Was in Mark Laaaaaander who said that?
Clubs rise. Clubs fall.
The GAA is going nowhere
Like the phrase āCork are Corkā, this can mean two entirely different things, and both of them can be right.
Iād like to see the intercounty season pushed back another two weeks in both codes. Hurling final the august bank holiday weekend and football the following week. All but 4 counties would be finished up by now and it shouldnāt impact the club championships if structured right.
Given teams an extra week to play the round robin and give three weeks between the semis and Final or even return to each semi final being played on a stand alone weekend.
A couple of other tweaks I think could work. Instead of the Joe Mc finalists playing the third sides from the two groups - let them play a provincial winner. Come up with a couple of new shields or cups for these and play them the same weekend as the Q/Fs. Would generate a bit more buzz in that county having the reigning or prospective A/I champs coming to town even if they are only putting out the second string rather than some also rans from Leinster/Munster. Would also allow the JM finalists to enjoy the few days after the final rather than prepping for a knockout game they will lose 95%+ of the time.
Iād also extend both provinces to 6 teams and maybe look at having the third placed teams in both to play off and the fourth placed teams in both to play off. Winner of the thirds goes to the quarter finals, loser plays the winner of the fourths for the last quarter final spot. I get that some will say you are playing x amount of games in the round robin to only eliminate 4 teams in total but I think adding another handful of knockout games which in theory should be competitive contests would only strengthen the championship.
It would also be far more advantageous for teams to get to and win the provisional finals rather than potentially slogging it out three weeks in a row to get to a semi final via the back door. You will still also end up with the four best teams in the semis
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Unless youāve a jp figure pumping millions inter underage academies and teams youāve canāt compete at inter county level.
Crazy amounts of games in a short period of time mean itās a test of squad depth as opposed to a test of skill.
So many counties basically have no chance of competing now.
We put club gaa championships on hold for 8 months for basically two good hurling games this year.
I donāt know how lads canāt see it.
The biggest issue I have with the whole split season or the rush to get games played from a club perspective is pushing too hard to get the club AI series off in the calendar year. For the sake of 24 clubs in the country (Junior, Intermediate and Senior, hurling and football, semi final stages) every county has to get their championships run off quicker than normal. This is causing the biggest log jam, mostly for dual counties I might add. Let them go back out into the new year, add in the couple of weeks for the intercounty and add on another couple of weeks for the club to run off, and I think it works better for all.
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And donāt forget the gaa has done absolutely nothing to promote the games or grow the games.
Croke park is more interested in a jolly to Boston or Dubai to play a game than actually grow the game in Ireland.
Nobody really wants to playing in December anyway. Or January tbh.
Training is the real problem once the clocks go back. Costs are prohibitive bar some lucky clubs.
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Agreed. No reason you couldnāt do like like year and push A/I club series to January and early feb
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Cut out club championship round robins and you add an extra four weeks space.
Club championship round robins are shit.
Its crazy playing the Club All Ireland pre Christmas.
Thereās gonna be clubs knocked out of their County Championships in mid August this year which will lead to a very long winter in a lot of rural places.
In 2021 when the majority of clubs were still involved in late Sept/early Oct worked very well.
Are you for real ? The minimum an inter county manager needs to prep for the round robin is five months. Anything less and you donāt stand a chance.
Absolutely. The AI club in December makes fuck all difference to being in February. If you are in the AI series, you dont mind the training as much
Its all because the OTB lads complained about a few Corofin lads not being able to stake a place on the Galway panel because they kept missing the National League.
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In the same way that in or around September 17th is the ideal date for an All-Ireland football final, the ideal date for a Dublin county football final - or any club championship - is in or around October 28th.
The GAA needs to work backwards from there to come up with a format that enables both of these things to happen.
We need to ensure that fantastic period in January when Club/College/County teams play challenges against each other is retained.
Tipperary vs Slaughtneil, Ballyhale v WIT, Dr. Crokes v UCC, Crossmaglen v Kildare etc.
The true connoisseurs of the game value these matches far more than anything that happens in high summer.
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Feel free to write a motion to improve things for your club to submit at the next county convention.
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Three games in the Limerick minor hurling b competition tonight are all down as walkovers tonight.
And this is in a county where hurling should be booming.
Iām thinking of starting my own association but have come across a stumbling block.
You need an Armagh Club Semi Final between Crossmaglen and Maghery throwing in at 6pm on Saturday Oct 2nd.
Thereās nothing quite like a Day/Night match at the Athletic Grounds that ends with the OāNeill brothers causing World War Three.
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