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Fair dues i admire your confidence. Id say at this point that westmeath are joe mc favourites, give their arguably better performances against a similar level of opposition that we’ve faced.

joey1001 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 7:40 pm

Anonymous1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 11:05 pm

greenairfield wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:13 pm I could safely say some lads in here don't go to games enough or don't see what's going on in front of them.

I said here weeks back while there is signs of improbment we still have huge strides to go before been competitive with the top teams.

We can't expect so much from lads who at the end of the day are limited.

I am unsure how you can expect more from Eoghan Cahill he is super scorer but lacks pace and can't win his own ball so the answer is no we shouldn't expect more from him.

Still signs of improvement this year but long way to go yet and more heavy defeats before we are where we want to be.

I was pilloried a few weeks ago for saying I didn’t see much evidence of progress but I think my point was proven today.

You were quite correctly pilloried or whatever you were, clowns like you who were only too delighted to see the result against cork, couldn't wait to get back on here to say "I told you so". Well I'll tell you so now, you're a clown and not a supporter if you classify yourself as that! And also you're wrong about progress, a draw against Wexford and competitive in games against Kilkenny and Waterford shows huge progress. To have to go out and face opposition week in week out that are of a higher standard is hugely demanding and has taken its toll . When we win the Joe mc come back and tell us what you think then because we just love to hear what you have to say. Smh

Yea have to agree here. There has most certainly been an improvement in standards. 2 years ago, we would have taken hand and all for league performances we have got, albeit the hammering v Cork wasnt pleasant. We are coming from low base and were in Christy Ring only 2-3 yrs ago. We have drawn with Wexford and given Kilkenny and Waterford good tests.

We have good young players coming through and they will develop. We are probably short on bigger physical players and that would have been obvious v Cork. That said, Cork are probably bigger than most teams. We need bigger mobile ball winners in half forward line. Brian Duignan for his size is the norm in inter county hurling now, but for us, he is probably an outlier. In Oisin Kelly and Dan Ravenhill, we have two more that if fit, have that capability and hurling too. T In Ben Conneely and Killian Sampson, we have some real good quality players in backs also. The absence of Ciaran Burke, Ross Ravenhill and Cillian Kiely through injury etc are ones we can ill afford, given their size and athleticism, let alone hurling ability. We just need to produce more of these type of players to compete at McCarthy Cup level. That will take time.

Screeney, as good as he is, just would not work at wing forward in inter county game given his size. We have some quality at U20 but to really compete, we need another couple of batches of players who are genuinely contesting Leinster at U20 level once the current crop pass through. Remember, most are underage again for U20 in 2025. Patience is a virtue. We need to be fair to these young players I think and give them the space to develop without the unfair pressure some people place on them.

pigeon house biffo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:30 pm Fair dues i admire your confidence. Id say at this point that westmeath are joe mc favourites, give their arguably better performances against a similar level of opposition that we’ve faced.

Westmeath will be favourites for the Joe McDonagh, and Offaly have made significant progress this year. Those two things can be true at the same time. It's not nice to say it because the clear implication is that we had fallen way behind Westmeath, but the simple truth of the matter is that we had.

The gap is closing and the tables have turned completely at underage level, but until we beat them in a meaningful game, we can't say it's closed.

Lookit, this time last year, I'd say Laois were JMcD favourites, having come down from a higher level, and Kerry were second favourites, on the trail of a fourth successive final appearance.

In a months time, nobody is going to recall who the ante post favourites were. League form is going to mean nothing by then. Clocks will have gone forward; it might even stop raining.

I think it was the late Bobby gold Wimbledon
Manager
Who said you can't fit square pegs into round holes but you can use a sledge hammer.
That's way it's going to have to be in the next couple of years with this Offaly team.
Joe Mac is going to be scrappy but hopefully we are more street wise this year .
Home games should be an advantage
But our best performances have actually been playing away in the last couple of years . mind you if it keeps on raining is dull to do for the next 2 weeks or so god knows we're we will find a pitch

Lone Shark wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:46 pm

pigeon house biffo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:30 pm Fair dues i admire your confidence. Id say at this point that westmeath are joe mc favourites, give their arguably better performances against a similar level of opposition that we’ve faced.

Westmeath will be favourites for the Joe McDonagh, and Offaly have made significant progress this year. Those two things can be true at the same time. It's not nice to say it because the clear implication is that we had fallen way behind Westmeath, but the simple truth of the matter is that we had.

The gap is closing and the tables have turned completely at underage level, but until we beat them in a meaningful game, we can't say it's closed.

Offaly are favourites for the Joe McDonagh

faithfulfanatic wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 7:14 pm

Lone Shark wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:46 pm

pigeon house biffo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:30 pm Fair dues i admire your confidence. Id say at this point that westmeath are joe mc favourites, give their arguably better performances against a similar level of opposition that we’ve faced.

Westmeath will be favourites for the Joe McDonagh, and Offaly have made significant progress this year. Those two things can be true at the same time. It's not nice to say it because the clear implication is that we had fallen way behind Westmeath, but the simple truth of the matter is that we had.

The gap is closing and the tables have turned completely at underage level, but until we beat them in a meaningful game, we can't say it's closed.

Offaly are favourites for the Joe McDonagh

That is no guarantee of Success.

Offaly began the 2019 season as favourites for the Joe McDonagh and ended up relegated to the Christy Ring. It means zero.

Venues has nothing to do with it. It's not like they have to go to somewhere like Hell or Galatasaray. Away trips won't take a whole day, being at an airport two hours before a flight, and unlike other sports, there's not going to be one game plan when playing at home and another when playing away.

It's Joe McDonagh cup, there'll be no more than a thousand people at a match (which will likely be at 2pm on a Saturday), so it's not like there'll be an intimidating atmosphere in Portlaoise or wherever. Where lads are well used to hurling in.

Yes, Ballycran will be a pain in the butt to get to, particularly if the match is on a Saturday, but the logistics are not insurmountable.

2pm Saturdays. Where Inter County hurling went to die.

No venue has been confirmed for the Down game. So Newry is as much on the table as Ballycran. Then again so is Portaferry!!!!

Off topic but was reading above about venues and advantages of home and away games and travelling etc..I was looking back on old league games from 1980s on youtube at weekend...games were all of a Sunday afternoon, packed terraces behind the goals as football/sliothar (the old O'Neills one we all felt 10ft tall if you managed to be lucky enough to get one, brought in at night and placed under the stanley range to dry)..anyway..the hurling games this sliothar was carried into tackles and after a physical battles, not these 'rucks" and 'turning over possession' etc. the sliothar was pucked over the bar, into the goal or hit wide by a player skilfull and strong enough to win such a battle, the referee used common sense in the main (now any hand or hurling or leg put in is an instant free and maybe a card) - now the minute the opposing player presents to challenge the sliothar which is a shell of the old type is instantly passed and shot on target from all sorts of distances by a loose player, apparently this is better more skillfull hurling now..also the footballs/sliothars that go over the bar now go into an empty flood lit terrace of a Saturday night...but again games are supposedly better now and more skillfull...nah...

Fairplayalways wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 11:54 pm Off topic but was reading above about venues and advantages of home and away games and travelling etc..I was looking back on old league games from 1980s on youtube at weekend...games were all of a Sunday afternoon, packed terraces behind the goals as football/sliothar (the old O'Neills one we all felt 10ft tall if you managed to be lucky enough to get one, brought in at night and placed under the stanley range to dry)..anyway..the hurling games this sliothar was carried into tackles and after a physical battles, not these 'rucks" and 'turning over possession' etc. the sliothar was pucked over the bar, into the goal or hit wide by a player skilfull and strong enough to win such a battle, the referee used common sense in the main (now any hand or hurling or leg put in is an instant free and maybe a card) - now the minute the opposing player presents to challenge the sliothar which is a shell of the old type is instantly passed and shot on target from all sorts of distances by a loose player, apparently this is better more skillfull hurling now..also the footballs/sliothars that go over the bar now go into an empty flood lit terrace of a Saturday night...but again games are supposedly better now and more skillfull...nah...

Aul lad nonsense talk, why would you carry the ball into the tackle instead of popping it off to a loose player who can have a shot at the target? Tackling is a skill, an art, not bulldozing in and fouling a player! The game is so far on from the 80's and so much better. Getting the ball and hitting it 70 yards hoping for the best, opposition getting it and pucking or kicking it back.. how anyone would consider that more skilful than the smart way the game is played now is beyond me. I watched games from the 70's/80's etc in both codes and they were horrid to look at, no skill, no intelligence. If a lad gets the ball burst him, if you get it hit it 60 yards back to the opposing team. Both games now are fantastic, players are intelligent and tuned in.. there's a massive battle between defenses and attackers, there's tactics and player's and managers finding smartest ways to outdo the opposition, speed, higher scoring from distance and angles, more physical without the dirt. No comparison.

Hurling now is 10 times better than 80s or 90s. Get it and drive it, sur anyone could do that.

faithfulfanatic wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 7:14 pm

Lone Shark wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:46 pm

pigeon house biffo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:30 pm Fair dues i admire your confidence. Id say at this point that westmeath are joe mc favourites, give their arguably better performances against a similar level of opposition that we’ve faced.

Westmeath will be favourites for the Joe McDonagh, and Offaly have made significant progress this year. Those two things can be true at the same time. It's not nice to say it because the clear implication is that we had fallen way behind Westmeath, but the simple truth of the matter is that we had.

The gap is closing and the tables have turned completely at underage level, but until we beat them in a meaningful game, we can't say it's closed.

Offaly are favourites for the Joe McDonagh

Definitely not. Westmeath are standout favourites.

Looking at performances to date, id say our boys will struggle with both Westmeath and Laois. Westmeath I think are well ahead of us unfortunately at moment. Laois are physically a much bigger team and not short on confidence playing Offaly either. Offaly in both codes they are targeting big time and very confident too.

Defensively as a team from 1-15, therre is massive improvement needed. Conceding too many scores every game. Go back to mcdonagh cup last year, conceding far too much against pretty average opposition. Cork and Kilkenny put up a big number of scores when you consider the time of year and very heavy pitch conditions. On a firm sod, you are talking crazy scorelines.