I donât think they are attractive enough for the fans to go to, they are lopsided and as Bandage pointed out not equal in their reward.
They were introduced so that county teams wouldnât be breaking their balls all year for one game should they lose. I thought it then and i think it now, a mini league (like that in many counties around the country), gives everyone a fair chance.
The best teams will still come through to the All-Ireland final generally, but for instance, would 2 championship games in a week or twoâs period against say Waterford and Killkenny serve Clare way more than the present system. They would also have a Munster championship. Antrim playing Wexford in a qualifier wonât bring on either team like games against some of the better teams would.
You could have 3 groups of 4 as well, with 3 winners and best runners up.
The qualifiers are so hap-hazard, and they keep changing the format. I think they have them there just to keep the smaller/weaker/not going-so-well counties happy by saying look âwe gave ye your chanceâ.
I have said this many times, if I was to create a Championship structure it would be like the Kilkenny County Championship structure.
The provincial structures have to go for a start.
2 leagues of 6.
5 games each.
Top 2 in each get to the quarters as seeds.
3rd place in A plays 6th place in B
3rd place in B plays 6th place in A
4th place in A plays 5th place in B
4th place in B plays 5th place in A
Winners in to the quarters.
Losers in to relegation semis.
Every spot has value.
Main problems is there would be too many games.
Maybe start it in April and forego the league.
Every team would be guaranteed 6 games that matter.
There are two central problems facing the GAA with respect to the hurling championship as I see it.
The first of these is competitiveness. No amount of restructuring and reshaping of the championship will fundamentally change the fact that the hurling championship is essentially three tiered and teams from the top tier will easily beat teams from the bottom tier as things stand. Itâs not that restructuring is a bad idea per se, itâs just that it is not the solution to weaker teams need to become stronger. Dublin are an obvious example of how additional resources at grassroots level deliver a far greater return on investment than alteration of championship structures. Had those resources not been invested, Dublin would most likely be no better off than they were prior to the introduction of the qualifier system.
The second problem is that the GAA is not culturally inclined towards league competition. Championship is the ultimate test and the main target for every manager, player, and supporter. There are lots of reasons for this which most people are probably aware of. The most obvious manifestation of this has been the near century long tradition of running league competitions in the winter and spring months and the championship competition in the summer. While at club level league formats have been incorporated into championship structures with great success, there are some key differences between this and inter-county which make the task more difficult.
The most important of these is the composition of the typical crowd at either club or county games. At club level the average club tends to have a hardcore following with long standing ties to active participation in club affairs. In other words, the casual attendee makes up a far smaller percentage of the total attendance than is the case at inter-county level. So even though total attendance increases for a club when they reach the knock out stages, the increase tends to only be in the order of hundreds (for most clubs). At inter-county level, the person who tends not to attend every game and who could be described as a casual suppporter makes up a much higher proportion of overrall attendance. Hence, the attractiveness of the individual fixture has a much stronger relationship with the size of the crowd which attends it.
This represents a major obstacle for the introduction of league formats into championship structures at inter-county level, and was reflected in the poor attendances which forced the abandonment of league based qualifier system which was in place not too long ago. When you couple this with the issue of competitiveness, you suddenly have a nigh on insurmountable challenge to the implementation of the league system which many have advocated.
Of course you always have the option of ploughing ahead with the vision in the hope of creating a shift in attitudes towards league competition amongst GAA supporters, but in all likelihood you would have to endure at least several years of poorly attended championship fixtures and a host of games that are regarded as dead rubbers. Additionally, unless you see an improvement in the competitiveness you are likely to see further calls for restructuring in order to meet this end.
Overall, itâs difficult to see how it would work, despite it possessing many superiorities to the present system. Thereâs also no getting away from the reality that the hurling championship experienced by far and away itâs greatest boost in popularity at a point immediately before the long standing knock out structures were reviewed and altered. The increase in popularity came about, adjusting for the Guinness sponsorship obviously, at a time when more counties were capable of winning Provincial and All-Ireland championships. If competitiveness is the answer, itâs hard to see how changing structures is the solution.
Fair points, well made. The standard as you say is the biggest problem. Ironically i think better leagues at both county and club level will improve the standards everywhere. The coaching is reaching a very good level in general, its the structures around the actual games now that matter.
Your also right about the attitude to leagues, which gets to me to be honest, although i have seen leagues increase in importance more and more on the club scene down here. One of the facets of Kerrys continued success in football can be attributed to their ultra competitive leagues. They are well structured, reasonably attended and are very well run. This means every player is playing regulary, and the cream rises to the top. This starts at Minor in Kerry, so at worst, if your good enough, the U-21âs will pick you up.
This is related to the club scene, and is anecdotal, but iâll give the example anyway. A guy from Nemo told me one of the reasons (only one of many it must be said) they are so successful is that they place huge importance on league games for Junior A, Intermediate and Senior. They play them no matter what, who they are missing or whatever, and it brings players through whoâd surprise you sometimes. Also most other clubs judge how they are going on the Nemo league game you play that year, so they rarely look for cancellations. Alot of teams in Cork used to get games off for anything small, and it ruined the leagues. Every (well most) teams in Kerry runs like Nemo do.
Maybe the leagues have to become universally more competitive and accepted around the country first at club level before such things can be put forward for the county structures.
I do believe though that there is a will there for better leagues and structures with young players coming through from Minor these days, in my experience, so maybe its something that will come over next 10 years.
Another thing that has crossed my mind is the blocking of grades like they do in rugby in the SH. As in the Super 14 goes on, its finished while the club players play in another league, and then the TNations goes on, and after that they have the NZ Cup and Currie Cup where all the players go back to their original clubs.
the main problems for the gga with stick hurling are:
croke metioned some dodgy stuff about kids when the gga was founded - that ethos still prevades
no one watches it
no one plays it
Kev/Fenway, Tony Murphy and Leigh Desmond apparently added to the Cork Hurling Squad, with Kevin Hartnett dropped presumebly with a couple of others (Iâd guess Tadgh Og and Callinan). No harm.
Why do a lot of Cork people say âyaâ instead of âyeahâ when theyâre typing? surely ya is commonly known to stand for âyouâ in text speak.
Inspired by the Alshter-Skyatch movement, there is a concerted campaign in Cork to have their gibberish talk recognised as an official language, therefore securing hundreds of millions in funding from the taxpayer and taking them out of recession. All Cark people have been instructed to type in the same manner. Cute hoor cunts.
Evidently Cunningham and Fintan OâLeary have been cut as well, which is a bit unfair since they only came on to the squad lately, particularly for young OâLeary. On the other hand, Iâve never seen either player look anything like an inter-county hurler.
Christy Ring Cup
Round 1
8 May 2010 Westmeath 5-15 - 3-16 Derry Cusack Park FT
8 May 2010 Wicklow 1-19 - 2-12 Mayo Arklow FT
8 May 2010 Down 1-19 - 0-27 Kerry Newry FT
8 May 2010 Meath 1-09 - 2-18 Kildare PĂĄirc Tailteann FT
Struggling past Mayo Bandage, not a promising start. Can see Kerry going all the way with a former Cork senior and East Cork man on the bench.
On the whole Kerry League thing Kev, the league is the premier club competition in Kerry as its the best judge of a teams standard because Championship is so skewed by West Kerry, South Kerry etc. Dunno if its possible to replicate that elsewhere.
