Iām flat out here in a Croke Park think tank. After two days thatās the best we could come up with. This is a flag floating exercise to gauge the publicās reaction.
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Joe.ie will have this on their site before the day is out
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Glad to see you have come around.
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The GAAās problem is that unusually for major sports, their marquee competitions were traditionally knockout, and knockout competitions had the most scope for surprises. Any sort of round robin system reduces the scope for shocks hugely.
In other sports, knockout competitions such as the FA Cup and the Rugby Leaue Challenge Cup have declined hugely in prestige. The European Cup abandoned the two legged knockout format in favour of groups. The latter has seen competitiveness decline in a big way.
The GAA are stuck in a really difficult place trying to balance the competing interests of media exposure and competitiveness.
If you have the round robin towards the end of championship, as we now have, that plays into the hands of the stronger counties.
If you have the round robin at the start of the championship, there will be little point in a lot of counties bothering to compete at all. In a knockout championship Leitrim might win one Connacht championship game in a decade.
In a five or six team round robin theyāll just end shipping a load of hidings every year.
A Munster football round robin looks very unattractive and Leinster doesnātlook much better.
Round robins only work when there is genine competitiveness between the teams like you have in Munster hurling. It wonāt work in Munster football, itāll be a shambles.
Iām not a particular fan of the Super 8s but I think a provincial round robin in football would be even worse because the competitiveness is just not there, and it would lead to the same teams reaching provincial finals year on year.
There was an interview with Sligoās Neil Ewing in the Examiner a couple of months back where he suggested that one of the reasons for the increasing gap between the strong and the weak was the format of the National League. He suggested a return to the system where Division 1 was made up of two equal groups of 8 with Division 2 having similar. That might be worth a try, but at the same time, Division 1 of the NFL as it is is nearly the most interesting football competition year on year now.
As regards the championship, for me the back door system as was run until last year was about the best compromise available for striking a balance between competitiveness, media exposure and the knockout tradition of the championship. Roscommon were a kick of a ball away from an All-Ireland semi-final last year, whereas this year it was clear after 15 minutes of their first Super 8 game that they were as good as out already.
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I hope Senan Connell enjoyed the celebrations responsibly this year.
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Galway have plenty of talent.
Tyroneās leadership at both managerial and county board level is what has kept them near the top.
Donegal have better raw material than Tyrone at the moment but the culture of professionalism has dropped a lot since McGuinness left. That has never happened in Tyrone and he difference in culture was stark in the final 20 minutes of that game in Ballybofey. Declan Bonner did well in terms of creating a happier camp this year after the toxic end to Rory Gallagherās tenure but Iād severely doubt whether heās the man to develop them into genuine All-Ireland contenders.
Kildare are definitely coming though.
If Dublinās natural advantage was that pronounced, theyād be cleaning up at minor level, yet they arenāt, and didnāt even make the top four in Leinster at that level this year.
The key age bracket for developing senior players is 18-21 and thatās where Dublin have been beating the rest.
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I think Kerry will be a serious proposition next year. The desire to stop five in a row will be intense.
I think all teams are at least two years away from seriously putting it up to Dublin at their current level.
Thatās possible, but Iām sure people thought that in 1981 as well.
Given that no team has ever won five senior All-Irelands in a row, I wouldnāt underestimate the psychological hurdle that winning it next year will present to Dublin. There will be massive hype about it, particularly if Kerry are the opponents in the final, which they will be.
I donāt see Kerry beating Dublin next year, Iād be surprised if they made the final. I think Tyrone have the best chance of making another final (pending they are kept apart before the semi) but I donāt see the end result changing.
Yeah. They were the same the year they played Cork in the All-Ireland Final the first time. There was no way they were going to let them get one over them.
Desire wins you fuck all.
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It is Leinster & Munster semi-final year in 2019 on the rotation.
Kerry & Dublin can meet again in the final. The hype would be good for that one.
Does the Stupid 8s not make that defunct?
Only John Maughans Offaly can stop this juggernaut
If the Super 8 follows the same rotation as the All-Ireland semi-finals used to, next year would have the Leinster and Connacht champions in the same group.
Plus ca change.
Tyrone look best-placed to challenge next year.
Of the rest, Mayo are ageing, Kerry have no defence, Monaghan and Kildare are game but limited enough.
Cork are an embarrassment, Tipperary will find it very difficult to push on to a new level, Galway donāt want to play at all.
Donegal, maybe? Did we see enough green shoots in Meath, who gave Tyrone a decent game before fading in extra-time this year?
I havenāt gone back through this thread in much depth, so this may have been highlighted already, but I donāt actually feel that Jim Gavin has got enough credit for this Dublin side.
He has had six Championship seasons and he has lost ONE match. He has a similar record in the league.
To put that in context, he has already won more All Irelands than Sean Boylan. Granted Boylan did it with different teams and came from a county will less of a football tradition but Gavinās achievements thus far are still incredible.
The biggest threat to further Dublin dominance is if Gavin leaves.
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Hopefully Gavin stays on for another 10 years and Dublin win another 7 or 8.
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Surely there is some tubby thirty something footballer in Kerry , Tyrone , or Galway who can get a late goal to deny the Dubs 5IAR and then piss it all away ?
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