I think 16 weeks is a nice maximum which incorporates both codes. This may even allow an odd free weekend that could be used for replays or god forbid a tragedy like we had in Tipp.
You could reduce that to 15 and simply allow all Ireland finalists a bye in the first round of provincials.
As regards stopping inter county mercenaries training in November, it’s an impossible task. The only thing is to stop paying players mileage during these months and hope the GPA get involved. The GPA had a huge chance to lay down a statement at the start of the year in the expenses row but didn’t.
I’d go back to the old format personally but there’s 45,000 paying €20 to go to these round robin games. As long as the crowds keep coming then that format is not going anywhere.
In a county like Dublin, 12 weeks is enough. The question is whether those 12 weeks should be contiguous or split up somewhat, interspersed with inter-county action. I think from an overall health of the GAA aspect, the latter is preferable.
I think it’s an impossible task to stop inter-county players training at any time. Particularly so if the League begins in January.
There’s a natural drive among the best to improve themselves. There always will be.
That’s why I think you should equalise the competition and throw the weak in with the strong as much as possible, which means inter-county leagues reverting to 1A/1B/2A/2B, or even four equal groups of 8. When the best are only playing the best and the worst are only playing the worst you’ll always get total mismatches if a top team has to play a weak team.
The main problem with the inter-county football round robin coming in in 2023 isn’t the time it will take but that it will lead to a load of pointless football.
Really, anything before the All-Ireland quarter-finals will be the definition of the rugby saying - it’ll be like “kissing your sister”.
How is the inter-county round robin next year going to work?
With four groups of four, that means we’ll probably be back to the Super 8 format of one home game, one away game and one “neutral” game.
The dates for these Super 16 games are likely to be the weekends of June 10th/11th, June 17th/18th and July 1st/2nd.
So presumably Champions League final day, June 10th, will see a mildly attractive double header in Group A as the four teams involved kick off their round robin programme. Then Group B will take centre stage for their “neutral” double header the following day.
Same again the following weekend - another double header of “neutral” double headers as Groups C and D get in on the Croke Park action.
But hold on, there’s four groups of four in the Tommy Tallchin Cup as well! Will those teams have to fit in a “neutral” round as well?
Will we see exceedingly novel Croke Park triple headers with the Timmy Talty teams added to the various bills?
Sample format: Croke Park June 3rd - Tony Tiger Cup Group A double header
Wexford v Leitrim
Longford v Down
Croke Park June 4th - Tattle Life Cup Group B double header
London v Carlow
Tipperary v Cavan
Croke Park June 10th - a mouthdrying triple header
Dublin v Limerick (Sam Maguire Group A)
Donegal v Roscommon (Group A)
Wicklow v Fermanagh (Tonto Cup Group C)
Croke Park June 11th - three’s no company
Kerry v Derry (Group B)
Clare v Monaghan (Group B)
Laois v Antrim (Terrible Twins Cup Group C)
Croke Park June 17th - three card dick
Galway v Louth (Group C)
Tyrone v Cork (Group C)
Offaly v Sligo (TÁL Cup Group D)
Croke Park June 18th - three blind mice
Mayo v Meath (Group D)
Kildare v Armagh (Group D)
Westmeath v Waterford (Timmy O’Toole Cup Group D)
If the talk about the Al-Ireland finals moving back two weeks is true, working backwards, it would probably mean the following:
August 6: All-Ireland football final
July 30: All-Ireland hurling final
July 22/23: All-Ireland football semi-finals
July 15/16: All-Ireland hurling semi-finals
July 8/9: All-Ireland football quarter-finals
July 2/3: All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals
June 24/25: Football Super 16 Round 3
June 17/18: Football Super 16 Round 2 and Provincial Hurling Finals
June 10/11: Football Super 16 Round 1
June 3/4: Final round of hurling round robins
May 27/28: Football Provincial finals
Moving the AI Finals back by two weeks is some climbdown and i dont know how it can be done without being passed at Congress. The decision to move AI Finals to July was taken at Congress.
Then again the split season zealots are just making it up as they go along so who knows.
Even with the All-Ireland football final on August 6th, and given I forgot the 2v3 knockout round, the provincial football finals will surely have to knocked back to May 13th/14th.
If the All-Ireland football final remains on the same schedule as this year, it would be July 23rd. Which means the provincial football finals would be pushed into April.
They’ll probably “compromise” and have the All-Ireland football final on July 30th.
I’d say Larry, Tom Ryan, Feargal McGill and Alan Milton are frantically scratching their heads in Croker these days thinking what the fuck have we done as they put next years master fixture list together
