Hurling 2022

[seafoid]

Clare putting Tipp to the sword a lot easier than the 7 point scoreline suggested....

Hard to see Tipp recover from that with Cork and Limerick to come.

If Clare can beat Cork and that's not beyond the realms of reality as they too have huge men in their forwards able to win high ball, something we know Cork can't handle to date then it'll get all interesting for the Munster Championship..

O'Donnell has gotten over his concussion issues hopefully and with Duggan back in the mix, Clare will be confident going into that game, but you gotta wonder about Tipp, how they left their fullback line so exposed, heck, Conlan who was Clare's centre back ran 40 metres into the heart of the Tipp defence to get a shot off at the keeper and the rebound was buried in the net..

Big issues for Bonnar to sort out.

Tipp are 100/1  https://www.oddschecker.com/gaelic-games/hurling/all-ireland-senior-hurling-championship/winner

[johnnycool]

Clare putting Tipp to the sword a lot easier than the 7 point scoreline suggested....

Hard to see Tipp recover from that with Cork and Limerick to come.

If Clare can beat Cork and that's not beyond the realms of reality as they too have huge men in their forwards able to win high ball, something we know Cork can't handle to date then it'll get all interesting for the Munster Championship..

O'Donnell has gotten over his concussion issues hopefully and with Duggan back in the mix, Clare will be confident going into that game, but you gotta wonder about Tipp, how they left their fullback line so exposed, heck, Conlan who was Clare's centre back ran 40 metres into the heart of the Tipp defence to get a shot off at the keeper and the rebound was buried in the net..

Big issues for Bonnar to sort out.

Tipp are 100/1  https://www.oddschecker.com/gaelic-games/hurling/all-ireland-senior-hurling-championship/winner

Might as well be 10,000/1, you'd be giving your money away.

Winners will come out of Limerick, Waterford and a fighting chance for Kilkenny as they're never beat easy.

[seafoid]

Clare putting Tipp to the sword a lot easier than the 7 point scoreline suggested....

Hard to see Tipp recover from that with Cork and Limerick to come.

If Clare can beat Cork and that's not beyond the realms of reality as they too have huge men in their forwards able to win high ball, something we know Cork can't handle to date then it'll get all interesting for the Munster Championship..

O'Donnell has gotten over his concussion issues hopefully and with Duggan back in the mix, Clare will be confident going into that game, but you gotta wonder about Tipp, how they left their fullback line so exposed, heck, Conlan who was Clare's centre back ran 40 metres into the heart of the Tipp defence to get a shot off at the keeper and the rebound was buried in the net..

Big issues for Bonnar to sort out.

Tipp are 100/1  https://www.oddschecker.com/gaelic-games/hurling/all-ireland-senior-hurling-championship/winner

Might as well be 10,000/1, you'd be giving your money away.

Winners will come out of Limerick, Waterford and a fighting chance for Kilkenny as they're never beat easy.

The last time they were this poor was 2018.

[Zooming around]

Clare putting Tipp to the sword a lot easier than the 7 point scoreline suggested....

Hard to see Tipp recover from that with Cork and Limerick to come.

If Clare can beat Cork and that's not beyond the realms of reality as they too have huge men in their forwards able to win high ball, something we know Cork can't handle to date then it'll get all interesting for the Munster Championship..

O'Donnell has gotten over his concussion issues hopefully and with Duggan back in the mix, Clare will be confident going into that game, but you gotta wonder about Tipp, how they left their fullback line so exposed, heck, Conlan who was Clare's centre back ran 40 metres into the heart of the Tipp defence to get a shot off at the keeper and the rebound was buried in the net..

Big issues for Bonnar to sort out.

Tipp are 100/1  https://www.oddschecker.com/gaelic-games/hurling/all-ireland-senior-hurling-championship/winner

So that means that if you put a tenner on Tipp you will lose a tennner.

[NAG1]

You've got to love the authorities behind the hurling, whole way through the league they are on about the throw balls and the heavy swarm tackling and letting on they are going to do something about it.

Fast forward to the championship and the they just throw the rule book out the window and say just have at it lads.

I'm not giving out about the games, Limerick Waterford was a cracker, pretty much every tackle in it was full on and over the line in almost all of them.

Point is why bother pretending, we know when it comes to the summer in the All Ireland at least its fair game and a free for all. Yet in all the other 'lower' competitions the rules are enforced and you only need to look at the stats in terms of yellow and red cards outside the top tier games.

[Milltown Row2]

You've got to love the authorities behind the hurling, whole way through the league they are on about the throw balls and the heavy swarm tackling and letting on they are going to do something about it.

Fast forward to the championship and the they just throw the rule book out the window and say just have at it lads.

I'm not giving out about the games, Limerick Waterford was a cracker, pretty much every tackle in it was full on and over the line in almost all of them.

Point is why bother pretending, we know when it comes to the summer in the All Ireland at least its fair game and a free for all. Yet in all the other 'lower' competitions the rules are enforced and you only need to look at the stats in terms of yellow and red cards outside the top tier games.

That trickles down to county league and championship also. Id be very guilty of it, tighter and softer in league games and let them at it at senior championship. It should be the same from div 4 club to senior All Ireland, the unfortunate thing is, if we allowed those intercounty tackles in league games or in some Championship games it would cause mayhem and all in moments ..

[seafoid]

Laois and Westmeath are way off the pace in Leinster. The gap doesn't appear to be narrowing at all.

[imtommygunn]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

[johnnycool]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

I read and hear a lot about how the lower tiers can bridge the gap and IMO to do this the emphasis really needs on getting underage teams exposed to the top tier on a consistent basis, not just once in a blue moon.

Antrim U17's have played half a dozen games so far and have yet to face a tier one team and when they do will probably come up short, but what if they'd gotten a bit of exposure in some form of league even if they'd taken some beatings, at least the shock come May time won't be as severe.

Laois are probably getting more exposure than Westmeath, Meath and Carlow but that's how you prepare these young lads to compete at senior rather than hope for a miracle and when that miracle doesn't happen gurn on the Sunday Game about the beatings teams take.

[shark]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

Their turnover of players is far higher. Especially when you get past the top 5/6 players for each of those teams.  The effort put in vs the reward for that effort is completely out of kilter. They know where their ceiling is.

[Saffrongael]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

I read and hear a lot about how the lower tiers can bridge the gap and IMO to do this the emphasis really needs on getting underage teams exposed to the top tier on a consistent basis, not just once in a blue moon.

Antrim U17's have played half a dozen games so far and have yet to face a tier one team and when they do will probably come up short, but what if they'd gotten a bit of exposure in some form of league even if they'd taken some beatings, at least the shock come May time won't be as severe.

Laois are probably getting more exposure than Westmeath, Meath and Carlow but that's how you prepare these young lads to compete at senior rather than hope for a miracle and when that miracle doesn't happen gurn on the Sunday Game about the beatings teams take.

Have they even faced a tier two team, I believe that's the third tier they are in

[seafoid]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

Their turnover of players is far higher. Especially when you get past the top 5/6 players for each of those teams.  The effort put in vs the reward for that effort is completely out of kilter. They know where their ceiling is.

Is turnover the difference? Players in the elite counties get time together to develop their skills and the cohesion of the group. That leads to positive match experience.
I remember 2006-10 watching Galway. They could never kick on from the previous year. An all Ireland final was unattainable. Part of it was management churn but another part was a losing mentality. It was only when the management changed in 2011 and imposed a different culture that the learning process could begin.

[imtommygunn]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

I read and hear a lot about how the lower tiers can bridge the gap and IMO to do this the emphasis really needs on getting underage teams exposed to the top tier on a consistent basis, not just once in a blue moon.

Antrim U17's have played half a dozen games so far and have yet to face a tier one team and when they do will probably come up short, but what if they'd gotten a bit of exposure in some form of league even if they'd taken some beatings, at least the shock come May time won't be as severe.

Laois are probably getting more exposure than Westmeath, Meath and Carlow but that's how you prepare these young lads to compete at senior rather than hope for a miracle and when that miracle doesn't happen gurn on the Sunday Game about the beatings teams take.

Agree with this. Antrim footballers were the same as the hurlers are really - spend their underage lives not competing at / with top level then suddenly turn senior and expect to compete.

Player turnover can happen due to the effort required to get near that level sometimes I think but not sure it's the problem here.

Proximity is a factor too with top teams.

[johnnycool]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

I read and hear a lot about how the lower tiers can bridge the gap and IMO to do this the emphasis really needs on getting underage teams exposed to the top tier on a consistent basis, not just once in a blue moon.

Antrim U17's have played half a dozen games so far and have yet to face a tier one team and when they do will probably come up short, but what if they'd gotten a bit of exposure in some form of league even if they'd taken some beatings, at least the shock come May time won't be as severe.

Laois are probably getting more exposure than Westmeath, Meath and Carlow but that's how you prepare these young lads to compete at senior rather than hope for a miracle and when that miracle doesn't happen gurn on the Sunday Game about the beatings teams take.

Have they even faced a tier two team, I believe that's the third tier they are in

They've played Carlow, Westmeath, who in terms of seniors are tier 2, but yes, IMO they need to be lining out vrs Laois, Wexford, the Dubs and so on in some form of league, but I take your point as I'd still consider Derry, ourselves, Meath and Kildare to be a level below that again.

[seafoid]

Westmeaths, Carlows, Laoises , Antrims put huge effort in to close the gap then for a year or so get close then can't sustain the effort then drop off. Repeat...

I read and hear a lot about how the lower tiers can bridge the gap and IMO to do this the emphasis really needs on getting underage teams exposed to the top tier on a consistent basis, not just once in a blue moon.

Antrim U17's have played half a dozen games so far and have yet to face a tier one team and when they do will probably come up short, but what if they'd gotten a bit of exposure in some form of league even if they'd taken some beatings, at least the shock come May time won't be as severe.

Laois are probably getting more exposure than Westmeath, Meath and Carlow but that's how you prepare these young lads to compete at senior rather than hope for a miracle and when that miracle doesn't happen gurn on the Sunday Game about the beatings teams take.

Agree with this. Antrim footballers were the same as the hurlers are really - spend their underage lives not competing at / with top level then suddenly turn senior and expect to compete.

Player turnover can happen due to the effort required to get near that level sometimes I think but not sure it's the problem here.

Proximity is a factor too with top teams.

Monentum.is also relevant. Antrim won the Tommy Murphy cup in 08? and got to the Ulster final in 09. Momentum builds confidence.