Antrim Hurling

[youngfella]

SCB

Fintan Gamble St Pauls
John Dillon Armoy
Liam Cassley All Saints
Liam Kearns St Brigids
Jim Mc Kernan Sarsfields
Martin Ward Desy Mc Lean, Sean Hall Gort na Mona
Christy Tumelty Lamh Dhearg
Michael Hasson St Mary's

I have watched all of these players at different stages of their development as players. I am not knocking the fact that these players may well be good hurlers. But the point is that if you are playing Div 1 hurling and Championship you are still slower to react slower to think slower to act so take that down a grade and slow the hurling down another notch. Barring a miracle or something quite exceptional which is not listed above then the chances of a hurler coming from Antrim's Div 2 to make any impact on the Senior Inter County Scene is less than minimal.

My point is that instead of throwing out this PR exercises S&W should be looking at the players that they are going to use next year and how they can improve them as players and correct the weakness that they have spotted as coaches over the past two years,

The 3rd year into their term they should not be looking at players they should have a settled side bar one of two changes and they should be putting all their drive and energy into making that side better players.

Can someone please name me one player from the squad that is a better player now than he was 2-3 years ago, has any player improved in that time?

(Have said it before I am no Dinny fan but you could see the improvement that he made in individual players games, he had a simple game plan which he stuck too and the players hurled to the game plan which made them a better side. Now we have no game plan and players that arent improving)

Somebody tell me Im wrong?

For once your not wrong

[NAG]

For once Youngfella? 

[youngfella]

sure u were making sense and everyone was on your back 

[Glensman]

SCB

Fintan Gamble St Pauls
John Dillon Armoy
Liam Cassley All Saints
Liam Kearns St Brigids
Jim Mc Kernan Sarsfields
Martin Ward Desy Mc Lean, Sean Hall Gort na Mona
Christy Tumelty Lamh Dhearg
Michael Hasson St Mary's

I have watched all of these players at different stages of their development as players. I am not knocking the fact that these players may well be good hurlers. But the point is that if you are playing Div 1 hurling and Championship you are still slower to react slower to think slower to act so take that down a grade and slow the hurling down another notch. Barring a miracle or something quite exceptional which is not listed above then the chances of a hurler coming from Antrim's Div 2 to make any impact on the Senior Inter County Scene is less than minimal.

My point is that instead of throwing out this PR exercises S&W should be looking at the players that they are going to use next year and how they can improve them as players and correct the weakness that they have spotted as coaches over the past two years,

The 3rd year into their term they should not be looking at players they should have a settled side bar one of two changes and they should be putting all their drive and energy into making that side better players.

Can someone please name me one player from the squad that is a better player now than he was 2-3 years ago, has any player improved in that time?

(Have said it before I am no Dinny fan but you could see the improvement that he made in individual players games, he had a simple game plan which he stuck too and the players hurled to the game plan which made them a better side. Now we have no game plan and players that arent improving)

Somebody tell me Im wrong?

Ryan McGarry
Aaron Graffin
Neil McGarry
Sean Delargy
Karl Stewart
Shane McNaughton

Others may have gone back but there are 6 players that are better than they were 2-3 years ago. Whether this is because of county hurling (for most of them I think it is) is not what you asked.
At present I would have all 6 of them starting on my team somewhere or very very close to it.

Antrim are not allowed to train so they used a trial match(es) to see if anyone would come through. That is all they could do and they have done that. Whether S&W are taking this exercise seriously or not only they know but if someone steps up to the plate then they are big enough and ugly enough to welcome them in.
Should they be discouraged from inviting players to be on the squad...no.
Have come across all of those who have made it to the next stage in some shape or form and if they were dedicated, took the county seriously for a year with the weights, the training, the commitment...then they wouldn't be too far away and would be very good squad members.

I am sick to the teeth of hearing about the in-house, closed doors, batton down the hatches training matches they have in Kilkenny...we need to learn from them.
If Liam Cassley is stylish enough to test Shorty mopping up in open play, if Michael Hasson could keep one of the current half backs on their toes, if Kearns could give Graffin/Delargy the run around for a few training sessions then we're all the better for it.

Where S&W get questioned, and seriously questioned, is on what they do after Christmas, in the Walsh Cup, the League and then the challenge v Dublin.

[theskull1]

Yeah agree with that Glens. The reality is lads that we need to have a bit more encouragement about the place to people doing new things. I hope one or two of them lads make it and that over time more and more of the Div  2 clubs will have more individuals who aspire to get there along with them. Can only be a good thing regardless of how sceptical you might be at the minute.

[NAG]

Lads lads, are we forgetting that this is there third year in post and granted the rules have changed, My point was had S&W directly done anything to influnce or coach these players to become better players through their coaching or manangement and the sad fact is no they havent.

All the lads you mentioned Glens have progressed on their on path, Neill McGarry didnt play hardly at all last year so that one is mute.

You mentioned the in house matches, the difference is that KK are matching players who are very close in Talent in Antrim we are not, especially when we dip down into the lower div's (not a fault of the players) Its just simple fact.

[theskull1]

NAG......there are a lot of factors which hold our development back. Drawing a sharpe focus on the County management team may expose one of them, but in truth we all know that there is not enough willing coaches pushing the skills of the games within their clubs. That gives any county management team very little to work with. This is our biggest problem. Should we not focus on getting that right before we have an opinion on whether the County Management team make best use of the talent that they have available to them? If efforts are being made to "try" and move things on then it should be welcomed.

[NAG]

Yes Skull I am totally open for anything that drives the county forward but my point was one single element.

If Dinny could make such an improvement in individual players and the game plan in general then should we not expect the same of future managers?

[Two Hands FFS]

Yes Dinny improved some of our players alot, ( Kettle,Karl McK,Ciaran Herron, Paddy Richmond) but he had by Antrim terms a pretty good team with some players in their peak( Pinky, Aidan Delargy,Liam Richmond, Dick O'Kane).....I agree he was a very good coach but i'd say alot of the improvement was made by Antrim players finally catching up with the rest of Ireland in terms of training & preparation. Fair play to him the team performed well in the 2 quarter finals against Tipp & Wexford(we still lost) & played a good brand of hurling..but.......

On the Downside....For the improvement in 16/17 county players see the shocking state of our leagues at that time, county players were hardly allowed to play for their clubs cos he had them training Friday,Saturday & Sunday mornings. ( Remember the non starred leagues  ). I remember that they didnt focus too much on the leagues which was very poor. What about Darren Quinn/Sean Delargy..(maybe a few others too) sitting on the bench for 3 years, hardly hitting a ball & nearly ruined their club careers. His underuse of Tosh( put him on as a sub in the league I think & took him off soon after)  & Malachy Molloy(especially in the Wexford match) where we got cleaned out at Midfield & cost us the match as Rory McCarthy ran riot in the 2nd half. & dont get me started on Brian Corcoran & Niall McCarthy

I just dont see why he should be painted as a messiah....

[milltown row]

ok two hands, i agree with you on most parts, the leagues and fringe players not getting games and the crap starred games. but the team was fantastic. going to croke park was great. ok we lost but i left with my head held high.

we need that level of commitment from the players and management. i'm not saying S&W aren't committed, we just had a better team. but did we? i'm confused.

i want to be optimistic, Dinny brought a quick fix S&W will bring it slowly i hope

[Minder]

ok two hands, i agree with you on most parts, the leagues and fringe players not getting games and the crap starred games. but the team was fantastic. going to croke park was great. ok we lost but i left with my head held high.

we need that level of commitment from the players and management. i'm not saying S&W aren't committed, we just had a better team. but did we? i'm confused.

i want to be optimistic, Dinny brought a quick fix S&W will bring it slowly i hope

Not really high though Milltown...... 

[milltown row]

high enough to beat youse   hey and i felt really high when you were lying on the ground with a wee blankey over ya waiting on the ambulance   christ had a stitch in my belly after eating all the grub upstairs waiting for you to get off the pitch

[Minder]

high enough to beat youse   hey and i felt really high when you were lying on the ground with a wee blankey over ya waiting on the ambulance   christ had a stitch in my belly after eating all the grub upstairs waiting for you to get off the pitch

You mustnt have eaten enough as a lad, stunted your growth. Thats the only way youse could beat us, with me off the pitch.

[milltown row]

  brill

didn't hinder my playing days. but some players needed brawn to help their other faults

[aontroim]

http://antrim.gaa.ie/news/details/?id=1373 - link to the County Chairman's Speech from Convention on Wednesday.  Big warning about not taking Dublin for granted in the Leinster C'ship.