I fail to see why provincial championships canât be condensed to allow more freedom.
Itâs insane. Top down nonsense that caused this problem in the first place.
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Easy sort fixture problem in Wexford. 3 groups of 4 instead of 2 groups of 6. Would make championships much more competitive.
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Thatâs not true.
Itâs always competitive.
Itâs just too short.
The All Ireland Club Championshipâs have to be played off quicker now thanks to the split season zealots who want all inter county players available for Walsh Cup duty in January.
Donât think people are obsessed with having it done in a calendar year and wouldnât mind a January/ early feb final, forgetting nostalgia history etc. dragging it out to mid March was madness.
5 round robin games is nuts. 3 more than enough.
Brilliant from a players perspective unless youâre a veteran minding yourself. Matches always trump endless training.
The optimum date is really some time in mid February.
The hurling played in the spring haze with a 3pm throw in time and the football a day/nighter throwing in at 5pm.
That leaves you time for 2x All Ireland semi final weekends in late January. A Sunday lunchtime throw in Parnell Park for one of the hurling semis followed by a day/nighter in Thurles for second semi final.
The Football would have a box office Saturday double header of 1x semi in Portlaoise mid afternoon and a tea time throw in at Kingspan Breffni Park for the second semi.
If only there was a template year where this happened beforeâŚ
3 is not more than enough.
Unbelievably the players like playing games in the summer.
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Its not really working though is it?
Wexford hurling isnt exactly thriving.
And thatâs been a problem for a good 50 years.
Ironically, when weâve been most successful itâs because the club championship was effectively cast to the side in favour of the county team. But that doesnât fit the narrative
Thatâs not true either.
Club hurling ran side by side with inter county in the 50s and 60s. When Wexford actually was successful.
It was abandoned in 1996 until the All Ireland was won.
It was similarly postponed every other year since until the failure was complete.
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Club success at provincial and all Ireland level isnât a guaranteed benefit for a county team, Cualaâs 2 all Irelandâs didnât really have a positive impact for Dublin hurlers.
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Carlow were sensational after Eire Ogâs great team in the early 90s.
Wicklow won All Irelands after Baltoâs success.
Antrim really built on that great Dunloy team.
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Kilkenny are on a barron run by their standards while Ballyhale are thriving.
How can you have any cut and thrust to 5 group games? Way more bite to 3 group games.
How do you measure cut and thrust?
And bite?
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Group A of the hurling didnt tickle your fancy this year no? All 6 teams in the last round could get into the knock out stage and only 1 team guaranteed through before the games began and 3 teams could have been in the relegation spot, not qualify or get to the quarters. Or Group A in the football, where no team was guaranteed through and 5 teams with a shot and one would miss out. It seemed highly competitive to me where every game mattered and all came down to the last round of games
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Are Kilkenny on a barren run? Winning Leinsters, NHLs and Leinster titles? They might be on a barren run compared to the 00s perhaps.