2018 NFL Division 1

[rosnarun]

Surely to God there'll be more than 4000 Galway fans at this game against the All Ireland champions.

Are there 4000 Galway football 'fans' to begin with?

Galway fans are some of the best bandwagon jumpers in the country .
it was only recently they were all life long doe hard Connaught rugby supporters till they turned shite again .
just as well Fields of athenry is such a versatile song
so 400 will be no problem

[Orchard park]

They say 5000 dubs will be in Pearse stadium Sunday along with 4000 Galway supporters and that's being optimistic!
Personally have  never seen  this Dublin team up close so will go out of curiosity,not expecting a Galway win and hope we don't get destroyed it will be some experience and I think Monahan showed in the first half the chinks that may exist in the system.Galway have the forwards to stay in the game but I think our problem is getting possession.Anyway looking forward to it a loss of 7 pts or under would not be so bad.

Why would so many turn up for what is more or less a dead rubber and where both will be giving a run out to players that haven't started a game so far this year?

When you have population of 1,600,000 five thousand is far from 'so many'.. glorified holiday of those lads so thinking the game or its consequences come into their decision making is fanciful.

2016 Census for the county of Dublin was 1,345,000 , not sure where the extra 250K have come from

[twohands!!!]

Given the evidence of the first half last weekend, monaghan are comfortably a better side than Galway at present - despite the latter's excellent form thus far in the league.

Looking at the changes Monaghan made for that game, they may not be disappointed to miss out on a league final.

Watching it I thought the same - they looked very much like a side who knew they were safe and had no interest in having to play Dublin in Croke Park 2 weekends in a row.

Monaghan have Tyrone in the first round in Ulster, so O'Rourke has to know there's a decent chance they could be in the qualifiers from Round 1. Back in 2015 when they lost to Dublin 2 weeks in a row in the league (in the last round game and in a semi-final) they ended up limping out of Croke Park in August.

[Syferus]

They say 5000 dubs will be in Pearse stadium Sunday along with 4000 Galway supporters and that's being optimistic!
Personally have  never seen  this Dublin team up close so will go out of curiosity,not expecting a Galway win and hope we don't get destroyed it will be some experience and I think Monahan showed in the first half the chinks that may exist in the system.Galway have the forwards to stay in the game but I think our problem is getting possession.Anyway looking forward to it a loss of 7 pts or under would not be so bad.

Why would so many turn up for what is more or less a dead rubber and where both will be giving a run out to players that haven't started a game so far this year?

When you have population of 1,600,000 five thousand is far from 'so many'.. glorified holiday of those lads so thinking the game or its consequences come into their decision making is fanciful.

2016 Census for the county of Dublin was 1,345,000 , not sure where the extra 250K have come from

Give it a minute.

[TheGreatest]

They say 5000 dubs will be in Pearse stadium Sunday along with 4000 Galway supporters and that's being optimistic!
Personally have  never seen  this Dublin team up close so will go out of curiosity,not expecting a Galway win and hope we don't get destroyed it will be some experience and I think Monahan showed in the first half the chinks that may exist in the system.Galway have the forwards to stay in the game but I think our problem is getting possession.Anyway looking forward to it a loss of 7 pts or under would not be so bad.

Why would so many turn up for what is more or less a dead rubber and where both will be giving a run out to players that haven't started a game so far this year?

When you have population of 1,600,000 five thousand is far from 'so many'.. glorified holiday of those lads so thinking the game or its consequences come into their decision making is fanciful.

Dublin have 20-25K hardcore fans. (Not 1.6 million). There is a lot more to the GAA in Dublin than supporting the county football team. Some hardcore club people never go to a game.

[Lar Naparka]

This is why its just pure rubbish even debating with supporters , Dublin fans just believe they happen to come into a golden era because of trojan work done on the ground and above the ground. No extra finances were ever received , playing all their fooking home  league games as well as championship games in croke park is of absolutely no advantage . The super 8 stuff is on another level , I cant for the life of me get my

Moaning about a debate, then completely ignoring the issue that was being disagreed!

Do you believe Dublin players don't work? Do you believe, for example, Cluxton and Macauley arent schoolteachers? That they were both so good on Sunday because of the millions pumped into Dublin?

The money is a complete red herring. That goes into grassroots to help participation. Yes, you could argue that it helps keep more young lads in GAA rather than rugby and soccer, but it doesn't make our good lads better.
Do you believe had Con O'Callaghan's father stayed in Westmeath that he'd be any worse a player? (He'd arguably be better because he may not have spend so much of his time with a hurl!)
Do you believe had John Heslin's dad moved to Dublin, that Heslin would be an even better player?
It's volunteers that coached those two lads, in both counties. Development squads in Dublin coached by unpaid past players doing "trojan work".

Of course we have a big advantage with population, even if there are large pockets of Dublin with zero interest. And the population is only going one way. That's not Dublin's fault that most of the best jobs in the country seem to be here, so its makes training for other counties so much harder with so many of their players working here.

We have a great bunch of players, who play their hearts out every time they put on the jersey. Some have superb natural god given talents, and others like Macauley have got to where they are through hard graft. I know many like to put them down and belittle their achievements, but that's up to them. Probably just drives the lads on even more.

That's a fine post Hound and it's probably the most reasonable  case for the "opposition" that I have come across but if I had to find fault with anything here, I'd say you are underestimating the importance of coaching in developing a player's potential.
Would Con O'Callaghan be the same player if he was from Westmeath?
My belief is that he would not. There is a fair to middling chance that he wouldn't be playing at all, at least not at intercounty level.

Just look at the results of the Leinster championship over the last dozen years or thereabouts and ask yourself a question.  If you were a talented youngster like O'Callaghan, would you put in the time and effort needed to play championship football when you knew full well Dublin would destroy you by twenty points or more without really trying if you came up against them?

Also, you appear to suggest that the money spent on training doesn't make your lads better. Then why bother spending it in the first place? You certainly have other reasons to spend money elsewhere.

[seafoid]

Given the evidence of the first half last weekend, monaghan are comfortably a better side than Galway at present - despite the latter's excellent form thus far in the league.

Looking at the changes Monaghan made for that game, they may not be disappointed to miss out on a league final.

Watching it I thought the same - they looked very much like a side who knew they were safe and had no interest in having to play Dublin in Croke Park 2 weekends in a row.

Monaghan have Tyrone in the first round in Ulster, so O'Rourke has to know there's a decent chance they could be in the qualifiers from Round 1. Back in 2015 when they lost to Dublin 2 weeks in a row in the league (in the last round game and in a semi-final) they ended up limping out of Croke Park in August.

This Monaghan team never got past the qfs. There is more than playing the Dubs in the league to that disappointing fact.

[mouview]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

Championship will tell the tale as always from a progress perspective as the past few "exits" have been horrendous.  Staying in Div 1 was vitally important and now that is achieved, we can get a rough idea of where we are at over the next few weeks prior to heading to Castlebar in May.  I would say most supporters are pleasantly surprised with progress YTD.

[straightred]

Given the evidence of the first half last weekend, monaghan are comfortably a better side than Galway at present - despite the latter's excellent form thus far in the league.

Looking at the changes Monaghan made for that game, they may not be disappointed to miss out on a league final.

Watching it I thought the same - they looked very much like a side who knew they were safe and had no interest in having to play Dublin in Croke Park 2 weekends in a row.

Monaghan have Tyrone in the first round in Ulster, so O'Rourke has to know there's a decent chance they could be in the qualifiers from Round 1. Back in 2015 when they lost to Dublin 2 weeks in a row in the league (in the last round game and in a semi-final) they ended up limping out of Croke Park in August.

This Monaghan team never got past the qfs. There is more than playing the Dubs in the league to that disappointing fact.

True but they've had no luck with the draws. I think they've got one of Dublin/Tyrone/Kerry each time. In that sense getting to the super 8s would probably give them a better chance of getting to a semi

[GrandMasterFlash]

Given the evidence of the first half last weekend, monaghan are comfortably a better side than Galway at present - despite the latter's excellent form thus far in the league.

Looking at the changes Monaghan made for that game, they may not be disappointed to miss out on a league final.

Watching it I thought the same - they looked very much like a side who knew they were safe and had no interest in having to play Dublin in Croke Park 2 weekends in a row.

Monaghan have Tyrone in the first round in Ulster, so O'Rourke has to know there's a decent chance they could be in the qualifiers from Round 1. Back in 2015 when they lost to Dublin 2 weeks in a row in the league (in the last round game and in a semi-final) they ended up limping out of Croke Park in August.

This Monaghan team never got past the qfs. There is more than playing the Dubs in the league to that disappointing fact.

I think you've missed the point. Monaghan are trying to get past the QFs by timing their run, if you will. Playing extra games in the league has proven to be of no advantage, in the past. So the fact remains, we're safe (almost!), so lets give ourselves every chance to not be in the qualifiers after round 1..

Plus the fact we've the Super 8's this year..

[GalwayBayBoy]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

Kevin Walsh is having a very odd career managing Galway. You sense a lot of people including Galway supporters are still not sure about him. On the face of it he's won a Connacht title, won a division 2 title, gone 5 out of 5 games unbeaten up in divison 1 and beaten Mayo 4 times on the trot. Yet he just can't wash the stink of the complete non-performances against Tipp in 2016 and Roscommon in 2017 off himself.

[Syferus]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

Kevin Walsh is having a very odd career managing Galway. You sense a lot of people including Galway supporters are still not sure about him. On the face of it he's won a Connacht title, won a division 2 title, gone 5 out of 5 games unbeaten up in divison 1 and beaten Mayo 4 times on the trot. Yet he just can't wash the stink of the complete non-performances against Tipp in 2016 and Roscommon in 2017 off himself.

The heartless display against what proved to be a limited Kerry side last year was worse than either of those performances. Galway looked afraid of their shadows that day.

[seafoid]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

Kevin Walsh is having a very odd career managing Galway. You sense a lot of people including Galway supporters are still not sure about him. On the face of it he's won a Connacht title, won a division 2 title, gone 5 out of 5 games unbeaten up in divison 1 and beaten Mayo 4 times on the trot. Yet he just can't wash the stink of the complete non-performances against Tipp in 2016 and Roscommon in 2017 off himself.

The heartless display against what proved to be a limited Kerry side last year was worse than either of those performances. Galway looked afraid of their shadows that day.

They were worse than Ros in the second Mayo match.

[Cunny Funt]

Yeah, would agree on all that attendance wise.  Anyway, really looking forward to the probable 2 tilts at the Dubs.  We all know our deficiencies at this stage but the present management and squad should learn a lot from playing easily the best team we have seen in quite a while  - its a relatively young squad so I dont see us carrying too much scar tissue into the championship even if the results go the way most pundits expect.

Our manager hasn't always shown himself to be a particularly good or rapid learner; maybe this will be turn for the different.

Kevin Walsh is having a very odd career managing Galway. You sense a lot of people including Galway supporters are still not sure about him. On the face of it he's won a Connacht title, won a division 2 title, gone 5 out of 5 games unbeaten up in divison 1 and beaten Mayo 4 times on the trot. Yet he just can't wash the stink of the complete non-performances against Tipp in 2016 and Roscommon in 2017 off himself.

The heartless display against what proved to be a limited Kerry side last year was worse than either of those performances. Galway looked afraid of their shadows that day.

They were worse than Ros in the second Mayo match.

Galway to be fair were long off that woeful Ros performance. Galway created a number of goal scoring chances against Kerry in that game and if they took half of them it would have been a very different game. The Kerry back line showed loads of weakness in that quarter final and Mayo unlike Galway exploited those weaknesses in the semi final to get a long overdue championship win against the Kingdom.