Is the GAA Football Championship a total farce?

OPENDRAWNOW

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce. Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is. Most of the teams there can only play hurling so every year Kerry are virtually guaranteed a place in the All Ireland semi-finals while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare. Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

Syferus

We should just have permanent rant thread for people to let steam off at this point.

ebbsy

Wicklow for Sam 2012 anyone ?

rossie1977

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

i love how you pick out the so called cannon fodder games in 2009, those games especially the longford and sligo ones stood to kerry that year big time, sligo should and could have beat kerry down in killarney that evening, if you remember david kelly missed a penalty in the last few minutes that would have knocked kerry out, they then went in as underdogs against dublin the quarters and wiped the floor with them

flahavaj

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce. Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is. Most of the teams there can only play hurling so every year Kerry are virtually guaranteed a place in the All Ireland semi-finals while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare. Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

Seems to me you have more of a problem with Kerry themselves than the way the draw pans out and no mater what way the draw was run you'd find a way to claim it favoured the Kingdom.

Mountainlad

rossie1977 wrote: »

i love how you pick out the so called cannon fodder games in 2009, those games especially the longford and sligo ones stood to kerry that year big time, sligo should and could have beat kerry down in killarney that evening, if you remember david kelly missed a penalty in the last few minutes that would have knocked kerry out, they then went in as underdogs against dublin the quarters and wiped the floor with them

Munster championship gets a raw deal. Anyone who looks at it objectively could tell you that Kerry have been something else for the last decade. Also, until today Cork had only lost to one team in the championship since 2004, and that was Kerry. Do you really think that if you put Laois, Sligo, Antrim, Wexford, Westmeath, Carlow, Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Wicklow and others in the Munster championship that they'd fare much better than Limerick, Waterford, Tipp or Clare? Every year you have someone complaining about a provincial championship, be it Leinster quite often, Connaught, Munster or indeed Ulster this year. The fact is that the football championship isn't very exciting to watch because of the way teams play. I don't think in terms of competitiveness it's actually as bad as it's made out to be. Another thing people often don't factor into the equation is the impact the weather has on games. How can you possibly expect to see an entertaining game of either football or hurling when torrential rain has been coming down all day?

Maybe an open draw is the way to go, but I don't know that it will improve the quality of football games.

Mountainlad

Probably quoted the wrong one there.

ShamoBuc

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce. Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is. Most of the teams there can only play hurling so every year Kerry are virtually guaranteed a place in the All Ireland semi-finals while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare. Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

Well this wass only possible because of the draw and the fact that another team from Munster - other than cork - qualified for the qf's - cannot even remember the last time that happened - but the BAD munster championship had 3 of the qf teams - Not bad I would say;)

Kerry could easily had - for example - Kildare qf, Cork semi and Tyrone in the final or any other combination Before the draw was made.

You seem to be just anti Kerry as distinct from wanting a better system to be honest.

Also - most of the teams only play hurling -:rolleyes:

doc_17

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Well this wass only possible because of the draw and the fact that another team from Munster - other than cork - qualified for the qf's - cannot even remember the last time that happened - but the BAD munster championship had 3 of the qf teams - Not bad I would say;)

Kerry could easily had - for example - Kildare qf, Cork semi and Tyrone in the final or any other combination Before the draw was made.

You seem to be just anti Kerry as distinct from wanting a better system to be honest.

Also - most of the teams only play hurling -:rolleyes:

Limerick won 1 game and lost 1 game in this years championship ( v Wexford) and got to the QFs. Donegal won 4 games and lost 0 this year to get to the same stage. It's plainly not equitable.

It is easier to come out of Munster than say Leinster or Ulster and the path to the QFs is much easier for Cork and Kerry simply becasue they play weaker teams..It's not an attack on Kerry..It's not their fault they are better than the other Munster teams.

Mountainlad

doc_17 wrote: »

It's not their fault they are better than the other Munster teams.

Or the teams in Leinster, or Ulster, or Connaught...

ShamoBuc

doc_17 wrote: »

Limerick won 1 game and lost 1 game in this years championship ( v Wexford) and got to the QFs. Donegal won 4 games and lost 0 this year to get to the same stage. It's plainly not equitable.

It is easier to come out of Munster than say Leinster or Ulster and the path to the QFs is much easier for Cork and Kerry simply becasue they play weaker teams..It's not an attack on Kerry..It's not their fault they are better than the other Munster teams.

There are more teams in Ulster - hence more games:rolleyes:

Well, Kerry got there by beating Cork ( last years winners of Sam) and Cork beat Down - last years losing All Ireland finalists - weaker teams

Mountainlad

ShamoBuc wrote: »

There are more teams in Ulster - hence more games:rolleyes:

Well, Kerry got there by beating Cork ( last years winners of Sam) and Cork beat Down - last years losing All Ireland finalists - weaker teams

It is clear for all the talk of everybody about the fact that Cork and Kerry have it easy because of the poor quality of Munster teams, they seem to forget that both these teams are from Munster and along with Tyrone are the three best teams of the last decade. What chance has anyone else in Munster got? They can't build confidence before they play them because they don't get the games. Do you think Wexford would have made the srides they've made if they were in Munster? I personally don't, and I'm not trying to be hard on Wexford here, I admire where they've come from, but there's pleny of other teams that would not be as good as they are now if they had to live with the giants that are Kerry and Cork in their provincial championship year in year out.

JFlah

doc_17 wrote: »

Limerick won 1 game and lost 1 game in this years championship ( v Wexford) and got to the QFs. Donegal won 4 games and lost 0 this year to get to the same stage. It's plainly not equitable.

It is easier to come out of Munster than say Leinster or Ulster and the path to the QFs is much easier for Cork and Kerry simply becasue they play weaker teams..It's not an attack on Kerry..It's not their fault they are better than the other Munster teams.

Must be just me but does beating offaly and waterford in the qualifiers not count as victories?? or is it only when you beat Wexford?

DB10

Leinster might be competitive but the quality of it is far overrated.

In the last 11 years only one Leinster team has even reached the final. This year again its likely there will be none in the semi finals at all.

Sunnyisland

DB10 wrote: »

Leinster might be competitive but the quality of it is far overrated.

In the last 11 years only one Leinster team has even reached the final. This year again its likely there will be none in the semi finals at all.

How is it likely

DB10

realies wrote: »

How is it likely

I would put them as favourites.

Sunnyisland

DB10 wrote: »

I would put them as favourites.

Favorites sorry db10 you have me


Dublin have as good as chance if not slightly better,going on this seasons form against tyrone of getting into the SF.

DB10

I just believe Tyrone will win is all. They have underperformed so far in the Championship, Dublin are at their usual level great but not winners for me.

Sunnyisland

Ok :-)We will disagree on that one.

padraig_f

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce.

No

Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is.

Yeah, it's so bad that 4 of the last 5 all-Irelands have been won by Munster teams.

while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare.

Yeah, Leinster's so strong that they haven't had a team play in the all-ireland final in 10 years.

Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!

That was because Limerick were good enough to win their way through the qualifiers.

As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky.

This kind of rubbish is more suited to the Conspiracy Theories forum, not a sports discussion one.

starlit

Only when it comes to allowing illegal and disallowing legit goals! The goalkeepers box rule is a bit mad when it comes to allowing goals or not by the umpire/ref. Silly rule!

samsemtex

doc_17 wrote: »

Limerick won 1 game and lost 1 game in this years championship ( v Wexford) and got to the QFs. Donegal won 4 games and lost 0 this year to get to the same stage. It's plainly not equitable.

What?!?! This makes no sense in any way.

Mountainlad

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky.

Yeah I mean this was a really childish statement.

I mean Kerry had to beat Dublin (Leinster Champions), Meath and Cork (everbody's favourites for the all-ireland that year). So they had to win six games on the bounce while playing several games in successive weekends...no bother, sure every other team does it all the time :rolleyes:

Fireball07

doc_17 wrote: »

Limerick won 1 game and lost 1 game in this years championship ( v Wexford) and got to the QFs. Donegal won 4 games and lost 0 this year to get to the same stage. It's plainly not equitable.

It is easier to come out of Munster than say Leinster or Ulster and the path to the QFs is much easier for Cork and Kerry simply becasue they play weaker teams..It's not an attack on Kerry..It's not their fault they are better than the other Munster teams.

I know others have questioned this but this statement is ridicolous. Limerick won 3 games, they beat what was put in front of them on the day. Other teams have come through the qualifiers to great effect too, from all the provinces.

I don't think Munster is any weaker than any other province. 3 teams in the quarter-final, on merit.

Clare only lost to last year's All-Ireland finalists by 1 point, Waterford beat London comfortably who did draw with the Connacht champions.

I think if Limerick were in any other province they probably would have won a provincial title in the last 10 years.

Kerry and Cork are better than the rest...but looking at recent stats Tyrone and Armagh have been clearly the strongest teams in Ulster over the past 13 years. Galway and Mayo have always been the big 2 in Connacht, though Roscommon and Sligo have evened it up recently. Dublin have had a stranglehold on Leinster for a long time too. (Meath did win last year but 6 of the last 7 have been Dublin's)

Downlinz

There are counter arguments to this, a lot of teams from Munster and Connacht feel they are at a disadvantage since they're playing less games so when it comes to the big games they aren't as match sharp. You mention Limerick as an example of a problem but bear in mind this is the first time Limerick have made this stage and I believe its the first time in the current format 3 Munster teams have been present.

Overall I think the provincial setup is pretty unique and interesting, its somewhat similar to regionals in the states and while a free for all 32-team knockout type thing would be fairer I think it'd be far less interesting.

Optimalprimerib

One interesting little tidbit about this years championship: if Dublin beat Tyrone next week, all of the provincial champions will be in the semi finals, I don't think that has ever happened since the back door rule came in.

big toenails

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce. Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is. Most of the teams there can only play hurling so every year Kerry are virtually guaranteed a place in the All Ireland semi-finals while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare. Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

Yes I agree with you but with the football only. The hurling must never be interfered with.

J Cheever Loophole

The whole competition is inherently unfair, and thus flawed. It's a no brainer. And as I have said before, the elephant in the room is the Provincial Championships. Indeed the qualifiers / back door has only added to that sense of injustice, with teams having totally different paths to the All Ireland quarter-finals, and the paths they have taken quite often having a direct bearing on the outcome of games.

There needs to be a solution that has teams operating on a level playing field. That is not the case now.

And by the by, the fact that this is the premier competition(s) of our game(s) being affected means it will always come up in discussion. It's too important not to discuss in my opinion.

ArmaniJeanss

I'd blame the original founders of the competition who decided to use the inherently ludicrous provincial system.

Four sections of 8, called East, West, North and South would have been so much more logical. London and then New York wouldn't have been a problem as they could have become the 9th team in each province on a rolling basis.

How thick were these administrators to think that having one 12 team province and one 5 team province was a sensible way to do it? Sadly it looks like we are stuck with it into perpetuity.

Mountainlad

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'd blame the original founders of the competition who decided to use the inherently ludicrous provincial system.

Four sections of 8, called East, West, North and South would have been so much more logical. London and then New York wouldn't have been a problem as they could have become the 9th team in each province on a rolling basis.

How thick were these administrators to think that having one 12 team province and one 5 team province was a sensible way to do it? Sadly it looks like we are stuck with it into perpetuity.

I think it added to the romance, certainly then if not still now. There was no qualifiers, so it was Munster's best, Leinster's best etc. And I dunno I think dividing it like that made sense given the provinces were already there. Also, I mean you could have a scenario like in Hurling where there has been Munster championships with the three or more very good teams, and then one team in Leinster with a free ride to the final, or vice-versa.

If there was an open draw people would be talking about how the draw was unfair and some team got a soft run and all the rest of it. Fact is you can't satisfy everybody, and in my eyes provincial championships can be a great way for weaker teams to make a break through, and possibly there only chance for glory i.e. Louth, they can't really dream of all-ireland's but they should have had Leinster last year.

Esroh

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'd blame the original founders of the competition who decided to use the inherently ludicrous provincial system.

Four sections of 8, called East, West, North and South would have been so much more logical. London and then New York wouldn't have been a problem as they could have become the 9th team in each province on a rolling basis.

How thick were these administrators to think that having one 12 team province and one 5 team province was a sensible way to do it? Sadly it looks like we are stuck with it into perpetuity.

Ok Say we add Cavan ,Westmeath, Lonford to West And Offaly, Kilkenny or (london, NewYork ), Wexford, to Munster, this being based on borders.

How much would it effect Munster

ArmaniJeanss

Mountainlad wrote: »

I think it added to the romance, certainly then if not still now. There was no qualifiers, so it was Munster's best, Leinster's best etc. And I dunno I think dividing it like that made sense given the provinces were already there.

The provinces were there alright, but I don't think there was any huge awareness of them or that people based any great personal identity on being from Munster or Connacht etc.

Also there had been provincial border changes, there'd been a fifth province at one stage... so I don't think it was that de facto obvious a system to use.

I may be wrong about all that particularly on what the attitudes to 'province' was back then.
****************
But four eight county sections would have caught on quickly imo. There would have been local rivalries, and there would still have been huge kudos in making a 'breakthrough' to win in East or West. Could have given them sexier names admittedly, maybe Gaeilge them or they could have been called Fionn, Oisin or whatever.
So Sligo make the breakthrough to win their first Oisin Title in 20 years, beating their traditional rival Donegal in the final and going on to the AllIreland series.

Surely this would have caught on very quickly, and would have made more sense than what they gave us?

ArmaniJeanss

Esroh wrote: »

Ok Say we add Cavan ,Westmeath, Lonford to West And Offaly, Kilkenny or (london, NewYork ), Wexford, to Munster, this being based on borders.

How much would it effect Munster

Well in my scenario there was no Munster championship. There was a South section.
Lets say Wexford were in it. Great rivalry ensued in the South championship between Wexford and Waterford - It was called The Battle Of The Bay with the winning county planting their flag in the bay between both counties, until they were eventually beaten. Waterford held the flag with 8 consecutive wins over 35 years and when Wexford won it back in 1957 grown men were seen to cry.

Meanwhile the clashes of Longford and Leitrim in the Western section became the stuff of legend, with it often noted that the winners rarely won their next game as the local battle took too much out of them.

You see different rivalries, different enemies etc would inevitably have quickly arose the same as they did in the provincial system. It just would have been a more fundamentally logical system with four eights.

It could never happen now though which is the crying shame as what we have is too deeply embedded.

****
To clarify... London, New York would have played in South and East one year, North and West the next year etc, with just one prelim game needed to get it back to 8.

K-9

The problem obviously is the size of the provinces plus Munster scrapping the Open Draw, which leaves either Cork or Kerry at worst 1 game away from a Q/F.

Other counties are putting in great work and making strides but until they reach that level, if ever, Cork and Kerry have an easy path to a Q/F.

washman3

Its crazy drawing teams that have already played each other.
limerick playing kerry again was of no benefit to either team.
kerry were looking for a stern test,they see a real opportunity for a title this year,think they may have 4-5 retirements on the way.
limerick are without 7-8 of the team that have ran kerry/cork so close over the last few years,some useful young players have come on the scene. well beated by kerry in munster,to play donegal,dublin,roscommon would have been much more beneficial.
as a poster said already they would definately won a provincial if playing in connacht/leinster over the last decade.

by the way did anyone think last weeks draw that paired Limerick/Kerry was dubious? would like to see a video of it again if somebody has it.
kerry were drawn first(as provincial winners) then Limerick were drawn from bowl 2. the effort to stir up the names was pathetic,done with 1 finger,while looking directly into the bowl.

maestroamado

In my view the second chance system was a good idea and should have been scrapped after maximum 5 years, the whole concept was obviousy flawed and was plain to see after about 3 years as the bottom 6 or 8 teams were beaten every year in the first round and then beaten again a few weeks later.
On the other hand the top 3 or 4 could afford to have an off day and still win the all Ireland.
The problem with leaving it so long in my view is that the provincial championships are seriously diminished and it may be difficult to raise the profile of them again.
I think both codes are very good and really enjoy some of the matches but am alarmed at how someone like me can predict the result of nearly all matches, i must admit i was wrong about Mayo twice already this year.
For those of you that dont know already Kerry will win the Ireland football?

maestroamado

washman3 wrote: »

Its crazy drawing teams that have already played each other.
limerick playing kerry again was of no benefit to either team.
kerry were looking for a stern test,they see a real opportunity for a title this year,think they may have 4-5 retirements on the way.
limerick are without 7-8 of the team that have ran kerry/cork so close over the last few years,some useful young players have come on the scene. well beated by kerry in munster,to play donegal,dublin,roscommon would have been much more beneficial.
as a poster said already they would definately won a provincial if playing in connacht/leinster over the last decade.

by the way did anyone think last weeks draw that paired Limerick/Kerry was dubious? would like to see a video of it again if somebody has it.
kerry were drawn first(as provincial winners) then Limerick were drawn from bowl 2. the effort to stir up the names was pathetic,done with 1 finger,while looking directly into the bowl.

I would doubt if there was anything wrong if only on the basis that if i was trying to fix it which i have done in my time i would fix it in such a way that Kerry/Limerick would not meet as there was no benefit for anyone in that.

Thanks

J Cheever Loophole

Sorry lads, but why on Earth would you go to the trouble of moving the mountain that is the Provincial Championships, and replace it with a Provincial Championship lite, i.e. North, South, East and West?

ArmaniJeanss

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

Sorry lads, but why on Earth would you go to the trouble of moving the mountain that is the Provincial Championships, and replace it with a Provincial Championship lite, i.e. North, South, East and West?

If thats at me (and the reference to NSWE suggests so) then thats completely not what I suggested.
I merely suggested that the 12-9-6-5 county provincial system needn't have been used in the first place by those who created the championship, that they would have better served us by going for an 8-8-8-8 regional split. It would have worked fine, and anyone 100 years later suggesting going back to 12 teams in one section and 6 in another because of some archaic province thing would have been scoffed.

But clearly now the provincial championships is too far embedded in the system to ever allow counties to move. That boat has sailed.

ShamoBuc

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

But clearly now the provincial championships is too far embedded in the system to ever allow counties to move. That boat has sailed.

Antrim and Galway into Leinster for the hurling - never say never - but I cannot see it happening myself.

K-9

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Antrim and Galway into Leinster for the hurling - never say never - but I cannot see it happening myself.

True but the football championships are competitive, even Munster so there isn't as much need.

legendary.xix

Mickey Harte is still calling for an overhaul of the Championship structure. He believes there should be a champions round between the 4 provincial champions, with two winners going to the semi-finals and two losers taking on only two qualifiers in the quarter-finals. In fairness to Harte he is being consistent. He asked for it last year but it was seen as sour grapes. Now this year he is admitting Dublin are at a disadvantage. Jack O'Connor said on the radio tonight the GAA are lucky 3 provincial winners have gone through already unlike the whitewash last year or it could've been the end of the provincial championships. It was far from ideal for Kerry to have such a gap to the quarters. They got lucky drawing Limerick, had it been a tougher opponent it would have been very difficult.
If Harte's call for a champions round is not suitable, I think there should be a round of 16. Scrap roundw 1&2 of the qualifiers. In a round of 16, draw a provincial champions at home against one of the 4 lowest ranked round 2 winners based on the league. Draw the losing provincial finalists in neutral venue ties against the 4 higher ranked round 2 winners.

J Cheever Loophole

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

If thats at me (and the reference to NSWE suggests so) then thats completely not what I suggested.
I merely suggested that the 12-9-6-5 county provincial system needn't have been used in the first place by those who created the championship, that they would have better served us by going for an 8-8-8-8 regional split. It would have worked fine, and anyone 100 years later suggesting going back to 12 teams in one section and 6 in another because of some archaic province thing would have been scoffed.

But clearly now the provincial championships is too far embedded in the system to ever allow counties to move. That boat has sailed.

My apologies - I misread what you said.

plasmaguy

It was more of a farce in 2010 when none of the provencial winners got through to the semi finals. This year it could well be the reverse if Dublin beat Tyrone.

With all due respect to Limerick, Kerry got a soft quarter final this year. Had they met Tyrone, Kildare or even Cork again, things might have been different.

The Gaa are never going to get rid of the provincial championships, and after that, do we really need another league format, not dissimilar to the national league?

The Championship is roughly the equivalent of the soccer FA Cup in England, so sometimes you will have weak teams make it to later stages.

ballsymchugh

in defense of longford in 2009, they were beaten by nine points, the closest any team came to kerry from round 4 of the qualifiers to the final.

anyway, the problem is that the provincials are still fairly engraved on the minds of those in high places. with the demise of the interprovincials, that may change. people used to support their province in their tens of thousands years ago, with the finals on st. patrick's day and would identify more with that than with north, south, east or west.

it'd make so much more sense to over haul it though, the longford/westmeath rivalry would survive in the west! 8 teams in each group would mean each groups winners would have played 3 games, instead of the current situation where munster or connacht champions potentially just play 2 games, while leinster champions potentially play 4 games.

Kingdom Bhoy

OPENDRAWNOW wrote: »

Just wondering if GAA fans think the present set up is a total farce. Take the case of Kerry. This year they could have reached an All Ireland Final without ever meeting a team from outside Munster....and we all know how bad the Munster Championship is. Most of the teams there can only play hurling so every year Kerry are virtually guaranteed a place in the All Ireland semi-finals while teams in Leinster and especially Ulster have to play real competitive fare. Even when they win this joke of a provincial championship what happens this year - they have to play Limerick again!As if this wasn't bad enough remember 2009 when the powers that be virtually handed them the championship by giving them cannon fodder in the shape of Longford, Sligo and Antrim in 3 successive roounds - could any team really be that lucky. No wonder they can win All Irelands at the drop of a hat. The present system is so unfair in many ways but no point in holding one's breath expecting the GAA to change.

Ah the old conspiracy theory I don't think so. :rolleyes: