Antrim Hurling

[Milltown Row2]

I can't say that we would be able to ensure we have full squads available for the league campaign but there will certainly be a train of thought to target home games and make sure the strongest team is out. Away games a different tactic would need to be employed. Will the reserves get a game? I might get another run out 

And you can say the same, re ballycastle

Who doesn't have their strongest teams available for home games?

Again I never mentioned a 'gather up' team but go ahead and make up what ya want

[Minder]

Any glaring omissions?

Not that there should be with 52 named!

I would say it is pretty much the same fellas that were there early in the year last year as I am sure Ryan isn't too tuned in to the Antrim club scene yet.

[BlackandAmber]

Dunloy beat castle by 13 ----  that was the day after the u-21 final & the Town had 8/9 u-21s on So you don't have a strong panel then?
 

Castle beat by 12 at home --- that was Loughgeil and it was a dire performance tho we might have been missin 1 or 2 so was it because your lads thought 'f**k it's Loughgiel don't bother' an so not take the league seriously

Castle beat dunloy by 23 ---- that was the week before the championship final and Dunloy put out subs and minors So didn't take it seriously?

castle beat dall by 8 ----- McManus & McNaughten were in america Cushendalls main players weren't taking prepartion seriously


All clubs have reasons for losing games, christ I could do that all day long. Means nowt really

If it means nowt why ask questions? But as you did -------

Dunloy beat castle by 13 ----  that was the day after the u-21 final & the Town had 8/9 u-21s on So you don't have a strong panel then?
Means we have a young panel - R McGarry, Cormac D, Neil McA, M Dallat, Pinkie, Cossy and KB McShane would be over 21s who would start ------ should be 2 more but thats a different story and is down to managment decision

Castle beat by 12 at home --- that was Loughgeil and it was a dire performance tho we might have been missin 1 or 2 so was it because your lads thought 'f**k it's Loughgiel don't bother' an so not take the league seriously
no it was because it was a dire performance as well as Loughgeil being better


Castle beat dunloy by 23 ---- that was the week before the championship final and Dunloy put out subs and minors So didn't take it seriously?
Youd have to ask Dunloy

castle beat dall by 8 ----- McManus & McNaughten were in america Cushendalls main players weren't taking prepartion seriously
Youd have to ask Cushendall

[BlackandAmber]

I can't say that we would be able to ensure we have full squads available for the league campaign but there will certainly be a train of thought to target home games and make sure the strongest team is out. Away games a different tactic would need to be employed. Will the reserves get a game? I might get another run out 

And you can say the same, re ballycastle

Who doesn't have their strongest teams available for home games?

Again I never mentioned a 'gather up' team but go ahead and make up what ya want

As far as I know laying aside injury/suspension the Town has tried to put out their strongest team all the time. Other years gettin boys to go down to the Down teams was a push but not this year. They needed there best team out as much as possible to stay up. Theres a different argument about if the best players were actually played

[johnneycool]

Have to totally agree with MR2 and its not very often i do that . I have no doubt that St Johns, Ballycastle, the Down teams, and possibly even Dunloy, the Dall and the shamrocks all field stronger teams at home. Playing at home has an advantage and teams try to strengthen this advantage by playing stronger teams at home...its no secret...have a look at this years results , everyone is at it.
Bally cran beat dunloy easy at home yet were beat easy away...

Portaferry drew with loughuile at home yet were beat easy away...
St Johns beat portaferry handy at home yet were beat handy away....

loughuile destroyed ballycran at home yet only by a few away

The list goes on and on...

As MR2 has already said, every team will target their home games as games where they will try and have the strongest team available....nobody travels with a full squad for one reason or another unless of course you can tell me different btdgtt ?

There has also been plenty of heavy defeats dished out in Div 1 this year too...does this mean that we should just restrict the Div 1 to the Top 4 ? bUt there has even been strange results amongst them too...maybe you btdtgtt can explain the following results other than teams not fielding full strength ?

Loughuile beat cran by 18
Dunloy beat castle by 13
Castle beat by 12 at home
Castle beat dunloy by 23
castle beat dall by 8

Interesting

We've never intentionally sent a weaker team to an away fixture, we'll play the strongest 15 available home or away and always have done.

As bggttt suggests its not uncommon for the home team in other sports to have an advantage and hurling is certainly no different, with Casement park being the obvious exception 

[Milltown Row2]

Have to totally agree with MR2 and its not very often i do that . I have no doubt that St Johns, Ballycastle, the Down teams, and possibly even Dunloy, the Dall and the shamrocks all field stronger teams at home. Playing at home has an advantage and teams try to strengthen this advantage by playing stronger teams at home...its no secret...have a look at this years results , everyone is at it.
Bally cran beat dunloy easy at home yet were beat easy away...

Portaferry drew with loughuile at home yet were beat easy away...
St Johns beat portaferry handy at home yet were beat handy away....

loughuile destroyed ballycran at home yet only by a few away

The list goes on and on...

As MR2 has already said, every team will target their home games as games where they will try and have the strongest team available....nobody travels with a full squad for one reason or another unless of course you can tell me different btdgtt ?

There has also been plenty of heavy defeats dished out in Div 1 this year too...does this mean that we should just restrict the Div 1 to the Top 4 ? bUt there has even been strange results amongst them too...maybe you btdtgtt can explain the following results other than teams not fielding full strength ?

Loughuile beat cran by 18
Dunloy beat castle by 13
Castle beat by 12 at home
Castle beat dunloy by 23
castle beat dall by 8

Interesting

We've never intentionally sent a weaker team to an away fixture, we'll play the strongest 15 available home or away and always have done.

As bggttt suggests its not uncommon for the home team in other sports to have an advantage and hurling is certainly no different, with Casement park being the obvious exception 

I don't know of any team/manager that has ever intentionally sent a weaker team to an away fixture. Targeting home games like I SAID is what teams have done for years. But I noticed Dunloy sent a weaker team to Ballycastle, bit unfair on the other teams who are requiring points. Dunloy could have asked Joe to change the fixture.

[Milltown Row2]

I heard a rumour about division 1 taking in 4 new teams. A quick glance at the division 2 tables makes it clear only 2 teams could attempt this standard. Would the next 2 clubs or hurling in general benefit from getting tanked every week? I suppose this is what skull means by dealing in facts not opinions.

I highlighted your post, next two teams being Sarsfields and ourselves. Again I would prefer to go up as champions or with a stronger/bigger panel

[btdtgtt]

I will take that point Mr2 - never afraid to acknowledge if I'm wrong.

Its not something I see you doing here - you have been pulled up on a point and yet keep digging!
And so on that point - if you "target" home games then yes I would fear for your results in away games which are eh... Not targets?!
The fact is simple - over the course of the year Galls to not warrant promotion.
Established teams have no interest in Galls arriving at their ground to fulfill a fixture they did not "target".
Every other poster has shown this notion of targetting/home/away games to be nonsense - you put out your strongest team and do your best in every game.

I think you should stay in div2 - and make an effort for a big show at championship.
This is until your club make a genuine all year round effort at hurling. (which i would love to see)

[Milltown Row2]

Again I have consistently said that we would prefer to go up as champions, nowhere in my posts have I said any different, we don't have a big panel and need time, if ever, to be able to compete in div. Wanting to bed players in div 1 requires staying div 1, those lads need to have that experience and they won't get it being a yo-yo team. So If we target games to win and gain enough points to stay up then I don't see the problem.

When I have taken teams I have always tried to have the strongest team available, harder than you think and when you get to take a senior team in the future you will see the complexities of trying to get all your players out. Not like back in the day where everyone was mad keen to play every game and not have half arsed excuses.

Rossa may not have this problem as they have good minor teams and under 16 teams coming through the next couple of years, but if they manage to come straight back down then the standard will drop for them and they will be in the dog fight of getting out of div 2 again.

Good championship performances are based on playing big teams week in week out. We hit Dunloy and shocked them and nearly shocked Cushendall but that was a flash in the pan and while it was good it really has went back a lot since then. Regularly playing div1 will improve us a lot better, so staying there is important. After a while we will be able to go to Cushendall and Loughiel and give a good account of ourselves and nick the odd win

[btdtgtt]

Again I have consistently said that we would prefer to go up as champions, nowhere in my posts have I said any different, we don't have a big panel and need time, if ever, to be able to compete in div. Wanting to bed players in div 1 requires staying div 1, those lads need to have that experience and they won't get it being a yo-yo team. So If we target games to win and gain enough points to stay up then I don't see the problem. When I have taken teams I have always tried to have the strongest team available, harder than you think and when you get to take a senior team in the future you will see the complexities of trying to get all your players out. Not like back in the day where everyone was mad keen to play every game and not have half arsed excuses.

Rossa may not have this problem as they have good minor teams and under 16 teams coming through the next couple of years, but if they manage to come straight back down then the standard will drop for them and they will be in the dog fight of getting out of div 2 again.

Good championship performances are based on playing big teams week in week out. We hit Dunloy and shocked them and nearly shocked Cushendall but that was a flash in the pan and while it was good it really has went back a lot since then. Regularly playing div1 will improve us a lot better, so staying there is important. After a while we will be able to go to Cushendall and Loughiel and give a good account of ourselves and nick the odd win

How about every game - or just drop this - every poster has basically blown this argument out of the water.

[Milltown Row2]

Again I have consistently said that we would prefer to go up as champions, nowhere in my posts have I said any different, we don't have a big panel and need time, if ever, to be able to compete in div. Wanting to bed players in div 1 requires staying div 1, those lads need to have that experience and they won't get it being a yo-yo team. So If we target games to win and gain enough points to stay up then I don't see the problem. When I have taken teams I have always tried to have the strongest team available, harder than you think and when you get to take a senior team in the future you will see the complexities of trying to get all your players out. Not like back in the day where everyone was mad keen to play every game and not have half arsed excuses.

Rossa may not have this problem as they have good minor teams and under 16 teams coming through the next couple of years, but if they manage to come straight back down then the standard will drop for them and they will be in the dog fight of getting out of div 2 again.

Good championship performances are based on playing big teams week in week out. We hit Dunloy and shocked them and nearly shocked Cushendall but that was a flash in the pan and while it was good it really has went back a lot since then. Regularly playing div1 will improve us a lot better, so staying there is important. After a while we will be able to go to Cushendall and Loughiel and give a good account of ourselves and nick the odd win

How about every game - or just drop this - every poster has basically blown this argument out of the water.

Do you live in the real world, will Rossa expect to head to Loughgiel or Cushendall to win the match? They will certainly try their level best as will any team but due to the fact that Rossa aren't up to the standard of beating Loughgiel yet then it's about learning from it and improving the next time youse meet.

You can't be that naive, surely

[btdtgtt]

Again I have consistently said that we would prefer to go up as champions, nowhere in my posts have I said any different, we don't have a big panel and need time, if ever, to be able to compete in div. Wanting to bed players in div 1 requires staying div 1, those lads need to have that experience and they won't get it being a yo-yo team. So If we target games to win and gain enough points to stay up then I don't see the problem. When I have taken teams I have always tried to have the strongest team available, harder than you think and when you get to take a senior team in the future you will see the complexities of trying to get all your players out. Not like back in the day where everyone was mad keen to play every game and not have half arsed excuses.

Rossa may not have this problem as they have good minor teams and under 16 teams coming through the next couple of years, but if they manage to come straight back down then the standard will drop for them and they will be in the dog fight of getting out of div 2 again.

Good championship performances are based on playing big teams week in week out. We hit Dunloy and shocked them and nearly shocked Cushendall but that was a flash in the pan and while it was good it really has went back a lot since then. Regularly playing div1 will improve us a lot better, so staying there is important. After a while we will be able to go to Cushendall and Loughiel and give a good account of ourselves and nick the odd win

How about every game - or just drop this - every poster has basically blown this argument out of the water.

Do you live in the real world, will Rossa expect to head to Loughgiel or Cushendall to win the match? They will certainly try their level best as will any team but due to the fact that Rossa aren't up to the standard of beating Loughgiel yet then it's about learning from it and improving the next time youse meet.

You can't be that naive, surely

Its doesnt matter how you try to twist and turn on this one - your talk of "targetting" home/away games is just nonsense.
Every team puts their strongest available team out and "targets" a win in every game.
Leave the rest in Milltown - its not on any other club / posters radar.

[Milltown Row2]

Again I have consistently said that we would prefer to go up as champions, nowhere in my posts have I said any different, we don't have a big panel and need time, if ever, to be able to compete in div. Wanting to bed players in div 1 requires staying div 1, those lads need to have that experience and they won't get it being a yo-yo team. So If we target games to win and gain enough points to stay up then I don't see the problem. When I have taken teams I have always tried to have the strongest team available, harder than you think and when you get to take a senior team in the future you will see the complexities of trying to get all your players out. Not like back in the day where everyone was mad keen to play every game and not have half arsed excuses.

Rossa may not have this problem as they have good minor teams and under 16 teams coming through the next couple of years, but if they manage to come straight back down then the standard will drop for them and they will be in the dog fight of getting out of div 2 again.

Good championship performances are based on playing big teams week in week out. We hit Dunloy and shocked them and nearly shocked Cushendall but that was a flash in the pan and while it was good it really has went back a lot since then. Regularly playing div1 will improve us a lot better, so staying there is important. After a while we will be able to go to Cushendall and Loughiel and give a good account of ourselves and nick the odd win

How about every game - or just drop this - every poster has basically blown this argument out of the water.

Do you live in the real world, will Rossa expect to head to Loughgiel or Cushendall to win the match? They will certainly try their level best as will any team but due to the fact that Rossa aren't up to the standard of beating Loughgiel yet then it's about learning from it and improving the next time youse meet.

You can't be that naive, surely

Its doesnt matter how you try to twist and turn on this one - your talk of "targetting" home/away games is just nonsense.
Every team puts their strongest available team out and "targets" a win in every game.
Leave the rest in Milltown - its not on any other club / posters radar.

You twisted your own words earlier by saying we'd get a tanking and then said you didn't!

If the other posters don't think I'm right in my thinking then that's fair enough. I'm a realist by nature, with a hint of optimism

[Milltown Row2]

No HS, there are some games that you will try your best to win but you will be up against it, A bit like Antrim playing Tipp in hurling, you put a team out to win but hey, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out what the result will be.

[Sleeping giant]

Any1 fancy naming a starting team for the national league out of that list,  with and without shamrocks?  How do we all feel the national league will go with the group were in?