Messages

i agree with blue island,players from neighbouring clubs wouldn't/shouldn't let parish rivalry prevent them from performing at a level they otherwise won't achieve.also bear in mind alot of these lads would have played on school teams with guys from the neighbouring club.
   using the down juniors in the hurling is also not a great example.hurling has a different skill set and would be far harder to prepare for in comparison to football.
     if it did get the thumbs up how would it work?it couldn't just be a couple of neighbouring clubs joining together.i imagine it would be a team of junior/intermediate players from east down and likewise south down.getting on such a team would be quite an honour i'd imagine.
   the point of such an experiment would not necessarily be to unearth future county players but to give talented players the opportunity to play senior football.it may also stop lads from leaving junior clubs and moving to senior to play at a higher level.

personally i think it would be a great idea.giving guys a chance to play senior football who might otherwise never get such an opportunity.if it didn't work out it could be dropped,no harm done.

What about mccaughey of bredagh in the division 3 team?

With regards the incident in the bredagh st pauls game last night people need to take a step back and calm down.

i have a friend who would be quite athletic but never really played much sport.if i brought him down to a pitch and gave him a hurl,an o'neills,an american football and a rugby ball i reckon after say a week of practice he would have managed to score with each ball.
    if i put a sliotar down on the sideline and asked him to cut it over the bar a la joe canning,i could come back in a year and he still wouldnt have come close!

also,i wouldnt like to see the winner of the acprfl entering division 4.as someone has already stated they would be playing at a lesser standard.also they could hamper the development of a club coming out of the league.no matter what anyone says about top 13,10 etc,when it comes to a big game then big guns can be rolled out.i couldnt see the reserve teams going for it anyway,but i hope it doesnt happen.

this debate seems to occur almost every year,with little ever seeming to come of it.certainly automatic promotion for winning your division would be a welcome addition,it seems ridiculous that a team could win their league out of sight yet be denied promotion due to a playoff system.however,bar that one change,i do not see that there is too much wrong with the league structures as they are.
   teams that gain promotion do struggle in the higher division,but this makes sense as they are up against a higher quality of opposition week in week out.for example,bryansford won nearly all matches at a stroll in div 2 this year but will find it much harder next year.similarly st johns were rarely troubled but will get it alot tighter next season.that to me is just the nature of league football,there will be the elite in the league who will beat everyone bar each other,the chasing pack who can cause the occasional upset,then those who fight relegation.occasionally there will be a whipping boy.i can't think of a system that will change this.
   fair enough the leagues took a long time to complete this year,but would this not be the exception to the rule in recent years?

it is yeah,sorry.i was just answering the question daddylonglegs asked,but i do see what you mean.

by london irish i presume you mean the london county team which takes part in the connaught and ulster championships.i am not too sure if they,or the new york team,recieve the grant.at a guess i would say they do not.the inter county players recieve this grant due to the contribution they make to the promotion of culture in this country through the playing of our indigenous games.this is not my opinion or me saying i agree with the grants but simply the argument put forward for there coming into being in the first place.inter county players from all thirty two counties all make this contribution therefore they all recieve the grant,irrespective of what political jurisdiction they fall under(north or south).
   i see what you mean about the soccer club,but bear in mind that this grant is awarded to the players,not to the team,and it is for their contribution to a championship which takes place in Ireland.
  i just would like to reitterate that none of the above are my personal opinions,they are solely the reasons i understand the grants came into being.
 
     

i'm not the gael,merely a gael,but i'll answer your question.yes,inter-county players in the north,both hurling and football pick up a cheque based on how far they progress in their respective championship.all these grants are funded by the irish sports council which in turn is funded by dail eireann and dail eireann alone.

i agree dundrumite.this fella isnt the most subtle,but he does generate a bit of craic.

who is this guy?he's some craic.

i don't want to get involved in that discussion,it's going nowhere fast.

i'd say you would have a chance of beating any team in division 3 next year at home.i'd still have bredagh and carryduff a fair bit ahead of yous overall though.not really sure about the reputation bredagh have for being an old team.the majority would probably be in their mid twenties if not younger.carryduff seem to be doing a great job at bringing through their underage players.

fair enough.i guess its back to the bredagh st pauls derby clash now that carryduff have escaped div 3 for next year.