All-Ireland Hurling Championship 2019 II*** Up Laois

Aristotle · July 17, 2019, 1:42pm

If it’s on, some people will watch it.

TreatyStones · July 17, 2019, 1:43pm

That seems like a good logical solution.

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 17, 2019, 1:44pm

Logic doesn’t seem to apply to John Horan though so god only knows what kind of a melted welly of a solution we get.

Bandage · July 17, 2019, 1:46pm

Midweek or Friday night matches would also be good, but people were driven demented when a senior championship game (maybe involving a Leinster football county like Carlow or Laois) was fixed for a Friday night. It’s grand to fix U20/U21 games for these nights as most of the players are students but you can’t have PJ and Micheál coming straight from the building site to perform at elite senior level.

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 17, 2019, 1:49pm

It’s a psyche problem for your average GAA fan. I recall Limerick and Offaly playing a qualifier in Thurles in front of a handful of fans back around 2003 and Clare and Waterford getting less than 10k to a Munster semi final on a June bank holiday monday back in 2011.

Friday evening games between two neighboring counties could be great events and are worth trying but it will take a few years to catch on.

Aristotle · July 17, 2019, 1:54pm

I actually think that’s a fair enough complaint.

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 17, 2019, 1:58pm

I would say that the vast majority of I/C players would have the Monday after every championship match booked off work. I don’t think it would be a huge transition for them to take a Friday off instead and have a full weekend for recovery.

I am sure the GAA could expense them for it if they really wanted Friday night games to take off.

anon61878697 · July 17, 2019, 2:01pm

Friday night lights is a no brainer … a lot of muldoons working in the big smoke might find it hard to get home in time tho.

Julio_Geordio · July 17, 2019, 2:03pm

Listening to it here, McGrath is a great man to criticize.

Ger Cunningham just said that the team are relying too much on their Corkness to get them over the line.

Aristotle · July 17, 2019, 2:22pm

Are these Cork lads a bit simple or what’s the story?

balbec · July 17, 2019, 2:32pm

You should be working for the GAA.

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 17, 2019, 2:35pm

I have an acquaintance through a mutual friend who is relatively senior in Croke Park. After being subjected to this fella a few times I often see why the GAA gets itself into muddles and lacks foresight from time to time.

This fella is a serious loss for the Civil Service.

anon61878697 · July 18, 2019, 1:56pm

Derek McGrath wasn’t just down in Cork Monday to do the Podcast … Looks like he’s got the gig next year and Meyler is done.

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 18, 2019, 2:00pm

Cork will never hire an outside manager. They are too clanish and parocial.

Meyler is the closest thing they will ever have to an outside manager

backinatracksuit · July 18, 2019, 2:06pm

So they’ll never hire an outside manager despite having one at the moment

Julio_Geordio · July 18, 2019, 2:08pm

Derek McGrath wouldn’t understand Corkness or how to use it

Big_Dan_Campbell · July 18, 2019, 2:09pm

He played intercounty hurling for Cork and has been involved in GAA in cork for over 30 years.

Big difference between the likes of Meyler and Larry Tompkin and true outsiders like Derek McGrath being paracuted in to take over the senior hurlers or footballers.

Can you honestly see Cork bringing in someone with no ties to the county as manager?

peddlerscross · July 18, 2019, 2:12pm

Derek McGrath sported and played down around the Mardyke for many a year.

Lazarus · July 18, 2019, 2:14pm

He certainly sounds like he has the requisite quota of corkness for the gig

backinatracksuit · July 18, 2019, 2:15pm

I don’t see why not,
It’s a large county with a hurling tradition, you’d expect that there’s a few capable of producing the goods at that level but they’d have their work cut out, as mentioned here often there aren’t a huge amount of top class defenders around the county