Sports journalists Vincent Hogan and John Fogarty joined Richie on The Sunday Paper Review earlier today to assess the recent misfortunes of the Offaly hurling side.
Vincent Hogan, of the Irish Independent, argued the point that one of the most important things for Kevin Martin, manager of the Offaly Hurling team, is to focus purely on results first.
“I think the trouble with the GAA at the moment is Kevin Martin actually needs to put the cart before the horse," Hogan told Richie and John.
"He needs to be successful before he’ll be able to access all the facilities.
"It’s just very hard to commit to that type of investment with a team that most people are assuming it’s going to be between themselves and Dublin to be regulated and they won’t even be playing for the Liam McCarthy Cup next year.
"So how do you make that investment with that potential end to your season here?
"It’s a very difficult one for Offaly GAA."
Fogarty also gave his take on the predicament surrounding the team, referring to how the Offaly team could quite possibly be playing catch up for the next ten or fifteen years.
"O’Connor Park is, I think we’ve all been to it, it’s one of the best venues in the country.
"But instead of investing in people they invested in bricks and mortar initially and now they’re playing catch up and they could be playing catch up for ten or fifteen years and that’s the unfortunate thing."
Vincent Hogan then pointed out how Offaly will need some things to go their way if they are to taste success this season.
"The one thing we never legislate for is they need luck. Kevin Martin needs luck.
"He needs a big win this year to get that kind of momentum behind him and what they did to Dublin in Corker, maybe there was a slightly artificial element to it but I think it was the way that Offaly hurled that night, the way they physically went for it.
"That’s what Daithi Regan and Michael Duignan were visibly emotional about, that they just saw an Offaly team that wanted to be part of this."
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