Antrim Hurling

[Milltown Row2]

What county standard pitches are bigger than Corrigan?

Ballycastle?

Probably the only one. Is Dunsilly county standard? Probably not

I would have thought Ballycastle would be bigger, I'm just noting the fact that I think we are hurting ourselves at times playing there. I know the options are limited.

I do think sometimes we look at pitches and feel one pitch is far bigger or wider or both, but when we actually get the tape out, there isn't a lot in it..

If you watched the Waterford game yesterday, there was rucks aplenty in that game, conditions didn't help but its winter/spring hurling.

I'd certainly take teams to the bigger grounds but if that opens up more space for them it could also go against us

Tight grounds will limit both teams and actually give you a tighter game in the scores

But we are limited in venues and Corrigan, until Casement (if ever) is built and allow Antrim to play there we have to go to Corrigan

Walsh Park is one of the smallest county grounds in the country.

I didn't say it wasn't small, its how hurling has developed. Pitch size won't stop rucks in hurling. Possession hurling is a big part of that

[johnnycool]

What county standard pitches are bigger than Corrigan?

Ballycastle?

Probably the only one. Is Dunsilly county standard? Probably not

I would have thought Ballycastle would be bigger, I'm just noting the fact that I think we are hurting ourselves at times playing there. I know the options are limited.

I do think sometimes we look at pitches and feel one pitch is far bigger or wider or both, but when we actually get the tape out, there isn't a lot in it..

If you watched the Waterford game yesterday, there was rucks aplenty in that game, conditions didn't help but its winter/spring hurling.

I'd certainly take teams to the bigger grounds but if that opens up more space for them it could also go against us

Tight grounds will limit both teams and actually give you a tighter game in the scores

But we are limited in venues and Corrigan, until Casement (if ever) is built and allow Antrim to play there we have to go to Corrigan

Walsh Park is one of the smallest county grounds in the country.

I didn't say it wasn't small, its how hurling has developed. Pitch size won't stop rucks in hurling. Possession hurling is a big part of that

Possession hurling done badly causes rucks, done well means you retain possession, hence less rucks.

[NAG1]

What county standard pitches are bigger than Corrigan?

Ballycastle?

Probably the only one. Is Dunsilly county standard? Probably not

I would have thought Ballycastle would be bigger, I'm just noting the fact that I think we are hurting ourselves at times playing there. I know the options are limited.

I do think sometimes we look at pitches and feel one pitch is far bigger or wider or both, but when we actually get the tape out, there isn't a lot in it..

If you watched the Waterford game yesterday, there was rucks aplenty in that game, conditions didn't help but its winter/spring hurling.

I'd certainly take teams to the bigger grounds but if that opens up more space for them it could also go against us

Tight grounds will limit both teams and actually give you a tighter game in the scores

But we are limited in venues and Corrigan, until Casement (if ever) is built and allow Antrim to play there we have to go to Corrigan

Walsh Park is one of the smallest county grounds in the country.

I didn't say it wasn't small, its how hurling has developed. Pitch size won't stop rucks in hurling. Possession hurling is a big part of that

Possession hurling done badly causes rucks, done well means you retain possession, hence less rucks.

Exactly JC - make that two teams attempting it without great success makes for even more

[Franko]

What county standard pitches are bigger than Corrigan?

Ballycastle?

Probably the only one. Is Dunsilly county standard? Probably not

I would have thought Ballycastle would be bigger, I'm just noting the fact that I think we are hurting ourselves at times playing there. I know the options are limited.

I do think sometimes we look at pitches and feel one pitch is far bigger or wider or both, but when we actually get the tape out, there isn't a lot in it..

If you watched the Waterford game yesterday, there was rucks aplenty in that game, conditions didn't help but its winter/spring hurling.

I'd certainly take teams to the bigger grounds but if that opens up more space for them it could also go against us

Tight grounds will limit both teams and actually give you a tighter game in the scores

But we are limited in venues and Corrigan, until Casement (if ever) is built and allow Antrim to play there we have to go to Corrigan

Walsh Park is one of the smallest county grounds in the country.

I didn't say it wasn't small, its how hurling has developed. Pitch size won't stop rucks in hurling. Possession hurling is a big part of that

It won't stop them - but it will reduce them - all other things being equal.

Take the area of Walsh Park (Corrigan is similar afaik) vs Croke Park

In terms of square metres of the pitch per player - 15v15 in Walsh Park is equivalent to 17v17 in Croke Park

[Milltown Row2]

What county standard pitches are bigger than Corrigan?

Ballycastle?

Probably the only one. Is Dunsilly county standard? Probably not

I would have thought Ballycastle would be bigger, I'm just noting the fact that I think we are hurting ourselves at times playing there. I know the options are limited.

I do think sometimes we look at pitches and feel one pitch is far bigger or wider or both, but when we actually get the tape out, there isn't a lot in it..

If you watched the Waterford game yesterday, there was rucks aplenty in that game, conditions didn't help but its winter/spring hurling.

I'd certainly take teams to the bigger grounds but if that opens up more space for them it could also go against us

Tight grounds will limit both teams and actually give you a tighter game in the scores

But we are limited in venues and Corrigan, until Casement (if ever) is built and allow Antrim to play there we have to go to Corrigan

Walsh Park is one of the smallest county grounds in the country.

I didn't say it wasn't small, its how hurling has developed. Pitch size won't stop rucks in hurling. Possession hurling is a big part of that

It won't stop them - but it will reduce them - all other things being equal.

Take the area of Walsh Park (Corrigan is similar afaik) vs Croke Park

In terms of square metres of the pitch per player - 15v15 in Walsh Park is equivalent to 17v17 in Croke Park

As I said, conditions don't help and time of year.. but rucks are in abundance more now ( in my experience) compared to my playing days

[Oso]

I thought we were ok, but that's a poor as I've seen Dublin for about 15 years.  Dublin didn't look sharp or fit at all and personally I don't think that was necessarily down to us making them look poor.


Corrigan pitch is poor, it's always been poor, there's always a breeze/wind, the pitch is tight, it's heavy and it does us no favours in terms of development.  Why are we looking to get results against teams on a tight pitch in the middle of winter when we get annihilated on bigger pitches when it comes to meaningful games in the summer on a dry sod and a big pitch? What's the point?  Surely we should be trying to get better at playing on pitch dimensions that we are trying to compete on in championship.

All that investment in Corrigan, but you can't polish a turd.

[NorthAntrim]

I thought we were ok, but that's a poor as I've seen Dublin for about 15 years.  Dublin didn't look sharp or fit at all and personally I don't think that was necessarily down to us making them look poor.


Corrigan pitch is poor, it's always been poor, there's always a breeze/wind, the pitch is tight, it's heavy and it does us no favours in terms of development.  Why are we looking to get results against teams on a tight pitch in the middle of winter when we get annihilated on bigger pitches when it comes to meaningful games in the summer on a dry sod and a big pitch? What's the point?  Surely we should be trying to get better at playing on pitch dimensions that we are trying to compete on in championship.

All that investment in Corrigan, but you can't polish a turd.

What sheltered, wide open, dry club pitch would you like developed instead of corrigan then??

[imtommygunn]

Also Dublin were poor alright but we're down probably close to 13 players. Given that we had so many new boys on we did well - a few years ago our best 15 never mind our up and coming players couldn't have coped with a good or bad Dublin team physically. Shows you how improved Gleeson has us in that regard. Yes we'll still get it very tight against Galway and Tipp but still a pleasing enough showing.

Corrigan best we got and turd a bit harsh... It's fine tbh.

[NorthAntrim]

Fantastic club facilities but im sure everyone will agree not county facilities. A county ground cannot double with a club ground in my opinion. In fairness the pitch is in great shape this time of the year. Casement not available and the shambles at Dunsilly this is our only option

[imtommygunn]

Yeah the pitch is the least of the concerns really - it's the banks opposite the stand would be more of an issue.

[Milltown Row2]

Pitch in perfect condition
Covered stand
Meets health and safety standards (otherwise it wouldn't get permission)
No other pitch available

[NorthAntrim]

Yeah the pitch is the least of the concerns really - it's the banks opposite the stand would be more of an issue.

Limiting factor yes. No other option Belfast based. Could the development money been used to make dunsilly into a centre of excellence instead of a centre of participation? Could a central club got the money to develop?

[Two Hands FFS]

Dunsilly was only built as a training base/Centre of excellence for the county teams.
It was never to be used for County/club matches cos Casement was meant to be build years ago!!! It was last used in 2013 ffs

[Milltown Row2]

Talking about what could have, should been done...

Dunsilly can't fit the bill for a county set up, and tbf, that wasn't its function.

[imtommygunn]

Exactly - even Corrigan was only meant as a stop gap.