Antrim Hurling

[theskull1]

I agree with DR

Any time I've seen him referee I've been impressed with the way he stays up with play, allows and communicates advantage and protects players from dangerous play. A poacher turned game keeper some might say in that regard   

[paddyjohn]

hardly think there is an Ulster final this weekend.

[NAG1]

hardly think there is an Ulster final this weekend.

I think the level of apathy from supporters reflects the season that was in it, levels of commitment from both Management and players.

[johnneycool]

Has the open top bus tour and the Monday session through the Glens not been pre booked?

[paddyjohn]

Has the open top bus tour and the Monday session through the Glens not been pre booked?

be a wean of years before its through the ards again..

[PaudieSull1]

Big boast from a county with as many clubs as Clare etc.......Down hurling isn't in a great space but not sure Antrim should be throwing any stones given how far they have fallen.....Antrim are the only Ulster county with the playing numbers to be at a decent level but instead are a shambles relative to their potential......

As a collective in Ulster hurling we should be outside the Ulster offices in Armagh with burning brands and pitchforks as those f@ckers are being well paid to preside over the death of Ulster hurling.

- Armagh don't field in minor championship
- Derry refuse to play the play off in Ulster championship
- no Ulster team above Div 2A and no Ulster winner of Ring, Rackard, Meagher

We can poke fun at each other all we like but Ulster hurling is dying and we all continue to worry who will be kings of the dung heap instead of demanding action for the powers that be

Antrim will probably win the Ulster minor by 7/8 pts on Sunday but it will be f@ck all good to their development compared to a round robin in Leinster etc.....same for Down who at least will have a B All Ireland to fall back on unlike Derry.

We across the border can laugh all we like about the Christy Ring defeat for Antrim but it's a shallow laugh as just as a rising tide lifts all boats the demise of Antrim hurling is reflective of a wider death of the game across Ulster......forget about all the bull about u8blitzes and the like, what really matters is how many lads at 17/18 are playing the game and that is falling year after year.....we don't need more clubs but rather save and strengthen the clubs we have

Antrim hurling needs to recover quickly for the good of the game across Ulster as 2017 will be the 2nd year in a row without Liam Mc Carthy representation and next up will be changes at u21 and minor (soon to be u17)

[NAG1]

Big talk PS but I don't see too many solutions there in your post. Everyone can come on and give off but it's solutions that we need?

How do you propose we turn it around?

[johnneycool]

Has the open top bus tour and the Monday session through the Glens not been pre booked?

be a wean of years before its through the ards again..

I'd say no one in the Ards gives a f**k about the Ulster championship, just like in the Glens.

Paudie,
.  If you don't do the spadework at U8 and so on, where do you expect these hurlers at U16 and minors to magically appear from? That short sightedness has seen manys a hurling club in Down to disappear ala Darragh Cross, with possibly Ballela struggling in the coming years.
Yes, there's issues in retaining hurlers through to minor and subsequently adult competitions and some of the decision making around development squads in Down can be detrimental in that. We'd a round of U16 games cancelled last week because there were U16's on a minor squad in Clare, earlier in the year we'd the very same issue with league fixtures shoe horned in because of U16's on an U17 development squad.
If we keep making 20 or 30 club hurlers stand aside to concentrate on the so called elite then we're screwing ourselves.
IMO an U17 development squad should be solely made up from lads in their last year at that level and so forth rather than cherry picking

[PaudieSull1]

Johnny......to be honest it was the clubs that didn't play the u16 fixtures nothing to do with the county so the clubs need to look at themselves there if they aren't willing to play without 1 or two lads, so not sure we should be pointing blame at the county


NAG no big talk but for a start I'd be looking that they have the open hurling forum that Martin McAvinney promised.....not a closed shop handpicked by Ulster but genuine open forum for hurling people facilitated by people from outside the province such as Paudie O Nelill, Liam Sheedy etc so we are least can give voice to everyone's frustrations

We then also need to clear strategy for our urban areas particularly Belfast but also Derry, Armagh, Newry, Omagh .....to be fair Dungannon have done some real good work and provide a solid template to copy at least at underage

Each existing hurling should be made create a development plan with the support of Croke and Ulster council including what is needed in terms of support to stabilise the club and then grow

At the end of the day we need to start somewhere and expecting different results from the same set of actions is the act of lunacy.....forget about county rivalry we all need to pull together or the game will be finished up here in 20 yrs

[johnneycool]

Johnny......to be honest it was the clubs that didn't play the u16 fixtures nothing to do with the county so the clubs need to look at themselves there if they aren't willing to play without 1 or two lads, so not sure we should be pointing blame the county.

I'm not blaming the county, I'm wondering on the rationale on having two U16's on a minor panel when this group of players have been on development squads for years. They shouldn't be needed.

Also, you're wondering why the club didn't play in a championship grading game against their biggest rivals minus their two best players and having to play two 13 year olds in their place, how detached are you?

[Tony Baloney]

Was there a match today? 

[north_antrim_hound]

Was there a match today? 

yeah the Munster hurling final and the euro soccer final as well
why do you ask

[MoChara]

Sambo and Woody have stepped down officially then, I wonder who'll be the next victim to take up the reigns, surely since it was well known that they were finishing after the Ulsters,  the County will have someone ready in the wings to appoint immediately? No?

[NAG1]

Sambo and Woody have stepped down officially then, I wonder who'll be the next victim to take up the reigns, surely since it was well known that they were finishing after the Ulsters,  the County will have someone ready in the wings to appoint immediately? No?

No need to have any one in waiting, time to take stock and have conversations with a lot of people including players as to the best way forward for the county.

[Exiled Ruairi]

I think we need a manager who has pedigree and good standing/reputation in Antrim.

For my money, i would go for Shane Elliott from Dunloy. He has played for Antrim and is doing wonders I'm Dunloy with their underage teams. I would let him pick his backroom team, but help him with the financial backing to get the appropriate strength and conditioning etc for the panel.

Also we need the players and the club's to commit to the county this year coming and we need joined up thinking between county senior, u21 and minor teams and club senior and minor teams.

Let's try to get this thing going again and try to get some pride and passion back in the county teams, this includes,  County board, players, clubs and fans!!

L