National Forum

Hurling Championship 2026

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Replying To M Lyster:  "Dublin v Kilkenny is the key game next weekend, assuming Galway & Offaly win their games:

Dublin win = Dublin v Galway final, Offaly 3rd
Draw = Galway v Dublin final, Kilkenny 3rd
Kilkenny win = Galway v Kilkenny final, Dublin 3rd

Dublin are already guaranteed All-Ireland stage, Galway are almost there, Kilkenny will qualify if they win next weekend, Offaly need a Dublin win or a points difference swing of +30 in the event of a draw at Parnell Park or a +37 swing if Galway lose to Wexford."
Parnell is the key game. Could be defining moment for ourselves, Cats and Offaly.

Dublin need to treat this as though it is final. We have never met them in such an important game. And i include 2013 and 2011 league final.

I can not wait. Chance to test themselves against a team that is carrying history and tradition on its back.

Bate the Stripey Men or die!

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4304 - 17/05/2026 21:58:32    2673680

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "On the Viking66 & BaldyBadger discussion above about dual players -

I have neither the time nor inclination right now to go down the rabbit hole of checking which level of club football that Cork hurler X might play, or which level of club hurling that Dublin footballer Y might play. But since BaldyBadger was the one to mention Dublin, what I will point out is this:

- When Kilmacud Crokes reached the Leinster Club Final in both codes in 2022, there wasn't a single player common to their starting 15s.
- On the other hand, when St. Martin's won senior hurling & intermediate football here in Wexford last year, there were 12 starting players common between the teams - i.e. a dozen who played the hurling final with their first team one week togged out to start a football final with their first team the following week.

And that's not unusual. There's barely a club here in the county where if you looked at their starting 15 in one code, there wouldn't be at least ten of them in their starting 15 in the other. The lad who plays one at the highest level but just togs out in the other down the grades somewhere or who doesn't play it at all is very much in the minority.

And that's the big elephant we always have in the room here:
- Biggest thing holding back Wexford hurling is Wexford football, and
- Biggest thing holding back Wexford football is Wexford hurling."
Ah lads give it a rest..

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 09:16:26    2673739

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Re Tipp - Donal Og was right. They fall as fast as they rise. There will be serious questions asked down there, as bar the first half v Waterford, they have looked very ordinary indeed

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 10:17:55    2673751

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Ah lads give it a rest.."
Forums are for discussing stuff, and we were discussing stuff?!!!!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19668 - 18/05/2026 11:22:20    2673800

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Replying To Viking66:  "Forums are for discussing stuff, and we were discussing stuff?!!!!"
Discussions are good. Constantly making excuses; not so good.

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 11:59:34    2673817

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Replying To Viking66:  "I blame our defeats on not being good enough to win. And I personally dont have a problem with Galway playing in our Championship.
What I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food.
As regards Galway being in Leinster there are legitimate arguments put to me by friends about how its been holding Wexford hurling back the last 10 years. As a county a far higher proportion of our hurling population, adult and underage, play football and soccer at a comparable level to the level they hurl at than is the case in any other hurling county. Including the middle tier hurling counties. Whenever we win a Leinster title, there's a noticeable uptick in numbers pucking a ball around, especially in urban areas, towns and villages. In the last 10 years we might have won 3 or 4 more Leinster titles if you hadn't been in Leinster, including a 3 in a row between 2017 and 2019. We would probably have made the 2020 final also. That wouldve been massive for raising hurlings profile down here, and would have encouraged more young lads to take up hurling, more to stay at it, and more parents to get involved in coaching also. With obvious benefits to hurling in the county, at club and county level, on and off the field of play.
The worst thing about it is your lads winning a Leinster title at any level doesn't give the sport any kind of boost up your way, as you arent even from Leinster. It means nothing other than a stepping stone."
This is not a discussion, it's a rant and some of it is quite insulting. Firstly, you continuously call the Leinster Championship "our championship" and give the impressive that Galway and Antrim should be grateful to be allowed to play in it. You'll be a long time waiting if you think either county will genuflect to your silly demands. The traditional Leinster knock-out championship is gone and gone for good reasons.
You wrote, "what I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food." This sounds like Arlene Foster and her crocodile comment! There are some understanding and decent Wexford posters on this forum and I know Wexford is a good hurling county but comments like these are unwelcome.

Crashingwaves (Galway) - Posts: 340 - 18/05/2026 12:00:42    2673819

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Re Tipp - Donal Og was right. They fall as fast as they rise. There will be serious questions asked down there, as bar the first half v Waterford, they have looked very ordinary indeed"
Winning does seem to soften you and the munster championship will find you out if you are not fully on it. Even limerick didnt win in 2019 and then came back to win the 4 in a row.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 411 - 18/05/2026 12:45:36    2673843

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "Winning does seem to soften you and the munster championship will find you out if you are not fully on it. Even limerick didnt win in 2019 and then came back to win the 4 in a row."
To be fair to Tipp, they have won 4 in the last 2 decades.

Crashingwaves (Galway) - Posts: 340 - 18/05/2026 12:59:47    2673852

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Discussions are good. Constantly making excuses; not so good."
Excuses and/or reasons given as opinions on anonymous forums arent going to change anything on the field of play, you are spot on about that.
Discussing ideas to make things better might, but again, its only an anonymous forum at the end of the day.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19668 - 18/05/2026 14:02:18    2673872

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "To be fair to Tipp, they have won 4 in the last 2 decades."
5 in the last 25 years. Im sure me and you both would like our counties to have had that success.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19668 - 18/05/2026 14:03:26    2673875

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "To be fair to Tipp, they have won 4 in the last 2 decades."
Agreed, and I'd love it if we had won even half of that haul in the last 2 decades, but it was the manner of their defeat on Saturday that would be the huge concern. They were abysmal on their own patch and offered absolutely nothing as an attacking unit. For me it actually highlights how bad our capitulation was in the final last year, as their performances this year would leave you scratching your head as to how they won the AI... But they did win it, and that's all that counts

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 14:44:12    2673896

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "This is not a discussion, it's a rant and some of it is quite insulting. Firstly, you continuously call the Leinster Championship "our championship" and give the impressive that Galway and Antrim should be grateful to be allowed to play in it. You'll be a long time waiting if you think either county will genuflect to your silly demands. The traditional Leinster knock-out championship is gone and gone for good reasons.
You wrote, "what I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food." This sounds like Arlene Foster and her crocodile comment! There are some understanding and decent Wexford posters on this forum and I know Wexford is a good hurling county but comments like these are unwelcome."
If you're thinking of Arlene Foster and crocodiles, I'm thinking of a guy called Joe and our college days in UCD.

I was sharing a flat with three other lads from home. Joe asked at one stage if he could come stay for a while, when he was stuck for a place of his own. We let him in. For the first few nights, he was grand. Brought us for pints. Cooked the dinner and washed up afterwards. Even cleaned the jacks.

But six weeks later, he was still there. When one of the others got a bit annoyed with him one night and ended up asking "when you are moving out of our flat anyway?", he answered "what do you mean your flat? Sure I live here now too!"

Not entirely dissimilar to your view on Galway's place in "our" Leinster Championship. :D

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3639 - 18/05/2026 14:46:05    2673897

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Replying To Viking66:  "Excuses and/or reasons given as opinions on anonymous forums arent going to change anything on the field of play, you are spot on about that.
Discussing ideas to make things better might, but again, its only an anonymous forum at the end of the day."
Agreed that discussing things to glean some learnings might make things better, but listing excuses on an anonymous forum to people from other counties definitely won't

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 14:48:07    2673900

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Re Tipp - Donal Og was right. They fall as fast as they rise. There will be serious questions asked down there, as bar the first half v Waterford, they have looked very ordinary indeed"
Makes getting hammered in last years Final by Tipp very ordinary indeed.

katser (Galway) - Posts: 2839 - 18/05/2026 14:55:59    2673905

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Agreed that discussing things to glean some learnings might make things better, but listing excuses on an anonymous forum to people from other counties definitely won't"
Unfortunately for us our duality is a reason not an excuse. And much though it would probably help us if half our clubs gave up Football, and the other half gave up hurling, thats just not going to happen after 150 odd years.
Obviously its not the only reason we arent winning as many games as we would like to, but it definitely is a reason.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19668 - 18/05/2026 15:31:03    2673909

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Replying To katser:  "Makes getting hammered in last years Final by Tipp very ordinary indeed."
See my above post to your fellow county man

bloodandbandage (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 18/05/2026 15:31:15    2673910

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "This is not a discussion, it's a rant and some of it is quite insulting. Firstly, you continuously call the Leinster Championship "our championship" and give the impressive that Galway and Antrim should be grateful to be allowed to play in it. You'll be a long time waiting if you think either county will genuflect to your silly demands. The traditional Leinster knock-out championship is gone and gone for good reasons.
You wrote, "what I do have a problem with is posters who are like the hungry neighbour you invite round for dinner, who then starts complaining about the food." This sounds like Arlene Foster and her crocodile comment! There are some understanding and decent Wexford posters on this forum and I know Wexford is a good hurling county but comments like these are unwelcome."
Arlene Foster?! Thats pretty low!!!!!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19668 - 18/05/2026 15:31:57    2673911

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Replying To Crashingwaves:  "To be fair to Tipp, they have won 4 in the last 2 decades."
4 in 15 years and 5 in 25 years. That's a decent haul. In fairness to them, when they get to a final, they have a great record of getting the job done.
Tipp can be dangerous in any given year as they have talent coming through most years and always seem to produce quality forwards.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2808 - 18/05/2026 15:37:38    2673914

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Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Agreed, and I'd love it if we had won even half of that haul in the last 2 decades, but it was the manner of their defeat on Saturday that would be the huge concern. They were abysmal on their own patch and offered absolutely nothing as an attacking unit. For me it actually highlights how bad our capitulation was in the final last year, as their performances this year would leave you scratching your head as to how they won the AI... But they did win it, and that's all that counts"
I felt sorry for Pat Ryan, always comes across as an honest, decent and knowledgeable fellow. I would not have that regard for Cusack, abrasive and insulting at times, esp to Joe Canning re Galway and Clare Hurling on live tv! He should compare his club's record with Portumna or his own record with Joe's!

Crashingwaves (Galway) - Posts: 340 - 18/05/2026 15:40:00    2673915

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On a separate note can an umpire inform the referee on a dropped hurley pass as in Limerick v Waterford yesterday or are they just there as ornaments to flag scores and wides.

Gillo (UK) - Posts: 12 - 18/05/2026 15:50:51    2673919

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