Offaly Hurlers 2022

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
kingscounty
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by kingscounty »

Whilst I don’t doubt Maher’s winning mentality and achievements over the years , reading today that he stated his role is that of a holistic approach with players!
His full commitment is to keep hurling with Borris and that a job like the Offaly job is ideal as he doesn’t have to attend all the training sessions and can work with players over the phone !!!
To me you are either committed to the cause or you are not, maybe this type of approach works with other counties I don’t have enough inside knowledge of set ups anymore but for me as a player if I am going to three /four sessions a week bursting a nut I expect the full management team to able to stand on the line most nights.
But then again that’s maybe the role Kelly has asked him to do so am I been to critical. Times have moved on , methods have changed.

kingscounty
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by kingscounty »


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bracknaghboy
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by bracknaghboy »

Maher will be a Performance Coach, whatever the hell that is.
He says in the article "I have a bit of study done in it and it’s something I am doing day to day in a work capacity, in the corporate world".

Having watched our hurlers strut their stuff these last few seasons I can confirm they have the following issues:

- General lack of size/height throughout the pitch.
- Inability to win or break aerial ball.
- Requiring 2nd, 3rd or even 4th attempts to control the ball.
- Struggle to create goal scoring chances or stop them down the other end.
- Limited puckout strategy.

As I ponder how the above can be addressed at no point did it occur to me that having a lad come in and tell them all about wonderful he gets on with folk in the corporate world would solve the problems but there ya go what do I know?
Wow so this is what the county board are investing in.

Here is an idea. Cut the nonsense spending on these intercounty teams and take the money and give every 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 year old boy in every primary school in the county an appropriately sized hurl and and 3 balls each to go hit off the back wall at home. Maybe just maybe it might increase interest in the game. Lads would eventually get together for puck around among friends and who knows where it would take us. Give them helmets as well.

But but but but Bracknaghboy that'll cost 10's of thousands of Euro......maybe even a 6 figure sum.
My answer to that is go and have a look at the spending on our intercounty teams and ask is that worth it? Is it a good use of resources?
I'd easily free up the funds to get hurls and balls to every child in the county! The money is there they are just wasting it every year.

DannyBoyCane
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by DannyBoyCane »

point well made. “modern game” they will say, but some of the money spent these days is discusting

private joker
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by private joker »

Should do what cavan did and disband the senior hurling team for a few years. That'll save a ton of money. Will maher add somthing to the set up, yes. Will it make offaly compete at the highest level? No.

There is a general apathy within the county towards hurling and the development of hurling. A question was asked on another topic about how well did development squads fair this year. Don't think there was a single reply. That says it all to me.

greenairfield
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by greenairfield »

Best Offaly team with all hurlers available within the county.

E Cleary
O Murphy
C Kieley
S Conolly
B Connelley
C Doughan
D Maher
D Nally
A Treacy
A Cleary
E Cahill
B Duignan
O Kelly
J Sampson
A Kavanagh

chimbonda
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by chimbonda »

greenairfield wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:42 pm Best Offaly team with all hurlers available within the county.

E Cleary
O Murphy
C Kieley
S Conolly
B Connelley
C Doughan
D Maher
D Nally
A Treacy
A Cleary
E Cahill
B Duignan
O Kelly
J Sampson
A Kavanagh
Killian Sampson?

greenairfield
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by greenairfield »

I will swith him in for Doughan as its probably not realistic he will be back in with the county set up.

Onionbag
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by Onionbag »

If Maher helps one player perform at a higher level, well then how bad..

Don't think it will do any harm at all.

Important to get out of div 2 and at least contest Joe Mcdonagh final.

SearingDrive
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by SearingDrive »

bracknaghboy wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:51 pm Maher will be a Performance Coach, whatever the hell that is.
He says in the article "I have a bit of study done in it and it’s something I am doing day to day in a work capacity, in the corporate world".

Having watched our hurlers strut their stuff these last few seasons I can confirm they have the following issues:

- General lack of size/height throughout the pitch.
- Inability to win or break aerial ball.
- Requiring 2nd, 3rd or even 4th attempts to control the ball.
- Struggle to create goal scoring chances or stop them down the other end.
- Limited puckout strategy.

As I ponder how the above can be addressed at no point did it occur to me that having a lad come in and tell them all about wonderful he gets on with folk in the corporate world would solve the problems but there ya go what do I know?
Wow so this is what the county board are investing in.

Here is an idea. Cut the nonsense spending on these intercounty teams and take the money and give every 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 year old boy in every primary school in the county an appropriately sized hurl and and 3 balls each to go hit off the back wall at home. Maybe just maybe it might increase interest in the game. Lads would eventually get together for puck around among friends and who knows where it would take us. Give them helmets as well.

But but but but Bracknaghboy that'll cost 10's of thousands of Euro......maybe even a 6 figure sum.
My answer to that is go and have a look at the spending on our intercounty teams and ask is that worth it? Is it a good use of resources?
I'd easily free up the funds to get hurls and balls to every child in the county! The money is there they are just wasting it every year.
Bracknagh Boy. I agree with your points earlier re Offaly hurler’s problems. There has long been a problem with first touch, maybe it is to do with not playing at a top level, or were players not taught that skill by coaches? I thought this year’s minor hurlers showed an improvement in this skill. I feel skill is something that can be perfected by practise, just even banging the ball off a wall or playing among friends.
Does a player not have the desire to play for your county, and do your best in every match?. Why employ psychologists for this ?

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by Bord na Mona man »

In any sport, technical ability alone doesn't necessarily deliver results. There is the mental aspect to it. Skills and decision making need to stand up under pressure.
The people who dismiss this part of preparation are quite often the ones who brand certain teams/players as being soft or flaky. Without a hint of irony.

pigeon house biffo
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by pigeon house biffo »

Good to see that this topic is gaining some traction. I think its important that issues surrounding our counties finances and player development are clarified and aired dutifully, or as much as they can be done via this forum.

Maher is an operator at the highest level, as was Fennelly. To this end, i would ponder what exactly we are hoping to garner from giving a highly decorated former player his first shot in an intercounty setup. I probably would have been inclined to give Fennelly another year in light of the covid situation. But we decided that he wasn’t the right one, before bringing someone with the exact same profile in, in the shape of Maher. I like the man, was one of my favourite players when he was operating for tipp. But some of the language around his recent interview was bizarre to say the least. He’s more or less come out and said that hurling club was his first priority. This is absolutely his right, but you’d wonder how this went down with Duignan and the wider player management group. You’re either in or your out. I’ve highlighted this before that while its great that Lowry has got involved, I have no doubt that there’s individuals around the country who will look at us now as a cash cow for milking. And sure if they come in and don’t succeed then the excuses are ready made ‘sure the players arent there’ , ‘not enough going on in the clubs’. For me, the maher appointment is like installing a jacuzzi when you’ve leaks in your roof. Yes, it will look good to those on the outside, but there are far bigger issues that should be prioritised. The overall quality of the hurling in this year’s championship was very poor, and i dont think anyone believes that brendan having a quite word in a lads ear is going to bring them up significantly.

Maybe I’m just a cynic. But in recent months we’ve had links to davey fitz, liam sheedy and eamon o shea, and now maher is in. Would any of these had interest was there not the recently found riches? For the record, I’m a fan of the johnny kelly appointment. Would have liked to have seen a similar appointment for the footballers ie someone who has delivered at a high club level as opposed to a bit of a journey man.

Just my thoughts, happy to be taken to task.

private joker
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by private joker »

Looks like maher won't be that heavily involved. Might not be a whole lot of expense. He's not a selector or a trainer? so a lot could be done on the phone or zoom. Maybe he'll do more, maybe he's just getting ready for his own career and he's just watching and observing . The question is why a proper sports performance person wasn't brought on board if that's the role he's fulfilling.

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bracknaghboy
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by bracknaghboy »

Bord na Mona man wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 10:09 am In any sport, technical ability alone doesn't necessarily deliver results. There is the mental aspect to it. Skills and decision making need to stand up under pressure.
The people who dismiss this part of preparation are quite often the ones who brand certain teams/players as being soft or flaky. Without a hint of irony.
OK, so say you had 50,000 Euro to spend. I'll give you 2 options.

Option 1
2 x intercounty High Performance coach for the season (1 for football and 1 for hurling)
2 x intercounty Psychologist for the season (1 for football and 1 for hurling)
They'll gobble up your 50k fairly quickly I can tell you.


Option 2
According to the 2016 census there are 600 boys aged 6 and 600 aged 7 in county Offaly.
Go into each school and offer each 6 and 7 year old a free hurl, free helmet and 3 free balls.

Cost of hurl 20 euro. Cost of helmet 40 euro. Cost of 3 balls is 15 euro = 75 euro per head.
So our 50k would allow us purchase a hurl, helmet and 3 balls for just over 650 school kids.
A lot of the 6/7 years olds would avail of the free offer.

I've been in Kilkenny recently and again nearly every young lad I seen walking through the town down there with his school bag was carrying a hurl. It's ingrained in them.
We need to have something similar up here, giving out free equipment will sow the seeds for the future.
The county board could have a program whereby they hand the stuff out to every primary school child at the start of say 3rd class.

Look I'm trying to think outside the box here.
Using valuable resources on the intercounty backroom vultures is a complete waste of time......theres nothing to be shown for it.
Fella's chancing their arm with Zoom calls and phone calls to players for a few bob and a line for the CV.....rubbish is all it is.

Right I'm backing option 2 as the best use of our hypothetical 50k every year. I'd be interested in hearing which option ye'd all go for out there and maybe a couple of lines explanation to go with it.
Remember you only have 50k and it's either option 1 or 2 before the "lets do both" lads start!

pigeon house biffo
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Re: Offaly Hurlers 2022

Post by pigeon house biffo »

Just on your point brack boy, you’d want to include the girls in your numbers so that’ll need some rejigging.

I’d like to see something like that, I’d even suggest there isn’t a need at that age to buy helmets. Let their coaching involve the basics, lifting striking catching and build towards soloing. Most of that can be developed individually or non contact game based scenarios. Otherwise a far better use of our money than performance coaches.

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