Iād have loved a crack off one of them this year. The problem was that, similar to what happens at a national level, any time a hammering is dished out, thereās an outcry to have the Championship structures reformed. And the county board bowed to that pressure.
And from their point-of-view, it probably creates a better spectacle as teams are more evenly matched and 2 teams from the lower grade get a crack off one of the A teams in the quarter-final. I suppose it depends on what the purpose of the Championship structure is.
Adare drew with Doon last year and with Kilmallock in 2019 but the last time someone actually beat one of those teams was 2016 when Ballybrown beat Doon & Na Piarsaigh in the group stages. Now, arguably both of those were actually dead rubbers, but Adare also beat the Well in the group stages that year.
Of course the format was changed the following year, so there are a lot less contests in the intervening years but Ahane, Adare & Ballybrown have had the chances to beat them if they were good enough.
One of the biggest codās in modern day sports is the over segregation of grades. Limerick with their 6 team championship take this to a new level.
Thereās a saying if your not in you canāt win. Every now and again a team will come out of nowhere and win a county final at 33/1. Modern sports geeks like Ger Gilroy (insert other similar geeks) donāt understand this.
When they get them in the GG yeah itās nearly always a hammering.
Itās not the top 4ās problem to be fair. Just a big drop off after them. Does my head in anyway, sick of looking at the same results over the last 5/6 years.
Surely be more chance of shocks if Na Pairsaigh and Doon were taken out of the gaelic grounds and had their games in Bruff and Kilmalock. Every game in an empty gaelic grounds is no way to promote a championship.