Leinster Football

derealbadger

I think after today all those who were making out that leinster football was of such a different class to connaught and the like really need to go back to the drawing board i would be interested in conno16's opinion now on where leinster football is in relation to the rest of the country and it would be interesting to have another look at where people had put countys as regards the top ten i wait with bated breath

Pride Fighter

Leinster- 3 quarter finalists
Connacht-1 quarter finalists

Leinster wins at a canter.

derealbadger

how many countys in leinster how many in connaught
how many in leinster

Pride Fighter

derealbadger wrote: »

how many countys in leinster how many in connaught
how many in leinster

7 in Connacht, 11 in Leinster.

derealbadger

oh the old newyork london thing

uriah

Pride Fighter wrote: »

7 in Connacht, 11 in Leinster.

Shouldn't that be 5 counties in connacht, 12 in Leinster

rossie1977

Pride Fighter wrote: »

7 in Connacht, 11 in Leinster.

ye are more than welcome to london and ny :rolleyes:

has either ever even won a match

Triton

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Leinster- 3 quarter finalists
Connacht-1 quarter finalists

Leinster wins at a canter.

I think after next week the more apt question would be how many semi finalists from Leinster - how many from Connacht? I think the answer will be Connacht one and Leinster none.

I'm a Meath man and I fully expect Mayo to win and avenge '96, they've been waiting for their chance long enough.

Leinster football is at an all-time low. Connacht provided All-Ireland finalists in 2004 and 2006. Leinster haven't provided a finalist since 2001, when Galway, a Connacht team, beat Meath, a Leinster team.

Leinster football is at an all-time low but hopefully Kildare will end that over the next few years. It's been a sad time for Leinster football when the current Dublin panel is the best we've had to offer for the past five years.

Imposter

If all teams had the same run in to the all-ireland series I think you'd see Leinster teams perform better. In Leinster you have 2-3 toughish games to win before you come out of a province. In Connaught and Munster possibly 1 game - if you're unlucky with the draw 2.

Look at Kerry - they either had a really good day yesterday, a really bad year to date or they have decided to not bother so much with the Munster championship and peak in August/Sept. For a Leinster (or Ulster) team that strategy just wouldn't work.

baztard

derealbadger wrote: »

I think after today all those who were making out that leinster football was of such a different class to connaught and the like really need to go back to the drawing board i would be interested in conno16's opinion now on where leinster football is in relation to the rest of the country and it would be interesting to have another look at where people had put countys as regards the top ten i wait with bated breath

Connaught have two competitive teams, Leinster have two competitive teams. Mayo have done less this championship to date, than Kildare or Dublin. Beating what looks like a mediocre Meath will stick ye in the semi-final, through what will have been the easiest path to get there. Its too early for someone from Mayo to be preaching to Leinster football just yet.

Just because Dublin self imploded once again, doesn't mean that another team in Leinster would do the same.

CyberDave

In fairness Kildare represented Leinster well against Tyrone on Sunday. The Dubs beat Kildare and did look like genuine contenders on their Leinster form. They just seem to have a psychological block when they get into the qualifiers. All the unneeded hype doesn't help them. They couldn't be a bad as yesterday again if they tried. They just stood up and admired Kerry. Of course Kerry will look good if they are given the time and space they got on the ball yesterday.

blinding

I was really struck by the differences in fitness between Dublin and Kerry yesterday.

There is a lot of that Dublin panel carrying more weight than you expect from one of the top county teams. If it is posssible to win Leinster with a team as unfit as this that has to be a worry for Leinster football.

CyberDave

baztard wrote: »

Connaught have two competitive teams, Leinster have two competitive teams. Mayo have done less this championship to date, than Kildare or Dublin. Beating what looks like a mediocre Meath will stick ye in the semi-final, through what will have been the easiest path to get there. Its too early for someone from Mayo to be preaching to Leinster football just yet.

Just because Dublin self imploded once again, doesn't mean that another team in Leinster would do the same.

Sligo got nearer to Kerry than Dublin.

So, that means Connaught has 3 competitive teams.

Mayo are a decent team. They will give Kerry a far better test than Dublin did yesterday anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they even beat Kerry. Any team would have looked good against Dublin yesterday if they were given the time and space Kerry were.

baztard

blinding wrote: »

I was really struck by the differences in fitness between Dublin and Kerry yesterday.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

Dublin showed massive fitness against kildare, being down to 14 men et al. They looked slow and lathargic today though, almost like they have been over trained.

blinding

baztard wrote: »

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

Dublin showed massive fitness against kildare, being down to 14 men et al. They looked slow and lathargic today though, almost like they have been over trained.

Perhaps you are right but even looking at the weights of the players before the match I thought some of the Dubs were coming in heavy.

Maybe the Dubs have to look at their fitness system.

The kerry lads looked leaner and sharper to me.

Heres hoping that if Mayo beat Meath that the Kerry lads follow the dubs diet for a few weeks and get over confident.

CyberDave

Maybe the DUbs had put too much emphasis on weight training and strength? where Kerry had put the emphasis on football and speed?

rossie1977

baztard wrote: »

Connaught have two competitive teams, Leinster have two competitive teams. Mayo have done less this championship to date, than Kildare or Dublin. Beating what looks like a mediocre Meath will stick ye in the semi-final, through what will have been the easiest path to get there. Its too early for someone from Mayo to be preaching to Leinster football just yet.

mayo did beat galway in salthill though and thats a task in itself, galway rarely lose connaught games at home, you can count on one-hand the number of home games in connaught galway have lost over the last 30 years, that was the first time they lost in connaught in salthill since their return to that venue in 2002 so that tells you something and mayo were walking that match at one stage

roscommon are a distant fourth team in connaught and in 2009 they beat wexford, offaly and longford (none of these would be considered the worst team in leinster)

brandon_flowers

Problems with Leinster football outside of Dublin.

1. Laois are in decline and rebuilding, not going to challenge for much.
2. Kildare are a coming team, its taken McGeeney the last two years to mould them into a team that can compete with the big boys.
3. Wexford haven fallen away badly as have Westmeath and Offaly.
4. Meath had a great team at the start decade but they were all around the same age and disappeared off the scene together. They are starting to emerge again though with a fresh bunch, maybe short a few "top class" players.
5. Wicklow despite the fairytale won't win any championship competitons nor will Louth or Carlow.

Dublins problems as I see it are

1. Self-opinion
2. Mediocre players being labelled as "stars"
3. No serious underage talent has come through lately apart from Bernard Brogan.
4. The club system in Dublin completely misrepresents the strength of Dublin football. The successful clubs in Dublin are flooded with inter county players from other counties which increases their stength in the AI club championship considerably. For example Michael O Se from Kerry played midfield for Vincents and is a far more accomplished player than the two midfielders Dublin had on show yesterday. He was midfield for Kerry Juniors this year.
5. Lack of true mental strength when the s*** hits the fan.
6. Holding onto the likes of Whelan and Jayo - good against rubbish teams, rubbish against good teams.
7. Style of play - over emphasis on fitness and physicality, you can lift all the weights you like and wear the tight jerseys around your biceps but if you can't read the game and adapt to suit you are beaten easily.

leftism

brandon_flowers wrote: »

you can lift all the weights you like and wear the tight jerseys around your biceps but if you can't read the game and adapt to suit you are beaten easily.

Love this point! Is it just me or are all the Dublin player going a shirt size smaller???

As for the game yesterday, Kerry looked quicker and sharper at every position. Either the Dublin coaching staff really got the training wrong in the lead up to the game, or Kerry are starting to peak now and have been coasting through all season...

I think too much emphasis is placed on the Leinster championship. Leinster teams are better than their championship form over the past couple of seasons would suggest. They seem to look at an All Ireland semi-final or final as the holy grail. For Kerry or Tyrone, NOT making the All Ireland final would rank as a disaster of a season. When a group of players get used to winning at that level, then they simply expect it and generally acheive it. The Dubs are too used to falling at the semis and quarter finals. Its a massive mental block for them.

rossie1977

leftism wrote: »

Love this point! Is it just me or are all the Dublin player going a shirt size smaller???

ciaran whelan really is that big, even from the top tier of the cusack you could see he was dwarfing the kerry lads in the upper body, then again ronnie coleman would dwarf the kerry lads in the upper body too

whadabouchasir

rossie1977 wrote: »

ciaran whelan really is that big, even from the top tier of the cusack you could see he was dwarfing the kerry lads in the upper body, then again ronnie coleman would dwarf the kerry lads in the upper body too

didn't make much difference though.

busbybhoy

Its a bit early to say to say that Leinster football is in decline. Kildare gave Tyrone a real run for their money on Sun and before the weekend Tyrone were the only team people were talking about. Now its Tyrone, Kerry AND Cork. These comments are very unfair to Meath who still have a chance of proving themselves (as a Mayo fan i hope not)

As for this comparison betweeen Leinster and Connaught; in reality there is very little difference. 2 teams dominate each province. In Connaught those 2 teams rarely change and in leinster the Dubs rarely face more than 1 major challenge.

I cringed yesterday when Kerry destroyed Dublin, not out of any sympathy for Dublin but more because i thought we had a realistic chance this year. Now, IF we overcome Meath we have a mammoth challenge ahead.

But if this thread is going to be about Leinster V Connaught lets look at the last 10 years..... between both provinces we have 1 All Ireland title...............(Connaught). Also in that time Connaught have been in 4 finals (Mayo 2 Galway2) and Leinster 2 (Meath!!!).

Tyrone hammered Dublin last year after coming out of a 1 point win against Mayo and finally all the talk is about who beat Dublin this year and last year....Dont forget who beat them in 2006!! Enough said.

Good luck to meath on Sunday. 1996 is well forgotten

brandon_flowers

rossie1977 wrote: »

ciaran whelan really is that big, even from the top tier of the cusack you could see he was dwarfing the kerry lads in the upper body, then again ronnie coleman would dwarf the kerry lads in the upper body too

Pity the game is called Gaelic Upperbodyball so, ye'd be flying and Kerry would be playing Dwarf Gaelic Football.

rossie1977

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Pity the game is called Gaelic Upperbodyball so, ye'd be flying and Kerry would be playing Dwarf Gaelic Football.

you think i am a dub, does rossie not give it away where i am from, make it easier, the team that gave kerry a real match yesterday

spongeman

Wicklow vs Kildare Leinster Final 2010.

NufcNavan

spongeman wrote: »

Wicklow vs Kildare Leinster Final 2010.

spongeman

UP MICKLOW

homerjay2005

lads, i dont think its a matter of conacht v leinster and munster v ulster, its as simple as this - Kerry, Tyrone and Cork are better than the rest and have been for about 4-5 seasons now. Cork in 2006 and 2007 were the 2nd best team in Ireland.