Antrim Hurling

[Applesisapples]

Cam down lads, we are not the same standards as limerick,Galway Tipp etc. we need to be competing at minor and u21 before we have those sort of aspirations. I'll take a deep run in Leinster with the view of adding a few more players for next year.

Dublin are a massive battle for us. They were well ahead of us in our game and we say we were tired etc but the championship game will tell us if that is a reality. We're massively improved being competitive with these teams and if we beat Dublin tbh I would be absolutely over the moon and if I'm honest very pleasantly surprised. I would say it's dublin +5 or so for that game by bookies odds. One game at a time.

All Ireland talk is either WUM stuff or pipe dream stuff.

Galway, Limerick and Tipp the 3 best with the likes of KK, Waterford etc below them. There's a massive gap between the top few and the next few and there's a massive gap from them to the rest.

Yes Dublin have worked hard and spent a lot in the last 10 years to develop hurling, but you Antrim guys have a tradition going back generations and all the cultural links to commons, shinty etc... You can and should be able to compete at the highest level. Though an AI is a way off.

[seafoid]

To win an all Ireland Antrim would need the main clubs firing on all cylinders simultaneously during a period of Kilkenny weakness.
The GAA could perhaps experiment with a scheme to lend young players from the main counties to Antrim, Laois etc in order to speed up the process. 

[imtommygunn]

They did that but we are too far away from the big counties for that to work.(It wasn't necessarily young players)

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

We don't need outside players we have the talent in our manager and players to win an all Ireland.

I've a feeling we will blow laois away on Sunday. We need to go for goal early and get stuck in from the start.

Laois looked decent against Kilkenny

[imtommygunn]

No easy games in this division but groundlie knows that lol.

[Tormund]

Laois have been getting the better of us the last few years, i know weve improved, they have a few injuries and we might change the team a bit since were safe, but it will likely be a tight game, hopefully we'll get the win

[Tormund]

No easy games in this division but groundlie knows that lol.

Lol

[seafoid]

We don't need outside players we have the talent in our manager and players to win an all Ireland.

I've a feeling we will blow laois away on Sunday. We need to go for goal early and get stuck in from the start.

Laois looked decent against Kilkenny

Laois don't seem to have kicked on from last year

[north_antrim_hound]

So what's Gleeson's approach to this, give some fringe players a run out for a look at them or try and finish third in table or possibly both. Laois had there best game so far v Kilkenny and will view this match as prep for championship in two weeks, they also have good players back from injury.

[Milltown Row2]

Personally I'd give Laois a game, I can't remember the last time we beat them or played them up in Antrim. Might as well keep the momentum going, if players are carrying knocks that's fine rest them, if players are coming back from injury then they need game time.

After that assessment I'd play my strongest side, some fringe players got a great run out against Down. After this game Antrim needs a challenge game or two against teams in the order group and for the fringe players maybe Offaly who seem to be getting their act together again.

Keeping the pace and intensity up is where we'll know where we are at

[imtommygunn]

Laois have lost a few from last year. They always have good hurlers and tbh in all my years watching us I don't know if I've been to a game we have beat Laois in. (though I know we beat them a few years ago in a game I missed but I don't think it has been a regular occurence). They always seem to unearth one player who is outstanding and then the rest are very solid.

For me this is a big game. I see Clarke got player of the month. I am assuming if he was thought to be that good he wasn't dropped for the last game and was rested. We've had a lot of churn in forwards so it might be no bad thing to try and get what would be our best 6 on the field.

[BrendanAntrim]

Everyone is taking like us beating Laois is ancient history. We beat them in championship group game in Ballycastle about 4 or 5 seasons ago, a penalty was the last puck of the game.  But in that period it was always v close between us and them be it championship or league; they have no Indian sign over us.

[Crikeyboys]

It appears from looking at the team selection against Wexford, that Darren Gleeson probably didn't expect to win, and may have been targeting the Laois game to get a win. The draw was a great fillip to morale. It is to be hoped that Darren now has his preferred selection for the Laois game and a determined display, to get a win here will result. At this stage we can hope that ball control will improve significantly and the intensity can be stepped up. Laois will go all out here having nothing more to lose and it will be interesting to see if we can cope with what might be an onslaught.

[saffman]

Groundlie

Was it not only last week you were getting stuck into Gleeson about the availability of county players in club games?
Now your praising him as the next messiah for running a tight ship.
Your quickly 1) losing credibility 2)being found to be a total windup 3) if so, back to point 1. Your losing any credibility of an input in the forum.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/clarke-and-antrim-determined-to-build-on-recent-progress-1.4588963

Clarke and Antrim determined to build on recent progress
Ballycastle man's Player of the Month award an acknowledgement of Saffrons' encouraging league form
Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 06:00
Ian O'Riordan
 
 
Any expectation that this weekend's final round of the Allianz Hurling League is nothing more than the last support act before the main event of the summer may ring true in certain counties, only Ciarán Clarke begs to differ.

The gentle rise and unquestionably competitive nature of Antrim hurling has been one of the headline stories of the season so far, and Clarke has no intention or desire for it to end now.

Already safe from relegation, their final round league game against Laois on Saturday offers another chance to prove they are here near the top and to stay.

Antrim's progress in 2021 gained further recognition with Clarke being named the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for May for hurling, receiving his award at his home club Ballycastle, a rare prize for the county no matter what time of the year.

Clarke has been central to Antrim's competitiveness on their return to Division One, hitting 1-11 against Clare in their opening day win, a haul which included 1-1 from play.

"Beating Clare, we probably didn't think we'd perform that well and at the weekend there we'd Wexford, came away with the draw, and it kind of felt like a defeat," says Clarke.

"We felt we could have got the win, so there's a good buzz in the county, a few supporters in at the weekend too, which gave us a good lift.

"The thing that's different this year is we believe we can compete with these top teams, can go far. Since Darren [Gleeson] has come in, as over the last couple of years, it has been a very professional set-up, you want for nothing. It's also probably the first year we've had all the county players available to us, they want to commit. We've 36 on the panel, for the first time ever, and people wanting to come onto it."

The desire to sustain it all into the championship is hardened by the fact Antrim competed well against Dublin in round three of Division 1b, before losing 1-26 to 1-18, Dublin being their Leinster quarter-final opponents on June 26th. Laois play Wexford in the other quarter-final, that side of the draw presenting a real chance for progress.

"Of course you always want more, and the thing for us now is not being happy with what we've done. You want to win your last league game, then give a good account of yourself in the championship. So I wouldn't take it as a successful season at the minute. You want to do it in the championship.

"Dublin we know are a big strong team, but we know every game is going to be tough, whether it's Dublin, Wexford, or Kilkenny. Once you get a good performance we shouldn't be too far away, no matter who we're playing."

Some frustration
At times Antrim have made it difficult on themselves, especially in the loss to Dublin and Kilkenny, though they arguably finished just as strong.

"That shows maybe we have the fitness, and the strength and conditioning. We also have six forwards who start, but we have six forwards on the bench who could come in just as easily."

They've also made Corrigan Park something of a fortress in Belfast, although it is no Casement Park, the continuing redevelopment at the latter, which has had funding allocation, of some frustration it seems.

"Whenever I was growing up, you'd be going to Casement Park, having the big Antrim games there. So for the younger generation, that can play a big part, seeing the other big county teams coming there, seeing progress, and where they want to be.

"The first year I came in senior was the year it was shut, so I only ever played a few games there. There are so many twists and turns, we're getting it then we're not getting it, but you'd like to hope we'll be back playing there some day."

There is also the sense Antrim don't want this period to be another short-term progress. For a few years though it seemed as if they might never break out again from the Christy Ring or Joe McDonagh Cup, perhaps never feature again in the Liam MacCarthy, although again Clarke begs to differ.

"I don't think it was the thought at the minute, though we always thought we could do it, if we had the right management, the right players, and this year everything just came together nicely.

"I think the management have really instilled the belief that we are as good as the other players, and other teams. I think the main thing Darren has done is the belief, we just needed to believe it, and I think once we realise we can compete, can challenge, we are just as good."

Whatever about that desire to win a championship game this summer, Clarke isn't thinking at all about relegation, even though unlike the Munster championship, where for another year all the counties are safe against relegation, Leinster still has that avenue.

"It's not something we've talked about, we're just looking to win our first championship match, and make sure relegation isn't even in our mind. Same with this league, we never talked about relegation, we just wanted to finish as high up as we could."