Thereâs been any number of relaunches of hurling in Kildavin/Clonegal over the years and theyâve all been fairly short lived. The few hurlers in Kildavin had been playing with Ballinkillen under the distant player rule.
Some might tip away in winter but from March very few Gaa players playing soccer or rugby.
Tipp are being held together by a few lads in their 30s and the Limerick team have been around for nearly 7 seasons.
Clare still going back to key men in 2013.
Hurling has never been in a worse state.
Iâm sure there was great novelty at your water cooler on Monday morning having two matches screened live on terrestrial television from Sunday to discuss. Just about every other hurling match this year before that was hidden behind a paywall.
Correct and weâve only 7 games left after this weekend.
Last weekend did sort of feel like the first weekend of championship.
Do you think thatâll change now club championship is put off until august ?
How many meaningful games do you want given that at any one time in hurling maybe 6 or 7 counties are competitive?
Youâre giving out the season is too long earlier. Youâre all over the place.
4 Likes
Well thatâs sort of loaded question.
First off all theyâve put many of the best games behind a paywall which is beyond stupid so far this year particularly when youâre eating into a time when soccer and rugby are still on tv. If youâre going to run important games in April and may make sure they are free to air. Youâll reap the rewards in years to come.
Every single sport and competition has suffered for going behind a paywall bar maybe soccer but thereâs still plenty of quality stuff free to air.
I think if your sticking with this round robin stuff space the games reasonably to give chances to the counties who have smaller squads.
These guys are only Amateurs. It wonât shock me if weâve a few injuries from Tipp and Limerick this weekend after a gruelling game on Sunday. Itâs so utterly needless by the gaa.
In 2018 there was a huge hullabaloo over playing three weeks in a row. Iâm almost certain every team lost on their third weekend on the trot.
If the gaa had any sort of plan to develop hurling in weaker counties youâd have a lot more meaningful games. It seems some people are happy to have the great game of hurling played in only 5 or 6 counties.
No Iâm not.
Cut out the pre season tournament and cut out the league semi finals so you can space the games out much better without eating into the club season.
Try harder.
A football mad county like Kerry, and Mayo who are equally football obsessed played off behind a pay wall on Saturday and couldnt three quarters fill Killarney. That used to be a big game.
Barely anyone attended Galway v Tyrone in Salthill and fewer still knew it was on.
Tipp have brought some razzmatazz back to Munster Hurling these past few weeks and Derry and Armagh delivered in Clones but pretty much everything else is a non event.
Manchester City are probably the best thing the GAA could ask for at the minute as the soccer season has fizzled out remarkably quickly.
What about the Cliffordâs after a long hard season with Kerry leading Fossa to an all ireland club title single handely or Glass leading Glen to an all Ireland club final?
The Leinster hurling championship might as well not have been played this year and nobody would have noticed.
And youâve lads on here claiming itâs a good year for hurling.
Whatâs your point here? That this wouldnât have happened under the 2021 calendar or the 2017/18 calendar?
I havenât seen a minute of the Football Championship so far and the hurling has largely passed me by too. Too much going on at weekends this time of the year sports wise with the kids during school term to have the time to engage with it. Iâd only ever have had the time to really engage with it in July and particularly in August. Last year, it would have put me out a bit. Iâm largely indifferent to it now and switched off from it.
1 Like
Pat Gilroy said it in 2020.
The Gaa have just given up on getting people playing hurling and now it seems hurling fans have packed it in Too.
Theyâve created ring fenced championships where the same few countyâs just keep playing each other endlessly and they scream itâs a roaring success.
Even in soccer the fans stopped the super league from going ahead.
Unfortunately the hurling fans donât have the same back bone.
The GAA and Irish sporting public arenât fools. Theyâll be interested if thereâs jeopardy and something at stake. Munster hurling even with three going through from four still has jeopardy. The Ulster football final has jeopardy because itâs one of only two provincial championships that are taken seriously.
The rest of the action up to the knockout rounds is marshmallow - bloated and empty.
The GAA thought they could dramatically ramp up the amount of games and people would suddenly flock to them. Instead outside the exceptions already noted we have an endless stream of empty seats and terraces, dragging the product into the Lidl own brand section.
1 Like
Of course the simple reason for this just like playing the league final in cork is to get people behind idea of spending millions on redeveloping Thurles and Limerick as opposed to developing the games in all counties.
Way too many games means the facilities are under a lot of pressure now.
So any uplift in gate receipts from the round robin will be wasted on concrete jungles.
I was just about to say it, only 7 meaningful games left but the season is too long?
Meaningful games involving weaker counties getting hammered by stronger ones? Thatâll do great for morale for those players from weaker counties and for the image of the championship as a hole.
How do you propose the GAA improve the competitiveness of weaker counties, given the fact that they are limited by geographic size of a county, population and by the number of people that actually want to promote, fundraise for and grow the game within that county? The likes of Carlow, Westmeath or Kerry have a handful of hurling clubs apiece. Interest in hurling in Laois and Offaly are limited to small enough areas within those counties, so they are dependent on a wonder generation to come through to get to the top table. Go lower down the pecking order and there isnât the interest or number of coaches or players to get counties like say Cavan or Louth competitive.
Unless you propose redrawing county boundaries, what other bright ideas have you got?
I never said any off those things but nice try.