Antrim Hurling

[Tony Baloney]

Why has this thread not been bumped to the Hurling Discussion board?

[clootfromthe21]

I hear you McCracken - I've been that soldier too. Don't know how many Antrim games I've gone to that have been a disaster from a start to finish. Games where I've driven 200 miles and known after 5 minutes that the next 55 or 65 were going to be serious one way traffic against us and the onlu issue was how bad the beating was going to be. Games where in the pub afterwards friends from other counties have chosen to say nothing rather than sound patronising. Mind you, got plenty of patronising too!

But fcuk it anyway, another year has gone and here I am again the week before Clare and the oul heart is cranking up again and the mindless optimism is kicking in and I'm spouting nonsense to anyone who will listen to me.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I don't care what anyone else thinks of us - what Ulster's footballing counties think of our lack of success - what the big teams "down south" really think of us - what the pundits on the tv and in the papers say.

It's our game and our team are going out to represent us in it. They are wearing our colours and as such, they are deserving of our respect and support.

So Casement here we come.

It has to be our day, some day.

[slow corner back]

Team announced: -

Ryan Mc Garry
Arron Graffin
Kieran Kelly
Sean Delargy
Michael Mc Cambridge
Johnny Campbell
Ciaran Herron
Karl Mc Keegan
Brendan Herron
Paddy Mc Gill
Neil Mc Manus
Michael Herron
Shane Mc Naughton
Johnny Mc Intosh
Paul Shiels

Looks like sambo and woody think that speed is our best option. I am not so sure if our young players will be able to cope with the level of intensity that clare will bring to the game. I hope I am wrong but our team looks physically very light. Personally I would have had McCrory, McFall and Barney McAuley on but then again I was an average hurler and an even worse manager. Saturday will tell the tale, Ill be there cheering anyway.

[Balboa]

Not sure about Graffin at corner back, he is a good talent but i think this may be a bit early for him. He is also lacking in a bit of pace, i am trying to be constructive here but no doubt i will get the Cushendall brigade on shouting me down. Not sure about Shields and Shane Mc Naughton on the same line, a big onus will fall on Tosh, he should be well fit for it from what i have seen of him this year. The main doubt i have about our chances are the intensity that Clare are used to playing at, we are not used to that. Clare were hauled over the coals because they got beaten by 8 pts by Cork, i couldnt see this Antrim team getting within 8 pts of Cork. You can play all the challenge matches you want but the intensity will be nothing compared to championship, i remember in 2004 we beat a near full strength Waterford team in Loughguile in a challenge game and thought we were gonna run Cork close, we all know what happened in that match.

[Give-it-Timber]

@ McCracken. - every club has their loudmouths but unfortunatley for people like yourself (who seem like a good hurling man) there are far to many of the wrong sort associated with loughguile which give the good hurling men and the club a bad name.

As regards antrim and there chances, i think we are going into this game very much in the dark, we IMO have nothing to go by from previous games this year, nothing can be taken from the league or Ulster Championship.

i do believe we will get beat (i hope im wrong) what i am looking for is a performance, much has been said about Clare being so bad, as Balboa said, they cant be all that bad to get beat by 8 pts by Cork.  Maybe Cork played poor, if Cork played poor against antrim they would still stuff them.

One of the big problems is what a few people have commented on and that is intensity, Antrim players cant raise there intensity level to the levels of Southern teams because we arent used to it, we need to really concentrate on our own club leagues, get the intensity of each league game raised - not the way they are at the minute when most teams dont really care if they win or not.

@ McCracken again - i know how you feel, been all over ireland with Antrim, and it does get depressing after all these years, but its our county team, its our club players and i will be there to support them as usual.

[theskull1]

Rather than follow the politically correct perspective, do none of youse feel on reflection that the odd schmozzle every now and then at matches helps keep the rivalry alive and in the long run is a healthy thing in our games. There would be nothing worse to me if our games didn't evoke passion (passion which sometimes will overspill). It is a tribal contest after all. Sure as long as you can get up for work the next morning eh? 

It's just not cricket...thank god

[johnneycool]

Whilst I get the jist of your point skull and am in general agreement with you in so far that as long as it's just the players in the schmozzle and use of the hurl is negated then normally no lasting harm is done and you can get up for work the next morning. Just a tad hard to police that one though.

It just seems to me that in a lot of instances it's the gobshites along the line who in their playing days couldn't keep themselves warm in a fight are the main agitators especially at juvenile games and it's those f**kers that need whaled with three foot of alkathene piping every time an obscenity come out of their gobs. Problem solved.

[Give-it-Timber]

have to agree with you skull, there is nothing wrong with a wee schmozzle & a bit of passion, but the main difference i see up here and down south is our passion involve hitting people with the hurl in a schmozzle, southern teams have more passion but mostly seem to mainly use shoulders etc, rarely hitting with hurl or fists.

i also think very rarely are the schmozzles fueled by passion, IMO its mostly hatred which is no good for anybody.

we have to get passion into each and every club league game for us to improve.

[Ruairi Og exile]

Abit of passion is grand as long as it is channelled in the right direction ie Good, fast hard but fair hurling( not the hurling Glenariffe attempted against us), but the problem up in Antrim most teams struggle to find the balance between passion & dirt.As Give it Timber says we need to get passion into all our matches...but that aint happening at present. Giving my own club's matches this year for example, only the last 15 minutes of the feis cup semi-final against loughgiel & the second half of our league match against Ballygalget would have contained any passion or excitement....the rest have been dead

[Balboa]

Abit of passion is grand as long as it is channelled in the right direction ie Good, fast hard but fair hurling( not the hurling Glenariffe attempted against us)

Everyone beware, no rough stuff against Cushendall, it grossly offends them. I heard Donal Mc Naughton got the line against Glenariffe in a league match recently,must have been mistaken identity, maybe we could get all the games abandoned halfway through if you dont like the rhythm of them, if there are too many sticks getting broke or the physio has too administer too many bandages. A dirty hurling game? Surely thats a first.......

[Big Bob]

Balboa, go watch a rocky movie or something, cause you know nothing about hurling..............................

[Balboa]

Balboa, go watch a rocky movie or something, cause you know nothing about hurling..............................

I will take your word for that....

[PrivatePile]

Balboa, go watch a rocky movie or something, cause you know nothing about hurling..............................

Large Robert......Are you the administrator on this thread? What makes you such an authority on who knows what? Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[Big Bob]

Everyone is rightfully entitled to their own opinion, but frankly 'maybe we could get all the games abandoned halfway through if you dont like the rhythm of them, if there are too many sticks getting broke or the physio has too administer too many bandages. ' is something you'd expect a kid to say. At the end of the day that is my opinion! Also, privatepile, just had a look at some of your previous posts! I think you should go watch the rocky film with Balboa - you 2 think alike - maybe you could get it on together!

[Tony Baloney]

Big Bob what standard have you represented your club or county at then if you're the expert?