Competitive games and a decent standard. Iād prefer if Munster wasnāt ringfenced though.
Carlow going back down as easy as they have however shows weāve still a massive gap and how that gets bridged is with investment and coaching.
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pure tokenism
trying to give the impression hurling isnāt a munster game
you need to have an interest first and foremost
An interest in what?
spud hockey
I do
Would agree. Hard to get the format perfect though. A play-off between JMcD winners and bottom of Leinster? Other years it would be seen as ring-fencing but with Offalyās decline a lot more counties would fancy crossing the threshold. Harsh on Carlow going straight back down.
May as well give Carlow a game against Waterford
hopefully a Kerry win over Offaly next weekend. revenge of sorts for 1982!
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The competitionās integrity would be better served if Munster whipping boys were liable to fall through the trapdoor
Cheddar and Woolly had a great discussion on Wednesday about what should and shouldnāt be done. Its not about bringing teams up out of the Joe Mc, and relegating them again. Its about stepping into counties that are driving on, like Carlow currently are now, and giving them the structures and funds to help them bring along the next generation behind them. Its about the GAA deciding if they want a 9 team All Ireland, or a 14 team All Ireland in 10 years time.
Currently the GAA seem more than happy with a 9 team one. Cheddar told an anecdote about a Croke Park wig, and Iāve a fair fucking idea who the wanker is, who told him, look Laois will never make it, youāre at nothing trying.
Itās a fair point. Bring both provinces up to six teams with the two best second tier teams and then run relegation, maybe a playoff between the bottom two in the groups. But the problem is the hidings they are likely to get and whether interest will fall off. No harm trying it though for a few years.
There will be hidings, and Iām not sure its the way to go, but you could definitely do it if you were to row in behind the counties with the right investment. I liked how Cheddar said that if the county had no plans themselves to grow the game, they could go and fuck. He nicely stuck the blade into Offaly in that regard.
Heās dead right there.
Its the drum Cheddar was banging when he went to Croke Park for funds to throw behind the Setanta and Cuchulann hurling programmes in Laois which he and Critchley were running. The first Minor team to graduate from that reached a Leinster final and lost an All Ireland Quarter Final to Galway. Laois Seniors had run Galway to 2 points the same year. The proof was there. And those cunts told him he was at nothing and to head off back to Laois with himself.
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The GAA are only interested in football ā¦ However, crowds are up in hurling - ā¬ā¬ā¬ā¬ā¬ā¬ talks.
Crowds wont be up for long if the Munster Championship turns into a 3 team league.
For all the slagging of Limerickās sugar daddy we were at nothing underage for the bones of sixty years until we started doing things properly. One great minor team in 84 that went on to win an U21 in 87 that then backboned the 94-97 senior team. The three U21s 2000-2002 as @iron_mike said, kind of came from no where and didnāt have any marquee players to take into senior bar a young Shaughs. But weāve had a conveyor belt recently since things started to be done properly. You can even see it at club level with ourselves and the latte boys. We didnāt win a minor from 72 to 87 to 2000 but the 2000 minor team was built on a decent coaching set up that was put in around the time we won the Munster clubs in 92-94 and the realisation that something had to be done for the next generation. and that set up went on to win a shitload of minor and U21 titles and three senior titles. You get out of it what you put into it. Or what you are given to put in and it takes a few years.
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Thats exactly it. The day is gone of a St Brendans CS team popping up and driving Offaly to All Irelands. The games moved on. Cheddar said as much too, you need to be sprinting to even try keep up with up with the teams who already have the systems in place.
When Laois were winning Minor Football All Irelands, Kilkenny came up and looked into what the Development squads were doing, went back down the road, and applied it to their underage hurling set ups. Limerick and Dublin are the templates, but you do need to tweak them to each individual county.
Players donāt arrive fully formed now, it all starts at Nursery level, and goes from there. Put the work in, and everyone benefits, Club, County and the game as a whole.