 to 18 till the cows come home....if.youre not doing it at home every chance you get you'll never do it quicker than say a kilkenny lad that's so in to hurling that he does it.morning noon and night.
Great players live the game on their own time. Against the barn door and.all that craic.
It's the home environment that fosters the love of the game not the county board and.the clubs can only develop what comes in from the homes.
Its not what are the county boards doing it's what are the parents doing?
Look at hurling families like O Connors and Quigleys, Rackards. No county boards developed those lads.
Each parent into hurling ask yourself are YOU doing enough to have your young lads mad about hurling.....bring em out practicing etc.
I don't think there's enough of that in Wexford" Last line nails the problem. Everyone wants to blame a structure, blame the county board, blame this blame that but how many parents go out in the garden and hurl with their children every day? How many parents use the GAA as a babysitter and the hurl stays in the boot of the car until the next training? I saw it myself, once some of the lads needed no minding any more they gave up and their parents did not care.
But the schools is where Wexford need to target.
Its no surprise that in Kilkenny schools where hurling is every lunch time, every morning before school puck around, etc that they are making hurlers who can compete at the highest level.
I met somebody here recently who was in school in Oulart around the time of Keith Rossiter in Oulart, he said they were hurling in primary school every day. Every single day. Not far off hail, rain, or shine.
That school produced arguably the best Wexford club team and kept Wexford out of the Joe McDonagh Cup because without that Oulart team that is where Wexford would have been.
I bet the Rackards and Quigleys hurled every day in their garden. Different times but still the same game. First touch, right and left, win the ball, move the ball.
I'm not sold on the combined colleges idea peddled by some but I say if something is not working try something different. Try and see how to make it work, and give it a proper go. Get the right people in the room, plan it properly, gauge the interest in Kilmuckridge, Ramsgrange, Gorey, etc and if the interest is enough, then you see how it can be made to properly work.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1817 - 21/04/2025 12:23:04
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Replying To Magpie2: "Our options for replacements in the backs are very limited. Okay Jippo will strengthen our full back line if he's fit to play. Maybe a good move would be to have Simon in the corner Foley at half back and drop Charlie to the bench. Seems harsh on Charlie but it's vital we get our matchups right. I think with that half back line might give our forwards more possession and therefore leading to more scores.
Of course our frontmen apart from Chin will have to graft for the full 70+ minutes and take the chances when they occur.
The Dubs will be better than Antrim and once again I can see it been a tight close encounter.
Let's hope we can build on last Saturday and come away with both points in the bag.
I believe we can do it but as usual they will be confident playing in Parnell Park." I think our backs options on the bench are better than our forward options tbh.
I'd leave Dooley midfield. He's better as a stopper there, has dog and engine, and his club familiarity with Hearne shouldn't be underestimated either.
If Shiner and Jippo are back, and Jacko is suspended, and Jack Redmonds ankle is ok I'd go-
Fanning
S Reck, L Ryan, C Foley
Lawlor, D Reck, Molloy
Donohue, Hearne
Redmond/Dwyer, Chin, K Foley
Byrne, ROC, Dunbar
Forward Replacements would be Mikey if Jack's ankle is OK, Tucker, Darren, not that experienced apart from Mikey, and it gets even less experienced after Tucker and Codd.
While replacement backs would include Eoin Ryan, Charlie, and Niall Murphy who have all started Championship games.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:28:40
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Replying To goreyll: "I saw Oisin Pepper helping out with the team on Saturday and doing some of the drills etc, he seems to have put the work in with regards strength and conditioning. Anyone know if he is on the panel / injured or a prospect?" He's on the panel as far as I know.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:29:37
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Replying To Yellow: "What to do about the underage set up? My solution is this.
When the u16 and minor panel is picked (30 or 40 lads or so) also pick the next 30 who didn't make it and give them the option to join the supplementary panel. They will get the same training, nutrition gym work etc on different days.
Lads at that age grow at different rates and mature at different rates.
The supplementary panel won't have competitive games but can play series of development games against lower level counties and friendly matches including matches against the real panel.
It means that double the lads in those two age groups will be getting top class preparation. And it will lead to a way bigger talent pool by the time they get to senior" I'd agree 100% with that, but obstacles include getting decent coaches to volunteer, it's hard enough to get them for our actual u16s and minors, and money then, as one of the biggest costs as it is are the meal packs.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:32:09
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Replying To Doylerwex: "Don't know why I bothered with the Sunday game.
Most of the programme was the games that were live. Two great games in Munster in fairness.
Then heaping praise on how great Dublin are, then how Offaly can step up.
And oh yeah Wexford won.
I'm really looking forward to next weekend now. Dublin were well organised and pulled it out of the bag when they needed to.
We still have better hurlers but we really have to be up for the battle here to get a result. There's never much between us but we have to have a bit of guts." Felt like I was at a different match to Neil McManus on Saturday too. Antrim were the better team for the first 10 minutes and had a good 5 minutes just after halftime. Other than that we were the better team.
Have to say I was really disappointed with the attendance on Saturday. Small crowds at the other 2 games as well. Maybe it's because games are fixed for Saturdays ?
HurlingBuzz (Wexford) - Posts: 533 - 21/04/2025 12:33:41
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Replying To WEXILE: "Having everything in place is no guarantee that you'll be competitive either. If the quality of player coming in from the clubs is not great then no amount of underage development is going to make them great.
They'll improve and they'll be fit and strong but if you're not great to start with then you won't be great just because you're in a good development atmosphere.
Nothing the county board can do to produce skilful hurlers, not an awful lot clubs can do either apart from good coaching and guidance.
Skills are honed at home on the days that don't count as training. You can roll lift a.ball on a Tuesday and Thursday from age 5 to 18 till the cows come home....if.youre not doing it at home every chance you get you'll never do it quicker than say a kilkenny lad that's so in to hurling that he does it.morning noon and night.
Great players live the game on their own time. Against the barn door and.all that craic.
It's the home environment that fosters the love of the game not the county board and.the clubs can only develop what comes in from the homes.
Its not what are the county boards doing it's what are the parents doing?
Look at hurling families like O Connors and Quigleys, Rackards. No county boards developed those lads.
Each parent into hurling ask yourself are YOU doing enough to have your young lads mad about hurling.....bring em out practicing etc.
I don't think there's enough of that in Wexford" That's definitely true, from talking to Mick Jacob Senior there's been a big drop off in young lads out and about with their hurls pucking a ball since the 60s. Which was coincidentally the last decade we consistently won anything at AI level.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:34:36
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "What's the status on Dónal Burke and Danny Sutcliffe?" Not sure. Sutcliffe looked in some pain with the hamstring tbh. Not sure about Burke. Obviously both are huge players for Dublin, but even if they aren't there Dublin will be hard to beat. Especially in the Nell. And they have some of the best u20s I've seen in Leinster in recent years breaking through, the 2 Purcells and O Dulaing especially.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 12:38:09
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Replying To StoreysTash: "Last line nails the problem. Everyone wants to blame a structure, blame the county board, blame this blame that but how many parents go out in the garden and hurl with their children every day? How many parents use the GAA as a babysitter and the hurl stays in the boot of the car until the next training? I saw it myself, once some of the lads needed no minding any more they gave up and their parents did not care.
But the schools is where Wexford need to target.
Its no surprise that in Kilkenny schools where hurling is every lunch time, every morning before school puck around, etc that they are making hurlers who can compete at the highest level.
I met somebody here recently who was in school in Oulart around the time of Keith Rossiter in Oulart, he said they were hurling in primary school every day. Every single day. Not far off hail, rain, or shine.
That school produced arguably the best Wexford club team and kept Wexford out of the Joe McDonagh Cup because without that Oulart team that is where Wexford would have been.
I bet the Rackards and Quigleys hurled every day in their garden. Different times but still the same game. First touch, right and left, win the ball, move the ball.
I'm not sold on the combined colleges idea peddled by some but I say if something is not working try something different. Try and see how to make it work, and give it a proper go. Get the right people in the room, plan it properly, gauge the interest in Kilmuckridge, Ramsgrange, Gorey, etc and if the interest is enough, then you see how it can be made to properly work." Gorey are Senior B as it is
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 13:06:56
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Replying To HurlingBuzz: "Felt like I was at a different match to Neil McManus on Saturday too. Antrim were the better team for the first 10 minutes and had a good 5 minutes just after halftime. Other than that we were the better team.
Have to say I was really disappointed with the attendance on Saturday. Small crowds at the other 2 games as well. Maybe it's because games are fixed for Saturdays ?" Tbf, we weren't getting big crowds in the league and last year there was about 2k in Corrigan Park and about half of that crowd were from Wexford so the Antrim support on Saturday was always going to be non-existent
Weather and time didn't help either plus it's a lot harder to sell a game versus Antrim than a game against any of our other rivals
Regarding Antrim, if any team in Munster or KK were two points down but a man up after 20 minutes against any other Liam McCarthy team, they'd win easily, we out-scored Antrim by 1-12 to 0-10 when it was 14 v 15 which pretty much tells you all you need to know
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 445 - 21/04/2025 13:44:33
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Replying To Viking66: "Not sure. Sutcliffe looked in some pain with the hamstring tbh. Not sure about Burke. Obviously both are huge players for Dublin, but even if they aren't there Dublin will be hard to beat. Especially in the Nell. And they have some of the best u20s I've seen in Leinster in recent years breaking through, the 2 Purcells and O Dulaing especially." Don't think either of the Purcells played on Saturday though and Ó Dúlaing was taken off at HT
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 445 - 21/04/2025 13:49:00
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Replying To Bon: "That's a great point about the parents. You can see that quite clearly here in kildare. I remember seeing kids coming up through the ranks and from a very early age a lot of the time you could see the kids of guys who played the game progressing a lot quicker than kids who's parents wouldn't have played. This all stems from pucking around at home, being shown good habits." Absolutely, it makes sense doesn't it. Nurture and nature. Training can be only 2 hours a week and in dual clubs it can only be 1 hour a week plus a match every 2nd week.
I see it my own club here, the best lads are the lads who's parents value the game and puck around with the kids. Don't underestimate bringing kids to intercounty games also so they can experience the culture and intensity.
Coincidentally my club played Naas u9s a few weeks ago. Some great little players on the Naas team. Looks like plenty of work going in
WEXILE (Wexford) - Posts: 348 - 21/04/2025 13:49:55
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Tbf, we weren't getting big crowds in the league and last year there was about 2k in Corrigan Park and about half of that crowd were from Wexford so the Antrim support on Saturday was always going to be non-existent
Weather and time didn't help either plus it's a lot harder to sell a game versus Antrim than a game against any of our other rivals
Regarding Antrim, if any team in Munster or KK were two points down but a man up after 20 minutes against any other Liam McCarthy team, they'd win easily, we out-scored Antrim by 1-12 to 0-10 when it was 14 v 15 which pretty much tells you all you need to know" Whilst I don't disagree with anything you've said supporters have 6 opportunities to see Wexford play at home this year. If they're not willing to go to the home games they'll certainly not travel to Parnell park next Saturday or Galway. Lo and behold thousands will suddenly appear for a day out in croke park for a Leinster final should we get there.
HurlingBuzz (Wexford) - Posts: 533 - 21/04/2025 16:00:41
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Happy enough with that, we were sluggish to begin but settled down nicely and got the job done.
Very impressed by Molloy and I think he's cemented his place for the year, looks a serious player and brings physicality that we badly need in defence. Impressed with our work rate also, Donohoe looks a lot better that bit further out the field. Does anyone else think we may be a bit light on the bench at the moment? Was the 60th min before we made any changes and a few players looked nearly out on their feet at that stage.
Not sure what the story with Jippo is and I think on account of the red card he'll start with McGuckin moved to wing forward although I'd like to see Casey or Redmond come in.
OpenStandWall (Wexford) - Posts: 241 - 21/04/2025 17:55:15
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Replying To Viking66: "I think our backs options on the bench are better than our forward options tbh.
I'd leave Dooley midfield. He's better as a stopper there, has dog and engine, and his club familiarity with Hearne shouldn't be underestimated either.
If Shiner and Jippo are back, and Jacko is suspended, and Jack Redmonds ankle is ok I'd go-
Fanning
S Reck, L Ryan, C Foley
Lawlor, D Reck, Molloy
Donohue, Hearne
Redmond/Dwyer, Chin, K Foley
Byrne, ROC, Dunbar
Forward Replacements would be Mikey if Jack's ankle is OK, Tucker, Darren, not that experienced apart from Mikey, and it gets even less experienced after Tucker and Codd.
While replacement backs would include Eoin Ryan, Charlie, and Niall Murphy who have all started Championship games." Obviously Seamus Casey is the main inside forward replacement currently.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15466 - 21/04/2025 18:13:16
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I'd rather see Richie Lawlor in the half-forward line than McGuckian
I wonder would they have been better off giving Jippo some minutes last Saturday, would have meant that he was a little less rusty coming into the Dublin game
Bench is going to be an issue all year long, will get a little bit better if the injuries clear up but is not going to improve markedly, this is where the loss of Oisín Foley really hurts us the most
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 445 - 21/04/2025 18:25:10
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Replying To HurlingBuzz: "Whilst I don't disagree with anything you've said supporters have 6 opportunities to see Wexford play at home this year. If they're not willing to go to the home games they'll certainly not travel to Parnell park next Saturday or Galway. Lo and behold thousands will suddenly appear for a day out in croke park for a Leinster final should we get there." In fairness, its the first major holiday period of the year, especially for families with younger kids. I'm sure there were a load of Easter themed activities booked well in advance for those who didn't go on holidays.
But thats as much to do with the restructuring of the GAA calender as much as anything- clashing with so many other sports now when they basically had the summer sporting market to themselves before.
And traditionally, would a game at home to Antrim really attract a top crowd? Don't think it would.
beano (Wexford) - Posts: 1479 - 21/04/2025 18:26:05
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Replying To WEXILE: "Absolutely, it makes sense doesn't it. Nurture and nature. Training can be only 2 hours a week and in dual clubs it can only be 1 hour a week plus a match every 2nd week.
I see it my own club here, the best lads are the lads who's parents value the game and puck around with the kids. Don't underestimate bringing kids to intercounty games also so they can experience the culture and intensity.
Coincidentally my club played Naas u9s a few weeks ago. Some great little players on the Naas team. Looks like plenty of work going in" Through my job I deal with a lot of rural people, farmers and families, in my old job it would have been even more so but within Leinster mainy.
I've had on occasion met with dozens of famous/well known GAA people and families up and down the country. Whilst shooting the breeze one day in the kitchen of ex Kilkenny all ireland medal winner we are inevitably talking about hurling, I remarked that I passed their club pitch on the way there and they were doing a bit of development work, my remark was "jaysus ye made some hurlers on that patch of grass over the years"
He looked at me smiled, pointed out the kitchen window at the field beside the house and remarked "no we make our hurlers in those fields out there up this way"
It's something that stuck with me, there's too many people within Wexford who want it all done for them, want the county board to do it, want the club to do it but won't be the ones in the garden and the fields doing it themselves.
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1478 - 21/04/2025 18:48:04
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