county championships 2013

[johnneycool]

God lads, don't be thinking that Mount Leinster Rangers are just a team of big mollockers, they've provided the backbone of a very good Carlow team for the last few years, the same Carlow team who've given Antrim their fill of it in recent times.

Loughguile will probably go in as favourites due to their previous experience at this level but unlike some other teams from more traditional hurling counties who maybe made the mistake of taking Loughguile for granted, Mount Leinster Rangers won't be making that mistake once they get the celebrations out of their system.

IMO Loughguile will need to find a level above what I've seen so far from them which isn't beyond them as I think they've been doing just enough to get through in Ulster. Turning up the momentum for the fourth time in four years come christmas time will be a mental challenge as much as anything for them.
PJ will need to work the oracle again.

[laoislad]

God lads, don't be thinking that Mount Leinster Rangers are just a team of big mollockers, they've provided the backbone of a very good Carlow team for the last few years, the same Carlow team who've given Antrim their fill of it in recent times.

Ah here,that's hardly a barometer of how good they are 

[Milltown Row2]

God lads, don't be thinking that Mount Leinster Rangers are just a team of big mollockers, they've provided the backbone of a very good Carlow team for the last few years, the same Carlow team who've given Antrim their fill of it in recent times.

Ah here,that's hardly a barometer of how good they are 

Is it the underage Carlow teams that play in Kilkenny leagues or do the seniors also play in the senior leagues?

[Catch and Kick]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

[Milltown Row2]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

[orangeman]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

Not sure about that. Antrim getting to the final in the 21s was incredible.

[deiseach]

Malachy Clerkin in today's Irish Times
Presumably a note of congratulations will be read out at the next meeting of the Cork County Board.

Who knew Jedward could do opera?

[Syferus]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

Not sure about that. Antrim getting to the final in the 21s was incredible.

If it was planned our part of an over-arching development goal I could believe more but when all those stories about huge swathes of the panel not even bothering to turn up for training the Thursday before the Wexford game are taken into account it's pretty clear Antrim reaching the U21 final was an outlier that will probably have little if any impact on anything else, certainly unless it proves a wake-up call for players and management alike.

[johnneycool]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

Not sure about that. Antrim getting to the final in the 21s was incredible.

If it was planned our part of an over-arching development goal I could believe more but when all those stories about huge swathes of the panel not even bothering to turn up for training the Thursday before the Wexford game are taken into account it's pretty clear Antrim reaching the U21 final was an outlier that will probably have little if any impact on anything else, certainly unless it proves a wake-up call for players and management alike.

just because they weren't doing a whole pile of collective training doesn't mean they were sitting scratching their holes by the fireside.
If anything it gives credence to the fact its hard to beat good, regular club games which most of these lads were getting throughout the summer.

[Syferus]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

Not sure about that. Antrim getting to the final in the 21s was incredible.

If it was planned our part of an over-arching development goal I could believe more but when all those stories about huge swathes of the panel not even bothering to turn up for training the Thursday before the Wexford game are taken into account it's pretty clear Antrim reaching the U21 final was an outlier that will probably have little if any impact on anything else, certainly unless it proves a wake-up call for players and management alike.

just because they weren't doing a whole pile of collective training doesn't mean they were sitting scratching their holes by the fireside.
If anything it gives credence to the fact its hard to beat good, regular club games which most of these lads were getting throughout the summer.

Then why did those club games stand to them when Clare gave the a mind-numbing pounding the next day out?

To me getting to the AI final shows they're natural talent in Antrim but the manner of getting there shows that the attitude and structures are all wrong.

[johnneycool]

Carlow senior hurling teams play in the Kilkenny JUNIOR hurling league only. And don't necessarily win it either!

Shows you that the Carlow Champions beat the best of Leinster including teams that sit at the top table in Kilkenny!! Best hurling result this year, forget Antrim getting to All Ireland under 21 final, forget Clare blowing all the teams away at under 21 and senior and the other great results in hurling this year

Not sure about that. Antrim getting to the final in the 21s was incredible.

If it was planned our part of an over-arching development goal I could believe more but when all those stories about huge swathes of the panel not even bothering to turn up for training the Thursday before the Wexford game are taken into account it's pretty clear Antrim reaching the U21 final was an outlier that will probably have little if any impact on anything else, certainly unless it proves a wake-up call for players and management alike.

just because they weren't doing a whole pile of collective training doesn't mean they were sitting scratching their holes by the fireside.
If anything it gives credence to the fact its hard to beat good, regular club games which most of these lads were getting throughout the summer.

Then why did those club games stand to them when Clare gave the a mind-numbing pounding the next day out?

To me getting to the AI final shows they're natural talent in Antrim but the manner of getting there shows that the attitude and structures are all wrong.

Clare U-21's gave Galway, Tipp and Cork mind-numbing poundings as well. Questions must surely be asked of their collective training sessions as well, not to mention Wexford's who couldn't beat poor old Antrim who only had a dozen or so at training.

With the current structures in place club hurling will always be king in Antrim, once you win the Antrim club championship you're more often than not one big game away from an AI final, they're miles away from anything like that in county terms.
Players know this and hence the lack of interest in county hurling. It doesn't mean they're poor hurlers.

Are the structures wrong in Antrim or in the AI series, either U-21 or senior?