Worse championship ever

munster30

Is it only me or has this years hurling and football championships been the poorest for years. In hurling we've had perhaps two good games, the Munster final, and Cork-Waterford in the semi. Football I'd struggle for two perhaps Kerry v Armagh, and the drawn Laois-Mayo game. With the backdoor all of the intensity has gone out the earlier rounds, and the championship doesn't start in earnest until August with the q-f, though is it acceptable that we have to wait near 3 months to see the first decent games of the summer. A lot of the league games earlier in the year were played with greater intensity that we have seen in the championship

baztard

I think its just a bad year. A lot of the teams in hurling and in particular football are either in a transition period or in decline. Very few of them are at their peak this year.

Flukey

Each year is different. You do get great games early in the championship sometimes too. One difference is the crowds are smaller. An atmosphere makes a game seem more intensive. You can have an intensive game on the pitch, but without the crowd it doesn't always seem so.

Aido c

The hurling was too predictable entirely.

Culchie

Terrible Fare this year, brutal to be honest about it.

I think Mayo V Dublin will be good because of the clash of styles and the atmospehre, but have no hard evidence to back up that prediction at all.

I think if the Dubs win, it would be a great final, if Mayo win .... It could be good, or it could be a washout like 2004

We live in hope.

omahony99

munster30 wrote:

Is it only me or has this years hurling and football championships been the poorest for years. In hurling we've had perhaps two good games, the Munster final, and Cork-Waterford in the semi. Football I'd struggle for two perhaps Kerry v Armagh, and the drawn Laois-Mayo game. With the backdoor all of the intensity has gone out the earlier rounds, and the championship doesn't start in earnest until August with the q-f, though is it acceptable that we have to wait near 3 months to see the first decent games of the summer. A lot of the league games earlier in the year were played with greater intensity that we have seen in the championship

Is it only the games that were shown on live TV that you're basing that judgement on?
The Longford v Derry game was far better than the Mayo-Laois game.

munster30

omahony99 wrote:

Is it only the games that were shown on live TV that you're basing that judgement on?
The Longford v Derry game was far better than the Mayo-Laois game.

Just saw the highlights of that, and you could possibly be right. Wasn't though trying to draw up a definitive list of classic games, just highlighting the lack of quality games

Flukey

The first Louth v Tyrone game was good too. Kerry v Armagh was good too. Aido C, the Hurling Championship doesn't take much in the way of prediction in most years. You'll get surprises, but not shocks, if you see what I mean.

Amazotheamazing

Aido c wrote:

The hurling was too predictable entirely.

Who's fault is that though, Offally and Wexford are in decline, Limerick seem more interested in fighting amongst themselves, Galway can't seem to find thier best team, Clare need to find young hurlers to replace their golden generation, Tipp relied too much on a one man show (though what a one show to have) and Waterford are obviously cursed.

The GAA need to take radical steps to make the above teams able to compete with Cork and Kilkenny.

bluemoon21

I always love the championship but being in England i dont get the same feel for it, I watch and listen to as much as i can though. I dont think its been that bad this year in General, Mayo however thats a different storie, there was to much optimism with the new manager. Each one is different obviously some years will be better than others.

Kojak

Amazotheamazing wrote:

Who's fault is that though, Offally and Wexford are in decline, Limerick seem more interested in fighting amongst themselves, Galway can't seem to find thier best team, Clare need to find young hurlers to replace their golden generation, Tipp relied too much on a one man show (though what a one show to have) and Waterford are obviously cursed.

I agree with everything you said there, amazo. Offaly and Wexford are paying the price for not putting the work into under-age teams while their seniors were being succesful in the mid-ninties, Limerick have discipline issues, Clare are on the decline (Especially now as Anthony Daly has resigned as manager - I'd expect a few older players to retire). Waterford will probably never have a better chance of winning an All-Ireland as they did this year

Galway are annoying, in the extreme while Tipp - if they use their current minors and U-21's (Both are in their respective All-Ireland finals) could be the one to challenge the big two.

Amazotheamazing wrote:

The GAA need to take radical steps to make the above teams able to compete with Cork and Kilkenny.

Some of the counties need to take radical action themsleves - in-house fighting, wrong team selection etc. etc. should be dealt with by the relevant county boards, if they are able to.
If action isn't taken then we could have a situation where one, if not both of these counties are in the All-Ireland every year.


As regards the football, well the lack of a Northern team in the latters stages makes it look like a championship that wasn't as good as previous ones. I don't subscribe to this theory - the northern teams were always going to reach a period of decline, it was just a matter of when it happened. However some of the matches this year, especially the quality of the matches, was poor. This had nothing to do with none of the northern team being in the semi's etc. it was just poor fair all-round, IMO.

jackbhoy

I'd have to agree that it has been poor. Probably gonna cop it for this but I think the championship has missed not having Tyrone/Armagh in the final shake up. Whatever you think about their style of play they did bring great passion and intnsity to the game and great rivalry. Would've loved to see Dubs play Armagh/Tyrone, and now that wouldve been a good old fashioned grudge match.

Amazotheamazing

Kojak, I don't think the county boards are capable of taking action, the disaster in Limerick hurling shows the county board isn't up to it, for example. Imo, a lot of Cork's strenght come becuase it's GAA is ruled by one man and it doesn't waste it's time with in-fighting.

GreenDoor

I think it's been a championship to forget.

I'm from Cork myself but I think Corks domination of the Hurling is even becoming a bore for us Cork fans. In the final it'll be either Cork or Kilkenny again which will have the neutrals staying neutral.

munster30

have to agree on the Cork Kilkenny over familiarity for the neutrals, since 99 is the the 5th time they've met in the final?

On some of the other points I think hurling is going to to get a lot worse before we are going to see any improvement.

Galway have the players but......, Tipp, take Kelly out and you're not left with much, Waterford, think this year was the last chance for their present team, though would love to be proven wrong, Clare, will take a long time to rebuild, don't appear to have done much at underage for a while, Limerick, I think there's a seperate forum and what's wrong there, Wexford, probably deserve about 5 forums to discuss our problems, though Liam Dunne seems to be doing a lot at u-14, and U-16 level, though it will be a few years yet before we see any of that, and Offaly, just don't have the playing resources. Perhaps with the monies been pumped into the capital, Dublin may be able to make a breakthrough in Leinster anyway in the next 3-4 years, once they can keep their current underage teams together and don't lose them to football.

Aido c

I think its time for a return to the clubs, Kerry won the first All Ireland Hurling Championship, but they done it with a club - Ballyduff (albeit heavily supported by neighbouring clubs).

There are still six good hurling clubs in North Kerry who, properly motivated could go on to compete at least in Munster. But the pick is simply not there for a competitive county senior team.

If they want to do a pure knock out championship for the counties in August / September - fine, but apart from that we should be supporting semi-pro clubs, Dr. Croaks, Shannon Rangers etc. playing a longer season.

patmac

The football is crap because the managers want athletes who can train all day but can't kick a ball so anyone with a bit of talent but can't run a hundred miles a night is left of the team. Hurling suffers because despite being the best game in the world to watch it's probably the most dangerous game to play, so a lot of people outside the strongholds are not going to play for the fear of being decapitated by some muck savage with a hangover who has just had a row with the wife after he came home at 4 o'clock the previous morning smelling of Chanel no.69.

Kojak

Amazotheamazing wrote:

Kojak, I don't think the county boards are capable of taking action, the disaster in Limerick hurling shows the county board isn't up to it, for example. Imo, a lot of Cork's strenght come becuase it's GAA is ruled by one man and it doesn't waste it's time with in-fighting.

I have to agree with the first part of your statement. Some county boards cannot seem to be able to take care of themselves, although I believe that they should be able to.

The second part is less accurate, IMO. We here in Galway had the same sitaution for years with the hurling secretary ruling everything and not letting anything happen that would "affect the staus quo". This then lead to a situation where certain clubs wished to change something, i.e. a procedure/motion, but they realised that if they went against this particular individual, they were running the risk of not being accomodated if, for example, they wanted a match changed due to a wedding etc.

The point I am trying to make is that what may work for Cork may not necessarily work for Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick etc.

Erin Go Brath

I think its been a decent enough year in hurling I have to say.

I know Cork and Kilkenny are in yet another final. Both Waterford and Clare put up a good show in the semis however, and were very unlucky not to make it, especially Waterford. Also the Tipp/Waterford, and Cork/Limerick quarters were pretty decent fare.

If it had been a Waterford/Clare final we'd be talking about the golden age of hurling returning!!! I know its a lot of ifs and buts, I do think the gap on the big two is closing.

The thing is some of the other counties are not too far behind really, so I hope for the game of hurling that they come good in the next year or so. Waterford, Clare, Galway, Limerick, Tipp all have decent teams imo, its just to get it together for the full 70 on the big day, and put behind their various deamons thats lacking.

I know the Cork/Kilkenny final is the one nobody wanted, (except Cork and Kilkenny people that is) it still should be fascinating too see who is top dog of these two giants.

Lemlin

Apart from Kerry vs. Armagh, this has been a hugely forgettable year for football. The only thing that can save the Championship now is Mayo or Dublin winning it and bringing some romance back.

Sadly, I can't see that happening TBH. Hopefully I'm wrong.