Antrim Hurling

johnneycool · June 17, 2008, 01:38:21 PM

Quote from: Franko on June 17, 2008, 11:02:49 AM
Antrim are the England of the hurling scene - have some good players and can talk a great game, have a solid club infrastructure compared to those around them and reminisce with rose tinted glasses about the great victories (y) of yesteryear.

However, they struggle to make any impact when it counts on a consistent basis - though will spring an odd good result and catch one of the top teams on the hop.

I feel that Antrim fans have expectations that are far too high - talking about going to play in Leinster because competition is not enough in Ulster. Get a grip. I thought that maybe the Derry game was a one off but then to give a repeat performance against a similarly average Down team - get with reality lads - Antrim Hurling is not at the standard you believe it to be....!

you have a point but I do think that Antrim need a fresh challenge and maybe Leinster is the answer. Whilst they won't be challenging Kilkenny any time soon, they're every bit as good as Laois and not a million miles away from Wexford, Offaly and Dublin if they get their act together.
Antrim done just enough on Sunday but that doesn't mean they haven't got more in them.

NAG · June 17, 2008, 02:26:09 PM

This talk of going into leinster is a smoke screen for the bad job that S&W are doing in preparing this team, there wasnt any mention of this moving down south when other managers were in place and I feel its being used to hide behind.

If we are good enough to be going into leinster then surely we should be beating our near neighbhours off the field and this isnt happening at the moment.

Stop hiding behind it and get on with some work!

theskull1 · June 17, 2008, 04:02:14 PM

Begs the question: Who is good enough to prepare an Antrim team properly and would be prepared to do it if asked.
Not too many with the credentials and the will to take it on IMO. On that basis I find it difficult to gripe about what could be a very real truth regarding preparation, but what are you gonna do if better options aren't available

There comes a point where you have to value what people are trying to achieve whenever the skill levels you would ultimately desire do not exist. I think S&W do get the rough end of the stick from people (although I can see where S tee's himself up for it) who if they took on the same job would only then appreciate the difficulties and most likely do worse.

Far too easy to snipe IMO (I may of course change my mind tomorrow

)

NAG · June 17, 2008, 04:08:16 PM

Skull

IM seriously not sniping and I take your point of who would do better.

But to shaft the last manager to get taking this team and to tell us that they were the answer and then to deliver the kind of performances that they have IMO is not really on. Its maybe more to do with the fact that they raised expectation and then not to follow through is very disappointing.

imtommygunn · June 17, 2008, 04:16:05 PM

If we were in Leinster then we would have a hell of a lot more motivation IMO.

The current motivation we would have is to compete with teams - and to be honest the best we could hope to do with Galway / Waterford would be to compete. If we went to Leinster we could realistically get to compete and maybe on occassions beat Wexford / Offaly / Dublin. We know we can forget about Kilkenny but so can everyone so no biggie there.

Kilkenny do win Leinster easy every year granted but you have to consider they have two motivating factors - one it is immensely difficult to make the team so everyone has to be on their toes at all times and two groundwork to win a championship has to begin early in the year so they have to go in prepared now or they may suffer later on.

groundlie · June 17, 2008, 06:33:47 PM

Quote from: imtommygunn on June 17, 2008, 04:16:05 PM
If we were in Leinster then we would have a hell of a lot more motivation IMO.

The current motivation we would have is to compete with teams - and to be honest the best we could hope to do with Galway / Waterford would be to compete. If we went to Leinster we could realistically get to compete and maybe on occassions beat Wexford / Offaly / Dublin. We know we can forget about Kilkenny but so can everyone so no biggie there.

Kilkenny do win Leinster easy every year granted but you have to consider they have two motivating factors - one it is immensely difficult to make the team so everyone has to be on their toes at all times and two groundwork to win a championship has to begin early in the year so they have to go in prepared now or they may suffer later on.

Rubbish

Should we move kilkenny to munster then? Why should a county player need motivation? The jersey alone should be the motivation!! Kilkenny players dont seem to need motivation when they are beating wex and offaly every year by 20 and 30 points!!!

Minder · June 17, 2008, 06:35:47 PM

All this talk about entering Leinster is a bit of a smokescreen and a cop out,has competing in Leinster helped improve Wexford,Offaly in the last 7 or 8 years. . . . . . .

imtommygunn · June 17, 2008, 08:32:59 PM

Well if Antrim were at the level they were at we'd all be a lot happier. Look at the strides Dublin are making. If we were to move to Leinster it should be for minor etc too.

We are learning nothing, absolutely nothing, in Ulster. The only learning point we have had this year were the league and that trophy we won - I can't for the life of me mind the name of it now. I don't see what we have learnt in Ulster. What we learn from here on in well we'll wait and see.

Minder · June 17, 2008, 10:34:24 PM

Its not as if we are not getting top level competition,we have been in Division 1 on and off for 25yrs,im not sure we have learnt much there bar the odd result. Its too much of a cop out to just say move to Leinster. A more pressing need is to get a strong domestic league with competitive,intense matches at regular intervals.

Saffron exile · June 17, 2008, 10:53:23 PM

Amazed that there has been no comment about the captain of the team Sean Delargy getting married and missing possibly the only two All Ireland Hurling championship games v Galway and prob Waterford due to a 2 week honeymoon.
I'll make little comment other than to suggest that this epitomises why Antrim hurling is going nowhere at senior inter-county level. this wouldn't happen in a Rackard Cup county in the 26 never mind one of the top counties from Munster or Leinster. Should be possible to arrange your personal life around the inter-county scene or else give up pretending to have some sort of commitment to your county.

theskull1 · June 17, 2008, 11:11:07 PM

Yeah......should have been using the down game to prepare a team for the Waterford & Galway matches. If Sean won't be there then it's saying to me that the management didn't feel that they could beat Down without him. $:-\$

Two Hands FFS · June 17, 2008, 11:32:03 PM

Fair enough maybe the management maybe should have tried someone else in the Ulster Championship instead of Sean...similar to what Paddy Richmond last year but to say Sean isnt commited to the county team is a joke & a disgrace IMHO. He trains hard & doesnt mess about( drinking etc).

I think we should move down to Leinster from Minor up....even a 3-5 year trial. We're not improving where we are so whats to lose??

theskull1 · June 17, 2008, 11:54:42 PM

Agree TH FFS. Sean Delargy puts the effort in and I for one wouldn't begrudge him for making his plans to suit himself for once.

I have to laugh though when people think that going into leinster will magically improve the standard of hurling in Antrim. Yes it will give us better games to prepare for at County level but if the competition and coaching standards aren't right at club level then we'll still fall short year on year. Sure Dublin have been in leinster for a few years more than us so why have they been in the wilderness for years and are only starting to become a serious hurling side now? Because they've played in Leinster all these years

I don't think so. Dublin have been working solidly on their coaching structures and standards for a good few years now and are only starting to see the results of these efforts (I really hope they develop as a hurling county). Yes we would benefit from playing in Leinster ONLY IF the ground work has been done inside the county beforehand. We shouldn't abdicate the control of the standards of our game to either the County Management or the particular Provincial competition we play in. It starts from the ground up and needs many people to play a part in improving the thing.

youngfella · June 18, 2008, 09:59:30 AM

Jaysus its like big brother in here! I dont know what the solution is, but I no to be antrim manager is a thankless task. Anyway, What does the club championship start? Whos looking the fav at the minute? any dark horses?

Last Man · June 18, 2008, 10:17:55 AM

We had a few U12s from our club down in Dublin yesterday as part of a greater Belfast select team. They were beaten by the Dubs by something like 4.07 to 1.01. Granted our fellas hadn't played together before and maybe the Dublin team has done but it was apparent that they were much further on than us in terms of their hurling development. Agree with Skull, the benchmarks will have to be looked at at this level and take it from there.
I would say Loughgiel and St.Johns are the only clubs that are taking an analytical approach to juvenile coaching but unless the rest of Antrim is brought with them then all their work will be for nothing. Maybe they will have to move to Leinster as well.

Antrim Hurling

johnneycool