The round robin needs to be done away with. Munster Hurling has lost any cut and thrust it had to games for this to be brought in.
Football made a go at the super 8s and saw that was a shit show but Hurling persists with this.
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Its a joke.
I believe Tipp play Clare the same day Limerick play Waterford. How can either game get any bit of traction or exposure when they are just squashed on top of eachother. Less is more.
The optimum Munster Championship Sunday has an Ulster Football game accompanying it as the other game on TV on that day.
You’ve some horn for the Ulster Football Championship
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I’d have far more interest in the Ulster Club Football Championship but my main point is that there should only be one game in the Munster Championship on per day or the whole thing becomes diluted and dumbed down.
I had a memorable July weekend of hurling qualifier & Ulster football championship action back in July 2014. Down to Kilkenny early on the Saturday morning, upgraded to a top floor honeymoon type suite in the Ormonde Hotel, a few espresso martinis in town, up to Nowlan Park for the Wexford victory over Waterford & back to Rinuccini’s for a late dinner sitting before retiring to the hotel residents’ bar. A hearty breakfast on Sunday morning to settle the stomach before hitting the road for Clones for the Ulster Final. Meeting up with my Monaghan in-laws to drink cans on the street before heading onto the fabled St Tiernach’s Park terrace. Unfortunately, Donegal were too strong on the day but everybody should experience a dour Ulster Final in person at least once. The weather at both games was in the sweltering category & we returned to CMX to drown our sorrows on the street outside Shevlin’s. Of course, a mid/late July weekend cross province hurling & football adventure isn’t possible any more because of the fucking SPLIT SEASON.
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2014 was a great championship summer.
Some great Saturday night qualifier action in July that year. Tipp v Galway, Wexford v Clare Replay, Wexford v Waterford and Tipp v Galway in football in Tullamore on consecutive weekends. Days of thunder.
Best All-Ireland final I’ve ever seen too the first day.
Cork v Limerick on the last day of the old Páirc was a great occasion too.
Joe’s iconic leveling score against KK in Tullamore after Henry’s point.
Underrated hurling championship
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Best championship in my lifetime. Hurling peaked around then.
Everyone thought they could win it after 2013. Even Dublin were seen as realistic contenders but eventually the cream came to the top.
Im terms of hurlers you had some mix of the old stagers still knocking around like Shefflin, JJ Delaney, Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett still being part of the action. The Joe Canning, TJ Reid, Richie Hogan, Callanan, Paudie Maher generation were in their prime and then you had some serious young lads like Tony Kelly and Austin Gleeson breaking through.
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It’s a fantastic championship. Five teams that are closely matched playing each other. It’s like if the 6 nations was in a proper sport. Games every week. Actual hurling matches.
I agree re Clare vs Tipp. Tipp are young but could easily get up a head of steam. A win there sets them up but a loss and they are under savage pressure.
I don’t know what to make of Clare but I’d expect them to be strong again. With everyone fit their first 15 is excellent. Panel depth could be an issue later in the year.
11am Thursday.
As we are drawing closer and closer -
The league was a disappointment for Clare I thought given that it is year four of this management team. But I suppose the management have never put huge stock in the league either. While McCarthy and Hogan are additions we didn’t really unearth much else.
Putting back to back consistent championship seasons together is a tough enough thing to do for most sides unless you are one of the main competitors for Liam McCarthy. We require a lot of lads to hit a similar level of form to what they did last year and given a lack of depth we will struggle if they don’t.
But on the plus side - last years league was worse and we had probably three quarters of our championship twenty missing large chunks of the winter and spring with various injuries yet it was little impediment to turning the side out primed for championship.
I think our margin for error is pretty small - we need to hit the ground running but management have been able to do this the last two seasons.
Hard to get a grip as to where Tipp are at - they will be better than last year no doubt but not sure as to how high their ceiling is this year under Cahill this year - They look slightly caught between blooding new players and trying to get a tune out of those left from the 2010s. I don’t think there is a huge amount between the four teams outside of Limerick. Tipp being away to both Cork and Clare might just make things slightly too tall a task for them. Wouldn’t be surprised to see three teams finishing with 2 wins each and goal difference deciding the 2nd to 4th spots.
Clare having Cork and Tipp at home and Waterford in Thurles looks like it could be a big help in the mini league between the four sides. Waterford travelling to Tipp and Cork may be suboptimal for them but it will be their third game in Thurles by the time they play Tipp. Can any side get a result against limerick? Might suit Cork in the final round if Limerick are through and rest a few players.
Going to try and bring the children to some of the championship games this year. Is it usually easy enough get childrens tickets? Would you be stuck in the shit seats at the ends?
If you keep your eyes on the release days and buy early you’d get decent enough stand tickets. Munster final excluded
They are on sale at 11:30 this morning
Can’t see there being any panic with tickets for Limerick. Twice in the GG and twice in Thurles means plenty of capacity for all 4 games.
Only a trip to Ennis or Waterford would cause an issue really.
Boring, but handy this year
Stand tickets could sell out though; if you don’t want to end up in the terrace.
I think there’ll only be about 20-22K at the opener in Thurles.
The later games are the ones to be careful with. There won’t be much pressure on the Limerick tickets until the bandwagon starts to roll.
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