Meath Forum

Meath Hurlers 2020

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Replying To toon:  "He couldn't get a very strong Na Fianna team out of Intermediate so I think he would be a step back from current set up."
Really poor post here. This man has trained kildalkey to four County titles building a new team last year. Trained Keady to two Armagh championships again working with different teams and also bringing Keady to an all Ireland intermediate semi final. He also trained dcu to a Ryan cup win where he was held in high esteem by the great Sean og o halpain. He trained ballivor to a leinster junior football win and also his own club in tipperary to a Co intermediate hurling win. He was very well got in na Fianna and I know he was thrilled with their intermediate win. No bull a spade is a spade. And above all when the game is over its over. Obviously not your man but credit where its due.

Meath-hurling (Meath) - Posts: 2 - 24/11/2020 22:30:27    2315038

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Replying To Meath-hurling:  "Really poor post here. This man has trained kildalkey to four County titles building a new team last year. Trained Keady to two Armagh championships again working with different teams and also bringing Keady to an all Ireland intermediate semi final. He also trained dcu to a Ryan cup win where he was held in high esteem by the great Sean og o halpain. He trained ballivor to a leinster junior football win and also his own club in tipperary to a Co intermediate hurling win. He was very well got in na Fianna and I know he was thrilled with their intermediate win. No bull a spade is a spade. And above all when the game is over its over. Obviously not your man but credit where its due."
I agree he has got good credentials but i honestly think if meath truly want to push onto the next level we need a bit of a household name with proven credentials on a county level to take a punt on us(very hard to do but look at what louth just did).Would Eddie brennan give it a thought?

We keep going for lads from around the club scene in meath; chivers, Fitz, Weir etc.. Can they really bring in a high class team and coach these lads to the next level, i dont think they can and i have the utmost respect for what these guys have done for meath hurling. I think its gone to the point where we need that extra bit of wisdom to push us on further.

But a lot of this is in the hands of the C.Board as its them ultimately who can make the changes, but the sticking point is really do the Footy element in the county really want the Hurling to become a monster in their own backyard?(burn the hurls and that)

Peter Durnin did some great work at underage and those lads are just about ready to go senior for their clubs but they have to be coached further as do the lads currently playing senior. There are good systems in place underage but it has to be continued. There will be years where the talent just isnt there, but we have to keep the coaching at underage to a high stnadard.

The change in the format to the SHC i think has done wonders for the club teams as it has forced some of the clubs to pull the finger out with the dead rubber games seriously limited to the leagues. There are 4-5 clubs now who on their day play some lovely hurling to high standards. So that can only be good for the county team and will bear fruit. Obviously this year was a bit of a bent cog in the engine but the format is definitely better than what it was in terms of development.

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 476 - 25/11/2020 12:30:41    2315158

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Replying To Irish_downunder:  "I agree he has got good credentials but i honestly think if meath truly want to push onto the next level we need a bit of a household name with proven credentials on a county level to take a punt on us(very hard to do but look at what louth just did).Would Eddie brennan give it a thought?

We keep going for lads from around the club scene in meath; chivers, Fitz, Weir etc.. Can they really bring in a high class team and coach these lads to the next level, i dont think they can and i have the utmost respect for what these guys have done for meath hurling. I think its gone to the point where we need that extra bit of wisdom to push us on further.

But a lot of this is in the hands of the C.Board as its them ultimately who can make the changes, but the sticking point is really do the Footy element in the county really want the Hurling to become a monster in their own backyard?(burn the hurls and that)

Peter Durnin did some great work at underage and those lads are just about ready to go senior for their clubs but they have to be coached further as do the lads currently playing senior. There are good systems in place underage but it has to be continued. There will be years where the talent just isnt there, but we have to keep the coaching at underage to a high stnadard.

The change in the format to the SHC i think has done wonders for the club teams as it has forced some of the clubs to pull the finger out with the dead rubber games seriously limited to the leagues. There are 4-5 clubs now who on their day play some lovely hurling to high standards. So that can only be good for the county team and will bear fruit. Obviously this year was a bit of a bent cog in the engine but the format is definitely better than what it was in terms of development."
Household names can be very hit and miss as well, Nick Fitzgerald had Commerford and Kavanagh from Kilkenny and they did not add much to the team.
One thing that is certain with Pat O'Halloran is that shirkers or lads who would not put it all in would be found out very early in his tenure. To me he is a very viable option.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 25/11/2020 14:20:58    2315233

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Replying To Irish_downunder:  "I agree he has got good credentials but i honestly think if meath truly want to push onto the next level we need a bit of a household name with proven credentials on a county level to take a punt on us(very hard to do but look at what louth just did).Would Eddie brennan give it a thought?

We keep going for lads from around the club scene in meath; chivers, Fitz, Weir etc.. Can they really bring in a high class team and coach these lads to the next level, i dont think they can and i have the utmost respect for what these guys have done for meath hurling. I think its gone to the point where we need that extra bit of wisdom to push us on further.

But a lot of this is in the hands of the C.Board as its them ultimately who can make the changes, but the sticking point is really do the Footy element in the county really want the Hurling to become a monster in their own backyard?(burn the hurls and that)

Peter Durnin did some great work at underage and those lads are just about ready to go senior for their clubs but they have to be coached further as do the lads currently playing senior. There are good systems in place underage but it has to be continued. There will be years where the talent just isnt there, but we have to keep the coaching at underage to a high stnadard.

The change in the format to the SHC i think has done wonders for the club teams as it has forced some of the clubs to pull the finger out with the dead rubber games seriously limited to the leagues. There are 4-5 clubs now who on their day play some lovely hurling to high standards. So that can only be good for the county team and will bear fruit. Obviously this year was a bit of a bent cog in the engine but the format is definitely better than what it was in terms of development."
I was thinking the same ref Eddie Brennan.

Look at Louth - they have the ambition to go for Mickey Harte even though they probably dont have the players to realistically win a Leinster at this stage, I am sure that Mickey will have huge influence on lots around Louth GAA in the coming years.

Up to last weekend I would have always said Meath was a football county and I would have accepted that. Now, after the hammering the footballers got two years in a row and unable to beat division 1 teams I think we need to look to ourselves to being a 50/50 Football and Hurling county. So money, support etc should be just as much for the hurlers as the footballers.

And where better to start than the appointment of Eddie Brennan to the hurlers and promise him the same level of financial support as the footballers. And get him or someone similar to work with the underage teams and develop players. There is great talent in the county - we just need to harness it. Look at Tipperary - a hurling county that now wins the Munster Football Championship - it can be done.

stillaroyal (Meath) - Posts: 11 - 25/11/2020 14:33:11    2315240

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Replying To MillerX:  "Household names can be very hit and miss as well, Nick Fitzgerald had Commerford and Kavanagh from Kilkenny and they did not add much to the team.
One thing that is certain with Pat O'Halloran is that shirkers or lads who would not put it all in would be found out very early in his tenure. To me he is a very viable option."
Yea totally agree on the pair of killkenny lads but they were trying to get square pegs in round holes from what i was told by few of the lads. But i wouldnt let that deter from looking outside too.

Agree Pat wouldnt have time fore anyone not pulling their weight but sometimes you have to have a bit of flex too to get the best out of a lad. Listen if the next man in was pat it would be a step in the right direction but only just in my opinion. I think to really drive us on we need a next level manager.

2020 hasnt helped and who knows how we would have done this year had Nick managed to get a full proper winter/spring training into the lads as a collective group. but as castlebravo has said we are no closer or further away from being where we want to be and thats leinster proper

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 476 - 25/11/2020 14:47:50    2315247

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I think the team is far to good for christy ring , this is level they need to be at and just look at the results you can see belong here. kildare and down are in it next year so should pick up wins again those.
We have improved over the last few years but now stalled.
We were very good again carlow + westmeath , but thats mayby as good as we can get with current setup?

The county board want to spend as little as possible on management,
There is a shortage of proper hurling coach in the county , if any available , and certainly none to take meath to the next level , some great hurling men yes , but not proper coach and high level tactics. The game has moved on alot in last 5 years. Look at how hard clubs in county find it getting decent managers and why some look outside for more modern younger guys.

Eddie brennan is prime example of what we need , but look at reasons why he left laois , they would be same reasons why they would not even take over meath to start with , plus the football issues with clubs on top of that.

hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 312 - 25/11/2020 15:56:32    2315283

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Replying To hurlit:  "I think the team is far to good for christy ring , this is level they need to be at and just look at the results you can see belong here. kildare and down are in it next year so should pick up wins again those.
We have improved over the last few years but now stalled.
We were very good again carlow + westmeath , but thats mayby as good as we can get with current setup?

The county board want to spend as little as possible on management,
There is a shortage of proper hurling coach in the county , if any available , and certainly none to take meath to the next level , some great hurling men yes , but not proper coach and high level tactics. The game has moved on alot in last 5 years. Look at how hard clubs in county find it getting decent managers and why some look outside for more modern younger guys.

Eddie brennan is prime example of what we need , but look at reasons why he left laois , they would be same reasons why they would not even take over meath to start with , plus the football issues with clubs on top of that."
I would indeed love if Eddie Brennan was appointed, but I did hear the 'off the record' part of the interview with Colm Parkinson. If he wasn't happy with aspects of the Laois commitment to hurling there is virtually no chance of him being the slightest bit interested in coming here unless there is a complete change of emphasis from the county committee. But at least a high level appointment is talked about here. This will probably cause convulsions in some quarters of officialdom especially when one thinks back to Banty's appointment and the savings generated by stopping players swapping jerseys were factored into the costs involved. But maybe matters have improved.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 25/11/2020 18:46:07    2315365

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The meath county board would not want eddie brennan to begin with as he would cost to much to do things how he would like , thats without the politics in the county been brought into it.
With the money the football setup costs they cant afford that type of appointment in hurling and im not sure the desire is there for the hurlers to push on.

For example Imagine telling him you play two rounds of football champ in aprill and all your hurlers will be playing that , so you cant prepare but you will get them back a week before 1st round of joe mcdonagh , hopefully not injured.

Also the minor and u21 teams need to be better prepared and more time put into them , but this is very hard with club fixtures , very hard in a dual county.

hurlit (Meath) - Posts: 312 - 25/11/2020 19:18:19    2315378

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Replying To hurlit:  "The meath county board would not want eddie brennan to begin with as he would cost to much to do things how he would like , thats without the politics in the county been brought into it.
With the money the football setup costs they cant afford that type of appointment in hurling and im not sure the desire is there for the hurlers to push on.

For example Imagine telling him you play two rounds of football champ in aprill and all your hurlers will be playing that , so you cant prepare but you will get them back a week before 1st round of joe mcdonagh , hopefully not injured.

Also the minor and u21 teams need to be better prepared and more time put into them , but this is very hard with club fixtures , very hard in a dual county."
So what you are essentially saying is that they don't want a replay of the Michael Duignan period. For one year Killian Farrell managed Senior and U-21s but it didn't really work out due to complications with club fixtures between the early finish of the Christy Ring and the U-21 starting much later in the year.
Going back to the Senior team management it does appear strange that our peer group of counties have no problem getting or financing prominent outside managers. They are Kildare, Westmeath, Carlow, Kerry, Down and Antrim. Seems strange. Some don't have a dual player problem like we do but some certainly do like Kildare, Westmeath, Carlow and some in Kerry. Antrim I believe are hardly affected in the Glens but are to an extent in Belfast, Down would be much the same with non-Ards players belonging to dual clubs. But dual players are an issue in many of the top counties as well, kills anybody who listened to the after match comments following the televised Wexford SHC games would have heard most of the players talking about the upcoming football championship.
Mind you with the way football is gone the county committee have a decision to make, either spend an absolute fortune on it or let it find its own way on an equal footing with hurling.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 26/11/2020 16:29:57    2315669

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Replying To MillerX:  "So what you are essentially saying is that they don't want a replay of the Michael Duignan period. For one year Killian Farrell managed Senior and U-21s but it didn't really work out due to complications with club fixtures between the early finish of the Christy Ring and the U-21 starting much later in the year.
Going back to the Senior team management it does appear strange that our peer group of counties have no problem getting or financing prominent outside managers. They are Kildare, Westmeath, Carlow, Kerry, Down and Antrim. Seems strange. Some don't have a dual player problem like we do but some certainly do like Kildare, Westmeath, Carlow and some in Kerry. Antrim I believe are hardly affected in the Glens but are to an extent in Belfast, Down would be much the same with non-Ards players belonging to dual clubs. But dual players are an issue in many of the top counties as well, kills anybody who listened to the after match comments following the televised Wexford SHC games would have heard most of the players talking about the upcoming football championship.
Mind you with the way football is gone the county committee have a decision to make, either spend an absolute fortune on it or let it find its own way on an equal footing with hurling."
issue ive always felt between Hurling board & football Board is exactly the opposite ends of the spectrum….the football board have an over inflated view of where we should sit in the world of gaelic football and that colours their actions....and the hurling board lack ambition.....until there is only one view of what we want our Sporting Teams to be & represent, it will always be that . Should be one sponsorship deal ….one way of treating our players that represent our county. Went tp an u14 camogie game a few years back v Dublin...and was blown away that the togging out of Dublin girls was a direct replica of what way their senior Mens football team togged out that weekend in croke park...zero difference...our girls could have been representing Leitrim ….and don't tell me that we couldn't get a few pound together among even parents if we have to ask them, ...we need to build our ambition & re build our identity

Thelongwoodslasher (Meath) - Posts: 63 - 26/11/2020 17:05:06    2315685

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