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Post by Mickmack on Jan 18, 2015 15:16:03 GMT
Darragh OSe got the better of everyone bar John Galvin. I cant think of a higher compliment
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falveyb2k
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"The way this man played today, if there was a flood he'd walk on water. Jack O Shea"
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Post by falveyb2k on Jan 18, 2015 21:29:04 GMT
I wouldn't agree mickmack but everybody's entitled to their opinion. Galvin was a super player but I can't think of one game where he got the better of Darragh, a few times he managed to niggle him off the ball and wind Darragh up to be sent off but I can't remember him outplaying Darragh. To be fair to him he more than held his own the vast majority of the time and that's a pretty big compliment
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kerryexile
Fanatical Member
Whether you believe that you can, or that you can't, you are right anyway.
Posts: 1,108
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Post by kerryexile on Jan 18, 2015 22:18:11 GMT
Mick, another great one - where do you get them? ....
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Post by glengael on Jan 28, 2015 15:13:44 GMT
GAA fought hard battle to maintain balance throughout 2014 Finding compromise between need for revenue and concerns of members is difficult
Seán Moran
Speaking at the launch of his annual report, GAA director general Páraic Duffy answered a question about whether he felt the association was held answerable to different standards than other comparable bodies.
Are there other sports that attract the same intensity of criticism for alcohol sponsorship or provoke similar amounts of well-ventilated outrage when shifting matches onto subscription television?
His response was halfway between uncertainty and resignation.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to go into that question. In terms of the issues that I mentioned, in fairness on the Sky thing, there was a huge national debate. That was a justifiable debate. I understand that. I understand the wider consequences. On the Garth Brooks one and on the GAA, maybe sometimes we’re held up differently but that’s part of it. That’s life.”
In the past the question of whether there was a problem with the image of Croke Park, as the central administration of the organisation, rather than as the stadium for the biggest fixtures, has arisen. In other words is there a “disconnect” between the membership and its national administration?
Bureaucracy For some time there was a concern that a disconnection had developed between grassroots membership and Croke Park: a belief that an overstaffed bureaucracy in Dublin spends its time thinking up new regulatory burdens for ordinary clubs and members.
This was addressed six years ago by a communications strategy outlined and included in the GAA’s Strategic Vision and Action Plan 2009-2015.
Yesterday Duffy firmly rejected any idea that there was a continuing sense of alienation between members and the national administration, saying: “Every day I see the amount of ‘connect’ with county officials and people working really hard to engage at every level.”
Yet a number of the biggest issues in this year’s report arose from addressing that characterisation of Croke Park as being too concerned with making money at the expense of its core values.
These all came together last year in a contentious bundle that included controversies over the deal with Sky Sports, the Garth Brooks concerts that never happened and the American football match that did and pushed an All-Ireland semi-final replay out of Dublin and down to Limerick.
Duffy made his case on each of those issues forcefully and with the benefit of a cooling-off period since they erupted in 2014; in the case of the Brooks fiasco he specifically alluded to having the advantage of the relative calm of hindsight.
It’s hard to argue with the GAA on any of these matters now. The service to overseas supporters was radically improved and if much of the global reach of that came from GAAGO, the joint streaming venture with RTÉ, Duffy was quick to point out that the service in Britain, although now more expensive, was superior in terms of quality and convenience as well as giving a higher profile to Gaelic games.
The cancellation of the Brooks concerts was only tangentially concerned with the GAA membership but the association received a significant portion of the blame.
Were the roles reversed, however, and the GAA refused at short notice to agree to host something for which they had expressed support in principle months previously, I think we all have a good idea who’d be to blame for that.
The fixing of the Kerry-Mayo replay for Limerick stirred a number of hornets’ nests: again the prioritising of a commercial venture over members’ interests, favouring Dublin over the other two counties and demeaning the fixture by taking it out of Croke Park.
Although Duffy expresses regret over the matter, he defends the allocation of All-Ireland semi-final replays to venues outside of Dublin wherever appropriate. That perfectly valid view was somewhat lost in the recriminations over the above issues.
Funding These controversies were also dealt with under the umbrella of the need to fund the association. It is always worth asking opponents of such decisions what expenditure they’d cut to do away with the need for the revenue from whatever contentious event is under discussion.
Duffy gets to the heart of the matter at the end of the report.
“Due to this special character, the association’s approach to the resolution of problems or to the assessment of opportunities cannot be the same as another big organisation that is purely commercial and that has different mechanisms at its disposal to deal with issues. A commercial organisation, for example, does not have to worry about tradition when confronted by a major problem.
“The GAA, however, must take account of tradition in making policy decisions. Commentators sometimes criticise the association for being slow to make decisions, but it is right that it moves slowly on certain occasions – this is both the effect of our democratic structures and decision-making, but also of our awareness that the traditions and values embodied in the GAA must be carefully considered in any major change of policy.
“For many of our members and supporters, the GAA represents strong and personal meanings; one cannot treat these lightly when considering major policy or rule changes.”
Maintaining that balance isn’t easy and there’s a sense it’s getting harder. The GAA could do without any more shocks to the system in 2015.
smoran@irishtimes.com
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Post by Mickmack on Jan 28, 2015 16:14:22 GMT
This short video from 1955 is good. Captures the tension. Dublin in 1955 were regarded as unbeatable.
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Post by givehimaball on Jan 29, 2015 0:02:51 GMT
This short video from 1955 is good. Captures the tension. Dublin in 1955 were regarded as unbeatable. Anyone who regards another team as unbeatable is a fool and an idiot. Every day and every way is the Kerry way - we will fight you on the beaches,we will fight you on the mountains, we will fight you in between; we will fight you where you wish us to be absent; on the boggy soil or on the solid sun-dryed beaches, on the full-grown forests, on the half-grown scrub land grasses - wherever your dare declare a location, we will be there and willing to shed blood, sweat and tears. Football is a pastime in other counties; in Kerry its a way of life - it's the meaning of life. A way of life will always beat a past-time, no matter how much cash you spend on your past-times. We will set our souls on fire to beat those whose involvement is for media kudos; we will sacrifice the happiness of our first-born sons to drown your tears in anguish. We will care more than you can ever care. We are Kerry. We are victorious. We will win - come hell or high water. We will * and piss and puke all over your efforts to be noticed. Your population may outnumber us ten times - we will be 100 times more dedicated. An identity beats a hobby 100 times. We will conjure up our skill, our ability to dream in three dimensions will balls in flight a million times ahead of your ability to advertise and sell marketing space. We dream of football in three dimensions before you stand on two feet. Out dreaming and our history and our future, beats your marketing ability in 17 dimensions. Whatever you dream, we dare do. We live in close compassion to the glorious sphere - we commune with it - you look for a translator. In Kerry it's who we are, who we were, who we will be - echoing down the future ages- in other counties it's a case of who the marketing folk say who ye are or a pastime/hobby that people engage in. In Kerry it's why we get out of bed in the morning 365 days a year - in other counties its just a summer past-time. In Kerry - A way of life, a way of being, a way of breathing that will always beat a "past-time" or a "hobby" We sharpen our teeth in Kerry in order to be glorious, in order to be magnificent, in order to WIN. We wish there was someone else who managed to create the glorious victory but all too often it's just that snivelling achievers of victory that in the long-term will stand as pitiful exceptions to be pissed on -[seekers of the short cut to GLORY; those who try to duck and dive and scheme and skive their way to the glorious land where Kerry live - those who have no notion of the skill and craft, but grab with their nails on to their ability to claw their way home to victory, knowing well that their sham victory is the definition of the word pitiful. In other counties the half-faded attempt at excellence is looked on shockingly - in Kerry it is a glorious aim - a target for perfection - an understanding of why football is so beautiful and a worship at that GOD-glorious temple - Kerry football is a solid and long-inspired conversation with the divine. We are Kerry.We dream of excellence. We Are Kerry. A long glorious tradition of beyond excellence. We are Kerry. We Are KERRY. We care more than you can ever care. We ARE KERRY. You will run up against walls and that wall is named KERRY. You will fall down and that depth you fall into is KERRY. In Kerry your soul as a footballer will live longer.You will dream as a child of scoring glorious goals and god-beautiful points that curl and drift homewards past that tricky wind and those scores will take as their inspiration Kerry forwards from history. The glory, the honour, the blood-cold deadliness will be from Kerry. The dreams you have while you sleep will be the assassin's deadly ability of a Kerry forward. The ability to gut a team and leave them standing there with their hands gasping at their guts while they still smile. To gut them and leave them smiling in appreciation of the glory pf the beauty you have created. A deadly glorious ability to make them stand there gasping for air while your inherent skill makes them weep into their pillows. Kerry will search for the perfection of beauty forever while other counties will scrape their way towards the horrible pettiness of "grinding out a result" Kerry will search for beauty while others will search for the petty glory that comes of downing those whose strive for glory. Kerry will know. Now I will rest,but I know there will be an army at my back. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. I will sleep and dream of glorious match-winning goals in Croker. The arc of glorious points from the end-line defying the spatial rules. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. We have a history of this to rely on. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. Our history will be extended into the future. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of.We are Kerry......- that is enough.
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Jan 30, 2015 9:49:45 GMT
We're just happy and honoured to play our bit of a role in the whole thing.
All that talk of marketing and advertising reminds me - did you hear the one about the Kerryman who posed with a bottle of Lucozade sitting on a Bendix washing machine?
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Post by Mickmack on Jan 30, 2015 10:01:54 GMT
This short video from 1955 is good. Captures the tension. Dublin in 1955 were regarded as unbeatable. Anyone who regards another team as unbeatable is a fool and an idiot. Every day and every way is the Kerry way - we will fight you on the beaches,we will fight you on the mountains, we will fight you in between; we will fight you where you wish us to be absent; on the boggy soil or on the solid sun-dryed beaches, on the full-grown forests, on the half-grown scrub land grasses - wherever your dare declare a location, we will be there and willing to shed blood, sweat and tears. Football is a pastime in other counties; in Kerry its a way of life - it's the meaning of life. A way of life will always beat a past-time, no matter how much cash you spend on your past-times. We will set our souls on fire to beat those whose involvement is for media kudos; we will sacrifice the happiness of our first-born sons to drown your tears in anguish. We will care more than you can ever care. We are Kerry. We are victorious. We will win - come hell or high water. We will * and piss and puke all over your efforts to be noticed. Your population may outnumber us ten times - we will be 100 times more dedicated. An identity beats a hobby 100 times. We will conjure up our skill, our ability to dream in three dimensions will balls in flight a million times ahead of your ability to advertise and sell marketing space. We dream of football in three dimensions before you stand on two feet. Out dreaming and our history and our future, beats your marketing ability in 17 dimensions. Whatever you dream, we dare do. We live in close compassion to the glorious sphere - we commune with it - you look for a translator. In Kerry it's who we are, who we were, who we will be - echoing down the future ages- in other counties it's a case of who the marketing folk say who ye are or a pastime/hobby that people engage in. In Kerry it's why we get out of bed in the morning 365 days a year - in other counties its just a summer past-time. In Kerry - A way of life, a way of being, a way of breathing that will always beat a "past-time" or a "hobby" We sharpen our teeth in Kerry in order to be glorious, in order to be magnificent, in order to WIN. We wish there was someone else who managed to create the glorious victory but all too often it's just that snivelling achievers of victory that in the long-term will stand as pitiful exceptions to be pissed on -[seekers of the short cut to GLORY; those who try to duck and dive and scheme and skive their way to the glorious land where Kerry live - those who have no notion of the skill and craft, but grab with their nails on to their ability to claw their way home to victory, knowing well that their sham victory is the definition of the word pitiful. In other counties the half-faded attempt at excellence is looked on shockingly - in Kerry it is a glorious aim - a target for perfection - an understanding of why football is so beautiful and a worship at that GOD-glorious temple - Kerry football is a solid and long-inspired conversation with the divine. We are Kerry.We dream of excellence. We Are Kerry. A long glorious tradition of beyond excellence. We are Kerry. We Are KERRY. We care more than you can ever care. We ARE KERRY. You will run up against walls and that wall is named KERRY. You will fall down and that depth you fall into is KERRY. In Kerry your soul as a footballer will live longer.You will dream as a child of scoring glorious goals and god-beautiful points that curl and drift homewards past that tricky wind and those scores will take as their inspiration Kerry forwards from history. The glory, the honour, the blood-cold deadliness will be from Kerry. The dreams you have while you sleep will be the assassin's deadly ability of a Kerry forward. The ability to gut a team and leave them standing there with their hands gasping at their guts while they still smile. To gut them and leave them smiling in appreciation of the glory pf the beauty you have created. A deadly glorious ability to make them stand there gasping for air while your inherent skill makes them weep into their pillows. Kerry will search for the perfection of beauty forever while other counties will scrape their way towards the horrible pettiness of "grinding out a result" Kerry will search for beauty while others will search for the petty glory that comes of downing those whose strive for glory. Kerry will know. Now I will rest,but I know there will be an army at my back. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. I will sleep and dream of glorious match-winning goals in Croker. The arc of glorious points from the end-line defying the spatial rules. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. We have a history of this to rely on. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of. Our history will be extended into the future. I doubt there is another county in the land I can say the same of.We are Kerry......- that is enough. Jesus. That was a bit scary!
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Post by Mickmack on Jan 30, 2015 14:46:59 GMT
John Joe Sheehy in the 1960s
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Post by Ballyfireside on Jan 31, 2015 14:25:28 GMT
This article, and specifically Michael Quirkes commentary, is consistent with what Brian O'Driscoll advocated in a recent thread, click here, although it discusses the subject in greater detail. Ah maybe the forum is more commentary on topical events of the day and such in-depth analysis is best served up elsewhere, or maybe not? I am intrigued by the similarity and what they both say is all so characteristic of Kerry. I think that if Kerry get the balance right between 1. Playing skill and 2. Physicality (i.e. strength and conditioning), that we could take the standard of the game to another level altogether. To be fair Ulster teams did start the physicality thing and it is a known fact that it is those who apply change (as opposed to those who initiate it) that benefit most, fair or unfair as that may sound! i.e. they applied their energies to making the change, we conserved our resources to perfect it! As a middle aged man I was never so looking forward to the new season and I sense that I am not alone. Maybe it is what Éamonn & co did last year that inspires and while it was only yesterday, I believe that history will record the achievement as being up there with the best of them, i.e. comparing it to other years when we reasserted our superiority, bearing in mind we were 'in transition' and we were rank outsiders of the 4 semi finalists. It reminds me of a Corkman who once advised his son (a friend of mine of old) to never trust a Kerryman! We are not to be trusted with the ball for sure! To all headed to the Lakes tomorrow, enjoy! Allianz FL Division 1 Kerry v Mayo Tomorrow: Fitzgerald Stadium, 2pm Referee: M Deegan TV: TG4 (live) Mike Quirke listed the “popular misconceptions” surrounding Kerry football. They had no structure, no coaching and no talent coming through. The Kingdom was headed for a famine “worse than any potato blight”. Sam Maguire may have returned south last September, but it was only a few short years ago Kerry were being told they were behind the curve. Even last spring, Quirke points out, were they informed production lines had ground to a halt. A county beyond rescue. Four-time All-Ireland medal-winner Quirke, along with Kilkenny coaching officer Brian Ryan, were the opening speakers at this month’s Games Development Conference in Croke Park — their presentation aptly titled ‘Special Ks: Behind the strength of Kerry and Kilkenny’. 700 grassroots members packed into the room to learn of the magic formula serving both counties so well. The opening graph showed Kerry to have won more All-Ireland football titles than any other county in the last four 25-year periods. “You wouldn’t think so if you were to listen to what was being said,” quipped the Kerry Games Development Administrator, Quirke. Their problems were rooted in a failure to produce underage footballers “who could run 100 metres in five seconds, guys who were eating five chicken breasts, 12 eggs and a protein shake for breakfast.” Development squads would prove a particular thorn in their side. “We were getting lambasted for not producing big, huge animals that could jump over tall buildings. We re-evaluated our structure because we were coming under real pressure about the physicality of the game and how the players we were producing weren’t as physically imposing as these superhuman people emerging in other counties,” said the Kerins O’Rahillys clubman. “In terms of our squads, we have real emphasis on regular fishing with a wide net. It is not a closed shop. If you miss out on the development squad at U14, that doesn’t mean that particular player will never play for Kerry. “We are very conscious that every child has a different developmental rate, whether that be physically or emotionally. “If you are talking about taking a kid in at U14 and that in four years’ time, he will be a Kerry minor and nobody else will be involved, then you’re not going to win a whole pile. The door must be kept open.” Quirke believes a lot of counties lost sight of football’s core values, getting far too caught up in the strength and conditioning craze. Not Kerry. Their view of the game remained long-term, their emphasis never wavered from developing the traditional skills of the game. “We were talking about guys eating five chicken breasts, 12 eggs and a protein shake for breakfast — and then going into primary school third class. In Kerry, we didn’t buy into that stuff. “We kept it to more body weight exercises, where we were preparing the players’ bodies for loaded weights when they were older and could cope with it. We were working on flexibility, core and injury prevention. It was not about getting bigger or faster, it was about preparing their bodies for when they are older. Bilateral coordination, being able to move off both feet. Being able to catch, hand-pass and kick off both legs. All that kind of stuff. “Games-based coaching is another buzz word, and without being smart, we are probably doing games-based coaching in Kerry since the beginning of time. “People go up to Nowlan Park and watch Kilkenny training, I went up a couple of years ago. Brian Cody never blew his whistle once in the hour and a half they were on the field. “Training is about playing the games. That is no secret. Training is not about standing around cones and watching others move in straight lines where there is no decision-making involved. “Decision-making in a game situation is the only way you will improve a player.” Having won seven All-Ireland crowns during their 20-year famine at minor level (1994-2014), Quirke says success has never been linear as far as Kerry were concerned. “Joe Brolly’s article ‘The production line grounds to a halt in Kerry football factory’ was symptomatic of every article that was written about Kerry at the time. Every radio programme was about Kerry not winning an All-Ireland for the next 20 years. It was gone crazy the amount of negativity about the place. It was based on misconceptions. That is why Kieran Donaghy lost the plot. “You can have success at senior level without winning minor. The key to it is that winning is a by-product of good development, that winning is not the end goal. “If your goal is to win the U16 county championship, you are going to have less of a chance of that team winning at senior. “In 2011, our U21 side were beaten by Cork. At the time, they weren’t as physically developed as they are now. But they were seen as one of the worst U21 teams that ever came out of the county. Between last year’s All-Ireland senior semi-final and final, nine of that team featured. This was the same team beaten by 22 points by Cork. Three years later, they were All Star recipients and James O’Donoghue was footballer of the year. “I was talking about lads eating a shopping basket of chicken breasts in the morning. Take Paul Murphy. He didn’t win at minor. He was man of the match in the All-Ireland final and will have that jersey for as long as he wants.” Quirke continued: “The Kerry medal presentation was on before Christmas. Eamonn Fitzmaurice congratulated the young lads on winning the minor All-Ireland, but reminded them it was a minor All-Ireland and how in Kerry you are judged by winning Sam Maguire. We hadn’t won a minor in 20 years and there was pandemonium in the county. But Fitzmaurice was still saying that while we are delighted for you, it is not the end goal. “Senior success is the end goal.” And above everything else, above games-based coaching, strength and conditioning and your shopping basket full of chicken breasts, it is tradition that fuels Kerry’s desire to mould correctly the next generation, tradition drives their unstinting desire to achieve further senior success. “We had twin boys, about four years ago,” he said. “The pair were four weeks old before we brought them home. We got home, and we were exhausted, scared. There was a knock on the door within 40 minutes of us arriving home. “A lady arrived with two pairs of football boots, the two boys’ names on the boots, and two club jerseys. “Two minutes later, a friend of mine arrived with two picture frames. “Inside the frames were two betting slips saying ‘that Cameron Quirke won win an All-Ireland senior football medal with Kerry and that Ethan Quirke would win an All-Ireland senior football medal with Kerry’. “‘Put them up on the wall,’ he says. “The frightening thing was the odds Paddy Power gave on the two boys winning All-Ireland senior medals with Kerry was 10/1. “‘It’s not the Gooch’s’ kids,’ I said. “But that is the tradition in Kerry, they are being groomed from four weeks of age.”
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Post by Chinatown on Jan 31, 2015 18:17:35 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Feb 4, 2015 23:22:38 GMT
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Post by buck02 on Feb 5, 2015 15:20:22 GMT
In the interview with Michael Quirke last weekend, he said “You can have success at senior level without winning minor. The key to it is that winning is a by-product of good development, that winning is not the end goal. “If your goal is to win the U16 county championship, you are going to have less of a chance of that team winning at senior." Compare that thought to this article www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/paddy-heaney/ulster-must-stand-up-for-its-valuable-club-competitions-310797.html and maybe there is a reason that all these really good minor and schools teams in Ulster doesn't seem to carrying through to senior level at the moment, especially in Tyrone.
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Jigz84
Fanatical Member
Posts: 2,017
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Post by Jigz84 on Feb 5, 2015 16:44:40 GMT
Yea fair enough but I'd have John Galvin ahead of O'Hara. Interesting articles on there in general actually.
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seamo
Fanatical Member
Posts: 2,016
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Post by seamo on Feb 6, 2015 22:53:09 GMT
Some great players in there! And you know what, despite all the stick and criticism he got, the game would be far better if every team had a Ciaran McDonald. If there was ever a player who could make a young fella go outside and kick a ball it's him. Made the game so much more entertaining to watch, all skill and none of the gym-sh!te.
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Post by Mickmack on Feb 6, 2015 23:05:35 GMT
The famous "Good on you Tom Morrissey" clip.
Marty had given up all pretences at objectivity at that stage.
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Post by Mickmack on Feb 6, 2015 23:09:28 GMT
Some great players in there! And you know what, despite all the stick and criticism he got, the game would be far better if every team had a Ciaran McDonald. If there was ever a player who could make a young fella go outside and kick a ball it's him. Made the game so much more entertaining to watch, all skill and none of the gym-sh!te. Michael Meehan is a big omission though. McDonald was an artist alright. The final point in 2006 semi final v Dublin surely one of the scores of the decade. He ran the length of the field, took the pass and nailed it.
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Post by Mickmack on Feb 6, 2015 23:10:43 GMT
Here it is
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Feb 6, 2015 23:52:45 GMT
Some great players in there! And you know what, despite all the stick and criticism he got, the game would be far better if every team had a Ciaran McDonald. If there was ever a player who could make a young fella go outside and kick a ball it's him. Made the game so much more entertaining to watch, all skill and none of the gym-sh!te. McDonald was as hard as nails and as strong as an ox and I'm sure he supplemented his wiry strength with gym work. Actually if you are gonna be an individual like him on the football pitch you gotta be tough... the footballer named Sue.
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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Feb 7, 2015 8:22:19 GMT
My main question about that team would be the inclusion of Shane Curran- he seems to be getting better in peoples memories due to media profile that he has garnered in the last few years and the fact that he constantly plays the clown. Gary Connaughton for me, always thought the Wexford keeper was good too.
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seamo
Fanatical Member
Posts: 2,016
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Post by seamo on Feb 7, 2015 8:55:15 GMT
Some great players in there! And you know what, despite all the stick and criticism he got, the game would be far better if every team had a Ciaran McDonald. If there was ever a player who could make a young fella go outside and kick a ball it's him. Made the game so much more entertaining to watch, all skill and none of the gym-sh!te. McDonald was as hard as nails and as strong as an ox and I'm sure he supplemented his wiry strength with gym work. Actually if you are gonna be an individual like him on the football pitch you gotta be tough... the footballer named Sue. Yeah no doubt. You just have to see the way he was able to hand guys off to see he was strong. But the way he carried the ball, passed it, shot, kicked 45's is all honed with a ball, a field and something to aim at!! lol
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Post by kerrygold on Feb 7, 2015 11:02:30 GMT
Sun setting in east: what's happened to Leinster football? A League tie between Meath and Kildare used to be regarded as a meeting between genuine All-Ireland contenders but that won't be the case when they clash in Navan tonight. Other Leinster counties have slipped back too, leaving Dublin increasing their lead to an embarrassing margin
Martin Breheny
PUBLISHED 07/02/2015
Around the turn of the Millennium, a Meath v Kildare Allianz League game would have been regarded as a clash between serious All-Ireland contenders.
The counties won five of the six Leinster titles between them from 1996-2001, with Offaly taking the other one.
Meath were All-Ireland champions in 1996 and '99; Kildare were beaten finalists in 1998, a year in which Tommy Lyons steered Offaly to their first Division 1 League title.
Now, it's all so depressingly different. As Meath supporters click their way through the turnstiles in Páirc Tailteann for tonight's game with Kildare (live on Setanta Ireland), they may reflect on the fact that it's nine years since they last saw a Division 1 game in Navan.
Relegated from the top flight in 2006, Meath have been unable to force their way back into the top eight. In fact, they went the other way in 2013, which they spent in Division 3.
Kildare dropped out of Division 2 last season and saw their promotion odds lengthen last Sunday when losing at home to Down. Over in Pearse Stadium, Meath were struggling against Galway.
Meath and Kildare were two of six Leinster teams who lost to opposition from Connacht, Munster and Leinster last weekend. Two others drew, leaving Offaly, who beat London, as the only winners from the province.
One series of results in early February doesn't prove a point, but Leinster's problems extend much further back than last weekend.
Worrying
While Dublin have pulled ever further ahead, leaving the rest of the provinces as receding specks in their rear view mirrors, there's another worrying trend for the rest of Leinster too.
Their record against opposition from the other three provinces has been dismal. Granted, Leinster enjoyed some success in last year's qualifiers when Longford stunned Derry and Kildare thrashed Down, but overall results tell a much bleaker tale.
Since the start of last year's League, Leinster counties (excluding Dublin) have won only 18 of 74 games against outside opposition.
The power-brokers acknowledge the problem, with new CEO Michael Reynolds referring to the poor standard of competition in Leinster games not involving Dublin.
His predecessor Michael Delaney made similar references over recent years too, but the gap between Dublin and the rest is widening rather than narrowing.
Whether that's helped by the comfort Leinster bestow on Dublin by fixing all their games for Croke Park is a moot point.
In his address to the Leinster Council Convention last weekend, John Horan dismissed the issue as "another hardy annual the media drag up in the silly season."
Urging the media to "move on", he justified the unfairness purely on the basis of money.
"It is obvious that the income generated from the games with Dublin in Croke Park proves a huge benefit to all other counties in the province, with the excess at the year-end being distributed to the counties," he said.
So that's okay then. Dublin in Croke Park equals more money. Case closed.
In any event, all the "excess" that's sloshing around Leinster hasn't done much to drive up standard so that even a few counties can compete with Dublin.
Besides, isn't there more to the GAA than money? Longford's Paul Barden, who announced his retirement this week, said in an interview with this paper last month that whatever about financial considerations, it would benefit other counties if Dublin had to play some games outside Croke Park.
He speaks from experience, having been on the Longford team that ran Dublin to two points in Pearse Park in 2006. That was Dublin's last Leinster game outside Croke Park.
Nobody is suggesting that taking Dublin around Leinster would lead to immediate equality.
Nor is anyone calling for the removal of the Leinster semi-finals or final from Croke Park.
However, would it be such a catastrophic financial loss if Dublin played a quarter-final in Tullamore, Portlaoise or Wexford Park?
And even if the gross yield were down, would it not be more than compensated for by the promotional value of staging a big championship game at a provincial venue? That was always the way Leinster ran their affairs prior to 2006, so why is it such an alien concept now?
Horan wants the media to "move on" from a "silly season" story. Actually, Leinster's real "silly season" has been from May to July, when the championship lumbered on to an inevitable conclusion.
Dublin, who are seeking their 10th provincial title in 11 seasons this summer, have won four of their last six Leinster games over two years by 16 points and all six by an average of 14 points.
Yet, despite that, they now appear to be locked into a permanent home arrangement because of financial considerations.
Perhaps it's time the players and managers from the other counties were allowed in on the decision-making process, rather than leaving it to board officials, who obviously put money first. Unlike racing, where the better horses are handicapped, Leinster loads on the weight to the less talented.
For all that, there's no excusing Meath and Kildare for falling so far behind Dublin. Meath's demise since the glory period of 1986 to 2001 has been truly dramatic. A whole generation of youngsters grew up with the excitement of the Seán Boylan years in what should have been fertile ground for establishing very deep roots.
Instead, Meath have fallen back to the pre-Boylan depression years. The 2010 Leinster title, achieved in bizarre circumstances in the controversial win over Louth, was nothing more than a mirage, which quickly evaporated.
Kildare have declined too. And further back there's little sign of a surge, similar to what Laois and Westmeath produced in 2003-04.
Quite why standards in Leinster, other than Dublin, have dropped is unclear but it should be a matter of concern for the broader GAA since it's the biggest province and should be doing much better.
Despite their problems, Meath and Kildare are next up behind Dublin but there won't be any great sense of a serious renewal around Páirc Tailteann this evening.
As ever, it will be an interesting, well-contested game but, whatever the outcome, neither set of supporters will feel that it's the launch of anything special. The gap is too wide for that.
Indo Sport
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Post by kerrygold on Feb 7, 2015 11:12:46 GMT
While playing in Croker was always a big carrot for the Leinster counties the time has probably come to bring Dublin around the province to the provincial towns in the Leinster championship. I think players would taking beating Dublin at home over playing a losing tie in Croke Park. The demise of the once brilliant Leinster championship is one of the big conundrums facing the GAA.
On an aside, I wonder does Breheny now consider Leinster to be an easier route for Dublin than Kerry and Cork in Munster and Mayo and Galway in the west. Breheny constantly beats the drum about the soft touch Munster championship route enjoyed by Kerry, either rightly or wrongly. It would seen at this stage that Mayo and Dublin have the favoured route to the August window, with the non existence of competitive teams in their respective provinces. Dublin in particular with all their games played in Croke Park.
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keane
Fanatical Member
Posts: 1,267
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Post by keane on Feb 7, 2015 11:21:10 GMT
McDonald is a block layer iirc, was always built like a brick *house whether or not it had anything to do with the gym.
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Post by Mickmack on Feb 9, 2015 20:46:31 GMT
No wonder these West Kerry boys are such hardy hoors '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
There are two roads into the dingle peninsula: one in the north from Tralee and one in the south from Castlemaine , each on narrow strips of lowland between the sea and the Slieve Mish mountains. Rising above 2,500 feet (762 metres) in parts, this mountain range was the scene of prehistoric battles, which are recorded in legend as having been part of the "Milesian invasion". The Milesians, meaning "soldiers of Spain", are said in the legends to have been Gaels who came originally from Egypt, settled in Spain, and invaded Ireland in 1700 BC. Their first battle took place here in the Slieve Mish mountains near Camp where Banba, a queen of the Tuatha Dé Danainn – the people of Ireland at that time – opposed them. Magic was employed on both sides but gave way to fighting, in which Scotia and Fás, queens of the Milesians, were amongst those killed. But the Milesians won not only the battle in Slieve Mish but the war for the conquest of Ireland. The three kings and queens of the Tuatha Dé Danainn were killed and their people were driven underground into forts and mounds where they became, in effect, the fairies.
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