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Galway Hurling thread

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Replying To Bib: "Seriously, criticism of a young player on this forum is ridiculous, or any player for that matter, Most of these lads have been in an academy system since 13 years of age , on the assumption that they were being readied for adult hurling, so the question should be , what has been happening in the 6-7 years that these lads have been in the "system" , any young fella playing senior for galway would have been clearly above average at their age group even from 13or 14 years of age , why o why weren't they resourced and supported in a competent environment to have them ready, taking Cathal o Niell from limerick as an example, he has transformed physically since being a 16 year old minor , his contemporaries in galway haven't progressed at all in that department ," As I said- it's not his fault he shouldn't be there yet, he's not ready. If you think that's a ridiculous statement I suggest you stop being so woke and accept someone else opinion BigBàsMan (Galway) - Posts: 88 - 29/01/2025 11:08:24 2588314 Link
Replying To BigBàsMan: "As I said- it's not his fault he shouldn't be there yet, he's not ready. If you think that's a ridiculous statement I suggest you stop being so woke and accept someone else opinion" The point is why is he or any of our young players not ready , and so aside from guessing his weight as you did in previous post why not look deeper , the tipp freetaker was playing schools hurling last year and has clearly improved in all physical metrics in the interim , we'd all love to have wristy lads with a few naturally strong men mixed in but the reality now is that won't cut it at intercounty level anymore , And hardly "woke" to suggest personal criticism of a debutant is out of order, Bib (Galway) - Posts: 16 - 29/01/2025 11:34:59 2588322 Link
Replying To BigBàsMan: "As I said- it's not his fault he shouldn't be there yet, he's not ready. If you think that's a ridiculous statement I suggest you stop being so woke and accept someone else opinion" Everything is "woke" nowadays. TanCanRan (Galway) - Posts: 247 - 29/01/2025 14:19:25 2588367 Link
Replying To Pope_Benedict: "What would starting the rebuild process 3-4 years ago have achieved? Very little, I'd warrant. Cork rebuilt with u21s who lost the '18 and '19 finals, and won the '20 '21 and '23 finals. Galway haven't won in this grade since 2011, and have been uncompetitive in the grade more often than not recently. Yet, you're talking about Cork and Galway 'rebuilding', as if it were essentially the same exercise, that could deliver similar end product. Dream on!!" Clare I think have won one underage title in 10 years and they are senior League and All Ireland champions. KK in their heyday didn't win much underage either but managed to bring up players to senior level and win senior AIs. Underage success does not guarantee senior success, in fact I would say the Limerick team that dominated the last 6+ years may not have done so if John Kiely and team were not in charge. I did not compare Galway to Cork, what I actually said is that the game is changing again and I see burning speed and ball control as important factors over physical size and Cork are the closest to what I see as a team build with potential for the next 4-5 years. Then I said Galway need a rebuild and it was obvious from 3-4 years ago, we all knew that Galway were nowhere near contenders since 2019-20 and from there on we hoped a couple of outside mangers could get some magic out of an aging and tired squad. They failed big time. Rebuilds are no guarantee of success but the alternative is much worse and possibly embarrassing. Maybe we don't have the hurlers to compete, maybe our academy is lacking, maybe we don't have the money to invest, but hurling is becoming a younger mans game and players the wrong side of 30 typically have lost a step, there ARE outliers but for the majority you have two choices keep players past their sell by date or look to rebuild. BostonGuy (Galway) - Posts: 139 - 29/01/2025 15:15:52 2588374 Link
Replying To Pope_Benedict: "We produced stronger tougher fitter 'wristier' hurlers 40 years ago, when lads druv cattle with their hurls, than what's emerging from the gyms and 'academys' these days." aye and footing turf in Atymon bog before lining out in the evening in minor county trials. waterside4 (Galway) - Posts: 35 - 29/01/2025 16:53:51 2588395 Link
Replying To Pope_Benedict: "We produced stronger tougher fitter 'wristier' hurlers 40 years ago, when lads druv cattle with their hurls, than what's emerging from the gyms and 'academys' these days." and don't forget that they ran 5 miles to and from the fields up hill both ways! and then has a supper of Steak and spuds washed down with unpasteurized milk before heading off to training! The GAA player of today is semi-professional athlete, the skills of the game have evolved. Sport science, technology and game strategies have a huge impact. New Hurleys, sliotars etc have made the game way faster than it was even 20 years ago. Not saying the older hurlers of yesteryear could not have adapted to the modern game, Skill is God given but they wouldn't last 15 mins without the conditioning of the modern player. BostonGuy (Galway) - Posts: 139 - 29/01/2025 19:44:30 2588417 Link
Replying To Bib: "The point is why is he or any of our young players not ready , and so aside from guessing his weight as you did in previous post why not look deeper , the tipp freetaker was playing schools hurling last year and has clearly improved in all physical metrics in the interim , we'd all love to have wristy lads with a few naturally strong men mixed in but the reality now is that won't cut it at intercounty level anymore , And hardly "woke" to suggest personal criticism of a debutant is out of order," It's is woke. Anyone that dons a county jersey is going to get criticism, it's unrealistic and I you're missing my point I said it's not his fault he shouldn't be there. Management threw him on the deep end and as John McIntyre said in the tribune this week there was a few completely out of their depth for Galway. BigBàsMan (Galway) - Posts: 88 - 30/01/2025 11:51:33 2588474 Link
We've done nothing at U20 level for over a decade now. That's where the problem is. Even with a clatter of successful minor sides they still didn't kick on at U20 level. Minor is children's hurling really and is no barometer at all of future senior success but U21/20 is a far more relevant form guide. Since we last won the U21/20 in 2011 we've only reached two finals in 2016 and 2021 and we got hammered out the gate in both. Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2322 - 30/01/2025 12:22:44 2588480 Link
Some lads on this thread giving out that Shefflin didnt blood new players but on the other hand giving out about young lads being too young and light on Sunday. Its the league , its a new team , lads will play, lads will shine others wont . But its the only way to find out .Look at the footballers they got relegated a few years ago with a changing team and came back up . John Kielys Limerick didnt go too well in his first year and thrived in year 2/3 . Tipp are always flying in the league Galways big games are in Leinster in a few months time KK might beat us again Sunday, but we could learn a bit more . Trust the man that brought us Liam, he got a few trimmings in the league with Dublin last year and performed when it mattered. puckemhard (Galway) - Posts: 231 - 30/01/2025 13:04:32 2588487 Link
Replying To BigBàsMan: "It's is woke. Anyone that dons a county jersey is going to get criticism, it's unrealistic and I you're missing my point I said it's not his fault he shouldn't be there. Management threw him on the deep end and as John McIntyre said in the tribune this week there was a few completely out of their depth for Galway." John McIntyre puts his name to any criticism and can be confronted by family members of players, so he'll have to stand over his opinion. The BigBàsMan is an anonymous account on an internet forum. There is a clear difference. TanCanRan (Galway) - Posts: 247 - 30/01/2025 13:07:37 2588489 Link
All eyes on the team announcement now. If Michéal goes with youth and inexperience again fair play to him. If he panics and names the "old guard" it says a lot about him as well. BaileCrann (Down) - Posts: 61 - 31/01/2025 10:27:21 2588594 Link
Replying To BaileCrann: "All eyes on the team announcement now. If Michéal goes with youth and inexperience again fair play to him. If he panics and names the "old guard" it says a lot about him as well." He has to go with the youth again imo. We have flogged all we can out of the old guard and we need to find new leaders and talent. Some of the old guard like the Mannions and Daithi will return but we should I think save them for later in the year and allow these news lads a few games in a row to grow into it Trucker1 (Galway) - Posts: 405 - 31/01/2025 14:28:19 2588639 Link
An interesting line up. Looking forward to seeing how some them perform. No better place to see what a man is made of. Armchairreporter (Galway) - Posts: 86 - 31/01/2025 21:08:47 2588694 Link
Pres won Senior Schools final , poor quality final , Jason Rabbitte stood out but they probably struggle against Munster and Kilkenny teams, don't seem to have the quality in Goals, full back line bar Murphy , midfield, forwards reliant on Rabbitte, maybe Niland be back for All-Ireland series. Plenty to work on , especially fitness. WesternSeaBoard (Galway) - Posts: 141 - 01/02/2025 19:00:16 2588784 Link
Replying To WesternSeaBoard: "Pres won Senior Schools final , poor quality final , Jason Rabbitte stood out but they probably struggle against Munster and Kilkenny teams, don't seem to have the quality in Goals, full back line bar Murphy , midfield, forwards reliant on Rabbitte, maybe Niland be back for All-Ireland series. Plenty to work on , especially fitness." Is Niland injured? Saw him listed in the subs. Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2306 - 01/02/2025 20:51:17 2588804 Link
Replying To Trump2020: "Is Niland injured? Saw him listed in the subs." Did Hamstring in Club Senior Championship, second time last year, he was only coming back , bad decision at time by bridge management at time. I think he had it operated on. WesternSeaBoard (Galway) - Posts: 141 - 01/02/2025 21:08:31 2588805 Link
Replying To WesternSeaBoard: "Did Hamstring in Club Senior Championship, second time last year, he was only coming back , bad decision at time by bridge management at time. I think he had it operated on." Your mixing up Aaron and Evan me thinks jm25 (Galway) - Posts: 1319 - 02/02/2025 03:38:22 2588828 Link
Replying To WesternSeaBoard: "Did Hamstring in Club Senior Championship, second time last year, he was only coming back , bad decision at time by bridge management at time. I think he had it operated on." He did, in England. Specialist surgery. Major mistake rushing him back BigBàsMan (Galway) - Posts: 88 - 02/02/2025 08:32:52 2588834 Link
Replying To BigBàsMan: "He did, in England. Specialist surgery. Major mistake rushing him back" Aaron that is BigBàsMan (Galway) - Posts: 88 - 02/02/2025 11:29:58 2588858 Link
Great performance by Galway today in nowlan park. Gavin lee was immense at 6 (have we finally found a no.6! Looked a lot better in defence and great to see daithi coming in. Midfield was excellent Tom and cianan. McLaughlin was very dangerous up front, if they can improve the delivery into the rest of the forwards would be a major add on. BigBàsMan (Galway) - Posts: 88 - 02/02/2025 15:18:26 2588887 Link