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Topics - The Wedger

#1
GAA Discussion / Brawl at Wicklow U15 match
October 11, 2021, 05:18:58 PM
There were some very bad scenes at this match on the videos that are doing the rounds.
Let's hope it is properly punished. I've seen lots of "typical GAA" comments on social media from soccer heads which shows how widespread the opinion is that GAA games are out of control and this behaviour is accepted as part of the game.

https://twitter.com/invest_ez/status/1446940243018518529

#2
I think this article sums up some of the worst behaviour of adults who are in charge of children playing sport.



COMMENT - When it comes to Cumann na mBunscol, sometimes winning can cost too much
Rory Delaney

"The philosophy of Cumann na mBunscol shall be to promote Gaelic games in an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment"

--------------------------------

The above line is taken from the Cumann na mBunscol website. It is written into their constitution.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere of fun and enjoyment which surrounds practically all Cumann na mBunscol finals quickly dissipated last Thursday evening. And we can't blame the children for it.

Castletown NS played Scoil Bhride Knockmay in the Boys Division 8 final at 5pm. Five minutes before throw in, the murmurings of discontent had started. This was to be Castletown's 'B' team, as the school already had a team playing at a higher grade. It was Knockmay's 'A' team, which is operating in Division 8 as they try to give hurling a good foothold in the school.

It quickly emerged, however, that Castletown had drafted in a number of their 'A' team to play in the 'B' final. The behaviour of the Castletown teachers and mentors before the game suggested as much, as they refused to provide an accurate team list to the media.

To put that in some form of context, I would estimate that I've covered in the region of 200 Cumann na mBunscol finals, between football and hurling, since I started writing for this paper, and this is the only time a school has refused to give me their team list.

A further request after the game for clarification on the team list was met with more inaccuracies.

We have since been told that no rule was broken by Castletown, but the spectre of morals and ethics looms large here. The school clearly knew what they were doing was wrong, otherwise they wouldn't have went to such lengths to disguise exactly who was on the field for them.

Afterwards, we spoke to Monica Kennedy-Phelan, the Chairperson of Laois Cumann na mBunscol and, as it happens, the principal of Castletown NS. Her initial response to questions about whether Castletown played their 'A' players was that "Well, Knockmay played all of their 'A' players", a statement so ridiculous we'll leave it stand on its own without further comment.

We were next told that Castletown fielded their 'A' players on "Health and Safety Grounds", because the Castletown 'B' team was too small, and they were afraid they couldn't compete.

If that is the case, you have to wonder why on earth Castletown fielded a 'B' team at all, if they were too small to play. It could also be read as an accusatory statement towards Knockmay.

The game was by no means physical or dirty, and the only incident of an injury this reporter can recall came in the second half, when the Knockmay goalkeeper flung himself in front of a Castletown attacker to save a certain goal. It was an impressive display of bravery from the young man, and he ended up in a heap on the ground after it. After a moment to catch his breath, he got up and played on.

The tricky thing to grasp here is why Castletown would do this, what benefit they thought it would bring them, and why they would go to such lengths to cover it up?

It will have done nothing to improve the so-called weaker players in the school, the better players have won a final they didn't qualify for, and it has brought nothing but ill-feeling and scorn on the school from both outside and inside.

What is the message they send their own students pupils too? That it's better to win unethically than compete with honesty?

Knockmay have to be considered here as well. Will this incident help them to promote the game of hurling in the school? Will some of these players give up hurling because of this? Could you blame them if they did?

The whole thing was nonsensical as well. Trying to cover it up on a day when they knew there would be a team photo taken, that there would be reporters from local media outlets present, along with the biggest crowd the team have played in front of all year, is, to put it bluntly, daft.

Cumann na mBunscol games are supposed to be free of the parochialism and win-at-all-costs mentality that you sometimes find at club level. As the organisation says themselves, they are about fun and enjoyment.

And they genuinely are. The winners enjoy themselves, but what you notice when you're there for the day reporting on them, is that the losing teams get over their loss pretty quickly.

A hug and an ice-cream later, and you can see them running around the stand, playing with their friends. The kids don't seem to take the losses to heart too much, but maybe the adults do.

It is a shame this happened, because it in no way reflects the vast majority of games played, or the actions of the vast majority of teachers and coaches involved at Cumann na mBunscol level.

It doesn't reflect the ethos of Laois Cumann na mBunscol as a whole either, as they have done fantastic work in both football and hurling over the years, and have stepped it up even further this year with their Laois Cumann na mBunscol panels.

Neither does it reflect on the ethos of Castletown GAA club, who will inevitably get drawn into this.
The Cumann na mBunscol finals are played by children, enjoyed by children and are the unique and vibrant spectable they are because of children.

Sometimes, though, it's the adults that are the problem.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/sport/252499/comment-when-it-comes-to-cumann-na-mbunscol-sometimes-winning-comes-at-too-great-a-cost.html

#3
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#4
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#5
In Division 2A (Down, Carlow, Kerry, Westmeath, Wicklow, Derry) and Division 2B (London, Kildare, Meath, Armagh, Mayo, Roscommon) the top two will contest the final, with the winners promoted, while the bottom two face relegation play-offs.
#6

In Division 2A (Down, Carlow, Kerry, Westmeath, Wicklow, Derry) and Division 2B (London, Kildare, Meath, Armagh, Mayo, Roscommon) the top two will contest the final, with the winners promoted, while the bottom two face relegation play-offs.
#7
3rd time lucky that I'll manage to create this right!
#8
The key proposals of the plan include:

• The development of the Táin Adult Club Hurling League to provide a meaningful programme of Hurling games on a regular basis for adult club players in 13 developing Hurling Counties.

• The establishment of the National Hurling and Camogie Development Centre in Waterford Institute of Technology Sports Campus.

• Provision of Sports Science supports to 6 Counties – Antrim, Down, Carlow, Laois, Westmeath and Kerry.

• Promotion of the Games Based Approach to Training and Development (Coach10 Model)

• Appointment of hurling mentors as part of a Support team who will collaborate with County Boards and provide guidance to Team Managers and Coaches involved with underage and adult County Teams to maximise participation and optimise performance.

• To undertake a Research Study as part of an overall project to facilitate Change Management in a development context

http://gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/1602121305-national-hurling-development-plan-launched/
#9
Hurling Discussion / Lar Corbett quits Tipperary
February 06, 2012, 09:21:12 PM
Corbett decision stuns Tipperary

Tipperary hurling was in shock tonight with the news that Lar Corbett is to walk away from the county scene. The 30-year-old informed manager Declan Ryan in person and is believed to have circulated a text message to his Tipperary teammates to make them aware of his decision.

The 2010 hurler of the year, who scored a hat-trick of goals against Kilkenny in that year's final as Tipperary reclaimed the All-Ireland after almost a decade in the wilderness, had yet to return to training with the county this year.

He was named in the Munster interprovincial squad for the recent challenge match against a Tipperary selection in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland, but did not feature in that game either.

It is understood that Corbett will continue to line out for his club Thurles Sarsfields but his decision to quit the Tipperary set-up will send shockwaves through the entire hurling community. He met with Ryan this evening to confirm he was calling it a day after letting his teammates know that he was unable to commit himself fully to the cause by sending a group text message.

His withdrawal comes shortly after boss Ryan cut seven players from an extended squad. Corbett now becomes the second player from last year's squad to announce his intercounty retirement, following in the footsteps of fellow 2010 All-Ireland medallist Benny Dunne.
#10
Hurling Discussion / 2012 All Ireland betting
January 30, 2012, 08:12:12 PM
I just spotted the odds on William Hill.
They have Tipperary at 11/8 favourites and Kilkenny at 13/8.
I'm a bit surprised. Aside from the revenge factor, why would a bookie make Tipperary favourites over the Cats?

http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/2322489/All%2BIreland%2BSenior%2BHurling%2BChampionship%2B2012%2B%252d%2BWinner.html

#11
Hurling Discussion / Kilkenny retirements
January 20, 2012, 09:45:05 AM
Cha Fitzpatrick packed it in a few weeks ago. This week Eddie Brennan retired, followed by PJ Ryan.

In this morning's paper there is talk that Michael Kavanagh might not come back.

They mightn't be key players any more for Kilkenny, but they might be missed more than people think?
Every time you replace a proven stalwart with an inexperienced young player, there is an element of uncertainty.
#12
Hurling Discussion / Was Cody right to start Shefflin?
September 05, 2010, 08:37:08 PM
It was always a risk. Even if he had lasted the 70, he would have spent the day avoiding tackles.
A physical game on a wet day is not the place to carry a player.
Maybe it was a sign of Cody under estimating Tipperary?
#13
Hurling Discussion / Colin Lynch vs. Waterford in 1998
August 03, 2010, 09:09:41 PM
I haven't seen this footage in years.
This is when Lynch went berserk at the throw in of the Munster final replay.
Hitting both Waterford midfielders (Tony Browne and Peter Queally) and even Ollie Baker - his own man!  ;D

He got suspended for an off the ball hit later on in the game, but in reality it was what he did in this clip that marked his cards.

Great memories...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsHVNjA8SfQ
#14
Farragher calls for Tribal warfare

By Cliona Foley

Thursday May 06 2010

IT'S time for Galway's hurlers to put up or shut up according to Ger Farragher, who has certainly been leading the new Division 1 champions by example this year.

"We're long enough now threatening to do it," said Farragher (27). "Every year it's the same talk of, 'It's going to be Galway's year this year' or whatever, but it's about time the players stood up now and did it.

"We should have beaten Waterford last year, we just threw it away in the last few minutes when we were four points up in injury-time or something," he reflected.

That defeat proved particularly painful for him because, after having a brilliant game, it was Farragher who turned over the ball that yielded the Decies' dramatic comeback.

"It was me who gave the ball away -- Waterford went down the field and got a goal so more than anyone, I know what it's like. Hopefully, we'll learn from that game," he said.

An All Star winner at corner-forward in 2005, Farragher's inter-county renaissance, in a new midfield role, has been one of the talking points of the Tribesmen's good league run and he picked up the Vodafone Hurler of the Month for April yesterday.

He has returned to his top form after struggling to hold down a starting place under Ger Loughnane's previous management.

"I was training away, but I had a bit of a back injury at the time and I kind of fell out of favour and I probably wasn't hurling as well as I could either," he admitted. "Different managements have different opinions and I'm just happy to be getting a settled run in the team at the moment."

Farragher (below) has always been a sharpshooter with frees and sideline cuts, carrying the free-taking can in Joe Canning's absence, and admits to practising assiduously.

"I was just reading a book on Jonny Wilkinson and he says he knows when he's going up to kick a ball that he has the practice done and that he's going to score it, so it's all about positive thinking, but you have to put the practice in," he said.

He revealed his new midfield role came about because manager John McIntyre actually consulted the players themselves about where they preferred to play.

"You'd be kind of half afraid to say midfield because he might say: 'Is this lad a bit cocky or whatever, telling me where to play him?'" he admitted laughing. "But that's just John's style of management; he puts the players first and we have a say."

Farragher played midfield during his three seasons with the county minors, but, having won back-to-back All-Irelands in 1999-2000, he typified Galway's enigmatic inability to translate underage success into senior medals.

That is why last weekend's full-blooded league final performance against Cork was such a boost.

"Against Tipperary we'd a brilliant first half and then in the second half we kind of died again, but the last day we pushed on, so it was definitely important for our progress," he said.

innovations

McIntyre's introduction of youngsters like Donal Barry, David Burke and Aidan Harte has helped and he has made several other innovations to bring out the best in Galway this season.

"A big thing we've worked on is concentration, particularly in the last five, 10 minutes of a game when we've let teams come back into it before," Farragher revealed.

"There's more of a team spirit there than any other year," he added. "We went away to Westport and had a great bonding weekend there last month.

"I know it is great to win the league final, it's a medal, it's nothing to be sneezed at, but we have Wexford in four weeks' time," he stressed

"When we played them two years ago down in Nowlan Park they gave us an awful beating, so we are under no illusions."

- Cliona Foley

Irish Independent
#15
Wexford's U-21s boycotted last Sunday's Division 2 National Hurling League final when they were refused complimentary tickets into Semple Stadium, it has emerged.

The move has caused a storm in the county and led to stern criticism of the Wexford Board by a member of their U-21 management team.

Wexford and Clare had met in an U-21 challenge at The Ragg, a Tipperary county ground just outside Thurles, earlier in the afternoon.

After the request for free tickets to the league final was turned down earlier in the week, the squad and management decided to eat a pre-arranged meal in Thurles before heading on home, stopping to watch the match on TG4 on the way.

Wexford chairman Ger Doyle said that the Board had asked Croke Park for free tickets but they were not forthcoming. He said that concession tickets at €15 were made available to the U-21 squad by the Board, but these were turned down. Doyle defended the Board's record on player welfare and refuted claims that they were not promoting hurling in the county in a proper way.

"We were not obliged to give free tickets to the U-21 team. If there was no (U-21) game in Thurles they would have had to pay in anyway," he said.

"I'm disappointed with the way this has come out because we look after our players very well. When we got the request for the tickets, we contacted Croke Park and they turned us down.

"We don't have the money to buy €25 tickets. We have to be cautious with what we spend these days."

To purchase the tickets for a squad of U-21s and management would have cost in the region of €800.

"I've written a letter to Croke Park expressing my disappointment with the stance they took," continued Doyle. "A match played in a 50,000 capacity stadium with only 14,200 in it? Surely there was room to accommodate the players? They could have made a gesture."

Doyle added that a request from Clare for complimentary tickets was also rebuffed by Croke Park.

Wexford U-21 selector Paul Dempsey, though, was stinging in his criticism of the Board, accusing them of placing an obstacle in the way of progress in the county. he explained why the U-21 squad took such drastic measures.

"Rory Murphy, who acts as our team co-ordinator, requested passes for the U-21 team to attend the league final," he said.

"We were playing a challenge game in The Ragg earlier in the afternoon and we saw this as a way to demonstrate to the squad our commitment to them and also our efforts to promote the game of hurling."

"On Saturday, Rory contacted county officers regarding the venue for the meal for the team. He was told of the venue, but told no passes would be available.

"We made a decision following the meal to leave Thurles, go home on the team bus, and watch the game on television on the way."

Dempsey believes poor treatment has been meted out to the players. "Our County Board has not got a clue how to promote the game or look after county teams.

"An obstacle, no matter what the request, is always placed in the way of progress. The biggest problem with hurling is not the players or the team management but the County Board.

"The majority of our squad are students and they simply have not got the money. We thought the complimentary tickets would have been a great boost to the players. They are the seniors of tomorrow."

In response, Doyle said people have the option to walk away if they are not satisfied with the way the game is being run. "We are all volunteers. We are all doing our best. If they are not happy they can walk away," he said.

- Colm Keys

Irish Independent
#16
I don't buy the Sunday Independent, I only saw it in my mother in law's house today.


http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/cork-legend-says-hurling-on-the-rocky-road-to-ruin-2029376.html

Cork legend says hurling on the rocky road to ruin
Damian Lawlor hears Tomás Mulcahy list some major concerns for the game he loves


Sunday January 24 2010

Tomás Mulcahy is not a happy man. Hurling is his lifelong passion, but with his playing days long over and a lengthy stint in club management just finished, he has become an increasingly frustrated observer of the game he loves.

The former Cork and Glen Rovers stalwart, who is taking up the hurl once more on February 6 along with the likes of Jimmy Barry Murphy and Ger Cunningham when the Cork legends take on the Blackrock Legends in a 'Hurlathon', feels that hurling is destined to serve as the poor relation of the GAA unless urgent changes are made -- and he's definitely not talking about lip service.

From his vantage point, he believes the GAA are now just paying lip service to the game, and he has issued a stern challenge to the Association to, as he sees it, make meaningful attempts to restore hurling to full health.

"I've been looking on as a former player over the years and seen things happening that I didn't agree with," Mulcahy says. "And then as a club manager and county U21 selector I saw more issues crop up. Working with the Sunday Game and RTE gives you a chance to air your grievances, but the series of rule changes over the winter was the final straw as far as I'm concerned. I see hurling going down a route I don't like and I just had to speak up.

"I firmly believe that Christy Ring would turn in his grave if he could see what's happening. Mackey too. Other greats like DJ Carey and John Fenton, who did so much for the game in their time, must also be scratching their heads. It's easy to shoot your mouth off but I have strong feelings on the future of hurling and I want to back them up."

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

"First off, hurling needs a championship feeling to all of its games and much more pre- and post-match hype and promotion is needed to create a buzz. If this means the back door is eliminated, so be it -- a lot of players are thinking that way now anyway. Maybe it's time for an open draw with just one second back door chance for the losers' group. At least you'd be guaranteed an edge for every game.

"And speaking of a buzz, did hurling see any of it during the 125-year celebrations in comparison to the floodlit games, fireworks and razzmatazz that football received? Nope, hurling was the poor relation again. Can anyone name one outstanding promotion or feature we had for our game throughout the season? All the hype was football-related. Why did we not have fireworks for a hurling game? Surely fixtures don't come any better than Munster hurling final day. Yet there was no particular emphasis on this game or the Leinster final.

"They were just played off as normal. Hurling deserves more than that. Thank God for the All-Ireland final because that occasion had its own fireworks and they were badly needed. The bottom line is that our game is left lurking in the shadow of Gaelic football."

RULE CHANGES

The series of rule changes that will be in play for the forthcoming national leagues have exercised managers of both codes over the winter months, and Mulcahy admits he is not surprised. In fact, he feels the GAA has lost the plot with the introduction of compulsory helmets.

"In 125 years of our Association you could count on one hand the number of serious head injuries suffered by hurlers," he says. "So what message are we sending out to parents of young kids? Everyone has to wear a helmet now so automatically parents will deem ours a very dangerous game and little Johnny will be sent off to play some other sport. Our loss.

"Years ago, Mickey 'The Rattler' Byrne from Tipp described helmets as bird cages and he's right. Players should have the right to decide themselves, particularly at senior level, whether to wear them or not. It's their decision and their risk."

He also reckons that with the helmets, players will have less fear because their faces are protected and so hurling will become more physical in the process.

"I think lads will pull away because you simply can't hurt a player. Just look at American Football where there is no fear because the head is protected when players are jumping into tackles and that. What will the GAA bring in next, shoulder pads and shinguards? Watch this space; it's only a matter of time before we see the first cul baire to don a helmet with a sun visor attached."

The advent of compulsory helmets, he thinks, will leave referees with a lot more on their plate. And he wonders if match officials will be under instruction to deal with any interference to opponents' headgear, like pulling of straps and faceguards or tipping the helmet from behind.

"That stuff will go on even more now," he warned. "But referees should be instructed to issue a straight red card for any such offences. Look what happens when you are caught using your fingers illegally in rugby. You get a lengthy suspension for gouging and this offence in hurling should be in the same category. I'm telling you the side affects will be unsightly."

There's another fear the former Cork star harbours -- that one of the great skills of the game, free-taking, will suffer due to a new rule which prevents forward movement whilst negotiating placed balls.

"There was actually nothing wrong with the rules of hurling as they were," he said. "But what we have not done is learn from mistakes of the last few seasons and rather than dwell on the rules, why not look at areas where hurling can be improved?

"There are too many mistakes made by umpires waving a '65 wide or linesmen giving a sideline ball in the wrong direction. These have proven very costly in most important games. There's also not enough dialogue between the referee and his team of officials over key decisions. I would like to see referees taking an extra 30 seconds to consult before they decide what action to take.

"Why are we interfering with the art and skill of free-taking? That skill takes a lot of time to perfect. Any video or TV footage I saw of Christy Ring was mostly of him taking penalties and frees where he would lift cleanly and by the time the ash connected with leather again he was three foot closer to goal. How great it was to watch, to see the power and accuracy and speed of the shot. And on most occasions the rattle of the net.

"Let's remind ourselves of the free-taking skill of Eddie Keher, John Fenton, Declan Ryan, Davy Fitzgerald, DJ, Eoin Kelly and Henry Shefflin -- all with forward movement of the sliotar. If it is not broken why are we trying to fix it? On the other side there is nothing in the rule book to say that you cannot balance the ball on your hurley but this is the rule we should look to change, not the forward momentum one."

The much-maligned handpass will turn up the heat on referees who must deem whether a pass is legal or not. If they get the call wrong they can expect a backlash.

"To protect the ref, players should receive a straight red card for abusing him," Mulcahy says. "That should be in place already anyway and if it's implemented at senior level, it will filter down to underage where it is a growing problem from players and mentors."

Had he a blank canvas Mulcahy would seek the awarding of two points for a sideline ball to reward natural skill. He reckons implanting that proposal would be an incentive to keep the ball in play rather than clear it anywhere over the sideline and giving opponents a free puck.

He would make all club games 35 minutes and would have lobbied Croke Park to try and improve the structures of club championships where teams are lying idle for up to 11 weeks between their first and second games.

U21 CHAMPIONSHIP

Perhaps the biggest bugbear in his critique of the game is the structuring of the U21 championship, yet another example of hurling being the poor relation of the GAA, he claims. Indeed he states that his blood boils any time he conducts a comparison of how the U21 hurling series is staged against its football equivalent.

"Another joke," he sighs. "The U21 football championship will be done and dusted by late April/early May with no interference from the senior inter-county scene. By then, successful dual players have already made up their mind what game to choose for the summer and it's not hurling.

"But the U21 hurling championship is played in the middle of senior inter-county activity and amidst senior club championships. As manager you only see your star players on the Monday night before a Wednesday game. I've been there and seen that as an U21 selector too and you're usually preparing without your big names.

"For instance, I'm not taking from Waterford's performance at U21 level this year but were Tipp really focused on winning when they were going for a senior title too? Why can this championship not be run off in the same way as football -- let it be completed within a few weeks early in the year.

"You could have the college competitions run off just before the U21 started. At the moment, Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup teams have about six months to prepare and hold training sessions at 7.0am, lunch hour and again that evening. They have 90 to 100 training sessions before March before the really competitive action. Burn-out anyone? Don't get me wrong, they are serious, worthwhile competitions but need to be confined to a shorter time frame.

"Imagine a senior manager watching a guy impressing at college and then U21 level. He could call him up to the senior panel to develop him for the year. That's what Conor Counihan did last year with a number of Cork footballers."

DUAL PLAYERS

Mulcahy also refers to the last of a dying breed -- the dual player. He applauds his countyman, Eoin Cadogan's, determination to pursue a career in both codes.

"I support him 100 per cent because he's a young lad who looks after himself very well and knows full well that if he doesn't give it a go he'll regret it all his life. There will be only a few years in it before he gets older and has to make a choice but if you are good enough and have the talent, why not?

"There are players all over the country with special talent and commitment to play both codes or at least give it a try. But hurling seems to lose out. For example, as a selfish Corkman I would ask three of our most talented minor hurlers over the last few years to give hurling a go again. They know who they are, the likes of Ciaran Sheehan, Aidan Walsh and Colm O'Neill. These lads are seriously good with the big ball but equally as good with the small one.

"I just don't want to see hurling losing out anymore and I feel it's all one-way traffic at the moment. Our game is a key part of Irish culture and society but it can't prevail the way it's being treated."

CROWD PLEASERS

On a more aesthetic level he would remove the 'Bainisteoir' label managers' tops but would like to see players' names inscribed on the back of jerseys, feeling that helmets will only reduce player recognition among the public.
#17
Babs: I'd say we'd beat the current team by 25 points

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Tipperary's Babs Keating and Kilkenny's Pat Henderson met in Clonmel, Co Tipperary during the week. Diarmuid O'Flynn spoke to them.

Diarmuid O'Flynn: "When did ye first came across each other?"

BABS KEATING: "At minor, with the county. The school I played with, the High School here in Clonmel, wasn't good enough to compete against Pat, in Thurles CBS. I cycled in to school, eight miles, and I don't know if you were ever out that road, but it's a lovely drive — not so nice though if you're going home from school on a dark evening with wind and rain, tired and hungry, facing up to Knocklofty Hill and the belly falling out of you!"

PAT HENDERSON: "Jim Bolger (horse trainer) told me one time, he never found work hard after cycling 10 miles into New Ross to school every morning and home again in the evening. I went to Thurles CBS from Johnstown, 13 miles, cycled it a bit as well but that would only be in May and June, just before the summer holidays — usually we took the bus."

BK: "It's amazing the way things go, the difference one man can make. There was no hurling in the High School when I started there, it was all football. But a Christian brother came that was well known in Mount Sion and North Mon, Brother Collins was his name. A nice man, and he's still one of my best friends — he was the one who started us hurling. In order to finance the hurleys he set up a card system, that if you sold a card, about a fiver's worth, you got a free hurley — I ended up with six hurleys! He was dealing with a man in Randall's."

PH: "We used Randall's hurls in Thurles as well — there was great ash in them."

BK: "After just two years he had three of us on the Tipp minor team, fellas who had never played before — myself, Michael O'Connor at corner-forward, and Paddy O'Connell in midfield. And he also had two Waterford minors, lads who used to cycle in from Ballymacarbery, and Waterford had a fair minor team that time. We eventually played Harty, played De La Salle in Carrick, and I got the worst belt I ever got on a hurling field; I didn't wake up until a few years later."

PH: "We were beaten in the Harty final one year, and from the 1961 Tipp minor team you played on there was Liam Nolan, Conor Dwyer and Billy Ryan, all with Thurles CBS."

DO'F: "You were good at the football as well Babs, won a Railway Cup at it, but which did you prefer?"

BK: "I found football easier. You had to be sure of yourself in hurling, you had to be fit, and playing a lot. You couldn't be rusty in hurling and get away with it. You could in football."

PH: You had the physique as well, you had that low centre of gravity.

BK: "I had the strength, and that was invaluable to me in hurling under the dropping ball. Footballers have a technique under a high ball that hurlers don't have; footballers in those days, everyone had to use their hips or their shoulders, though that's not so much the case today. Under the dropping ball, in hurling, I was able to adjust, use the hips and the arse — hurlers didn't do that very much. John Doyle was probably as strong a man as played hurling, but he looked like a cripple when he was trying to hit someone with his arse, all legs and arms. Theo (English) was different, Theo was a footballer, and he'd hole you."

DO'F: "I interviewed him recently, and he's still cutting down trees, chopping them up for firewood!"

BK: "I'll tell you how strong he was — I started driving an oil truck with Theo, with Esso. In those days, the trucks had a platform at the back for carrying barrels of oil, about chest high off the ground. In every depot they had what they called a skip, for rolling the barrel of oil onto the platform. Now a barrel of oil was 45 gallons, and at £10 pounds a gallon, plus another £50 for the barrel itself — that was £500. English would throw it straight up, effortless. There was a little rim around each end, he'd get his fingers in there, swing it up. I guarantee you, if anyone of those in Croke Park tomorrow were to try that they'd break their own bones! He had a hurley and you'd need a young fella to carry it, it was so heavy, and he had two big steel bands around it! That's why he was able to cut a ball — the big heavy ball that time — over the bar from 80 yards."

PH: "But you'd need a hurl that weight for the ball we had that time — the ball now is so light, it's after changing the game."

BK: "It's after ruining the game."

PH: "It IS after ruining it."

BK: "I was looking at the intermediate All-Ireland final last week — the Kilkenny keeper was hitting the ball the length of the field."

PH: "Hit a ball 110 yards then and it was a huge puck, but they're flicking it 100 yards today."

DO'F: "When did ye first break on to the senior team then?"

BK: "In 1964; three of us came on the team together, Mick Roche, John O'Donoghue and myself. My first match was in the league, in Nenagh against Dublin. Do you know who I was marking? Liam Lawlor, the politician killed in a car crash in Moscow."

PH: "My first game was in the league as well, below in Wexford — I was on Jim English, he had moved to the forwards at that stage. My next match was against the Rest of Ireland, that was an annual game that time, the All-Ireland champions against the rest, I was on Jimmy Smyth, from Clare. He was getting older that time but I believe he was very good in his day."

DO'F: "How good was Jimmy Smyth? Some say he was up there with Ring and Mackey, just didn't get the same exposure?"

BK: "It's funny, but Michael O'Hehir made legends of all those fellas. You'd hear people when you were growing up, talking about those fellas, but I saw a lot of them playing and I hardly ever saw them playing a great game. I saw Clare in 1955, as fine a team as I ever saw. Cork had just won three-in-a-row and they beat Cork in Thurles — Tipp were licking their lips at the prospect of meeting Clare then in the semi-final, but Clare won. I don't know what happened to them in the final, against Limerick, but they lost that, to a bad Limerick team. Jimmy Smyth didn't stand out for me, in the games I saw — it was a fella called Kelly, I think, got all Clare's scores."

PH: "The Railway Cup was where a lot of those lads made their reputations, it was a lot bigger at the time."

DO'F: "A hot topic at the moment, given the exploits of this Kilkenny team, is what was the greatest team of all time? What do ye think? Babs, the Tipperary team of the early 60s, three titles in four years?"

BK: "There was a lot of unrest in Tipperary over the one they lost, in 1963; Roche (Mick, midfield/centre-back) and myself were starring for the intermediate team, but they wanted to win everything in Tipp that year so they wouldn't bring us onto the senior side and left us with the intermediates. It backfired, because the forwards left us down against Waterford in the senior championship. That was an All-Ireland that might have been won."

PH: "We had a strong team in 1963 (Kilkenny beat Waterford in the All-Ireland final), a few young lads came through and were very good."

BK: "But then you look at what happened to that Kilkenny team in '64, we won that final well!"

PH: "It wasn't the same team but it was. I know what you're saying (Pat debuted with Kilkenny that year).

DO'F: "But how good was that Tipperary team?"

BK: "I'd say we'd beat the current team by 25 points, and I'll tell you why I say that; look at this team for Sunday, the two midfielders and the six forwards — all eight of them have been taken off at some stage in this year's championship. Now Pat, can you imagine Roche, English, Doyle, Devanney, Nealon, myself, McLoughlin, McKenna, being taken off in the course of any championship, all eight of us?"

PH: "No."

BK: "That's my point. If we had, had the training and the organisation that's there now, we'd have won a lot more. I would say that if the management structure was only half right, with the quality of players I saw around Tipperary we'd have won more. Guys like Conor Dwyer from Thurles, that you hurled with in the Harty — he never got a chance to play senior hurling with Tipp. I'm thinking of Tom Ryan of Killenaule, a great player. I'm thinking of Francis Loughnane — we won U21 in '64, and yet the first time he saw serious action with Tipperary, really, was the last 10 minutes of the All-Ireland final of '68. In those days Paddy Leahy was the boss, but he got into bad health in '65 — it was the club and the parochial scene that took over then, and it wasn't good."

DO'F: "What about ye Pat, how good was the Kilkenny team of the early 70s?"

PH: "Well it's similar to what Babs was saying about the 60s Tipp team, we had the personnel. You had the forwards, Keher, Purcell, Delaney, you had Tom Walsh early on, until he got the eye injury, you had Crotty, Brennan, a few others — you had at least eight strong forwards contesting six positions, always a good sign. You had Skehan in goal, top class, you had a reasonably strong backline as well."

DO'F: "Better than reasonably! But, better than the current team?"

PH: "I'd say that if we had the setup in the 70s that they have now, it would be hard to beat that team — we might even have won more. But I find it fierce hard to make comparisons. To try to do it the way Babs does, to pick out this set of forwards and compare them with the forwards then, I don't know if you can. I think you have to take it in its total, and I look at the structure now in Kilkenny, what they've achieved, and I think you'd have to say, they are better."


Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/babs-id-say-wed-beat-the-current-team-by-25-points-100242.html#ixzz0QH2L33bY
#18
http://www.enniscorthyguardian.ie/sport/hurling/laying-roots-to-get-back-to-the-top-of-hurling-tree-1762427.html

Laying roots to get back to the top of hurling tree

Wednesday June 03 2009

WHEN GEORGE O'Connor dropped to his knees with his hands clasped in prayer at the end of the 1996 All-Ireland hurling final it was an image that would have stirred emotions in the hardest of hearts.

A great warrior of the ancient game, at 37 years of age he had finally got his hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup after 17 years of trying but George says he's more interested in the impact it had on the county as a whole rather than any personal plaudits.

'It was a great feeling for Wexford people. When you're involved in the community and people are so loyal to you over the years you want to try to make them happy as well as yourself. We hadn't won for so long it was a fabulous feeling for everybody. Everyone was behind us and it was all the sweeter for not having won for so long.'

The Piercestown man says the Liam Griffin factor had a major bearing on their success and the wonderful sense of team spirit he instilled in the camp.

'I had considered retiring in '93 but Griffin came along and small things we had neglected over the years he put in place, which took a lot of work, but it's those little things that made all the difference.

'The spirit in the camp was fantastic. Great communities and clubs have great spirit and little negativity. Criticism should be constructive. No team or organisation will be successful if they're negative. If you work hard you get the results and that's what we did', he said.

O'Connor is now trying to give back to the game which he feels was so good to him over the years in his role as Hurling Development Administrator in Wexford and says that if you get the approach right at a young age it's half the battle in moulding a successful Senior team in the future.

'It's about kids enjoying the game. If children have to listen to some fella shouting abuse from the sideline saying they're doing this wrong or that wrong they won't look on the game fondly and it will have a long-lasting negative effect. Wouldn't a "well done" do a lot more.

'There's people who are coaching to help their own ego. It's all about playing games. Kids want to play games. Some people think you should be spending you're time doing drills but name me a golfer who spends all his time on the driving range. Every child wants to play the game. That's why they're getting involved,' he said.

O'Connor thinks the wide choice of sports available to young people makes his role in promoting hurling all the more difficult, but believes children should be encouraged to take up all codes and make up their mind which path to take when the time comes.

'Kids should enjoy every game they can up until 16. Then they have to choose one because unfortunately if you want to be the best you have to concentrate on a particular sport'.

Asked whether Kilkenny enjoy such success in hurling because of their almost complete focus on one game, he says that it's a huge factor.

'In Kilkenny they have a huge preference for hurling, in Tyrone they've a huge preference for football, in New Zealand they've a huge preference for rugby. Brazil have a huge preference for soccer and it's no coincidence that these are some of the most successful teams.'

He says with all the good work that's going on at grassroots level the signs are good for a positive future for the game in the county.

'At underage we're competing with the people at the top. We won the All-Ireland at under-16 so people's expectations are high for the Minors.

'A few years ago Carlow beat us in Minor and people were saying we might as well give up playing hurling.

'We don't have to give up anything. What should we do, just lie down and die, close a chapter in our life and say that's our tradition gone?,' he said.

Speaking on the eve of the Model county's championship win over Offaly in Wexford Park, George said despite all the criticism and despondency things aren't as bleak as many people make out.

'People say Wexford hurling is going downhill, it's not. We've some fantastic young people with great energy and spirit. It's just that we neglected it for eight or nine years after '96. We sat back and ate strawberries and went to beach and enjoyed ourselves but when we rise we do rise and it's nearly time we did it again.'

O'Connor says while it might be difficult to compete with Kilkenny, if you concentrate on the right areas you always have a chance.

'We might not have the best hurlers in the country but there's nothing stopping us from being the fittest hurlers and there's nothing stopping us from being the best blockers and having the best defensive record in the country. There's two areas that are in our own hands. That allied to our ability and spirit would make us difficult to be beaten,' he said.

The two-time All Star also believes that the game is worth promoting in counties where it wouldn't be so strong.

'If you put the right structures in place with people who would nurture the game and motivate the people, it doesn't matter what game it is. It's all about community spirit so it doesn't matter if it's traditionally a hurling area or not. Offaly won an All-Ireland in '81 and they only had four Senior hurling clubs in the county. It's about the amount of effort you put into it. I admire all counties for wanting to play their traditional game and having their identity.'

O'Connor also believes the changes to the Leinster championship, while criticised in some quarters, can only be a positive thing.

'Bringing Galway and Antrim into Leinster can only be good for the game. Embrace the people don't isolate them. We should twin Kilkenny with Leitrim, Galway with Down, Cork with Sligo and send our great players up there. We should twin Wexford with Derry and send our players up there to help out,' he said.

The man famous for his bravery in the heat of battle refuses to listen to talk of the demise of hurling in his native county and firmly believes the glory days will be back before too long.

'People may get fed up hearing about '96 but it was a happy moment in people's lives and something that should be cherished. The euphoria was so great but it belonged to everyone, not just a few. We will get back there again.

'It will take time but everyone is working hard and staying positive.

'Wexford hurling will be back. If you put a gun to my head I'd say in three or four years you'll see great moves forward. If everyone keeps putting in the amount of work that's being put in we'll be back again.

'Give the game back to the people and enjoy it,' he said.

#19
Hurling Discussion / Loughnane goes mad again!
December 12, 2008, 08:31:21 AM
Got mailed this!

From "The Clare Champion"

Fanaticism drove him in Clare but, Peter O'Connell finds, Ger Loughnane couldn't give the same commitment to the Tribesmen.

NEITHER love nor hate infiltrated Ger Loughnane' s emotions during his two-year stint in Galway. In the end, that dearth of feeling cost both the man and the county.
Deep down, he didn't care enough. A decade back, he would have gladly laid down his life for Clare. Organisationally, he says, he gave everything to Galway but he could not donate every fibre of his being to the Tribesmen.
Last Christmas, Loughnane peered into a book of war poems, given to him by Colum Flynn A single line from WB Yeats- An Irish Airman Foresees his Death resonated most: 'Those I fight, I do not hate, those I guard, I do not love'. L
"I couldn't say that about Clare," Loughnane reflected. "Those I fought for Clare, I hated them and those I guarded, I loved them. But in Galway, that was never the case," he says, encapsulating his feelings for Clare but not for Galway. "It was dangerous," he says of the depth of his fanaticism throughout the 1990s,
"When I was with Clare, it was fanaticism brought to a degree that few people in their
whole life will ever bring it to.You could never repeat that fanaticism. I look back on it now and I say. 'Jesus Christ', the commitment in my own mind was just absolutely total," he says.
He just couldn't spill himself, to the same extent, on Galway's behalf. 1
"Can you ever do that again? And I suppose you have to realise the answer is no. I suppose Galway made me realise the answer is no. I was relying so much on organisation in Galway, on Sean Treacy and on Louis (Mulqueen) but I was never going to give of myself in the same way as I gave to Clare. Never,never. You couldn't
do that," he reiterated.
"I know now that I will never get to that depth again. And I suppose that's what makes all the difference," he believes.
Yet if he'd got his way, Loughnane would be preparing for his third year as Galway manager. Internal politics, he claims, led to his overthrow, in a secret ballot last October.
"Everybody knows that Miko Ryan, the (hurling) chairman, was against me from the
first day I went in," Loughnane maintains.
"Sean Treacy actually told me that he [Miko Ryan] asked him to go against me, even when I was in. The man who was coming with me, he asked him to go against me!" he exclaimed.
"But of course Sean, the most loyal, the most genuine person you will ever meet, wouldn't even contemplate that. There were massive obstacles there but at the same time, it was two years I will never regret and two years that really, really enjoyed," he stresses.
In tandem with the hurling chairman, some of Galway's best-known hurling figures,
Loughnane says, wanted rid of him.
"The campaign was there from Miko Ryan the chairman, Mattie Murphy and those associated like Cyril Farreir and Jarlath Cloonan.
People who were there before. They were the ones who campaigned against going into Leinster," he suggests.
Loughnane expanded on the Galway hurling chairman's role in his demise. "The only time the chairman did any work was to get us out. He was campaigning from the very start. He was hoping that the situation wouldn't be a success. As well as that, he never turned up to a training session. He never saw what was going on and yet he passed all these judgements about what was going on," the Feakle man laughed.
On Monday, October 13, 2008, a Galway County Board meeting voted 28 to 26 in favour of jettisoning Loughnane, Sean Treacy and Louis Mulqueen.
"I would never back down from any challenge. We were determined we wouldn't back down. So if they were going to get rid of us, Miko and his gang, they were going to have to campaign and canvass as hard as they could, he said.
"But they needn't have had because even if they were beaten by two votes, we would still have gone. We weren't going to go in next year, into a very divided and divisive situation.
Remember the Three Priests, '98 and all of that? Three has become four, albeit at a 10-year remove.
"The funny thing is, I have no luck with priests!" he chortles. "It was a priest from
Killanena a Fr [Martin] McNamara, who is now in a club in Galway, who had promised to vote for us and then 20 minutes before the vote started, he told John Fahy (hurling secretary) that he had to vote against us, because the (club) chairman had rang him up. So we were tripped up by a priest again."
Although acknowledging that the priest in question has contributed to Galway hurling, Loughnane was disappointed to have lost his vote.
"I still don't accept that from him. He had his mind made up. Why would you change your mind 20 minutes before the meeting?"
If he was still Galway manager, Ger Loughnane is adamant that he would be working to a clear plan.
"We knew what course we were on. Our next step was to get rid of all the old fellas and start with a younger group and try and train the younger group into a new way of thinking, a new way of operating," he explained.
With Galway due to compete in Leinster next year, Loughnane is convinced that the game in the county will benefit hugely.
Yet just a few short years ago, he remembers attending a meeting with the Galway County Board, in his guise as a Hurling Development Committee member. Galway officers Loughnane suggests, were not jumping out of their skin to send their hurlers into Leinster.
"I was on the Hurling Development Committee that tried to persuade Galway to come into the Leinster championship," he outlined. We met them. Miko Ryan fell asleep at the end of the table. That's a fact. Frank Burke talked about the last time they were in Munster in the 1960s that they never won a match. Phelim
Murphy's only concern was that the kitchen was closing at 9pm, so the meeting had to be over before then, so that he'd get his meal.
"They weren't the slightest bit interested.
Bemie 0'Connor was talking about the only system that suited them was getting into an All-Ireland semi-final straight away and taking their chances. One year out of four, they'd win it and they'd be in the All-Ireland."
Loughnane says he had his eyes opened by a couple of his players, when the Leinster debate was at tipping point in Galway.
"They were unanimous that they would go into Leinster. So they chose three players to go into the Galway County Board meeting; Ollie Canning, Conor Dervan and David Collins When push came to shove and when men needed to stand up, the boys bailed out. Canning bailed out, Dervan bailed out but Collins faced the crowd," Loughnane stated.
The crucial county board meeting was held last September, during which delegates voted 66 to 54 in favour of competing in the Leinster hurling championship. Along with David Collins, hurling secretary John Fahy argued in favour of Leinster.
"They still swung the meeting," Loughnane is certain. "I thought that was really, really significant. Collins is a fantastic leader. It just shows Fahv being a man of absolute steel. I think that is a real bonus for John Mclntyre next year.
"Let them play Kilkenny, I still think that Galway will be in the All-Ireland quarter-final next year and from then on, you never know what could happen," he speculated.
So what is his take on John Mclntyre, Loughnane's successor?
"I don't know John that well," he replied."His record in Offaly was very bad. Offaly
got relegated and got beaten by 31 points by Kilkenny. He seems to be an intelligent type of guy so maybe; he knows the Galway scene very, very well," he pointed out.
"He knows where the bodies are buried!" Loughnane added. "For example after he
wrote an article about Miko Ryan, the chairman, which was very, very justified; Bemie O'Connor wouldn't let him into the sideline in Athenry the following Sunday. Maybe somebody like that might be the man to bring them along to the next stage," he mused.
During his time in Galway, Loughnane was stunned by the absence of modem GAA facilities in the county.
"There's no pitch in Galway where you can train for championship hurling," he says,
shaking his head. "They've nothing like Cusack Park, the Gaelic Grounds, not to talk of Thurles. Some nights we had to abandon training in Athenry because the pitch was so bad. It's dangerous to the players," he suggests.
"There was a huge neglect there for years and years," Loughnane added. "The great eras of the ' 80s and ' 90s. when the Clares and the Limericks and all the other counties developed their pitches, Galway did absolutely nothing.
"As a matter of fact, they've regressed because Ballinasloe was a very good pitch when I was playing hurling. Now there's no county match and no senior championship club match played in Ballinasloe. It's now a field for sheep basically," he noted.
"Their whole infrastructure has been totally neglected by the Frank Burkes and the Phelim Murphys, who built a big reputation for themselves outside of Galway but did nothing for the game within Galway," Loughnane stormed.
As Galway manager, surely Loughnane admits that he wasn't flawless himself? Revealing the starting 15 to his players, minutes before throw-in, last June in Ennis hardly helped?
"I didn't care about Clare," he retorts. "The Clare match didn't matter one bit to me. All I was aiming for was to get Kilkenny in the quarter-final and have a right cut at Kilkenny.
"Now an awful lot of people in Galway maybe wouldn't agree with that. But you saw last year with Waterford for example, getting to an All-Ireland final and being absolutely trounced, humiliated, decimated; call it what you like.
That is the worst thing that can possibly happen you. You should never get to a final unless you are ready to compete," he warns.
Loughnane is convinced that Galway nearly got it right in 2007. "They were vulnerable," he said of All-Ireland quarter-final opponents, Kilkenny.
"With 63 minutes gone, we were level with them. A mistake by our comer-forward led to a mistake by our full-back. They got the goal and went on and won the match and they won it handily in the end," Loughnane acknowledged.
"But it wasn't the Clare match that undid us that year. I thought we went as far that year as we possibly could. The injury to Fergal Moore, when our resources in the backs were very, very scarce anyway, was what really fecked us in that game," he reckons.
A year later, Galway fell to Cork in Thurles. A freak Cork display capsized them, the former Galway manager is adamant.
"I thought that the Cork display this year against us was of the greatest displays I've ever seen," he marvelled. "You'd have to be on the sideline. Forget about being above in the stand, forget about watching it on television. You'd have to be on the sideline to see the absolute fanaticism of the Cork players in the second half."
For example?
"There was one stage in the second half, the sun was shining in Shane O'Neill's eyes. A ball came down between himself and Ger Farragher. Farragher lost the view of it in the sun but Shane O'Neill didn't. He caught it and he was snorting like a bull as he was driving forward.
"It reminded me of Clare in 1998, when we played Cork in similar circumstances, when we had to win. Cork were absolutely brilliant on the night and I wouldn't take anything away from them. We were so fortunate to finish within two points of them," Loughnane admits.
"But how could we come from nowhere?" he queries. "From playing Laois and playing Antrim, up to the intensity that Cork had after they playing Tipperary and having a hard match with Dublin.
"They were set up for that game and then with Cusack sent off and he crying at half-time, telling them he'd let down the team, he drove them ballistic. You met a team that was absolutely ballistic. Now, that wouldn't happen again," he states with utter certainty.
Although finished with Galway, Loughnane ponders on what might have been if he had been afforded more time.
"It was going to take a lot more time than I imagined when I went in there at first. But it would have proved to be a great challenge. I loved the two years I was there and I'd have loved another two years in it. I think in two more years we'd have really changed it around," he says.
These days hunting and not hurling, keeps him occupied.
"My biggest pastime now is hunting," Loughnane confirms. "Anything that goes
across the hunting, I nearly resent it. I find it very hard to see myself now having the same passion for the hurling," he revealed.
A bit like, while in Galway, he couldn't transport his passion for Clare north of his own county's border.
"I think that never again in my life would I be able first of all, or would I be willing, to give what I gave to Clare. Nobody knows, except myself and those who are closest to me, nobody knows exactly what energy I gave to Clare," he says softly.



Fr McNamara 'hurt' by Loughnane's claims
FR Martin McNamara has expressed his "disappointment and hurt" at Ger
Loughnane's claim that he changed his mind and voted to ditch the former Gal-
way manager at a crucial county board meeting.
Fr McNamara, who is a member of Killimordaly GAA Club near Athenry, refuted
Loughnane's suggestion that he told Galway hurling secretary, John Fahy, that he
had been instructed to vote against the outgoing Galway manager shortly before the
meeting.
"First of all, I had no contact with John Fahy before that vote," Fr McNamara told
The Clare Champion on Tuesday. "I wasn't talking to him at all about it," he added.
Fr McNamara cannot comprehend how Ger Loughnane can suggest that he voted
against him.
"To say that I voted against him is completely wrong because he had no knowledge
of which way I voted," the priest, who is a native of Killanena, stated.
"It was a secret ballot. There was no pressure on people either way. I could have voted any way I liked," he pointed out.
Fr McNamara said that he has been hurt by the vote controversy.
"It hurts me and disappoints me to say that I had voted against him. But even though he said that about me, I still have great respect for him. It's just a pity that he would say that about me," he said.
In fact, Fr McNamara said that he was keen that Ger Loughnane remained in place
as Galway manager for a third year.
"There was nobody more disappointed than me, when he didn't get the job for a
third year. He was appointed for three years and as far as I was concerned, he deserved to get another chance. So many people around here- felt he should have been given the chance," he maintained.
Fr McNamara's admiration for Ger Loughnane hasn't diminished, despite their clash.
"We always talked about hurling when we met and about the fortunes of my own
home club, Killanena, it being co close to Feakle. He always put his heart into hurling
in Galway, it just didn't work out for him. I wish him all the best in whatever he does
next. Clare wouldn't have won any of the AU-Irelands without him," Fr McNamara
concluded.
When contacted by The Clare Champion, Galway County Board chairman, Miko
Ryan said that he had no comment to make at this stage, as did Galway hurler, Ollie
Canning.

Further Article in Section 1 of "The Clare Champion".

Canning and Dervan deny players' meeting claim
GALWAY'S 2008 hurling captain, Oilie Canning and teammate, Conor Dervan, have rebutted Ger Loughnane's claim that they were selected by the panel of players to attend a Galway County Board meeting in September.
Ger Loughnane also claimed that David Collins was elected onto the same committee but that Canning and Dervan "bailed out". In a joint statement to The Clare Champion, however, Canning and Dervan pointed out that to attend any county board meeting, they need permission from their respective clubs to act as delegates.
"Ger Loughnane has been misinformed about the players' meeting on the Leinster issue. We were not nominated, selected, voted or even agreed to attend the county board meeting, at the players' meeting on the night," the statement read.
The county board meeting in question voted 66-54 in favour of playing Leinster championship hurling from 2009.
• FOR FULL INTERVIEW WITH GER LOUGHNANE
SEE SPORT AND LEISURE PAGES 1&4
#20
I know this is being discussed in anotehr topic, but I think it deserves a topic of its own.
I think this could be a great appointment for Dublin. Dalo is a passionate hurling man and a born winner.
You only need to look into his eyes to see the intensity he possesses!

Dublin need that extra bit of juice for them to progress to the next level.
Daly almost got a Clare team past its peak to an All Ireland final in 2005.
The year before that he picked Clare up from a 19 point defeat to Waterford in the Munster championship, to almost pip Kilkenny in the All Ireland series.

With Galway in Leinster next year, Offaly improving and Daly managing Dublin, it could be the best Leinster championship in years.