Antrim Hurling

[Saffrongael]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Yeah it is, think next year will be a stark reminder of that

[Milltown Row2]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

I would have said that on anticipation of the senior game, but quality wise both game's shoulda been better

[ardtole]

Who got motm, I thought McKenna (no 10) was good and Campbell too.

[Gold]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Mammoth gap...if we don't improve our conditioning we'll lose 8 out of 10 rucks and be mauled by 20 plus points per game

The conditioning should be the easy part, it's just lifting metal around and pushing the plate away....no excuse to carry boys with guts or wee boys with no muscle. Limericks are well put together 1 to 35....we need the same as a bare minimum pre requisite

Defo nervy today but great to win and continue the upward trajectory

[Gold]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Mammoth gap...if we don't improve our conditioning we'll lose 8 out of 10 rucks and be mauled by 20 plus points per game

The conditioning should be the easy part, it's just lifting metal around and pushing the plate away....no excuse to carry boys with guts or wee boys with no muscle. Limerick's players are well put together 1 to 35....we need the same as a bare minimum pre requisite

Defo nervy today but great to win and continue the upward trajectory

[tintin25]

Glad to see Antrim do well and great to have an Ulster team competing at the top again.  As a poster alluded to previously, I couldn't help but notice the difference in conditioning between the players in both games.  Granted, the big lads will carry abit of timber, but the Limerick and Waterford lads were far leaner.  Some of the Antrim lads doing too many weights almost.

[marty34]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Mammoth gap...if we don't improve our conditioning we'll lose 8 out of 10 rucks and be mauled by 20 plus points per game

The conditioning should be the easy part, it's just lifting metal around and pushing the plate away....no excuse to carry boys with guts or wee boys with no muscle. Limericks are well put together 1 to 35....we need the same as a bare minimum pre requisite

Defo nervy today but great to win and continue the upward trajectory

True they should get stuck into the S & C programmes next week. From that until NHL starts, 2 a week and 2 nights on the pitch. They need to be well bulked up but not losing that speed or sharpness. 

With that incentive ahead, there should be no bother in getting at it again.

Is there anybody that should be on that panel?

[Milltown Row2]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Mammoth gap...if we don't improve our conditioning we'll lose 8 out of 10 rucks and be mauled by 20 plus points per game

The conditioning should be the easy part, it's just lifting metal around and pushing the plate away....no excuse to carry boys with guts or wee boys with no muscle. Limericks are well put together 1 to 35....we need the same as a bare minimum pre requisite

Defo nervy today but great to win and continue the upward trajectory

True they should get stuck into the S & C programmes next week. From that until NHL starts, 2 a week and 2 nights on the pitch. They need to be well bulked up but not losing that speed or sharpness. 

With that incentive ahead, there should be no bother in getting at it again.

Is there anybody that should be on that panel?

Yes, without doubt, Beatty Armstrong Rossa, for starters

There's other lads but we've players that'll definitely improve that panel

[Milltown Row2]

We need to get above Laois's level, the first challenge game next year needs to be Laois, then Wexford and Dublin.

Familiarise ourselves with these teams as early as you can

We are physically a year or two away from meeting 1b standard, 4 plus years from 1a if we continue

[Saffrongael]

Only seen last 20 mins, brilliant win , but gap to Liam McCarthy looks massive ,

Mammoth gap...if we don't improve our conditioning we'll lose 8 out of 10 rucks and be mauled by 20 plus points per game

The conditioning should be the easy part, it's just lifting metal around and pushing the plate away....no excuse to carry boys with guts or wee boys with no muscle. Limericks are well put together 1 to 35....we need the same as a bare minimum pre requisite

Defo nervy today but great to win and continue the upward trajectory

Is it as easy as you say? Does it not take years of physical conditioning to get to the levels we are seeing in the top counties? Indeed, I'd have thought that the ship has sailed for a lot of our players with regards to getting into the condition required for the top tier. That said, I know next to nothing about it - it was a general assumption on my part.

I would say you are right to a degree, it's widely accepted Limerick have been working on this S&C since development squads. You won't see much of a difference in Antrim players in the next year or so, one or two maybe trim a bit of timber but a long term approach where you are basically altering the physique of players will take a few years and let's face it we have been talking about it for years so there is no promise it will even happen.

[imtommygunn]

Strength and conditioning is a lot more than just lifting some weights in a gym. There's a massive amount to it and that is why there is so big a gap between top teams and the rest in football and hurling.

While at times we looked lighter today I think we have come on massively s&c wise. Kerry just happen to have some very big men. Gary o'kane was saying in an interview during the week how Westmeath and Carlow really upped it in this area. We have a long way to go but to me have improved massively in this area. Teams were bullying us last year.

[sid waddell]

Glad to see Antrim do well and great to have an Ulster team competing at the top again.  As a poster alluded to previously, I couldn't help but notice the difference in conditioning between the players in both games.  Granted, the big lads will carry abit of timber, but the Limerick and Waterford lads were far leaner.  Some of the Antrim lads doing too many weights almost.

There's a big difference in Seamus Flanagan compared to 2018

He looks a lot leaner and quicker, two years ago he almost looked like a traditional beefy full forward a la Jimmy Holohan or Pat Heffernan

Aaron Gillane is another lad who without serious S and C might be a Gary Laffan type

Gearoid Hegarty on the other hand is somebody who without serious S and C might look and play like Mark Foley of Cork, or be extremely awkward like Aisake O'hAilpin or a pure target man full forward like Brian Begley

Waterford were noticeably behind Limerick in terms of S and C, particularly their newer players

Limerick aren't just ahead of Waterford in this regard, they're well ahead of Tipp, who haven't been able to deal with them at all since 2018, and ahead of everybody else too

Something a former Leinster rugby player once said stuck with with me, I think it was Denis Hickie, he said that about half the fellas involved with Leinster struggled to keep the weight off and the other half struggled to keep the weight on

[marty34]

It'll be a huge stepup for Antrim.

That group of Joe Mc Donagh teams: Antrim, Kerry, Carlow and Westmeath etc. are all so close in terms of ability etc. but probably not just good enough to be regulars in Div. 1B or the Leinster championship.  Hard to bridge that level.

Antrim's turn now so we'll see what happens. Gleeson and O'Kane etc. have done a great job with them and next year willbe interesting.

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Few bellies on show alright , but other big difference was the aimless clearing of ball from defence from both Antrim and Kerry. A lot of "get it out of there" type of stuff

[imtommygunn]

That was a wee bit frustrating because we haven't been doing that all year but a win is a win. I think Kerry were onto our shorter game a bit yesterday.