Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 2011-2012

doublejj

poor performance.....i dont think fittness was problem...UL were pretty decent,but should not beat us with players we had on field...

glick6

Was at the game today. I thought from 1 - 9 Waterford did quite well and might be happy enough with their performances. I didn't note the scorers so excuse me if wrong but Shane o Sullivan must have scored 7 from midfield. He got a few great scores from play and did well when he took over the long range free duties after a couple of misses from Richie Foley and Jake. Richie himself did very well first half. Faded a little in second half. The students got one goal chance and took it, a mistake from Sok. Waterford had at least four clear cut goal chances through the game but couldn't take them unfortunately. Up front The half forward line was disappointing with Seamus being much more effective when moved into full forward in the second half, winning about four frees. Both dean Twomey and ray Barry were quite ineffective. Twomey in particular seemed off the pace but he did appear to be holding his hip a fair bit. Shane Walsh went off at half time having not caused too many problems. Jamie Barron and jake Dillon didn't get much change from the corner backs.

I was disappointed by two very glaringly obvious tactical mistakes. Firstly not going man for man on the college puck outs allowed them time after time to gain possessions in their half back line and pick the easy pass. Completely unacceptable. Secondly when they changed to plan b second half and pumped ball in on top if Seamus the two corner forwards had come so far wide and out that there was no one to get second ball. Actually, Waterford basically were destroyed when it came to winning the secondary possession.

Those to stand out. Brick, paudi prendergast, Shane Sullivan and Richie foley (first half) Seamus when he was moved and was able to play to his aerial strengths.

Distinct lack of younger lads stepping up to the mark and standing out.

Mountainlad

Did Brian O'Sullivan not start then in the end?

IanVW

no jamie barron started in his place

zol 2

Was at the game aswell today i wonder at times what glick6 was watching? YES our midfield pairing were strong at times but their counterparts contributed 5pts from play also! YES Seamus Prendergast was more effective at full forward but was cleaned out in the 1st half at centre forward. I think you'll find through the stats aswell that 4pts came from assists from good work from Ray Barry in the 1st half with 3 passes to shane o sullivan and 1 to ritchie foley and his marker was actually substituted early in the 2nd half! Yes Dean Twomey was poor and was switched everywhere to get him into the game. I think the stats will tell you also that stephen daniels was taken for 4pts from play by our own eamonn murphy but in theory the damage was being done outside him,namely paudie prendergast's man making several runs at our defence and paudie was eventually substituted in the 2nd half having received a yellow card!! Thank god brick hasn't called time on his career or we would be in even more serious trouble than we're in at the moment. Couldn't believe our management team didn't react to UL bringing out a 3rd midfielder against the wind and this kept them in the game and when they went in level with us at halftime and we having played with the strong breeze,we were always going to be under pressure.
The irony of this is that Ger Cunningham,one of UL selectors is coming into take over some of the hurling training with us from next week! Having spoken to one of the players i'm struggling to keep my REAL thoughts from on here so suffice to say that the mess is getting worse! A question for ye on here- Where is the money coming from that's paying Niall Carew to come from Kildare and his fellow selector? And the hurlers? Well they're left with the coppers by the sound of things!!

Mountainlad

Assistance from someone with the record Cunningham has would be greatly welcomed I'm sure, so long as he can commit to it.

And to be fair, would be very hypocritical if anyone in the hurling setup were to question money going to the football camp after the gulf in financial assistance that the two have had over the years. I don't doubt that the footballers will have to raise money for the cause as well.

Jarjohn

Mountainlad wrote: »

I don't doubt that the footballers will have to raise money for the cause as well.

Read somewhere that table quiz being organised for Football Training fund in near future. Crottys Leamybrien maybe

Mountainlad

Jarjohn wrote: »

Read somewhere that table quiz being organised for Football Training fund in near future. Crottys Leamybrien maybe

One in Stradbally for the training fund actually now that you mention it. Saw it on twitter today, momentarily forgot.

ManFromCheese

thats ger cunningham from limerick, he is highly rated but i think moreso in the club scene but at least it is some improvement....
we all know the co board are football men so that will explain the niall carew situation, saying that its his first managers job so maybe they are getting him cheap...
talk of young lads not stepping up, if last year in ennis was an indicator, people can see what we're in for, scully might have been beter dropping a few of them off the panel for a while to give them a bit of a kick up the hole

zol 2

ManFromCheese wrote: »

thats ger cunningham from limerick, he is highly rated but i think moreso in the club scene but at least it is some improvement....
we all know the co board are football men so that will explain the niall carew situation, saying that its his first managers job so maybe they are getting him cheap...
talk of young lads not stepping up, if last year in ennis was an indicator, people can see what we're in for, scully might have been beter dropping a few of them off the panel for a while to give them a bit of a kick up the hole

So what do we do then cast all the young fellas aside because of 1 bad performance last year? Never heard such tripe in my life. Il give him one thing at least he weeded out the deadwood that were on it for the past 4-5 yrs and had several chances over that period to prove themselves and most of them failed miserably. So why not try to freshen it up with new young blood and see can maybe 1 or 2 new names bring something to the table. So when we got the hammering in the All Ireland final by K/kenny should we have got rid of all those players aswell then?

djfern84

zol 2 wrote: »

Was at the game aswell today i wonder at times what glick6 was watching? YES our midfield pairing were strong at times but their counterparts contributed 5pts from play also! YES Seamus Prendergast was more effective at full forward but was cleaned out in the 1st half at centre forward. I think you'll find through the stats aswell that 4pts came from assists from good work from Ray Barry in the 1st half with 3 passes to shane o sullivan and 1 to ritchie foley and his marker was actually substituted early in the 2nd half! Yes Dean Twomey was poor and was switched everywhere to get him into the game. I think the stats will tell you also that stephen daniels was taken for 4pts from play by our own eamonn murphy but in theory the damage was being done outside him,namely paudie prendergast's man making several runs at our defence and paudie was eventually substituted in the 2nd half having received a yellow card!! Thank god brick hasn't called time on his career or we would be in even more serious trouble than we're in at the moment. Couldn't believe our management team didn't react to UL bringing out a 3rd midfielder against the wind and this kept them in the game and when they went in level with us at halftime and we having played with the strong breeze,we were always going to be under pressure.
The irony of this is that Ger Cunningham,one of UL selectors is coming into take over some of the hurling training with us from next week! Having spoken to one of the players i'm struggling to keep my REAL thoughts from on here so suffice to say that the mess is getting worse! A question for ye on here- Where is the money coming from that's paying Niall Carew to come from Kildare and his fellow selector? And the hurlers? Well they're left with the coppers by the sounds of it




Some cheek to be questioning what money goes to footballers they train and work just as hard as hurlers they might not be as good at there chosen code but end of the day some of the footballers struggled for months to get expenses paid to them for travelling to training so it was coming out of there own pocket in these tough times with a lot of them being out of work yet they still get grief on this and around the place . What do ppl want that the hurlers get everything on a plate . Some of them want to pull there heads out of there holes and concentrate on hurling and push the egos to one side footballers are entitled to equal treatment sooner this rubs off on people the better

ManFromCheese

zol 2 wrote: »

So what do we do then cast all the young fellas aside because of 1 bad performance last year? Never heard such tripe in my life. Il give him one thing at least he weeded out the deadwood that were on it for the past 4-5 yrs and had several chances over that period to prove themselves and most of them failed miserably. So why not try to freshen it up with new young blood and see can maybe 1 or 2 new names bring something to the table. So when we got the hammering in the All Ireland final by K/kenny should we have got rid of all those players aswell then?

it wasnt the performance it was the manner of the performance, it was a gutless performance and i cant believe that any fella would ever show as little heart or fight in a waterford jersey as i saw that night bar one or two of them.

what deadwood did he weed out exactly? paul o brien, shane casey, tommy ryan? these are lads who he started or brought on in the cship last year and suddenly they werent good enough for the panel? they are no better or no worse than what he has left there. dropped wayne hutchinson too for no apparant reason and he is the type of player that the panel needs. big, strong, experienced, a bit injury prone but that isnt hes fault.

ManFromCheese

djfern84 wrote: »

zol 2 wrote: »

Was at the game aswell today i wonder at times what glick6 was watching? YES our midfield pairing were strong at times but their counterparts contributed 5pts from play also! YES Seamus Prendergast was more effective at full forward but was cleaned out in the 1st half at centre forward. I think you'll find through the stats aswell that 4pts came from assists from good work from Ray Barry in the 1st half with 3 passes to shane o sullivan and 1 to ritchie foley and his marker was actually substituted early in the 2nd half! Yes Dean Twomey was poor and was switched everywhere to get him into the game. I think the stats will tell you also that stephen daniels was taken for 4pts from play by our own eamonn murphy but in theory the damage was being done outside him,namely paudie prendergast's man making several runs at our defence and paudie was eventually substituted in the 2nd half having received a yellow card!! Thank god brick hasn't called time on his career or we would be in even more serious trouble than we're in at the moment. Couldn't believe our management team didn't react to UL bringing out a 3rd midfielder against the wind and this kept them in the game and when they went in level with us at halftime and we having played with the strong breeze,we were always going to be under pressure.
The irony of this is that Ger Cunningham,one of UL selectors is coming into take over some of the hurling training with us from next week! Having spoken to one of the players i'm struggling to keep my REAL thoughts from on here so suffice to say that the mess is getting worse! A question for ye on here- Where is the money coming from that's paying Niall Carew to come from Kildare and his fellow selector? And the hurlers? Well they're left with the coppers by the sounds of it




Some cheek to be questioning what money goes to footballers they train and work just as hard as hurlers they might not be as good at there chosen code but end of the day some of the footballers struggled for months to get expenses paid to them for travelling to training so it was coming out of there own pocket in these tough times with a lot of them being out of work yet they still get grief on this and around the place . What do ppl want that the hurlers get everything on a plate . Some of them want to pull there heads out of there holes and concentrate on hurling and push the egos to one side footballers are entitled to equal treatment sooner this rubs off on people the better

well said...im looking forward to seeing gary "gooch" hurney on the steps of the hogan in september.

Deise Tom

zol 2 wrote: »

Was at the game aswell today i wonder at times what glick6 was watching? YES our midfield pairing were strong at times but their counterparts contributed 5pts from play also! YES Seamus Prendergast was more effective at full forward but was cleaned out in the 1st half at centre forward. I think you'll find through the stats aswell that 4pts came from assists from good work from Ray Barry in the 1st half with 3 passes to shane o sullivan and 1 to ritchie foley and his marker was actually substituted early in the 2nd half! Yes Dean Twomey was poor and was switched everywhere to get him into the game. I think the stats will tell you also that stephen daniels was taken for 4pts from play by our own eamonn murphy but in theory the damage was being done outside him,namely paudie prendergast's man making several runs at our defence and paudie was eventually substituted in the 2nd half having received a yellow card!! Thank god brick hasn't called time on his career or we would be in even more serious trouble than we're in at the moment. Couldn't believe our management team didn't react to UL bringing out a 3rd midfielder against the wind and this kept them in the game and when they went in level with us at halftime and we having played with the strong breeze,we were always going to be under pressure.
The irony of this is that Ger Cunningham,one of UL selectors is coming into take over some of the hurling training with us from next week! Having spoken to one of the players i'm struggling to keep my REAL thoughts from on here so suffice to say that the mess is getting worse! A question for ye on here- Where is the money coming from that's paying Niall Carew to come from Kildare and his fellow selector? And the hurlers? Well they're left with the coppers by the sound of things!!

Has he not agreed to do this in Laois.

Mountainlad

ManFromCheese wrote: »

it wasnt the performance it was the manner of the performance, it was a gutless performance and i cant believe that any fella would ever show as little heart or fight in a waterford jersey as i saw that night bar one or two of them.

what deadwood did he weed out exactly? paul o brien, shane casey, tommy ryan? these are lads who he started or brought on in the cship last year and suddenly they werent good enough for the panel? they are no better or no worse than what he has left there. dropped wayne hutchinson too for no apparant reason and he is the type of player that the panel needs. big, strong, experienced, a bit injury prone but that isnt hes fault.

Do you think the fact that Wayne Hutchison has played only one championship game despite being on and off the Waterford panel since 2004 being a reasonable explanation as to why he's not on the panel this year?

Deise Tom

zol 2 wrote: »

Was at the game aswell today i wonder at times what glick6 was watching? YES our midfield pairing were strong at times but their counterparts contributed 5pts from play also! YES Seamus Prendergast was more effective at full forward but was cleaned out in the 1st half at centre forward. I think you'll find through the stats aswell that 4pts came from assists from good work from Ray Barry in the 1st half with 3 passes to shane o sullivan and 1 to ritchie foley and his marker was actually substituted early in the 2nd half! Yes Dean Twomey was poor and was switched everywhere to get him into the game. I think the stats will tell you also that stephen daniels was taken for 4pts from play by our own eamonn murphy but in theory the damage was being done outside him,namely paudie prendergast's man making several runs at our defence and paudie was eventually substituted in the 2nd half having received a yellow card!! Thank god brick hasn't called time on his career or we would be in even more serious trouble than we're in at the moment. Couldn't believe our management team didn't react to UL bringing out a 3rd midfielder against the wind and this kept them in the game and when they went in level with us at halftime and we having played with the strong breeze,we were always going to be under pressure.
The irony of this is that Ger Cunningham,one of UL selectors is coming into take over some of the hurling training with us from next week! Having spoken to one of the players i'm struggling to keep my REAL thoughts from on here so suffice to say that the mess is getting worse! A question for ye on here- Where is the money coming from that's paying Niall Carew to come from Kildare and his fellow selector? And the hurlers? Well they're left with the coppers by the sound of things!!

From talking to people that attend County Board meetings, there is €120,000 to be put into football this year and over €200,000 into hurling. If more money is needed it has to be raised by the management/team members, hence the quiz for the footballers at a number of venues this Friday night.

Mountainlad

Deise Tom wrote: »

Has he not agreed to do this in Laois.

I dunno how he'll find the time to divide his expertise between Laois, Waterford and UL.

djfern84

ManFromCheese wrote: »

djfern84 wrote: »

well said...im looking forward to seeing gary "gooch" hurney on the steps of the hogan in september.

You won't see any of the hurlers there in September Either

ManFromCheese

Mountainlad wrote: »

Do you think the fact that Wayne Hutchison has played only one championship game despite being on and off the Waterford panel since 2004 being a reasonable explanation as to why he's not on the panel this year?

he wasnt on the panel every year since then and as i said, he has been very unfortunate with injuries, hes only 27 and in his prime, i think he'd be more use there than some lads on the panel

ManFromCheese

djfern84 wrote: »

ManFromCheese wrote: »

You won't see any of the hurlers there in September Either

dont i know!!

deisebhoy17

Do we have many lads to come back from the colleges onto yesterdays team? There were no waterford lads on the UCC team over the weekend and the only one for UL, Eamon Murphy isnt even on the panel this year. (Mind you his haul of 4 points from play yesterday might indicate he should be)

Mountainlad

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

Do we have many lads to come back from the colleges onto yesterdays team? There were no waterford lads on the UCC team over the weekend and the only one for UL, Eamon Murphy isnt even on the panel this year. (Mind you his haul of 4 points from play yesterday might indicate he should be)

Murphy could be brought onto the panel, they might wait and see does he make the UL Fitzgibbon team.

Quote from Michael Ryan:

"Maurice Shanahan and Padraic Mahony are both out for a while yet. I don’t expect Maurice back in action before March, though Padraic could be back in three or four weeks."

Darragh Fives is also a notable absentee from the weekend on both the UCC and Waterford panels.

Brian O'Sullivan didn't play yesterday because of injury, and Brian O'Halloran played for Mary I on Saturday so that's probably why he wasn't involved at all yesterday.

Most of the college players on the Waterford team are with WIT (naturally) and they don't play until next week, so they were free to play yesterday.

deisebhoy17

Mountainlad wrote: »

Murphy could be brought onto the panel, they might wait and see does he make the UL Fitzgibbon team.

Quote from Michael Ryan:

"Maurice Shanahan and Padraic Mahony are both out for a while yet. I don’t expect Maurice back in action before March, though Padraic could be back in three or four weeks."

Darragh Fives is also a notable absentee from the weekend on both the UCC and Waterford panels.

Brian O'Sullivan didn't play yesterday because of injury, and Brian O'Halloran played for Mary I on Saturday so that's probably why he wasn't involved at all yesterday.

Most of the college players on the Waterford team are with WIT (naturally) and they don't play until next week, so they were free to play yesterday.

hmm interesting so theres not that many really, 4 or 5.

Mountainlad

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

hmm interesting so theres not that many really, 4 or 5.

I'd expect that 4 of them will start in the championship though if fit, maybe even the 5 of them.

But it does give an indication of the strength team named yesterday to say that there will probably be at least 10 of them starting in the championship.

KevIRL

Gift Grub did a Mullane tribute this morning :pac:

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2013/01/22/gift-grub-john-mullane-tribute/

IanVW

So now that were out of the crystal cup are there any challenge games or anything coming up?:)

deisebhoy17

IanVW wrote: »

So now that were out of the crystal cup are there any challenge games or anything coming up?:)

Will we not be in some 'waterford crystal shield' competition for the first round losers in the crystal?

Deise Tom

Mountainlad wrote: »

I dunno how he'll find the time to divide his expertise between Laois, Waterford and UL.

Found this.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/sport/gaelic-games/cunningham-joins-laois-hurling-setup-as-team-takes-shape-1-4656069

deisebhoy17

Deise Tom wrote: »

Found this.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/sport/gaelic-games/cunningham-joins-laois-hurling-setup-as-team-takes-shape-1-4656069

hes not going to be involved in the waterford set-up anyway. was just a rumour it seems

ManFromCheese

he didnt deny it either though - he was interviewed after the UL v Waterford game in the Irish Examiner

zol 2

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

hes not going to be involved in the waterford set-up anyway. was just a rumour it seems

One night per week apparently. What a farcical set up! The amount of people that have been approached earlier to come on board as a selector is in double digits,and now when they eventually get one its only now decided to bring in a hurling coach? I just give up because if it happened at club level there would be uproar. How long more is this going to be put up with? The worst of all is when we hit rock bottom who in they're right mind will want to come in to try to sort it when the current set-up are long gone? But the main thing is he's cheap and will do what he's told by the hierarchy so i wouldn't be surprised if they extended his current contract!!!!!!!

Mountainlad

zol 2 wrote: »

One night per week apparently. What a farcical set up! The amount of people that have been approached earlier to come on board as a selector is in double digits,and now when they eventually get one its only now decided to bring in a hurling coach? I just give up because if it happened at club level there would be uproar. How long more is this going to be put up with? The worst of all is when we hit rock bottom who in they're right mind will want to come in to try to sort it when the current set-up are long gone? But the main thing is he's cheap and will do what he's told by the hierarchy so i wouldn't be surprised if they extended his current contract!!!!!!!

This management team won't be there next year, not unless the team gets results. If the team gets relegated from the league, there will be a big push for them to be removed before the championship. If that arises, the outcome will be dependent on whether there is a candidate that would step in at that time.

Can I ask what that means? What's he being told to do?

solarith

I daresay the football team has the best management background team this year.

scoring forward

zol 2 wrote: »

One night per week apparently. What a farcical set up! The amount of people that have been approached earlier to come on board as a selector is in double digits,and now when they eventually get one its only now decided to bring in a hurling coach? I just give up because if it happened at club level there would be uproar. How long more is this going to be put up with? The worst of all is when we hit rock bottom who in they're right mind will want to come in to try to sort it when the current set-up are long gone? But the main thing is he's cheap and will do what he's told by the hierarchy so i wouldn't be surprised if they extended his current contract!!!!!!!

OK so Charlie will you take over so. I bet i know who would be the first two names on the team sheet if you did.

noiniho

scoring forward wrote: »

OK so Charlie will you take over so. I bet i know who would be the first two names on the team sheet if you did.

This will only become fair if you now reveal your name to everyone scoring forward :eek:

deisebhoy17

Interesting article on Hoganstand.

People here have stated that we seem to struggle to bring our players onto the next level after colleges and minor level and this may or may not might shed some light on why

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=184248

hardybuck

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

Interesting article on Hoganstand.

People here have stated that we seem to struggle to bring our players onto the next level after colleges and minor level and this may or may not might shed some light on why

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=184248[/QUOTE]

I witnessed one of the Waterford players who played in the quarter final against Cork out in a pub on the Friday before the game. I was pretty surprised to say the least.

Mountainlad

hardybuck wrote: »

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

Interesting article on Hoganstand.

People here have stated that we seem to struggle to bring our players onto the next level after colleges and minor level and this may or may not might shed some light on why

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=184248[/QUOTE]

I witnessed one of the Waterford players who played in the quarter final against Cork out in a pub on the Friday before the game. I was pretty surprised to say the least.

You sure he was drinking?

hardybuck

Mountainlad wrote: »

hardybuck wrote: »

You sure he was drinking?

Hand on heart I can't say that I am. I can say that I am aware of the person to drink fairly regularly throughout the season, and the in week leading into club championship games. While I don't expect lads to be complete robots I expect better than that. On the Friday before the Cork game I can't say I witnessed drinking as I only saw him in passing, but it doesn't look good at all.

I don't think the likes of Cork would tolerate that.

noiniho

hardybuck wrote: »

Mountainlad wrote: »

Hand on heart I can't say that I am. I can say that I am aware of the person to drink fairly regularly throughout the season, and the in week leading into club championship games. While I don't expect lads to be complete robots I expect better than that. On the Friday before the Cork game I can't say I witnessed drinking as I only saw him in passing, but it doesn't look good at all.

I don't think the likes of Cork would tolerate that.

So you didnt see him drinking you just saw him out in a pub two nights before a game?

(Move along people, nothing to see here)

hardybuck

noiniho wrote: »

hardybuck wrote: »

So you didnt see him drinking you just saw him out in a pub two nights before a game?

(Move along people, nothing to see here)

A busy, late night pub, well known for rowdy behaviour. Not a quiet country pub playing cards and having a quiet chat. I don't know if you have ever played at intercounty level, but this just isn't done before games, never mind an All Ireland quarter final.

I know Mark Rowe pretty well, and he'd have a lot of experience with the topic of alcohol abuse, and also has a fair amount of common sense. In my opinion he isn't looking for pure headlines, and he's obviously witnessed something during his time with Waterford GAA which worried him.

noiniho

hardybuck wrote: »

noiniho wrote: »

A busy, late night pub, well known for rowdy behaviour. Not a quiet country pub playing cards and having a quiet chat. I don't know if you have ever played at intercounty level, but this just isn't done before games, never mind an All Ireland quarter final.

I know Mark Rowe pretty well, and he'd have a lot of experience with the topic of alcohol abuse, and also has a fair amount of common sense. In my opinion he isn't looking for pure headlines, and he's obviously witnessed something during his time with Waterford GAA which worried him.

You dont have to know Mark Rowe well to come to the conclusion that the GAA is wrapped up in a binge drink culture, the only sessions that are better then when you win something is when you get knocked out of the championship for the year, regardless after any championship match a general p!ss up ensues for most people at all levels invovled in a club on the lash.... but that is an Irish problem more then a GAA problem, Friends of mine who didnt play hurling definitely got through alot more binge drinking then I did or any of the other lads playing hurling, at least we had reason not to drink for most of the summer....

I didnt play intercounty, but I would never have gone out to a pub before a game like that, but that is mainly because I wouldnt be bothered my hole going to the pub if I wasnt drinking anyway.
But if one of my team mates or a intercounty player from my county went to a pub for a chat or a game of cards, as long as they were not drinking or werent out too late and ensured they were getting enough rest I wouldnt have a problem with that. Some people wind down differently and some players dont want to focus too much on a match too far out. some guys you couldnt even talk too in a dressing room before a match they are so hyped up, others are cracking jokes right before the ball is thrown in....

A player who is in the pub so close to a game of that importance is setting himself up for getting it thrown back in his face afterwords though, from that point of view it would probably be best for that particular player to avoid the pubs...

Obviously from your post it appears the player wasnt out drinking, but he wasnt exactly out having a chat or playing cards either???? so there must have been something in the way he was behaving that made you raise an eyebrow and go what is this lad playing at?? (lateness, acting the ejjit etc?)

hardybuck

noiniho wrote: »

hardybuck wrote: »

You dont have to know Mark Rowe well to come to the conclusion that the GAA is wrapped up in a binge drink culture, the only sessions that are better then when you win something is when you get knocked out of the championship for the year, regardless after any championship match a general p!ss up ensues for most people at all levels invovled in a club on the lash.... but that is an Irish problem more then a GAA problem, Friends of mine who didnt play hurling definitely got through alot more binge drinking then I did or any of the other lads playing hurling, at least we had reason not to drink for most of the summer....

I didnt play intercounty, but I would never have gone out to a pub before a game like that, but that is mainly because I wouldnt be bothered my hole going to the pub if I wasnt drinking anyway.
But if one of my team mates or a intercounty player from my county went to a pub for a chat or a game of cards, as long as they were not drinking or werent out too late and ensured they were getting enough rest I wouldnt have a problem with that. Some people wind down differently and some players dont want to focus too much on a match too far out. some guys you couldnt even talk too in a dressing room before a match they are so hyped up, others are cracking jokes right before the ball is thrown in....

A player who is in the pub so close to a game of that importance is setting himself up for getting it thrown back in his face afterwords though, from that point of view it would probably be best for that particular player to avoid the pubs...

Obviously from your post it appears the player wasnt out drinking, but he wasnt exactly out having a chat or playing cards either???? so there must have been something in the way he was behaving that made you raise an eyebrow and go what is this lad playing at?? (lateness, acting the ejjit etc?)

It was a packed venue late enough in the night, where you'd barely get standing room. I can't say if he was drinking or not as I only saw him for a minute from the shoulder up. I don't think it'd be fair of me to say he was drinking as I didn't see enough, but either way he shouldn't have been there. Even if you weren't drinking you'd be tired from standing on your feet all night and getting to bed late.

What raised my eyebrow was (1)what the feck was he doing here and (2)I'm seeing him on the sauce too often on other occasions - is one of the reasons for this players performance levels dropping in recent seasons.

I did play intercounty once upon a time, and I wouldn't have been a pioneer by any means, but things have become more professional today and if I was on the scene now I'd probably need to have a different lifestyle. I understand what a player goes through to some extent, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.

noiniho

hardybuck wrote: »

noiniho wrote: »

It was a packed venue late enough in the night, where you'd barely get standing room. I can't say if he was drinking or not as I only saw him for a minute from the shoulder up. I don't think it'd be fair of me to say he was drinking as I didn't see enough, but either way he shouldn't have been there. Even if you weren't drinking you'd be tired from standing on your feet all night and getting to bed late.

What raised my eyebrow was (1)what the feck was he doing here and (2)I'm seeing him on the sauce too often on other occasions - is one of the reasons for this players performance levels dropping in recent seasons.

I did play intercounty once upon a time, and I wouldn't have been a pioneer by any means, but things have become more professional today and if I was on the scene now I'd probably need to have a different lifestyle. I understand what a player goes through to some extent, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.

Ya from what you describe (packed venue, late at night, standing room only) there is no way he should have next or near the place, and was pretty stupid to even let himself be seen by the public in that enviroment leading up to a match, I just assumed that he would have been spotted in a more discret out of the way place, having a chat to relax the brain and heading back to the leaba before the sun went down, you know kinda more 'out of harms way'.....

What do you think of the GAA binge drinking culture yourself?

ManFromCheese

your mind obv isnt on the game if you need to be anywhere near a pub 2 nites before a game, drinking or not drinking!

deisebhoy17

This isnt just a waterford problem so lets not kid ourselves saying this is the reason why we have underperformed in recent years.

Our dear friends from across the river that we love to point to as shining examples so often on this board are no angels in this regard either, its rife across the gaa. I know a lot of players are unbeleivably disciplined and look after themselves immaculately but others come through the college life get sucked into it, and the culture in rural clubs of getting tanked up down the local after games. Like Mark Rowe says its a reflection of the society these lads come from.

As an ameteur sport there will always be in issue with this as there is only so much you can do to stamp it out.

hardybuck

noiniho wrote: »

hardybuck wrote: »

Ya from what you describe (packed venue, late at night, standing room only) there is no way he should have next or near the place, and was pretty stupid to even let himself be seen by the public in that enviroment leading up to a match, I just assumed that he would have been spotted in a more discret out of the way place, having a chat to relax the brain and heading back to the leaba before the sun went down, you know kinda more 'out of harms way'.....

What do you think of the GAA binge drinking culture yourself?

Yeah exactly, there'd be nothing wrong with going down to a quiet local on a Friday for a chat and in home early. Far more normal than sitting in at home - but everyone is different. I'd have my feet up relaxing personally.

My opinion - yeah the culture is bad, but you've got to accept personal responsibility for some of it as well. Some managers would impose beer bans for months at a time, some players would impose it on themselves. This is bad in itself, as you go out like lunatics after a big game or whenever the ban is over. I suppose most lads will now be on gym programmes and ticking away over the winter. As time went on I found it was better to have the odd drink now and again to make things a bit more normal.

After county finals I've seen some poor behaviour, lads still hammered four or five days after a win. You've got to enjoy victories but that takes things too far.

I suppose to summarise I've seen plenty of extremes. You train to extremes. You go without a drop of alcohol for months at a time which I think is a bit extreme. You often drink to extreme when you win or lose or whenever the season is over.

hardybuck

deisebhoy17 wrote: »

This isnt just a waterford problem so lets not kid ourselves saying this is the reason why we have underperformed in recent years.

Our dear friends from across the river that we love to point to as shining examples so often on this board are no angels in this regard either, its rife across the gaa. I know a lot of players are unbeleivably disciplined and look after themselves immaculately but others come through the college life get sucked into it, and the culture in rural clubs of getting tanked up down the local after games. Like Mark Rowe says its a reflection of the society these lads come from.

As an ameteur sport there will always be in issue with this as there is only so much you can do to stamp it out.

Very well put on the college life. Very easy to end up carried away with yourself, there are a lot of opportunities to stray, women throwing themselves at lads. Tough life for them!

ManFromCheese

ah its an irish cultural thing and not just a gaa thing. i think its futile just going after the gaa about binge drinking the problem is a lot wider than that

Jarjohn

I really think that lads involved playing in GAA drink alot less than non players of the same age. Most fellas have a bit of cop on and not drink close to games. Never had a problem with a few drinks after a game and have none at least 5 days before a game. After a game its nice to unwind and sit down and have a drink and a chat with players, supporters, family etc.. The sight of young fellas lining up the bar with shorts would be a no go and wouldnt be tolerated. I know if I think a players game is suffering because of his drinking he will be pulled aside and told to moderate it. Often see Soccer and Rugby teams on the beer bigtime and issue never raised. Often a Friday or Saturday night out has to be sacrificed by a player because of a GAA game when other friends may be out. One thing that fellas dont seem to do after games is re-hydrate properly and go to the pub straight after games and knock back pints and wonder why they are drunk so quick and in bits the following day