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Westmeath Hurling thread

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Replying To Thechick:  "Murtagh when he feels like it ???. Do ya go to many games???"
Going back to 2004 when the footballers and hurlers played in Croke Park on the same day in the Leinster championship......both teams went back to Cassidy's hotel on parnell square after the games. Both teams were in the same function room. Rumour at the time was that the footballers were given steak dinners while the hurlers were given stew.

ExiledCuCu (Cavan) - Posts: 304 - 26/08/2026 12:53:31    2691388

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I'm glad O'Brien called them out, its about time.
A very talented minor team and excellent management mistreated.
The positive from the podcast is definitely hearing about the professionalism in St Mary's, who let's be honest, are doing far more for Westmeath hurling than our county board.

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 1153 - 26/08/2026 14:17:46    2691403

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Replying To westmeathfan25:  "I'm not sure I agree with this. I think it's fair to say that both inter-county squads are treated similarly, and the overall costs at the end of the year would usually give a good indication of that.

At this point, I'm not sure it will matter what the CB says in response to Pat O'Brien's statement, because the narrative seems to have become that the CB is always in the wrong. Yet there doesn't seem to be the same criticism of the CB when Pat O'Brien is being paid for his co-commentary work on Iarmhi TV.

I think the podcast has taken a very anti-CB position now. Whatever the CB does or doesn't do seems likely to be interpreted through that lens, and I'm not sure any response from them is going to change that narrative.

One genuine question: where is the sponsorship revenue from this podcast going? The CB previously paid contributors for their time, so is the sponsorship revenue now covering those same people, or is it being used elsewhere?"
Ok I'll concede on the spending on both intercounty setups for now as you say we'd have to see the figures.
The question regarding the podcast I'd say it's more of a freedom to speak regarding criticism of county board in general. Didn't pat and others tear strips of the CB a few yrs ago and the podcast was pulled for a while after that if I remember correctly.
Look we all want the best for Westmeath hurling but trying to do it without any farsightedness from the county board makes it impossible to succeed.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 191 - 26/08/2026 14:31:39    2691405

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Replying To jobber:  "The Leinster championship win was brilliant and enjoyed by everyone but the reality is since the last one in 2004 the hurlers have won 4 national titles and the footballers 1 so dont get carried away with a football first county. Maybe in Tunberclair and Caulry but certainly not anywhere north of Mullingar. The fact of no hurling for a month is as you say a football first attitude of a CCC which needs to be changed.
Hurling is losing out and the clubs need to raise their voice."
In 22 years, Three Christy Rings, which is a third-tier competition, and one Joe McDonagh Cup are hardly achievements to be constantly harping on about either.

Like it or not, though, Westmeath is currently around 70% football and 30% hurling in terms of the level of participation across the county.

The numbers back this up:

Football championship: 45 teams - 12 Senior, 12 Intermediate, 12 Junior and 9 Junior 2.
Those 45 teams come from 37 clubs, with 12 clubs entering second teams and one club entering a third team.

Hurling championship: 18 teams - 6 Senior, 6 Senior B and 6 Intermediate.
Those 18 teams come from 15 clubs, with 9 clubs entering second teams.

That gives us 63 championship teams across both codes.

Football: 45/63 = 71%
Hurling: 18/63 = 29%

I am not for one second saying that the County Board should be giving 70% of its resources to football. That isn't the point. The point is that we need to acknowledge the difference in the current playing levels between the two codes.

If you want hurling to grow, it is up to the hurling people in the county to step up and spread the game. At the moment, hurling is very much concentrated in North Westmeath and North Westmeath only.

Take Southern Gaels, for example. They have had very little support from the rest of the county over the last 30 years and, incredibly, they remain the only club in the county without their own grounds.

You mention Tubberclair and Caulry, but perhaps the bigger question for those of you involved in hurling should be: how do we actually grow the game in these areas?

When I look at most of the teams in North Westmeath, I see plenty of lads playing both codes. Around Athlone and Moate, however, that isn't nearly as common.

Rather than arguing over whether Westmeath is a football or hurling county, I think we should be asking ourselves what we can do to make hurling stronger outside its traditional heartland. If we can do that, the numbers will naturally start to change.

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 664 - 26/08/2026 14:47:04    2691409

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Replying To Temple56:  "In 22 years, Three Christy Rings, which is a third-tier competition, and one Joe McDonagh Cup are hardly achievements to be constantly harping on about either.

Like it or not, though, Westmeath is currently around 70% football and 30% hurling in terms of the level of participation across the county.

The numbers back this up:

Football championship: 45 teams - 12 Senior, 12 Intermediate, 12 Junior and 9 Junior 2.
Those 45 teams come from 37 clubs, with 12 clubs entering second teams and one club entering a third team.

Hurling championship: 18 teams - 6 Senior, 6 Senior B and 6 Intermediate.
Those 18 teams come from 15 clubs, with 9 clubs entering second teams.

That gives us 63 championship teams across both codes.

Football: 45/63 = 71%
Hurling: 18/63 = 29%

I am not for one second saying that the County Board should be giving 70% of its resources to football. That isn't the point. The point is that we need to acknowledge the difference in the current playing levels between the two codes.

If you want hurling to grow, it is up to the hurling people in the county to step up and spread the game. At the moment, hurling is very much concentrated in North Westmeath and North Westmeath only.

Take Southern Gaels, for example. They have had very little support from the rest of the county over the last 30 years and, incredibly, they remain the only club in the county without their own grounds.

You mention Tubberclair and Caulry, but perhaps the bigger question for those of you involved in hurling should be: how do we actually grow the game in these areas?

When I look at most of the teams in North Westmeath, I see plenty of lads playing both codes. Around Athlone and Moate, however, that isn't nearly as common.

Rather than arguing over whether Westmeath is a football or hurling county, I think we should be asking ourselves what we can do to make hurling stronger outside its traditional heartland. If we can do that, the numbers will naturally start to change."
Just for record the 3 Christy rings were second tier competitions bit the rest of your breakdown is good

CasKD (Westmeath) - Posts: 53 - 26/08/2026 15:36:45    2691412

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Replying To Dheen:  "Its not football first North of Mullingar or in Castletown Geoghegan though. There are a lot of hurling people in the county who wanted to be treated fairly."
Yes but as a whole it's football predominant county, not a criticism or having a go at anyone just what I feel. The football championship is at risk of losing a great structure as hurling clubs want more free weekends when they already play a championship with only one semi final and no quarter finals. So I think they shouldn't be trying to take from the other code at all to be honest.

DelaneyCup2026 (Westmeath) - Posts: 35 - 26/08/2026 16:27:11    2691425

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Replying To Gaaforlife2023:  "Can you nit see how hurling needs aittle bit more promotion and investment yes football always first vut jeez isnt much to ask"
Yes fair enough then get the county board to do so; there was talk of reducing the football championship previously to give hurlers more rest, to me that's nonsense as football is the code with the largest playing numbers and to have it reduced for the minority sport would be appaling.

DelaneyCup2026 (Westmeath) - Posts: 35 - 26/08/2026 16:29:11    2691426

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Replying To jobber:  "The Leinster championship win was brilliant and enjoyed by everyone but the reality is since the last one in 2004 the hurlers have won 4 national titles and the footballers 1 so dont get carried away with a football first county. Maybe in Tunberclair and Caulry but certainly not anywhere north of Mullingar. The fact of no hurling for a month is as you say a football first attitude of a CCC which needs to be changed.
Hurling is losing out and the clubs need to raise their voice."
Tailteann Cup

Jack_Sparrow (Westmeath) - Posts: 1089 - 26/08/2026 17:41:22    2691442

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Replying To westmeathfan25:  "I'm not sure I agree with this. I think it's fair to say that both inter-county squads are treated similarly, and the overall costs at the end of the year would usually give a good indication of that.

At this point, I'm not sure it will matter what the CB says in response to Pat O'Brien's statement, because the narrative seems to have become that the CB is always in the wrong. Yet there doesn't seem to be the same criticism of the CB when Pat O'Brien is being paid for his co-commentary work on Iarmhi TV.

I think the podcast has taken a very anti-CB position now. Whatever the CB does or doesn't do seems likely to be interpreted through that lens, and I'm not sure any response from them is going to change that narrative.

One genuine question: where is the sponsorship revenue from this podcast going? The CB previously paid contributors for their time, so is the sponsorship revenue now covering those same people, or is it being used elsewhere?"
I don't think you can ask about an independent podcast's revenue management. It's irrelevant; like asking where the 2 johnnies spend their money.
The Podcast is nothing to do with any official Westmeath GAA entity.
A streamed game is to provide access to that game and describe what's going on. I wouldn't expect Pat or anyone else to use it as a forum to discuss any other topic; would you?

fizzygravy (USA) - Posts: 184 - 26/08/2026 18:51:56    2691450

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Replying To Temple56:  "In 22 years, Three Christy Rings, which is a third-tier competition, and one Joe McDonagh Cup are hardly achievements to be constantly harping on about either.

Like it or not, though, Westmeath is currently around 70% football and 30% hurling in terms of the level of participation across the county.

The numbers back this up:

Football championship: 45 teams - 12 Senior, 12 Intermediate, 12 Junior and 9 Junior 2.
Those 45 teams come from 37 clubs, with 12 clubs entering second teams and one club entering a third team.

Hurling championship: 18 teams - 6 Senior, 6 Senior B and 6 Intermediate.
Those 18 teams come from 15 clubs, with 9 clubs entering second teams.

That gives us 63 championship teams across both codes.

Football: 45/63 = 71%
Hurling: 18/63 = 29%

I am not for one second saying that the County Board should be giving 70% of its resources to football. That isn't the point. The point is that we need to acknowledge the difference in the current playing levels between the two codes.

If you want hurling to grow, it is up to the hurling people in the county to step up and spread the game. At the moment, hurling is very much concentrated in North Westmeath and North Westmeath only.

Take Southern Gaels, for example. They have had very little support from the rest of the county over the last 30 years and, incredibly, they remain the only club in the county without their own grounds.

You mention Tubberclair and Caulry, but perhaps the bigger question for those of you involved in hurling should be: how do we actually grow the game in these areas?

When I look at most of the teams in North Westmeath, I see plenty of lads playing both codes. Around Athlone and Moate, however, that isn't nearly as common.

Rather than arguing over whether Westmeath is a football or hurling county, I think we should be asking ourselves what we can do to make hurling stronger outside its traditional heartland. If we can do that, the numbers will naturally start to change."
What you need to see is more of what Castledaly are doing currently, introducing hurling and camogie to their area at juvenile level. It would be great to see this happen in other areas in the south of the county too. There has to be a long term plan to grow the game but after hearing Pat O'Brien on the podcast we will be waiting a long time for the cb to step up and do something. They were talking on the podcast about Clare being a good model to follow, that could be the way forward. In my opinion for a county our size we have a lot of talent in both codes and tend to be able to punch well above our weight.
It shouldn't be about Hurling vs Football it should be about growing the game in both so we have a chance at doing well in both.

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 1153 - 27/08/2026 08:37:11    2691465

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Replying To DelaneyCup2026:  "Yes but as a whole it's football predominant county, not a criticism or having a go at anyone just what I feel. The football championship is at risk of losing a great structure as hurling clubs want more free weekends when they already play a championship with only one semi final and no quarter finals. So I think they shouldn't be trying to take from the other code at all to be honest."
Who is saying the hurling needs more free weekends? This was mentioned on the football forum but where did this info come from? The football structure is being pushed by the county board not the hurling clubs.

Gaawestmeath (Westmeath) - Posts: 141 - 27/08/2026 08:55:42    2691468

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Replying To Dheen:  "What you need to see is more of what Castledaly are doing currently, introducing hurling and camogie to their area at juvenile level. It would be great to see this happen in other areas in the south of the county too. There has to be a long term plan to grow the game but after hearing Pat O'Brien on the podcast we will be waiting a long time for the cb to step up and do something. They were talking on the podcast about Clare being a good model to follow, that could be the way forward. In my opinion for a county our size we have a lot of talent in both codes and tend to be able to punch well above our weight.
It shouldn't be about Hurling vs Football it should be about growing the game in both so we have a chance at doing well in both."
Explain how hurling could be grown in areas in the south of the county? Specifics needed please.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2765 - 27/08/2026 10:25:52    2691481

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Replying To Claretandblue:  "Explain how hurling could be grown in areas in the south of the county? Specifics needed please."
Like I just said? I referenced Castledaly who have had success at primary school with hurling and then decided to bring hurling into the club at juvenile level, u6s and u8s. If you look at the cuman na bhunscol, schools in non traditional hurling areas have been doing pretty well which means there is interest and potential to develop hurling if it's given the chance. We will always have our traditionally strong hurling areas and football areas but as John Meyler was saying on Off the Ball, give every young lad a chance to play both, no matter where it is.

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 1153 - 27/08/2026 11:49:08    2691505

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Castletown will be one team quietly happy with a 3 week break, they will have time to get lads back to fitness and target beating the Gaels in a semi final. I wouldn't rule them out of winning the championship. Raharney should dispose of the Gaels easily in the last round.
Raharney Castletown final for me

westmeathgaa11 (Westmeath) - Posts: 373 - 27/08/2026 18:14:38    2691583

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Replying To Gaawestmeath:  "Who is saying the hurling needs more free weekends? This was mentioned on the football forum but where did this info come from? The football structure is being pushed by the county board not the hurling clubs."
I picked up on it last summer or previous that many dual players are doing too many consecutive weeks and therefore reducing the numbers of football games would help the issue.

DelaneyCup2026 (Westmeath) - Posts: 35 - 27/08/2026 20:29:19    2691596

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Replying To Claretandblue:  "Explain how hurling could be grown in areas in the south of the county? Specifics needed please."
As I pointed out to you before, the Liam Griffin Proposal is the perfect starting point.

Unfortunately, for the genuine supporter, our county is full of intractable people and officials. Just listen to POB or read the football forum.

As I stated before, every alternative opinion is not an attack. We continue, in this county, to create unnecessary "them and us" scenarios when what we really need is to show genuine interest and investment into the coaches and players at all levels and codes.

Loughlenegale (Westmeath) - Posts: 66 - 28/08/2026 09:39:27    2691652

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Replying To Dheen:  "Like I just said? I referenced Castledaly who have had success at primary school with hurling and then decided to bring hurling into the club at juvenile level, u6s and u8s. If you look at the cuman na bhunscol, schools in non traditional hurling areas have been doing pretty well which means there is interest and potential to develop hurling if it's given the chance. We will always have our traditionally strong hurling areas and football areas but as John Meyler was saying on Off the Ball, give every young lad a chance to play both, no matter where it is."
Cappagh in kildare started the same as that in kildare, started a club from nothing all at underage and are now challenging for the junior title in kildare.
Also Athy are after bringing back their team for the junior championship after a gap of about 10 years.
So in the last year or so kildare have had 4 new or returned adult clubs, cappagh(new) Athy,round towers(new),rathangan. I think sarsfields have rejoined adult hurling too.
kildare was seen as a really predominantly football county more so than westmeath but yet hurling is growing in participation.

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 841 - 28/08/2026 11:01:43    2691670

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Replying To DelaneyCup2026:  "I picked up on it last summer or previous that many dual players are doing too many consecutive weeks and therefore reducing the numbers of football games would help the issue."
Dual players and managers and happy playing every weekend. Obviously it would be nice to know what days, more than a couple of weeks in advance. This agenda has come from others who feel there should be free weekends

CasKD (Westmeath) - Posts: 53 - 28/08/2026 13:14:43    2691689

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Replying To Loughlenegale:  "As I pointed out to you before, the Liam Griffin Proposal is the perfect starting point.

Unfortunately, for the genuine supporter, our county is full of intractable people and officials. Just listen to POB or read the football forum.

As I stated before, every alternative opinion is not an attack. We continue, in this county, to create unnecessary "them and us" scenarios when what we really need is to show genuine interest and investment into the coaches and players at all levels and codes."
Exacy its a shame people only aski g for share of respect to Hurlers but you regularly the get back in the box attiude

Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1322 - 28/08/2026 16:06:14    2691714

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Replying To Loughlenegale:  "As I pointed out to you before, the Liam Griffin Proposal is the perfect starting point.

Unfortunately, for the genuine supporter, our county is full of intractable people and officials. Just listen to POB or read the football forum.

As I stated before, every alternative opinion is not an attack. We continue, in this county, to create unnecessary "them and us" scenarios when what we really need is to show genuine interest and investment into the coaches and players at all levels and codes."
But same people would be basking glory if one hurling clubs went well in Leinster.

Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1322 - 28/08/2026 16:07:28    2691717

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