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Replying To gaillimhboy: "Lads I've heard of 2/3 very very prominent members of the team will not be committing to the cause for 2022, all lads are in their 20s so nothing to do with retirement, anyone else hear the same?" I know of one for sure and that's been in the mill since Sept/Oct. Not sure of the other 2 you are referring to. ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1572 - 10/12/2021 15:27:33 2392322 Link
Reported in the Indo today that Peter Cooke won't be involved as he will be abroad in 2022. galwayman2 (Galway) - Posts: 1241 - 15/12/2021 10:03:01 2392861 Link
Peter Cooke a significant loss. He was very good for Moycullen in the knockout stages of the club championship. Capable of kicking 2 or 3 points from midfield any day. Presume his work has taken him abroad again? Not sure how Galway are set in midfield now. Ronan Steede left the panel last year. Paul Conroy a great servant but is 32 now and probably doesn't have the legs for a full game in midfield any more. They might have no choice but to throw some young lads in there. Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2215 - 15/12/2021 13:20:27 2392916 Link
Replying To galwayman2: "Reported in the Indo today that Peter Cooke won't be involved as he will be abroad in 2022." big loss. he got better with every game last year. on a positive note Mcdaid is back according to the same report. was there a panel announced or where is this coming from? Mayonman (Galway) - Posts: 1829 - 15/12/2021 13:46:04 2392921 Link
Anyone have a list of people involved in the panel at this stage? Prob not, but there is a lot of rumours going about. Would be nice to know of new guys brought in and guys who have stepped away. GalwaysFinest (Galway) - Posts: 190 - 15/12/2021 15:17:48 2392933 Link
Comer not involved this year also according to sources, a few of the 2020 u20 winning team have been called up. gaillimhboy (Galway) - Posts: 339 - 16/12/2021 13:09:13 2393010 Link
Replying To gaillimhboy: "Comer not involved this year also according to sources, a few of the 2020 u20 winning team have been called up." He was training tuesday night Nogoal (Galway) - Posts: 62 - 16/12/2021 21:49:36 2393052 Link
Replying To Nogoal: "He was training tuesday night" Any new faces involved? galwayman2 (Galway) - Posts: 1241 - 17/12/2021 10:14:16 2393062 Link
I admire the blind optimism and faith some fans are conjuring up for 2022. FallenStar (Galway) - Posts: 414 - 17/12/2021 11:29:28 2393078 Link
Some journey for Cian O Neill, must be costing a fortune in diesel. Big year for PJ to deliver on that All Ireland title, pressure on everyone to deliver. Mayo game this coming Summer will be massive. Hard to blame lads for not committing if they can make money or improve their job prospects or live life particularly after two years of pandemic. Playing county football they lose out on social lives & with the pandemic when they are off, social lives are restricted due to lockdowns, very difficult. A lot of them that have won county titles or underage titles & after 4 or 5 years on the Galway panel probably realise that they are unlikely to break the dominance of the top three & win an All Ireland. moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 17/12/2021 12:09:16 2393082 Link
Surely Galway will bring in a good few more of the very talented u20 team from 2020 this year. Tierney had a great year last year but he was the only one nailed down a starting position along with Paul Kelly. Jack Glynn and Cathal Sweeney were in and out of the team, you'd imagine they'll push on and play a bigger role this year. A few out of Conor Flaherty, Sean Fitzgerald, Tony Gill (although he doesn't start for Corofin?), Cian Hernon, Conor Raftery and Tomo Culhane should break in this year. Will Michael Daly return? Also a fit John Daly would be huge, he's one of the very best centre backs in the country. Cooke is a big loss but Galway have loads of talent and I think are underachieving. I think Galway have more talent than Mayo if they can get it right. I'll be very interested to see how they do this year. Kerry15 (Kerry) - Posts: 958 - 18/12/2021 12:26:48 2393138 Link
Replying To Kerry15: "Surely Galway will bring in a good few more of the very talented u20 team from 2020 this year. Tierney had a great year last year but he was the only one nailed down a starting position along with Paul Kelly. Jack Glynn and Cathal Sweeney were in and out of the team, you'd imagine they'll push on and play a bigger role this year. A few out of Conor Flaherty, Sean Fitzgerald, Tony Gill (although he doesn't start for Corofin?), Cian Hernon, Conor Raftery and Tomo Culhane should break in this year. Will Michael Daly return? Also a fit John Daly would be huge, he's one of the very best centre backs in the country. Cooke is a big loss but Galway have loads of talent and I think are underachieving. I think Galway have more talent than Mayo if they can get it right. I'll be very interested to see how they do this year." Thats the thing we have a lot of young talent but i dont think we have a proper develpment plan in place Those lads have beaten mayo teams in minor and u20 we played in 3 minor all ire finals and won a u20 all ire But james horan and mayo have developed their young lads into senior players They must have a plan in place because some of their young lads have passed our ones out rhudson (Galway) - Posts: 1478 - 18/12/2021 18:34:49 2393197 Link
Replying To Kerry15: "Surely Galway will bring in a good few more of the very talented u20 team from 2020 this year. Tierney had a great year last year but he was the only one nailed down a starting position along with Paul Kelly. Jack Glynn and Cathal Sweeney were in and out of the team, you'd imagine they'll push on and play a bigger role this year. A few out of Conor Flaherty, Sean Fitzgerald, Tony Gill (although he doesn't start for Corofin?), Cian Hernon, Conor Raftery and Tomo Culhane should break in this year. Will Michael Daly return? Also a fit John Daly would be huge, he's one of the very best centre backs in the country. Cooke is a big loss but Galway have loads of talent and I think are underachieving. I think Galway have more talent than Mayo if they can get it right. I'll be very interested to see how they do this year." Galway do have a lot of talent. They also have Padraig Joyce as Manager though. endgame (Roscommon) - Posts: 2164 - 18/12/2021 19:24:59 2393207 Link
Replying To rhudson: "Thats the thing we have a lot of young talent but i dont think we have a proper develpment plan in place Those lads have beaten mayo teams in minor and u20 we played in 3 minor all ire finals and won a u20 all ire But james horan and mayo have developed their young lads into senior players They must have a plan in place because some of their young lads have passed our ones out" The Mayo News showed a picture of Tommy Conroy this summer and last summer and the difference was striking. Not huge bulk but way more powerful looking and still lean. Boy to a man stuff. Signs were on him too with his performances this year. They seem to have nailed the S&C. We wont get all the U20's coming through but a couple of lads look to have huge potential. I'm repeating myself but McLaughlin from Moycullen looks to be the potential star. I think some that played senior last year have plenty room for development. I don't mean that in "they were rubbish last year" way but i definitely think they have potential to physically develop and when that happens you often find decision making on the field gets better because fatigue levels are not as high. Mayonman (Galway) - Posts: 1829 - 20/12/2021 14:59:36 2393332 Link
Replying To Mayonman: "The Mayo News showed a picture of Tommy Conroy this summer and last summer and the difference was striking. Not huge bulk but way more powerful looking and still lean. Boy to a man stuff. Signs were on him too with his performances this year. They seem to have nailed the S&C. We wont get all the U20's coming through but a couple of lads look to have huge potential. I'm repeating myself but McLaughlin from Moycullen looks to be the potential star. I think some that played senior last year have plenty room for development. I don't mean that in "they were rubbish last year" way but i definitely think they have potential to physically develop and when that happens you often find decision making on the field gets better because fatigue levels are not as high." The S&C programmes most top counties are laying out for their county panels wouldn't be hugely different. The support the players get to help them stick to the plan, could differ quite a bit though, depending on resources and planning. I'm referring to nutrition, access to facilities for rehab or recovery, physios etc. There's also the complete buy-in needed from the players. I've mentioned it before, but a lot of S&C is what's done as an individual. Monotonous prehab, flexibility and injury prevention work. This supports all of the more strenuous group work from which they'll then see better results. Mayo have definitely been well ahead of us in recent years on this front, but I think a lot of it comes from whether the players have fully bought-in to the management team's plans. If they haven't, you're up against it big time. WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2042 - 20/12/2021 19:48:14 2393365 Link
Replying To WanPintWin: "The S&C programmes most top counties are laying out for their county panels wouldn't be hugely different. The support the players get to help them stick to the plan, could differ quite a bit though, depending on resources and planning. I'm referring to nutrition, access to facilities for rehab or recovery, physios etc. There's also the complete buy-in needed from the players. I've mentioned it before, but a lot of S&C is what's done as an individual. Monotonous prehab, flexibility and injury prevention work. This supports all of the more strenuous group work from which they'll then see better results. Mayo have definitely been well ahead of us in recent years on this front, but I think a lot of it comes from whether the players have fully bought-in to the management team's plans. If they haven't, you're up against it big time." Overall development of players has a foundation from the Development squads up, at least it has in other counties. With the successful counties like Dublin, Tyrone, Kerry etc it is based on structures laid out at Development level. In Kerry for example each team will have a M'ment group of at least 5 or six that will start at U14 & go all the way through. They then follow programmes that are replicated by all regional squads year on year & monitored by their GDO/GPO's. So certain age groups it is about skill development & spatial awareness, other age groups tactical & on to strength & conditioning etc. Each M'ment team is graded accordingly then. In Galway there are no structures. Each group heads off & does their own thing, coaches making it up as they go along. No assessment of coaches, no standards, no plan. Then for Tedd Webb or Minor/U17 if a good group comes along the usual glory hunters descend to take over a team. The reason a lot of very talented teams haven't got over the line in All Ireland finals is because at some stage the weakness's that weren't worked on over the whole period of development come through. Galway clubs have produced a plethora of very talented players over the last few years but it hasn't produced the results it should have. The blame for this lies with the Football Board, Coaching & Games Promotion who never put structures in place. Counties with smaller population bases including Mayo have brought more players through, better skilled, fitter & better conditioned. Galway lads thinking because they hammered these lads at U14,15,16,17 that they will walk all over them & then get a shock at Senior level. James Horan introduced 16 new players last year & they looked a different level. Another mistake in Galway is pandering to lads who can't make their minds up, positions held for lads until they have finished playing basketball or soccer & other lads dropped. Very simple, no matter how talented you are if your not committed, you shouldn't be there. As for putting structures in place now, it's way too late, look at the Post Primary Schools draws, only 2 Galway schools in Senior A, most Galway schools in B & especially C, with one school with a good past record of producing County players now playing D level. INTO Schools officers who have done massive work for the GAA at schools level will tell you that the most professional coaches coming to the schools now are from rugby & that the kids love it. They will also tell you that despite the GAA being their first love, the coaching set up is not as it should be. Drop out rates at club level in Galway from U16 to Junior level are really high. The club with biggest population pick in Connacht gave a number of walk overs this year. No point people singling out S & C, the blame lies in the fact that there are no structures for overall Development in place & haven't been for a long time. The clue lies in the word, Development ! The contrast of this has been a particular coaching officer from the Portumna area who in my opinion has been the bedrock on which a lot of the hurling success has been built on. moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 21/12/2021 14:21:24 2393407 Link
Brilliant post you have hit the nail on the head and your mention of guys being pandered to re other sports I have experienced this first hand where you bring young players to several trials and training sessions only to see guys turning up on the last session and making the team nevermind the panel while lads that's spent weeks training are dropped minor77 (Galway) - Posts: 223 - 21/12/2021 18:44:55 2393432 Link
moc.dna - agree with a lot of your points but in Galway there is a lot of players who have the pick of rugby, soccer, hurling etc. Even fan base we are up against Connacht rugby, Galway Untied, Galway hurtling etc. So when you work out the number of football players (solely dedicated) in both Galway and Mayo I'd say there would be very little in it. What have they below in Mayo? There is a bit of a hurling, rugby and soccer scene but lads it's all geared towards the football and that is reflected in their players, their development and of course their supporter levels. Not trying to defend Galway football and it's current state, but we have to look at all external factors for clues on where we are also. ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1572 - 21/12/2021 19:03:25 2393434 Link
Thanks Kerry 15 for highlighting the good young players in the County from that under 20 team I had forgotton some of them. However I cant see too many of them getting game time this year and I'll explain why I think so. Padraig Joyce is entering his third year in charge and I feel he is in the last chance saloon. Galway have been underwhelming in the last eighteen months and unless PJ can produce something very special this year that will be the end of his foray into inter county management. Can he turn things around? I would hope so, after all he started very promisingly before everything went pear shaped with the Covid lockdown. Plus I would hope that O Neill would bring something with the semblance of a game plan to the table. I would say that PJs most important job is to get all the main players on board and if this involves a small bit of humble pie so be it, So if I were him on the final year of a contract I would not be interested in blooding too many rookie players, I would be more interested in fellows a little bit older. So that got me to thinking what kind of players are available. So here for your Christmas exercise (A pleasurable one) imagine that Galway have all footballers between 20 and 35 available for selection for this coming year what team would you put out to play Meath on the last wekend of January I'll start the ball rolling 1 Conor Gleeson Slight preference for him over Power but we could do with an upgrade but I dont know anyone better 2 Colin Murray Mountbellew Best corner back I saw all year 3 Sean Mulkerrins A year older, stronger and wiser and a good footballer 4 Liam Silke (by default) I would prefer a tighter corner back but we need Sean Kelly in the half back line 5 Sean Kelly 6 John Daly 7 Dylan McHugh did enough last year to edge McDaid and Sweeney Salthill 8 Michael Daly 9 Matthew Barrett Both have been head and shoulders above everything in Galway in the past year and we need to see if they can do it at a higher level. If they cant theres' nothing lost 10 Paul Kelly 11 Matthew Tierney 12 Peter Cooke 13 Robert Finnerty 14 Eoin Finnerty 15 Shane Walshe Nothing much to say about the forwards they nearly pick themselves. I think Finnerty is worth a shot at full forward I'd be disappointed if he's not good enough. I dont think theres 70 minute games left in Comer or Conroy so we would be better of bringing them on than taking them off. Imagine a tight match in a tight ground and both coming on together with twenty minuted left. So put on your selector caps for the Christmas and see what you come up with seventyniner (Galway) - Posts: 41 - 21/12/2021 20:14:17 2393445 Link
Replying To ahsure.: "moc.dna - agree with a lot of your points but in Galway there is a lot of players who have the pick of rugby, soccer, hurling etc. Even fan base we are up against Connacht rugby, Galway Untied, Galway hurtling etc. So when you work out the number of football players (solely dedicated) in both Galway and Mayo I'd say there would be very little in it. What have they below in Mayo? There is a bit of a hurling, rugby and soccer scene but lads it's all geared towards the football and that is reflected in their players, their development and of course their supporter levels. Not trying to defend Galway football and it's current state, but we have to look at all external factors for clues on where we are also." Mayo seem to be better organised as regards young players i would say that since last year horan has a lot to do with that He seems to have most young players on a development programme And hes doing it by working with the clubs involved too its clear to see the huge improvement in those young players The no of them who have played senior for mayo proves that not alone that but they have allready played in 2 all ire finals rhudson (Galway) - Posts: 1478 - 22/12/2021 09:41:25 2393458 Link