layden man of the match with a try. deserve a chance with few games left

all 4 lads doin ok here. marmion looks to have a nice break on him.

Hanrahan looks the real deal at 12. he can play 10 as well and is a goal kicker. well down pecking order at munster(even further now wit downeys arrival) so would be well worth the investment for us.

connachtexile wrote: I'd like that and i think it would be pretty cheap(er) to run you'd imagine.

Shane Connelly's a seven isn't he? For that alone I'd hang on to him and have JOC mentor him to be his eventual replacement. While we seem to have plenty of 6 & 8's. Opensiders are scarce and Ray probably ain't going to be around for much longer either. And I for one always prefer a 7 rather than a 6 1/2 !

Aaron is the 7 Shane more a 6 or 8, I have to say I'm still fuming over having only 4 playing

I'd like that and i think it would be pretty cheap(er) to run you'd imagine.

Shane Connelly's a seven isn't he? For that alone I'd hang on to him and have JOC mentor him to be his eventual replacement. While we seem to have plenty of 6 & 8's. Opensiders are scarce and Ray probably ain't going to be around for much longer either. And I for one always prefer a 7 rather than a 6 1/2 !

A Christmas & New Year double-header derby 'A' & Senior games would be fun!

totally agree and wud be worth watching!

Porterbelly wrote:
There should surely be an Irish A competition organised. Even a round robin set of fixtures, 6 games each would be a very worthwhile exercise

Good point, since there are only 5 fixtures in the roundrobin stages of the Cup a home and away A interpro would guarantee better exposure for fringe players.

sea_point wrote:

The IMF wrote: With the planned introduction of the Connacht A team next season would this not give us the scope to hang on to a few of these fringe youngsters and get them the A action they've been missing rather than cutting them out completly at the end of the year??

Not sure there'll be a competition to play in next season, word on the street is that the sponsorless B&I Cup is predicted to be cancelled. I would imagine that that will have an impact on the sucess of setting up a fulltime A side for Connacht.

There should surely be an Irish A competition organised. Even a round robin set of fixtures, 6 games each would be a very worthwhile exercise

The IMF wrote: With the planned introduction of the Connacht A team next season would this not give us the scope to hang on to a few of these fringe youngsters and get them the A action they've been missing rather than cutting them out completly at the end of the year??

Not sure there'll be a competition to play in next season, word on the street is that the sponsorless B&I Cup is predicted to be cancelled. I would imagine that that will have an impact on the sucess of setting up a fulltime A side for Connacht.

With the planned introduction of the Connacht A team next season would this not give us the scope to hang on to a few of these fringe youngsters and get them the A action they've been missing rather than cutting them out completly at the end of the year???

There are a few months left

Griffen and TOH got their breaks towards the end of Bradleys last season, not really during it.

If we lose those boys and it turns out we could have done something with them then the lack of an 'A' team will be to blame.

connachtexile wrote:

Neither will get a full contract I'd imagine

Really? Dam I'd high hopes on both of them.

Well I'd say Aaron Conneely, Dave Heffernan and Eoin McKeon are ahead of Shane Conneely

Marmion is probably ahead of Dolan as well

3rd year academy tends to be shit or get off the pot. Buckley has got some gametime and because we're short of props will probably get a development contract. I can't see there being anything for Dolan or S Conneely. Both really needed to make a breakthrough to the 1st team this season

Neither will get a full contract I'd imagine

Really? Dam I'd high hopes on both of them.

Bit of a disaapointment in terms of representation but that in itself says a lot about how far Connacht has come at underage over the last few years. Not so long ago if we had one in the 22 we'd be happy. Bolland is a player who has impressed me when I've seen him. Jackson was always going to get the nod at 10 with his experience.

Overall its just a case of us keeping all these promising players together and developing them.

Sometimes missing out on these things can help spur a player on and from a selfish Connacht point of view it means some of these lads stay under the radar so if the branch get their business in order we can get the best of these lads tied into 2-3 year deals before other teams come sniffing around.

rossie wrote: The money men who finance the game are predominantly south dublin based as are the media who promote it so its no surprise really that they have so many.

They are in danger of becoming the galway hurlers tho, producing so many young players of a certain standard every year with nowhere for them to go.

On another note tho, i see aaron coneely made team. Does anyone know much about his brother shane? he is in final year of acadamy so just wondering is he worth a full contract? same goes for Mark Dolan?

Neither will get a full contract I'd imagine

The money men who finance the game are predominantly south dublin based as are the media who promote it so its no surprise really that they have so many.

They are in danger of becoming the galway hurlers tho, producing so many young players of a certain standard every year with nowhere for them to go.

On another note tho, i see aaron coneely made team. Does anyone know much about his brother shane? he is in final year of acadamy so just wondering is he worth a full contract? same goes for Mark Dolan?