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Replying To waterside4: "CAMOGS We remember Sarsfields hurlers Great champions of renown, Now many of their daughters Are burnishing the crown; All Ireland medals are a treasure As they are so hard to win, Now scattered like confetti Round Bullaun and New Inn. Many years of dedication Interspersed with tears and pain, Are finally rewarded Another Back to Back to gain; Great teachers and great coaches Allied with a pedigree A Final goal achieved At Camogies epogee. We bask in reflected glory From our wonderful colleens, Who battled to the finish To show what was in their genes; More than a great team effort Drawn from a willing squad, Brought me tears of joy and happiness Born on that Irish humble sod. Patrick Healy" Happy New Year to all in Galway. Great to see a little bit of literature already to try and uplift the tone somewhat on here. Good man Mr. Healy. However, I see that the green-eyed monster is still well alive and kicking among some of your fellow county men, who have no qualm at all dragging the tone right back down into the mire. I see that it's going to be business as usual on here among you Galway folk for 2023. Try and enjoy it nonetheless, and best wishes in all codes. foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 1903 - 04/01/2023 18:26:37 2451161 Link
Any standout performances from Eamon Osheas squad yesterday? Didnt get to watch it tribesman123 (Galway) - Posts: 36 - 05/01/2023 11:05:30 2451204 Link
Burke at 3 I thought was excellent. ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1569 - 05/01/2023 11:44:11 2451216 Link
Replying To GalwaysFinest: "Yeah you would wonder is Sean in with the senior team at the moment? He prob needs to be thrown in against Westmeath to see where he is at. Unreal underage talent but its very hard to know when he is playing at junior club level, which is absolutely no disrespect to his club/grade. No doubt they're doing everything right and will be up intermediate soon. Great initiative to bring on the junior clubs in Galway but I cant imagine its too easy gather a panel from junior clubs at this time of the year." Sean McDonagh is a very good hurler but he is only about 5' 6" which is hardly going to cut it at senior intercounty level against the giants of backs that exist nowadays! tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3314 - 06/01/2023 10:17:35 2451310 Link
Replying To tommy k: "Sean McDonagh is a very good hurler but he is only about 5' 6" which is hardly going to cut it at senior intercounty level against the giants of backs that exist nowadays!" Height isn't everything. Tommy Walsh is only 2 inches taller. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11734 - 06/01/2023 10:41:41 2451313 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Height isn't everything. Tommy Walsh is only 2 inches taller." And the two Caseys are not much taller either. Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4317 - 06/01/2023 12:45:33 2451330 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Height isn't everything. Tommy Walsh is only 2 inches taller." And the two Caseys are not much taller either. And Mike plays in a central position. Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4317 - 06/01/2023 12:46:09 2451331 Link
Replying To Oldtourman: "And the two Caseys are not much taller either. And Mike plays in a central position." Cian Lynch is another genius who isn't 6 foot tall Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11734 - 06/01/2023 13:00:43 2451333 Link
Replying To Viking66: "Height isn't everything. Tommy Walsh is only 2 inches taller." There arent too many that can jump like Tommy could though! Having said that I couldnt imagine Mike Casey is much taller and a lot said he couldnt handle Johnny Glynn in the air in 2018 and he was excellent that day. Height shouldnt be a barrier but it is to an extent. I heard JJ Delaney saying before that he preferred taller players as they were the ones who didnt jump and didnt practice it either. The likes of Richie Hogan is supposed to hit crazy heights from a standing jump. The smaller players of this generation are generally exceptional talents. I often wonder whether Galway fail to nurture really talented and skilful minors and instead focus on taller and stronger players. Evan Niland is an example of that - albeit not to the extent of others. The same could be argued about Kilkenny. Workrate and size seems to trump skill these days. tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 4119 - 06/01/2023 13:06:30 2451336 Link
Replying To tommy k: "Sean McDonagh is a very good hurler but he is only about 5' 6" which is hardly going to cut it at senior intercounty level against the giants of backs that exist nowadays!" Cappataggles Liam Collins didn't look that big either but has talent to burn. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11734 - 06/01/2023 13:08:22 2451337 Link
Replying To tiobraid: "There arent too many that can jump like Tommy could though! Having said that I couldnt imagine Mike Casey is much taller and a lot said he couldnt handle Johnny Glynn in the air in 2018 and he was excellent that day. Height shouldnt be a barrier but it is to an extent. I heard JJ Delaney saying before that he preferred taller players as they were the ones who didnt jump and didnt practice it either. The likes of Richie Hogan is supposed to hit crazy heights from a standing jump. The smaller players of this generation are generally exceptional talents. I often wonder whether Galway fail to nurture really talented and skilful minors and instead focus on taller and stronger players. Evan Niland is an example of that - albeit not to the extent of others. The same could be argued about Kilkenny. Workrate and size seems to trump skill these days." A happy medium probably the best, can't have the exact same player all over. That being said for about 20 years until Cunningham took over really Galway only seemed to play small fast outrageously skillful hurlers...there was a time where the forwards were all tiny. Fergal Healy, Kevin Broderick, Alan Kerins, etc all good hurlers but all 6 forwards could Neary be that build for some games, once Joe Rabbitte went in 2002 I'd say there was nearly 10 years without any ball winner or even a man over 6ft in the galway forwards....2015-2020 then nearly the entire team were giants bar maybe 2 or 3. It's just the way the game has gone. Still room for the small skillfull lad though, Peter Casey for example all add something different. It would be a pity if there was no room for these lads. These lads probably have to put in even more work in the gym and off the pitch, just look at the way Conor Whelan turned himself into a bull, Cian Lynch too. Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin (Wexford) - Posts: 258 - 06/01/2023 14:47:00 2451357 Link
Replying To Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin: "A happy medium probably the best, can't have the exact same player all over. That being said for about 20 years until Cunningham took over really Galway only seemed to play small fast outrageously skillful hurlers...there was a time where the forwards were all tiny. Fergal Healy, Kevin Broderick, Alan Kerins, etc all good hurlers but all 6 forwards could Neary be that build for some games, once Joe Rabbitte went in 2002 I'd say there was nearly 10 years without any ball winner or even a man over 6ft in the galway forwards....2015-2020 then nearly the entire team were giants bar maybe 2 or 3. It's just the way the game has gone. Still room for the small skillfull lad though, Peter Casey for example all add something different. It would be a pity if there was no room for these lads. These lads probably have to put in even more work in the gym and off the pitch, just look at the way Conor Whelan turned himself into a bull, Cian Lynch too." The game does evolve, but the smaller man has plenty advantages too, so his day far from done. Smaller players will have a lower centre of gravity and will generally be faster to turn. This can be a huge advantage. Shorter, stockier lads can also be very hard to move off the ball. Whelan is an example, lads like Charlie Carter and DJ in his later years. WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2037 - 06/01/2023 15:11:31 2451363 Link
I think they key thing you need to have if your a bit on the shorter side is agression. Is what all the good players who are not 6+ft have. Casey's in limerick, Damien Hayes, Tommy Walsh, Lynch etc. Lads can always put on a bit of size but they need the agression for intercounty. I think that is where Niland falls down for intercounty as an example hurlingfan90 (Galway) - Posts: 18 - 06/01/2023 15:19:56 2451367 Link
Replying To Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin: "A happy medium probably the best, can't have the exact same player all over. That being said for about 20 years until Cunningham took over really Galway only seemed to play small fast outrageously skillful hurlers...there was a time where the forwards were all tiny. Fergal Healy, Kevin Broderick, Alan Kerins, etc all good hurlers but all 6 forwards could Neary be that build for some games, once Joe Rabbitte went in 2002 I'd say there was nearly 10 years without any ball winner or even a man over 6ft in the galway forwards....2015-2020 then nearly the entire team were giants bar maybe 2 or 3. It's just the way the game has gone. Still room for the small skillfull lad though, Peter Casey for example all add something different. It would be a pity if there was no room for these lads. These lads probably have to put in even more work in the gym and off the pitch, just look at the way Conor Whelan turned himself into a bull, Cian Lynch too." So Cunningham picked bigger fellas than McIntyre did......eh? History shows that Joe Cannong and Tannian were 'smaller' in 2012 than in 2011. Smaller, but more aerodynamic, and stronger with it, I've no doubt. Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3410 - 06/01/2023 16:14:56 2451374 Link
Good to see a lot of younger players and new faces getting a chance on Sunday like Martin McManus, Declan McLoughlin, John Cooney and Donal O'Shea galway19 (Galway) - Posts: 672 - 07/01/2023 10:27:15 2451400 Link
Replying To hurlingfan90: "I think they key thing you need to have if your a bit on the shorter side is agression. Is what all the good players who are not 6+ft have. Casey's in limerick, Damien Hayes, Tommy Walsh, Lynch etc. Lads can always put on a bit of size but they need the agression for intercounty. I think that is where Niland falls down for intercounty as an example" I would agree with that and along with aggression you need pace if you are a small player. Someone mentioned Kevin Broderick, Fergal Healy and Alan Kerins earlier and you mentioned Damian Hayes (you could include Joe Deane of Cork also from that era). All those players had those qualities in abundance and so were able to cut it at intercounty senior level. My point about Sean McDonagh is I am not sure if he has the necessary aggression and pace required at that level but of course I hope I am proven wrong. tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3314 - 07/01/2023 13:49:09 2451424 Link
Replying To galway19: "Good to see a lot of younger players and new faces getting a chance on Sunday like Martin McManus, Declan McLoughlin, John Cooney and Donal O'Shea" What is the team? tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3314 - 07/01/2023 14:35:33 2451434 Link
Nice start to 2023 with a good win over a battling Westmeath side. Galway Abu! Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2113 - 08/01/2023 17:23:21 2451537 Link
Ref made it a very hard game to watch with the amount of frees but at least our lads upped the intensity in the second half for a handy win. I thought O'Shea looked to have bulked up a bit and he won a good bit of ball around the middle which is a good sign. Very sharp when he got a chance to shoot as well. McManus took his two goals nicely and Kennedy looked very sharp when he came on. Niland is ridiculous on the frees when he gets his eye in. Missed two in the first half from distance and then perfect from there on. Finished with 0-16 I think with some monster points in the second half and a lovely point from play from the sideline. Ronan Murphy was hurling well until an injury at the end which didn't look great. On to Dublin next week. galway19 (Galway) - Posts: 672 - 08/01/2023 17:54:55 2451545 Link
Replying To galway19: "Ref made it a very hard game to watch with the amount of frees but at least our lads upped the intensity in the second half for a handy win. I thought O'Shea looked to have bulked up a bit and he won a good bit of ball around the middle which is a good sign. Very sharp when he got a chance to shoot as well. McManus took his two goals nicely and Kennedy looked very sharp when he came on. Niland is ridiculous on the frees when he gets his eye in. Missed two in the first half from distance and then perfect from there on. Finished with 0-16 I think with some monster points in the second half and a lovely point from play from the sideline. Ronan Murphy was hurling well until an injury at the end which didn't look great. On to Dublin next week." Dublin will be a bigger test but nice to see some new lads get a taste. Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2113 - 08/01/2023 19:39:39 2451584 Link