It was close until the 4th Quarter.. Guess our team didn't bother walking onto the field?

Well, thats the end of another NT campaign and the one thing that stands out yet again is that for 3 quarters, Ireland are well able to compete with any other nation. The 4th quarter is where it falls down.

I dont know whether its down to superior primary attributes or simply stamina, but I'm going to focus a little more on stamina from now on just in case, when developing players.

But in a group against 3 very good sides, I think Celt did very well to get a win and stay competitive in every game. I dont think anyone would have done a better job.

I think for the next cycle, whoever gets to grips with the new engine the quickest should be the coach, because IMO that will be very important as I can see many struggling with it at the start.

With players also getting better and continuing to develop, next year could be an opportunity to progress.

A little disappointed overall with only the one win, was looking for at least 3 wins out of the 6 games..

The biggest problem is that there are around 10-11 players on the roster who are on bot teams now, so not progressing in any skill set. These need to be replaced as soon as possible with active players, if the team wants to progress.

Thanks to everyone, who had players on the team and kept improving the players primary skills, it really helped alot.

tearmanneanna wrote: Just noticed that both teams who came out of our qualifying group - Russia and Serbia - have finished top of their WC Groups. We were competitive against these guys so we're not that far away... Looks good for next season!

Both topped their groups also,which had some very good sides in them.

This year will be big, with regards to measuring our development as a nation. Looking around at the other Irish teams squads', there seems to be a good deal of talent available.

Sam Kidd wrote: USA beaten by Serbia and Russia go close with Germany. Turns out our qualifying group was a whole lot harder than we thought. So we are even closer than first imagined

Serbia beating USA was a shock all right. You're right Sam - we're very close to turning the corner.