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Wexford Hurling Thread

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Any update on the make up of our senior backroom team? Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 1118 - 13/08/2026 13:09:21 2689701 Link
Was just doing some digging into some numbers published by the GAA on the number of hurling teams in each county (Numbers were taken from around 2021) We've the 5th most adult hurling teams, the 4th most U20 hurling teams, the 10th most underage hurling teams, and the 9th most hurling teams overall Broken down by per head of population, we're 4th in adult hurling teams, 3rd in U20 hurling teams, 7th in underage hurling teams, and 5th in hurling teams overall In terms of rough overall numbers, the county breakdown is: Cork - 26k hurlers (20k underage) Dublin - 23k (20k underage) Tipp - 15k (12k underage) Galway - 12k (9k underage) Limerick - 11k (8k underage) Waterford - 10k (8k underage) Kilkenny - 9k (7k underage) Clare - 9k (7k underage) Wexford - 9k (6k underage) Kildare - 7k (6k underage) Meath - 6k (5k underage) Antrim - 5k (4k underage) Laois - 4k (3k underage) Offaly - 4k (3k underage) ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 13/08/2026 14:40:49 2689719 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Was just doing some digging into some numbers published by the GAA on the number of hurling teams in each county (Numbers were taken from around 2021) We've the 5th most adult hurling teams, the 4th most U20 hurling teams, the 10th most underage hurling teams, and the 9th most hurling teams overall Broken down by per head of population, we're 4th in adult hurling teams, 3rd in U20 hurling teams, 7th in underage hurling teams, and 5th in hurling teams overall In terms of rough overall numbers, the county breakdown is: Cork - 26k hurlers (20k underage) Dublin - 23k (20k underage) Tipp - 15k (12k underage) Galway - 12k (9k underage) Limerick - 11k (8k underage) Waterford - 10k (8k underage) Kilkenny - 9k (7k underage) Clare - 9k (7k underage) Wexford - 9k (6k underage) Kildare - 7k (6k underage) Meath - 6k (5k underage) Antrim - 5k (4k underage) Laois - 4k (3k underage) Offaly - 4k (3k underage)" FYI, figures relating to the number of registered teams in football & hurling, and at what grades (i.e. adult, U20/U21, and underage) are included in the annual reports each year. The most recent ones, relating to team registrations during 2025, are at page 112 of the document here: https://www.gaa.ie/api/images/image/upload/t_q-best/prd/vbixfzsvoglf5qnvh4yf.pdf The numbers nerd in me always finds them interesting, and one thing I sometimes point to is: - Kilkenny has more adult football teams than 18 other counties have adult hurling teams - And likewise, they have more underage football teams than 14 other counties have underage hurling teams And yet Kilkenny are always the ones criticised for "neglecting" one of the two sports. Fact of the matter is that they actually have more football than approximately half of the rest of the country has hurling. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3880 - 13/08/2026 17:17:40 2689751 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Dee O'Keefe teaches in Bridgetown. Problem with Peters is they do Badminton, Basketball etc in double PE. And they dont have a double Games class at all. Thats 1st year. All they do is one training session a week after school, and 20 minutes at lunchtime. When approached about this they said academic results were more important than GAA, although how the 2 things are mutually exclusive is beyond me. Plenty of other big secondary schools around the country, including Good Counsel, do as well as Peters academically and still have 2 double classes a week to train and play GAA in. Plus training after school." Don't post here very often but said I'd put my tuppence in on this one. Im a past pupil of St Peter's and still have a big interest in the extra curricular of the school. Was talking to a close friend of mine lately whose son was in St Peter's last year and played first year hurling under Rory Jacob and he said the level of coaching and amount of hurling he got each week was brilliant right from the first week of September until May with at least 3 sessions of hurling each weeks. The team played a lovely brand of hurling full of skill intelligence and movement. St Peter's have won three in a row Wexford and Leinster first yr hurling championships with Rory being at the helm for all. He has seemingly gone back right to the roots of the school to try to raise standards again at that level in the hope of bringing through a conveyor belt of teams. Conor Hearne was in the school for one year a few years ago on teaching practice but moved on. There's an issue in the school with the amount of real genuine quality and interested teachers to develop and coach hurling which can make things difficult when trying to develop the game right throughout the school. Thomas Gleeson the Wexford u19 manager is in the school as senior manager the last four or five years and is a very passionate and interested individual. The hope is to have a genuinely competitive senior team again in two or three years but for the next few years things will be difficult at senior level as there was a big deficit in quality players who came into the school from primary school level but this seems to have improved slightly. Clarkie494 (Wexford) - Posts: 4 - 14/08/2026 02:43:18 2689790 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Was just doing some digging into some numbers published by the GAA on the number of hurling teams in each county (Numbers were taken from around 2021) We've the 5th most adult hurling teams, the 4th most U20 hurling teams, the 10th most underage hurling teams, and the 9th most hurling teams overall Broken down by per head of population, we're 4th in adult hurling teams, 3rd in U20 hurling teams, 7th in underage hurling teams, and 5th in hurling teams overall In terms of rough overall numbers, the county breakdown is: Cork - 26k hurlers (20k underage) Dublin - 23k (20k underage) Tipp - 15k (12k underage) Galway - 12k (9k underage) Limerick - 11k (8k underage) Waterford - 10k (8k underage) Kilkenny - 9k (7k underage) Clare - 9k (7k underage) Wexford - 9k (6k underage) Kildare - 7k (6k underage) Meath - 6k (5k underage) Antrim - 5k (4k underage) Laois - 4k (3k underage) Offaly - 4k (3k underage)" The problem with those figures is it doesn't take into account our duality. Our Football numbers would look great compared to alot of Football counties also. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 14/08/2026 07:18:14 2689797 Link
Thought this might be of interest - https://www.limerickleader.ie/sport/hurling/limerick-gaa-in-search-of-academy-strength-and-conditioning-coaches-8920616 What's our set-up like in terms of S&C coaches employed by the CB? ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 14/08/2026 10:52:39 2689831 Link
Replying To Clarkie494: "Don't post here very often but said I'd put my tuppence in on this one. Im a past pupil of St Peter's and still have a big interest in the extra curricular of the school. Was talking to a close friend of mine lately whose son was in St Peter's last year and played first year hurling under Rory Jacob and he said the level of coaching and amount of hurling he got each week was brilliant right from the first week of September until May with at least 3 sessions of hurling each weeks. The team played a lovely brand of hurling full of skill intelligence and movement. St Peter's have won three in a row Wexford and Leinster first yr hurling championships with Rory being at the helm for all. He has seemingly gone back right to the roots of the school to try to raise standards again at that level in the hope of bringing through a conveyor belt of teams. Conor Hearne was in the school for one year a few years ago on teaching practice but moved on. There's an issue in the school with the amount of real genuine quality and interested teachers to develop and coach hurling which can make things difficult when trying to develop the game right throughout the school. Thomas Gleeson the Wexford u19 manager is in the school as senior manager the last four or five years and is a very passionate and interested individual. The hope is to have a genuinely competitive senior team again in two or three years but for the next few years things will be difficult at senior level as there was a big deficit in quality players who came into the school from primary school level but this seems to have improved slightly." Rory is a good man from a good family and a good coach, but the 3 sessions a week that were the case the previous 2 years at 1st year when another Oulart man went in there to give them a hand didnt happen there this year just gone, as the other man got a job in another county and wasnt around in the evenings after work/school any more. There was 1 session a week the year just gone, nearly no 15 on 15 internal games, and a short session one lunchtime a week. I know personally 10 lads who were in 1st year at Peters this year just gone. As regards the quality deficit Im afraid thats a pure red herring. Most of the clubs feeding into Good Counsel were div 4 and div 5, or the lower divisions in Kilkenny. Nearly all the clubs feeding into Peters were div 1 and div 2. Witness the fact that Good Counsel had 5 lads on u14 development squads between 3 in Kilkenny and 2 in Wexford, while Peters had 16 at the start of the year which rose to around 20 now. Peters probably shouldve won the Wexford first year final by loads more taking that into account, but instead had to rely on poor shooting from Good Counsel and a well taken goal by Sean O'Callaghan when trailing at the death to nick it. I was at the game. Good Counsel played in Leinster A at 1st year and reached the final. St Marys CBS Enniscorthy were in Leinster A also, and lost their quarter final to Good Counsel. Peters chose to enter Leinster B again this year, despite winning the previous 2 Leinster B finals by around 20 odd points. They won the Leinster B final this year by a landslide again. Its poor out of them putting themselves in that competition every year, and poor out of Leinster to let them do it. Its bad for the development of our young hurlers, and bad for the Leinster B competition as a whole. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 14/08/2026 11:11:48 2689837 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "FYI, figures relating to the number of registered teams in football & hurling, and at what grades (i.e. adult, U20/U21, and underage) are included in the annual reports each year. The most recent ones, relating to team registrations during 2025, are at page 112 of the document here: https://www.gaa.ie/api/images/image/upload/t_q-best/prd/vbixfzsvoglf5qnvh4yf.pdf The numbers nerd in me always finds them interesting, and one thing I sometimes point to is: - Kilkenny has more adult football teams than 18 other counties have adult hurling teams - And likewise, they have more underage football teams than 14 other counties have underage hurling teams And yet Kilkenny are always the ones criticised for "neglecting" one of the two sports. Fact of the matter is that they actually have more football than approximately half of the rest of the country has hurling." Yeah, I think a lot of the hurling clubs in hurling counties at least have football teams, mightn't have good ones and might barely play it but at least there's a token effort Then you go to the likes of Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo, Louth, Roscommon, Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh, Fermanagh, and Longford…. You couldn't even say these counties make a token effort at trying to promote hurling ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 14/08/2026 11:12:47 2689838 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Thought this might be of interest - https://www.limerickleader.ie/sport/hurling/limerick-gaa-in-search-of-academy-strength-and-conditioning-coaches-8920616 What's our set-up like in terms of S&C coaches employed by the CB?" We still havent replaced our Head of Athletic Development....... Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 14/08/2026 11:15:29 2689840 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Thought this might be of interest - https://www.limerickleader.ie/sport/hurling/limerick-gaa-in-search-of-academy-strength-and-conditioning-coaches-8920616 What's our set-up like in terms of S&C coaches employed by the CB?" We still havent replaced our Head of Athletic Development....... We have a good man still employed, Eoin Devine-O'Grady is excellent. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 14/08/2026 11:17:14 2689841 Link
Replying To Clarkie494: "Don't post here very often but said I'd put my tuppence in on this one. Im a past pupil of St Peter's and still have a big interest in the extra curricular of the school. Was talking to a close friend of mine lately whose son was in St Peter's last year and played first year hurling under Rory Jacob and he said the level of coaching and amount of hurling he got each week was brilliant right from the first week of September until May with at least 3 sessions of hurling each weeks. The team played a lovely brand of hurling full of skill intelligence and movement. St Peter's have won three in a row Wexford and Leinster first yr hurling championships with Rory being at the helm for all. He has seemingly gone back right to the roots of the school to try to raise standards again at that level in the hope of bringing through a conveyor belt of teams. Conor Hearne was in the school for one year a few years ago on teaching practice but moved on. There's an issue in the school with the amount of real genuine quality and interested teachers to develop and coach hurling which can make things difficult when trying to develop the game right throughout the school. Thomas Gleeson the Wexford u19 manager is in the school as senior manager the last four or five years and is a very passionate and interested individual. The hope is to have a genuinely competitive senior team again in two or three years but for the next few years things will be difficult at senior level as there was a big deficit in quality players who came into the school from primary school level but this seems to have improved slightly." 3 in a row B. Ridiculous. Trump2 (Wexford) - Posts: 12 - 14/08/2026 11:59:41 2689857 Link
Replying To Trump2: "3 in a row B. Ridiculous." Three years in a row in B championship? countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 1081 - 15/08/2026 08:47:04 2689960 Link
Replying To countyman2022: "Three years in a row in B championship?" Yes. 1st year Leinster B. Really putting themselves under pressure. Trump2 (Wexford) - Posts: 12 - 15/08/2026 10:50:12 2689963 Link
Replying To Trump2: "Yes. 1st year Leinster B. Really putting themselves under pressure." Not good for Wexford if the main GAA secondary school in the town is playing lower level B championship. Could understand if it was a Gorey school. Wexford town would be a pull of primarily hurling clubs. countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 1081 - 15/08/2026 13:53:37 2689985 Link
Replying To countyman2022: "Not good for Wexford if the main GAA secondary school in the town is playing lower level B championship. Could understand if it was a Gorey school. Wexford town would be a pull of primarily hurling clubs." I think I'd be more worried about the lowering of standards than anything else, I know they haven't really been capable of competing with the likes of Kieran's for a long time and they've fallen behind Kilkenny CBS and Counsel in the last 10-15 years but Peter's would still probably be better off playing these teams even if they were to lose (And lose heavily) than "building confidence" at a lower level ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 15/08/2026 14:26:05 2689989 Link
Some poor enough results in the end of season underage competitions. U15s did ok won 2 out of 2 so far, the As beat a Tipp B team in the Arrabawn Shield final and the Bs won their semifinal against Kerry, with the John Doyle Cup final against Antrim to come for the B team, the u16s lost all 4 games and the u14s lost 3 out of 4, 2 very badly. We have a huge amount of workons on the pitch and on the line. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 15/08/2026 15:49:10 2689995 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Some poor enough results in the end of season underage competitions. U15s did ok won 2 out of 2 so far, the As beat a Tipp B team in the Arrabawn Shield final and the Bs won their semifinal against Kerry, with the John Doyle Cup final against Antrim to come for the B team, the u16s lost all 4 games and the u14s lost 3 out of 4, 2 very badly. We have a huge amount of workons on the pitch and on the line." I really fear for us in the next few years Viking. We really need results both in underage and senior to start turning soon and it's going to take a lot of work Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 1118 - 15/08/2026 22:17:48 2690021 Link
The underage competitions are a bit hard to follow but here's what I think is the case, U15 probably the easiest to follow U15 Arrabawn A Cup SFs KK 2-11 Tipp Blue 1-13 Limerick 2-19 Waterford 0-11 Final Kilkenny beat Limerick U15 Arrabawn A Shield SFs Cork Red 6-21 Dublin 1-09 Laois 3-12 Galway 1-17 Final Cork Red 7-20 Laois 0-10 U15 Arrabawn A Cup Final Wexford 2-16 Tipperary Gold 3-06 (Saw somewhere on Twitter that says Tipp got 3-09) U15 Arrabawn B Shield Final Cork White 6-20 Clare Saffron 1-07 U15 John Doyle A Cup SFs Wexford 4-12 Kerry 3-10 Antrim 3-11 Kildare 1-12 As for prior results this year, the U15 A's lost to Cork White by 5-21 to 3-13, Tipperary Blue by 3-25 to 1-17, and Waterford by 4-17 to 3-13 and they then beat Clare Saffron by 6-25 to 0-10 while the U15 B's beat Wicklow 11-21 to 0-05, Carlow by 1-17 to 1-12, and Antrim Saffron by 5-22 to 1-05 U16 a bit more complicated to get my head around and it's harder to find results for these but the old Eugene Carey in Kilworth looked like the main competition, then there was the Michael Foley and some other competition where a Clare team played against Laois and Offaly, Cork also won some sort of competition in Dublin so it's all a bit of a mess Galway defeated Waterford by a point in the U16 final; Galway had beaten Cork by 1-24 to 0-12 and Waterford had beaten Limerick in the other SF. Limerick beat Cork in the Shield by a point U16 Hurling Michael Foley Cup Semi-Final Wexford vs Tipperary (Looks like Wexford lost here and then lost the 3rd vs 4th playoff) Kilkenny vs Dublin U16 Hurling Michael Foley Shield Semi-Finals Dublin 2-15 Wexford 2-06 Kildare 4-10 Clare Blue 1-11 Final Kildare 2-14 Dublin 1-09 3rd/4th place playoff Clare Blue 0-20 Wexford 1-11 I don't think Wexford won a competitive game at U16 all year because the website says the A's lost to Waterford by 3-24 to 1-12 and drew with Laois 0-17 to 2-11 and the B's lost to Tipperary Gold 6-18 to 0-14, Cork White by 4-31 to 1-11, and Clare Blue by 5-22 to 1-10 U14 results not publicly listed although per Twitter, Wexford Gold were up against Galway White in the Leinster Tier 1 Cup SF with two Kilkenny teams against each other in the other SF and then Wexford Purple were against Dublin Navy in the Leinster Tier 1 Shield Semi-Final with Galway White (Doesn't make sense?) against Dublin Blue in the other SF See elsewhere that Laois U14 A lost to Galway B, find it all a bit confusing tbh ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 1500 - 15/08/2026 23:31:40 2690027 Link
Replying To Afinestick96: "I really fear for us in the next few years Viking. We really need results both in underage and senior to start turning soon and it's going to take a lot of work" The outlook is extremely bleak. countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 1081 - 16/08/2026 09:44:44 2690035 Link
Replying To Afinestick96: "I really fear for us in the next few years Viking. We really need results both in underage and senior to start turning soon and it's going to take a lot of work" The following arent any direct criticisms of any particular coaches, moreso suggestions after watching alot of county teams games, challenge games and a few training sessions this year- 1- we need more award 2 level coaches involved with every team. 2- Our managements need to start looking at the lads they have and tailor gameplans to suit them, especially at u16 upwards, but also starting with this at u15. Playing Facts, and Tactical prowess and Team play. 3- They need to do more 15 on 15 work with actual coaching. Freeze the game when someone does something poor with the ball or without it and explain to the lads why it was poor. I watched some 15 on 15 training games and there was no communication from the coaches whatsoever. Technical proficiency and Playing facts. 4- alot of the drills/sessions dont have much intensity, or element of competition as in races between boys or groups of boys against eachother in linear drills or small sided games. If we did more of this we would improve Physical Fitness as well as Technical Proficiency. 5- we are great people all the way down for letting our heads drop. We should put more emphasis on Psychological Focus. 6- our coaches and players are in general too quiet, very little positive communication . I imagine Player Feedback is likely poor too, although I havent attended any team meetings. It was noticeable in Belfield that our u16As played better in the second half of the game against Dublin when the management, or one of them, got more vocal. He was very positive, made changes, and offered positive encouragement. If they had of been more like that against Tipp As in the second half of the 1st game and the 1st half of the Dublin gane they might have beaten them both. 7- our Senior and Minor teams suffered similarly. 8- our u20s were better. This is a useful read for anyone involved in coaching, but it would match them better to go on the Award 2 course. Wexford GAA need to push this. https://connachtgaa.ie/coaching/coach-education/otu-coaching-model/ Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20515 - 16/08/2026 10:38:48 2690039 Link