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Wicklow GAA thread

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Replying To Freethinker:  "This will be interesting. The outgoing management team will be a hard act to follow and if the best hurlers can't be persuaded to line out Bosco could be doomed before he starts. I'm presuming this is just a stopgap appointment - at least initially. It's a big ask - best of luck to him, he will need it."
I wasn't aware that Casey O'Brien had vacated his position as manager of the Wicklow senior hurling team. Is the reason he stepped down related to the lack of players agreeing to represent the county or are there other reasons? I thought he did a good job last season by steading the ship and had the team going in the right direction. The county hurling team has lost ground on teams that they could compete with and beat regularly in the past namely Carlow and Kildare which is disappointing. I would be interested to find out what the reason for the change in manager as I'm not privy to news circulating within the county.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2040 - 30/01/2024 16:40:11    2523344

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Replying To wicklowsupport:  "I wasn't aware that Casey O'Brien had vacated his position as manager of the Wicklow senior hurling team. Is the reason he stepped down related to the lack of players agreeing to represent the county or are there other reasons? I thought he did a good job last season by steading the ship and had the team going in the right direction. The county hurling team has lost ground on teams that they could compete with and beat regularly in the past namely Carlow and Kildare which is disappointing. I would be interested to find out what the reason for the change in manager as I'm not privy to news circulating within the county."
Message is he wasn't getting the support of players that he asked to join the panel. The whole management setup resigned. Seems as if many of our "better" players don't consider playing for the county as being important. I have my opinions on that particular point of view but my opinions are not important. We could be in for a difficult few seasons.

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1330 - 30/01/2024 19:10:08    2523377

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Replying To Tank:  "The footballers actually impressed me against down. I though that we would be bet by 15+. A 5 point loss is is very good for that team against Down. Although maybe Down are understrength this year. We might sneak 1 win if we get lucky with bad weather or get a few goals. There are a lot who were called up but did not want to commit, however, as bad as the team is currently, I don't think there is one other player out there that would automatically start under the age of 32. You can't be relying on players aged 30+ to continuously commit to county football, especially for Wicklow. There are massive amount of players that would add to the panel but not automatic starters.

Hurling is dire in the county. The template for all clubs in Wicklow (especially boarder clubs) is what Bray did. Go play in Dublin and get proper games and play in a proper set up. Carnew are definitely missing a trick here by not going into Wexford. I think Blesso play some underage in Kildare and their main players went to Naas (which helps massively!).
Wicklow county team without Bray players is Longford/Leitrim standard. I can see why Bray players are not playing, they are just going to concentrate on Dublin leagues with Bray. Its more enjoyable than county, extremely high standard and very professional. I can't see any manager getting them to play unless Dublin league doesn't go well. Basically if you are from Wicklow and want to do well try get exposure to decent set ups and then come back and you will be the best here..

Schools hurling is non existent except for Carnew who would have 10 out of 15 from Wexford. Schools football very poor, most teams in Leinster D. Did any team win any match in Leister C? No Leinster B or A teams.

An extreme positive is the amount of Sigerson players we had. About 6. But also note if you compare us to other counties we are still extremely low.."
Your point about schools participation and lack of progress in Leinster competitions is a very relevant point. I think most people who watch club football and hurling throughout the year accepts that the standard is not high enough which is borne out in the various club competitions. In the 1990s, our vocational school county team had a good record in Leinster and even played in an all Ireland final in 1993. Prior to that, I understand that Wicklow won a couple of vocational school titles. We seem to be suffering since that particular competition ceased. Aside from the club, school is where most children start playing football. I would like to see an initiative put forward by the county board to help schools in the county move up to the A and B competitions in hurling and football. I think this would be an important forward step. As you point out, our numbers playing in college competitions is increasing which is a welcome development. Hopefully more players in the future will be playing at this level as it certainly helps players develop and go on to play at intercounty level.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2040 - 31/01/2024 10:55:22    2523451

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Replying To wicklowsupport:  "Your point about schools participation and lack of progress in Leinster competitions is a very relevant point. I think most people who watch club football and hurling throughout the year accepts that the standard is not high enough which is borne out in the various club competitions. In the 1990s, our vocational school county team had a good record in Leinster and even played in an all Ireland final in 1993. Prior to that, I understand that Wicklow won a couple of vocational school titles. We seem to be suffering since that particular competition ceased. Aside from the club, school is where most children start playing football. I would like to see an initiative put forward by the county board to help schools in the county move up to the A and B competitions in hurling and football. I think this would be an important forward step. As you point out, our numbers playing in college competitions is increasing which is a welcome development. Hopefully more players in the future will be playing at this level as it certainly helps players develop and go on to play at intercounty level."
One more footballing positive is Brian Nesbitt. He is find of the season and has came out of nowhere. I seen him play Junior B few years ago and though he was good but it was Junior B level. He now looks to be the second best forward for the county team at present! Don't remember seeing him on any underage teams, did he come from soccer or rugby background? Or where has he come from?

We just don't have any schools that are interested or take GAA seriously. Again Id say we are the only team in Leinster without a decent school like St Pats Navan, St Mels Longford, Naas CBS, 3 x in Wexford (Peters, GC and Gorey) ect. This is where most players develop. They spend at least 7 hours a day in school. The standard of schools football should also be a lot better than club due to the fact there is less schools than clubs and your drawing in best players from 6+ clubs. This doesn't look like changing anytime within the next 10 years. So I dont think it can ever come right for us. As per my previous message if you live on boarder and you want your child to be the best GAA player they can be send them to school in Dublin, Kildare or Wexford if its not too far. Kevin Quinn would be best county player currently, I wonder where he went to school.........

Tank (Wicklow) - Posts: 12 - 31/01/2024 12:14:24    2523477

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Are there highlights of the league matches available anywhere? I'm sure all these matches are filmed, wouldn't seem like a big job to put together a hightlights package for each and throw them on gaa.ie or y0utu3e.

TopDrawer (Wicklow) - Posts: 65 - 31/01/2024 12:45:16    2523484

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Replying To TopDrawer:  "Are there highlights of the league matches available anywhere? I'm sure all these matches are filmed, wouldn't seem like a big job to put together a hightlights package for each and throw them on gaa.ie or y0utu3e."
The county board socials are rubbish for the likes of that and a poor showing when you see counties like Carlow putting up highlights. They're too busy telling people to buy tickets in advance for matches. Seems to be the main priority.

FrankieJoe (Wicklow) - Posts: 87 - 02/02/2024 21:40:36    2523933

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First of all, a big thank you to those hurlers who lined out today for Bosco. The result was maybe inevitable but being able to field a team was important in itself. To address an earlier post about some ex panel members being more comfortable enjoying the benefits of hurling in the Dublin leagues - best of luck to them. If they had any real fealty or loyalty to our county, the "trappings of grandeur" which entices them to play in a neighbouring county wouldn't entice them to stay away from their county panel. Maybe they should transfer to that county altogether. How many of them would make the Dublin squad ?? Our county champions have been on top of the pile or thereabouts for over 10 yrs now and in that time, the standard of hurling within the county and the county team has declined. In my opinion, this tells its own story.

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1330 - 04/02/2024 15:10:48    2524211

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Replying To Freethinker:  "First of all, a big thank you to those hurlers who lined out today for Bosco. The result was maybe inevitable but being able to field a team was important in itself. To address an earlier post about some ex panel members being more comfortable enjoying the benefits of hurling in the Dublin leagues - best of luck to them. If they had any real fealty or loyalty to our county, the "trappings of grandeur" which entices them to play in a neighbouring county wouldn't entice them to stay away from their county panel. Maybe they should transfer to that county altogether. How many of them would make the Dublin squad ?? Our county champions have been on top of the pile or thereabouts for over 10 yrs now and in that time, the standard of hurling within the county and the county team has declined. In my opinion, this tells its own story."
Difficult job that Bosco has inherited. Losing to Donegal by such a large margin in hurling code shows how far the county has fallen behind the standards we once operated at. I wouldn't criticise any club participating in league in bordering counties; in fact i think other clubs in the county should do it especially at underage. Are any Bray players part of the present panel?

Tough loss consecutive weeks for the footballers. Hard to follow the game but it appeared a draw was on the cards; a draw would've been a decent result. It's going to be tough to stay in the division now - a result in the next round is vital now.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2040 - 04/02/2024 15:39:26    2524221

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Replying To Freethinker:  "First of all, a big thank you to those hurlers who lined out today for Bosco. The result was maybe inevitable but being able to field a team was important in itself. To address an earlier post about some ex panel members being more comfortable enjoying the benefits of hurling in the Dublin leagues - best of luck to them. If they had any real fealty or loyalty to our county, the "trappings of grandeur" which entices them to play in a neighbouring county wouldn't entice them to stay away from their county panel. Maybe they should transfer to that county altogether. How many of them would make the Dublin squad ?? Our county champions have been on top of the pile or thereabouts for over 10 yrs now and in that time, the standard of hurling within the county and the county team has declined. In my opinion, this tells its own story."
Looking like it's going to be division 3 now anyway. Same situation as 2 years ago, and I'd say the same again now - anyone who didn't commit never should be let back.

FrankieJoe (Wicklow) - Posts: 87 - 04/02/2024 16:41:02    2524250

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Replying To FrankieJoe:  "Looking like it's going to be division 3 now anyway. Same situation as 2 years ago, and I'd say the same again now - anyone who didn't commit never should be let back."
Proper order. Ye need to sort this out quick. That was embarrassing today

Overthebar53 (Carlow) - Posts: 295 - 04/02/2024 17:40:36    2524271

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Replying To Overthebar53:  "Proper order. Ye need to sort this out quick. That was embarrassing today"
Fair play to Carlow today. At least you have players who want to hurl for the county. Some of ours seem to think they are too good for the county team.

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1330 - 04/02/2024 17:53:08    2524282

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Replying To Freethinker:  "First of all, a big thank you to those hurlers who lined out today for Bosco. The result was maybe inevitable but being able to field a team was important in itself. To address an earlier post about some ex panel members being more comfortable enjoying the benefits of hurling in the Dublin leagues - best of luck to them. If they had any real fealty or loyalty to our county, the "trappings of grandeur" which entices them to play in a neighbouring county wouldn't entice them to stay away from their county panel. Maybe they should transfer to that county altogether. How many of them would make the Dublin squad ?? Our county champions have been on top of the pile or thereabouts for over 10 yrs now and in that time, the standard of hurling within the county and the county team has declined. In my opinion, this tells its own story."
Freethinker, I think you are wide of the mark with this post. My club bray have 6 players on the current panel, one being injured since Leinster final who will be back playing soon. We've always had players commit to the county team since we arrived on the scene. Our players aren't choosing Dublin league over playing for the county team. Often it's our second team and first team subs who usually fulfil our Dublin league commitments. I'm surprised you don't know this because you seem to know so much about our club! Last year we had 12 on the panel, and of those who are missing this year one has retired, two of the lads are gone travelling and one has emigrated and one can't commit due to work commitments. You seem happy to have a go at one of the few clubs in the county trying to promote hurling. What about the other clubs who's players have decided not to commit. What about the carnew and Glenealy players who didn't come back ?

Jackpot987 (Wicklow) - Posts: 2 - 04/02/2024 18:07:44    2524287

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Replying To FrankieJoe:  "The county board socials are rubbish for the likes of that and a poor showing when you see counties like Carlow putting up highlights. They're too busy telling people to buy tickets in advance for matches. Seems to be the main priority."
We have the worst socials in the country bar none. Impossible to get information and not acceptable.

heavyheart19 (Wicklow) - Posts: 146 - 04/02/2024 22:26:53    2524398

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Replying To Jackpot987:  "Freethinker, I think you are wide of the mark with this post. My club bray have 6 players on the current panel, one being injured since Leinster final who will be back playing soon. We've always had players commit to the county team since we arrived on the scene. Our players aren't choosing Dublin league over playing for the county team. Often it's our second team and first team subs who usually fulfil our Dublin league commitments. I'm surprised you don't know this because you seem to know so much about our club! Last year we had 12 on the panel, and of those who are missing this year one has retired, two of the lads are gone travelling and one has emigrated and one can't commit due to work commitments. You seem happy to have a go at one of the few clubs in the county trying to promote hurling. What about the other clubs who's players have decided not to commit. What about the carnew and Glenealy players who didn't come back ?"
I don't think what is wrong with hurling in the county and how far the senior team has regressed in the last 20-25 years can be blamed on one club. As a county, we always try to pin the blame on one singular factor for our collective failures which is never the case. A bit like the football, there needs to be a renewed effort to introduce hurling at schools level and in parts of the county that isn't traditionally strong. I don't know the reason for Casey O'Brien resignation but I would imagine it was a tough decision for him based upon his past association with hurling in the county and there must have been justifying reasons for him to walk away when it seemed that he was making progress. I think his resignation is a big setback. It is the responsibility of the county board to determine why hurling has regressed so far in the last 20-25 years. If no questions are asked then it is neglect of their responsibilities as a board. A county doesn't make progress over night, just like a county's fortunes don't regress over night. This has been a situation which has been regressing for a number of years as raised by posters on this site. Hopefully, now that we have hit rock bottom and people are exercised about the matter, something can be done to address the situation and begin to improve what is clearly unacceptable to all supporters of the county team but especially hurling supporters.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2040 - 05/02/2024 09:51:43    2524473

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I agree, we've been on the slide for over 25 years. The county board give lip service to hurling in the county. Our senior hurlers punched above their weight for many years in this time. The county has got to get hurling going again in places like Avondale, kilcoole, Greystones, arklow, Wicklow town if we are to ever move up the ladder. Carnew and kiltegan have done good work underage and are making a strong comeback to win a county title. But we need this work being done in 8-10 clubs. Have we a hurling officer at present ? We definitely need at least one more hurling GDO to get into the schools. One should be positioned in the west alone. The likes of Kildare, Down, Carlow etc all teams we traditionally have competed well against, they have moved with the times. Their underage teams are competing well against top tier counties. The key for us is to get into schools and promote hurling across the county and try spark an interest. As someone who lives on the east coast though, I understand how much of a challenge this is alone. Sadly, I can see us falling further and further behind the curve until some plan of action is taken before it's too late.

Jackpot987 (Wicklow) - Posts: 2 - 06/02/2024 14:08:38    2524757

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Replying To Jackpot987:  "I agree, we've been on the slide for over 25 years. The county board give lip service to hurling in the county. Our senior hurlers punched above their weight for many years in this time. The county has got to get hurling going again in places like Avondale, kilcoole, Greystones, arklow, Wicklow town if we are to ever move up the ladder. Carnew and kiltegan have done good work underage and are making a strong comeback to win a county title. But we need this work being done in 8-10 clubs. Have we a hurling officer at present ? We definitely need at least one more hurling GDO to get into the schools. One should be positioned in the west alone. The likes of Kildare, Down, Carlow etc all teams we traditionally have competed well against, they have moved with the times. Their underage teams are competing well against top tier counties. The key for us is to get into schools and promote hurling across the county and try spark an interest. As someone who lives on the east coast though, I understand how much of a challenge this is alone. Sadly, I can see us falling further and further behind the curve until some plan of action is taken before it's too late."
Our minors only beat Kildares by one point last weekend.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14253 - 06/02/2024 15:54:51    2524789

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Replying To Viking66:  "Our minors only beat Kildares by one point last weekend."
That result indicates that work is being done at underage (up to minor) if we are competing with the likes of Kildare who themselves have put a strong focus and lots of resources into underage development in hurling especially in clubs that are predominantly football - like Moorefield and Sarsfield. Not sure if Wicklow have an u20/21 team? This would be required so that players at minor level have a stepping stone to senior. It would be a big step from minor to senior without that step in between.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2040 - 06/02/2024 16:25:21    2524798

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It looks like our minor hurlers have a strong panel this year. Hopefully we will be competitive at that level.

liam500 (Wicklow) - Posts: 189 - 06/02/2024 17:32:55    2524815

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I wonder if tonight's game v Louth will go ahead with the weather forecast ? Hod knows we need the game. Just reading the reports of previous games, it seems like Oisin has the nucleus of a decent team. He has a few more older guys on the way back which will help. Question is, can he get these younger players battle hardened in time to avoid the trap door?. Sundays loss could come back to bite.

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1330 - 08/02/2024 09:38:12    2525060

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Replying To Freethinker:  "I wonder if tonight's game v Louth will go ahead with the weather forecast ? Hod knows we need the game. Just reading the reports of previous games, it seems like Oisin has the nucleus of a decent team. He has a few more older guys on the way back which will help. Question is, can he get these younger players battle hardened in time to avoid the trap door?. Sundays loss could come back to bite."
Not on fixture list in Hoganstand

Jack L (None) - Posts: 3141 - 08/02/2024 12:48:55    2525086

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