National Football League 2019

blowitupref

cms88 wrote: »

imo Cantwell has always been like that. Always trying to be controversial and doesn't seem to want anyone to have a different view to hers

Not a patch on Joe Brolly.

Utopia Parkway

As for Joanne Cantwell I've always found her a bit too quick to cut across and interrupt analysts when they are trying to make a point. Granted you could argue it stopped Brolly rambling on incessantly last night but she was doing the same to the hurling analysts. The host is there to prompt conversation and keep everything on track. If they are interrupting every 15 seconds it can lead to a fairly frustrating viewing experience. There was no flow to the conversation.

Perifect

Hopefully, it's just while she's settling in. I've heard her on the radio previously so I doubt it but maybe someone will have a word. It's a hard job replacing Mick who knew how to keep control of Brolly, Spillane and O'Rourke at the same time!

westcork67

Always thought Joanne was professional - i'd give her a chance to settle in to the job before judging, although I think Darragh Maloney is definitely the best commentator/host for the GAA - I saw on an earlier post that he is the main Soccer man but I though GAA was his first love?

Fr Tod Umptious

westcork67 wrote: »

Always thought Joanne was professional - i'd give her a chance to settle in to the job before judging, although I think Darragh Maloney is definitely the best commentator/host for the GAA - I saw on an earlier post that he is the main Soccer man but I though GAA was his first love?

It may be but that does not mean that he gets to cover GAA on RTE.

My first love is sitting on my arse all day, but my employer doesn't allow me to do that.

Nidgeweasel

Thought Joanne was brilliant. Brolly's bull**** should not be tolerated.

Boom__Boom

I had a look at the how much the show spent on the various Division 1 football games last night.
[I didn't bother about the football games in the other divisions as I'd never have got through the huge volume of matches]

To my eye you could break the footage into 3 categories - match footage i.e actual footage of the game, post-match interviews and analysis (and by golly I'm being generous calling it analysis when it's just Brolly, Cooper and Cantwell having a chat of the same standard you'd have if you threw in three random people who are comfortable speaking in front of a camera - honestly if you had Ryan "sports mad" Tubridy and Miriam "8 million kids" O'Callaghan alongside Cantwell , I think the analysis would be of a similar standard)

Because I'm such a generous soul, I included all the shots of teams getiing off the team bus, players running in the dressing room corridors, players warming up on the pitch, going through the starting 15 teams, shots of the crowd, shots of managers, shots of players leaving the pitch and shots of management & subs leaving the dugouts when the match was over in the match footage section. This might not sound like much but over a minute was spent on Roscommon getting off the bus and the teams being named alone. It might not sound like much but as a comparison there was only 110 seconds of match footage from the Galway V Cavan game by my count.

All times are in seconds and might be rounded some bit especially in the analysis section (I basically split the 3 minutes spend on the Kerry Tyrone and Galway Cavan games down the middle)

Kerry v Tyrone
Match footage 130
Post-match interview 35
Analysis 90
Total 255

Galway v Cavan
Match footage 110
Post-match interview 25
Analysis 90
Total 225

Dublin v Monaghan
Match footage 360
Post-match interview 20
Analysis 310
Total 690

Mayo v Roscommon
Match footage 330
Post-match interview 50
Analysis 240
Total 620

Overall it was not far off being a 50/50 split in terms of match-footage (930 seconds) versus post-match interviews and analysis (860 seconds).

In terms of actual match footage, there was 11 and a half minutes of from the 2 games broadcast elsewhere [Mayo v Roscommon & Monaghan v Dublin] versus 4 minutes of match footage from the two matches not broadcast anywhere else [Galway v Cavan & Kerry v Tyrone] Why even bother send cameras to the other games if you only going to show snippets, especially when you are spending so much more time on games already broadcast elsewhere?

The post-match interviews were a complete and utter waste of everybody's time imo and the analysis was not much better.

Honestly I'm not surprised by RTE - everything I've ever seen from them, seems to reek of a place where it's completely acceptable to do the utter bare minimum. I'm more disappointed that the GAA and Croke Park aren't doing more in terms of forcing RTE to do a better job. Overall the highlights show had around 30 minutes of football coverage and almost 22 minutes of that was spent on 2 matches that were broadcast on other channels already.

GAA Beo

Why don't they do separate hurling and football shows? It's not really worth watching if you looked at the live games beforehand.

OldMrBrennan83

Highlights on TG4 now, kicking off with Kildare Armagh.

Sonny678

Interesting game on saturday Meath v Donegal.
One stat that mite be good for Meath. In last two years Meath have got results against best teams in the division.
In 2017 Galway won division 2 title, were the best team in divsion 2 , Meath defeated them.
In 2018 Roscommon won division 2 title , were best team in divsion 2 , Meath drew with them.
Will this be the third year in a row Meath get result against best team in the division.

There is no way Meath are favourites on Sunday. Donegal will be strong favourites and desevedly so. Every pundit, every tipster, every newpaper or social media outlet prediction will be tipping Donegal to win.

Donegal are one of the best teams in the country. They are a division 1. I know they r in div 2 but that will be temporary. Donegal r in the top 5 or 6 teams in the country and r the reigning Ulster champions. They have the best young team in the country at the moment. With also a good few players who have multiple Ulster titles and All Ireland medal. They have been the Ulster county / team of the decade.

This Donegal team in the next few year will be All-Ireland contenders and in 2 , 3 to 4 years this Donegal team I believe will be All-Ireland champions. They will definitely be in All Ireland final in 2 to 3 years. Michael Muiritigh was asked last week who was the team with most talent after Dublin who could beat Dubs next year he said Donegal.

Yes Donegal are building and yes they r missing two great players and Gweedore players but after Dublin the team with the best panel in the country is Donegal. I hear ex players and journalists continuing to refer to Donegal having a great panel and only Dublin have better. Look at Donegal players v Clare in forwards. Ban Gallagher Thompson and Langan are top class forwards who would walk onto to any team in the country.

Finally Ballybofey is one of the toughest places to win in the country. When Tyrone beat Donegal last year, it ended 21 match unbeaten run in Ballybofey for Donegal. It was Donegals first loss since 2010 in Ballybofey. After Dublin in Croke Park the toughest place to go in the country is Donegal in Ballybofey. Look at these stats. Meath have a big mountain to climb to beat Donegal. The following Armagh and Cork games are the big ones for Meath. Two victories in those game wud be achieveable and important. Beating Donegal wud be a bonus, but also a big upset.

1 Donegal have lost 1 match in Ballybofey in league or championship since 2010.
2 Since 2010 Donegal have played 21 times in league and championship in Ballybofey. Donegal have had 15 victories, 5 draws and 1 loss in 21 games in Ballybofey.
3 So in summary Donegal have been unbeaten in 20 of their last 21 games in Ballybofey
4 Even Dublin in this decade couldnt beat Donegal in Ballybofey. Dublin drew with Donegal twice in the league in Ballybofey.
5 Donegal have not been beaten in the league in Ballybofey since 2010. Dublin Tyrone Mayo kerry have all failed to beat Donegal in Ballybofey since 2010 in the league. Donegal are unbeaten in the league in their last 13 games in Ballybofey. That is after Dublin the best record in the country.
6 On average between 2012 and 2018 fifty seven per cent of home teams win their home matchs each league campaign in div 1. So excluding the last round of league games last year in the previous 6 rounds of the league in div 1 teams 12 home teams won games and 10 away teams won games and u had 1 draw. Thats 56% sucess rate for home teams. And as I said the average sucess rate for home teams in div 1 in the league is 57% . Donegal home record is on a different level. The only team comparable in league football is Dublin in Croker.

Meath have shown when they play the Tyrones Donegals Roscommon Galways they up their game and play well and even get results. ( Meath got results v Galway Roscommon and lost by a 1 point to Donegal and Tyrone in last 2 years ). Meath do play well v division 1 top teams, so I do expect Meath to put it up to Donegal on Saturday and result is not impossible for Meath . Donegal v Meath games are always tight close games. Last game, 2 years ago Donegal won by a point. In 2014 Meath drew with Donegal in Ballybofey.

But the fact is Donegal even with their players missing r one of the best teams in the country and Ballybofey is a fortress for Donegal. They are very very rarely defeated in Ballybofey. A Meath victory wud be a massive result. But Donegal are strong favourites and desevedly so. I believe Donegal will be All-Ireland champions in 2022 or 2023. Watch out for them, they r definatly one of the most exciting team out there after Dublin.

Tombo2001

Sonny678 wrote: »

Interesting game on saturday Meath v Donegal.
One stat that mite be good for Meath. In last two years Meath have got results against best teams in the division.
.
.

Janey mack - that's a great build up post; hard not to see it as match of the weekend after reading that!

dxhound2005

It must be nearly 20 years since Meath were in Division One. Probably plenty of hard luck stories over the years.

Nidgeweasel

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It must be nearly 20 years since Meath were in Division One. Probably plenty of hard luck stories over the years.

10-ish.

But more hard luck stories tonight. Lost a game they should have won comfortably.

Sonny678

dxhound2005 wrote:

It must be nearly 20 years since Meath were in Division One. Probably plenty of hard luck stories over the years.

13 years since we were in div 1. Extraordinary stat we have spent 12 of the last 13 years in div 2. Up to 00s only Kerry and Dublin spent longer in div 1 then Meath. Meath were in div 1 consistently throughout 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s and 90s winning national league div 1 titles in 30s 40s 50s 70s 80s and 90s. It was one of the main reasons for our sucess in those years. If we cud get back to divsion 1 and stay there it would massive positive for Meaths young footballers.

Sonny678

Still alot of positives to take from the game. Up to 60th min Meath were in control of the game 4 points up , should have really being 5 or 6 at least. Playing direct intelligent good standard of gaelic football. Donegal got a a bit of freaky goal with one long kick from outfield that somehow got in the net.

Donegal showed their class and skill and won out. But Meath still had chances in injury time to get a result. But Donegal r not Ulster champions and unbeaten in Ballybofey in the league since 2010 for nothing. They had the know how and experience to win tight matchs and talent. Some real good young talent in Donegal. Definatly in my book a very young skilful team that cud be All Ireland champions in 3 to 4 years time. They won while the other team should have is a good sign for Donegal.

For Meath this was a better performance then Tyrone loss last year. Meath had 6 players starting last night that didnt play v Tyrone and 5 who started last night who were not even on the panel last year. Allot of these young new Meath players are off Meath Under 20 team which was the only team to beat All Ireland champions kildare last year in the championship. These young Meath players are different to young players we have had come through in last few years. Our young players who came thru in last few years had no underage sucess and were beaten consistently by kildare and Dublin at underage.

These new players year that played last night have been part of underage teams that r winning underage leinster titles and beating kildare and particularly Dublin consistently. They seem more confident then players that came thru the Meath ranks in allot of this decade. The hope is and there is evidence that this cud be start of underage sucessful teams coming thru in Meath more frequently in the future . Serious work has been done on the ground in the last few year and even this year underage work went up a level in terms of organisation, preparation and coaching in Meath and also in kildare.


Meath r in the same boat as kildare kind of. Both are starting to make inroads at underage . Both have problems beating Ulster opposition. Meath were knocked out 7 times in last 15 years by Ulster opposition in the championship . kildare were knocked out 7 or 8 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams in the championship. But can go toe to toe for 70s mins with div 1 teams, but both fail to get over the line.

In last 2 years Kildare have played really well for 70 mins but failed to beat Galway Monaghan Donegal Tyrone and did beat Mayo. In last two years Meath have played really well for 70 mins but failed to beat Donegal twice Tyrone Roscommon ( draw) and did beat Galway.


This is a classic development stage for teams trying to make the break thru. A team has one or two tough year's eg Offaly 76 77 , Meath 82 83 84 , Kildare 91 . Then the team enters a second stage and has moral victories, losses in injury, hard luck loses , loss with last minute points or goals eg Offaly 1979 Meath 84 94 Kildare 93 97. Then after 4 or 5 years the breakthru comes eg Offaly 80 , Meath 86 96 and kildare 98. Those 4 teams are the most sucessful teams in leinster football outside Dublin in last 45 years.

Meath and kildare are in moral victories stage, cannot get over the line stage. The question is can eitheir of them get the breakthrough which is to stay in div 1 and get to super 8 and compete sucessfully. kildare are ahead of Meath, but both r in the same boat pretty much.


For Meath there is an improvement is in defence. Meath havent made serious impact in the championship since 2010 and failed to get to div 1 since 2006. Changing managers and lack of underage sucess has not helped. But 4 problem areas have been massive issue since Boylan left.


1 Shakey defence , problems in the half back line 2 Problems at midfield with kickout strategy and breaking ball 3 Attack falling down between two stools eg hand passing and kicking game 4 Inconsistency.

1 The improvement is in the defence so far this year. Lavin McGill and Ryan have played as well as I have seen a Meath football back line in years. Meath in the past have produced more great defenders then probaly any other county other then kerry and especially great full back lines. We have been shakey at the back for a while now. Lavin McGill Ryan have been our best performancers this year , strongest line of the field. Thats the first time I have said that about Meath full back line in this decade.

Half back line has been an issue for Meath football for years. Our last effective centre back was Enda McManus in late 90s and we havent produced a top class wing back since O Connell in late 80s. Centre back has been problem area for two decades. Our half back line changes every year .

This year is the best Meath half back line I have seen in years. J McEntee Donal keoghan Niall Kane have been excellent. Good defenders , but particularly good attacking. McEntee has excelled at wing back after moving from the half forwards . And keoghan, who is the best Meath defender of his generation was wasted at corner back. Keoghan cud become a great Meath centre back up there with two greatest centres back in Meath football history eg Liam Harnan and Bertie Cunningham. And Niall kane has been the best wing back in Meath club football for years. Together it means Meaths weakest line for years is now probaly our strongest line now. And the half back line is the most important line in modern football eg McCarthy Sullivan McCaffrey , Harte Gormley Jordan, O Se Brosnan O Mahoney , Keegan Vaughan Boyle. You cannot be top team without a top class half backs.

At midfield we basically had a kickout that started in 30s and continued til the last few years. Drive the ball out to centre of midfield and a big man wins the ball. Under Rodgers we now seem to have a proper sucessful functioning kickout. While breaking ball with kane who is very good at breaking ball has improved. We always had breaking ball specialist in the past eg Kevin Foley Pat Reynolds jnr and Seamus Kenny. However we do lack top class midfielders with the best Meath midfielders of their generation missing for different reasons eg Conor Gillespie Conor Nash Shane O Rourke Harry Rooney and Ronan Jones.

We seem to be more direct this year. Nally the new coach is definitely having a positive impact. Since Boylan we have failed with our attack by falling between a hand passing game and a kicking game.And failing to deliver either sucessfully. A more direct style wud suit Meath football and this year we r seeing a more direct game then we have seen in a while.

The last issue which is still a big issue is inconsistency. What r the chances Meath lose to Armagh . If Meath play like we did last night we will beat Armagh and be hard to beat in the following games. But since Boylan has left inconsistency has bedevilled Meath football. A great performance is usually followed by poor performance. This is an area that needs to improve.

Last night again like Tyrone last year and Donegal in 2017 we went toe to toe with top div 1 team, but lost for the third time in injury time after been level after 70s mins in those 3 above games v top division 1 opposition. All these teams our provicial champions and have the know how and quality to win big matchs/ tight matchs. Meath dont have the know how. But the quality of football is improving based on good defence.


Performance v Donegal in 2017 and Tyrone last year was bit helter-skelter plenty of passion and determination , but a bit all over the place at times and Donegal and Tyrone had good patchs of play. Last night was a more improved performance were Meath controlled the game for 60 mins with smart direct good quality football. That is an improvement on Tyrone performance. 6 changes to the team that played Tyrone is a reason. It means we can leave Sullivan and Reilly our best two attackers on the bench. It would have been unthinkable in last 4 years to play Donegal in a game and leave both those guys on the bench.


Meath still have a long road to travel with this young team. And if we lose to Armagh the inconsistency problems still lingers. But if we do beat Armagh and Cork, which we cud win and we cud lose. Two victories there though cud lead to almost a promotion decider with kildare in game 5. Then we will see were we are since kildare gave us two heavy beatings in 2017. Have Meath closed the gap and have Meath made real progress?. Meath are improving. But its slow process and will have many ups and downs. But there are good signs evident . Hopefully if we can get promotion. That cud be a game game changer for Meath football. It is also very important McEntee stays for another couple of seasons. With some good young footballers coming thru. McEntee is the best manager have. For while there is some really good young footballers coming thru , there is a serious lack of quality sucessful Meath coachs or managers in Meath football. We havent had a Meath man managing another county since Coyle managed Monaghan and Hayes managed Carlow in mid 00s. That is an area that needs to really improve.

Bonniedog

How exactly is the offensive mark given?

Seemed to me that the last two which Dublin got and resulted in scores were given to players who had their back to ref and both hands on the ball and made no signal.

Is it something ref himself decides? If so that potentially stops an attacking movement for a free kick. Also clear that when a team establishes a comfortable lead that mark can be employed just to hold possession and run the clock down. Anyway, we only have to put up with it for another two months..

Fann Linn

Bonniedog wrote: »

How exactly is the offensive mark given?

Seemed to me that the last two which Dublin got and resulted in scores were given to players who had their back to ref and both hands on the ball and made no signal.

Is it something ref himself decides? If so that potentially stops an attacking movement for a free kick. Also clear that when a team establishes a comfortable lead that mark can be employed just to hold possession and run the clock down. Anyway, we only have to put up with it for another two months..

Confused myself also. There was another case last night were a Galway player caught the ball, called the mark and the ref over ruled him.

Bonniedog

Fann Linn wrote: »

Confused myself also. There was another case last night were a Galway playee caught the ball, called the mark and the ref over ruled him.

The refusal of the Galway mark seemingly was because ball was kicked from inside 40, but to be honest it is not something you would even be aware of. There were a few occasions on both sides when it appeared to me that getting a mark disrupted promising looking attacks. Mannion got one in first half that seemed to bewilder himself

OldMrBrennan83

Another case of a rule being loosely put in place without actually planning fully for it.

grbear

Great win for Roscommon today. Their match against Tyrone next week is now absolutely massive.

FrancieBrady

grbear wrote: »

Great win for Roscommon today. Their match against Tyrone next week is now absolutely massive.

Monaghan still unable to put two convincing results together.

Perifect

Bonniedog wrote: »

How exactly is the offensive mark given?

Seemed to me that the last two which Dublin got and resulted in scores were given to players who had their back to ref and both hands on the ball and made no signal.

Is it something ref himself decides? If so that potentially stops an attacking movement for a free kick. Also clear that when a team establishes a comfortable lead that mark can be employed just to hold possession and run the clock down. Anyway, we only have to put up with it for another two months..

It's like the mark from a kick out. The ref will blow the whistle and the player in possession has a choice to play on or stop for essentially a free kick. You can't get a mark from a sideline or free kick. Also, they only have 15 seconds to take their kick so they can't run too much of the clock down.

physioman

Jesus why have they that Sean cavanagh on again this year. Brutal analyst.

Perifect

Where's this McDonagh fella after coming from? What Mayo were looking for?

OldMrBrennan83

Perifect wrote: »

Where's this McDonagh fella after coming from? What Mayo were looking for?

Time for the rest of the country to climb back aboard.

Perifect

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

Time for the rest of the country to climb back aboard.

What?

Sonny678

Good match between Meath v Donegal. I have to say Donegal have really some great talent coming thru. And I can see Donegal winning an All Ireland at senior in next 3 to 4 years. Some really classly skilful talented young footballers. And also great GAA folk , and alway very charming and very friendly people when visit the county.

But just some Interesting stats from the weekend. Both teams had inexperienced and young teams. But in many ways Meath were just as inexperienced. I think everyone knows how inexperienced and young Donegal were but I doubt people realise how inexperienced and young Meath were.


9 of the Donegal players who played at the weekend are the under the age of 22. 7 of Meath of the Meath players who played at the weekend were under the age of 23. Meath had 5 under 21 players playing at the weekend.

1 of the Donegal starting 15 was not on the Donegal senior panel last year. 5 of the Meath players who started were not on the Meath senior panel last year.

4 of the Donegal players who played at the weekend were not on Donegal panel last year. 7 of Meath players who played at the weekend were not on the Meath panel last year.

17 of the Donegal players who played at the weekend have Ulster senior medal. 1 of the Meath players who played at weekend have leinster senior medal.

Everyone knows Donegal had a young inexperienced team at weekend. But Meath also had young inexperienced team also.

cms88

Once again they spend more time on a game that was on at least 2 if not 3 times, Dublin Galway, while only glossing over the other games.

Can never understand that

Nidgeweasel

Sean Cavanagh is dire.

GAA Beo

cms88 wrote: »

Once again they spend more time on a game that was on at least 2 if not 3 times, Dublin Galway, while only glossing over the other games.

Can never understand that

No point watching anymore they didn't even do analysis on Cavan Kerry or Roscommon Monaghan, if you aren't Dublin forget it, although Cavanagh seems to be able to mention Tyrone into every 2nd sentence. And their non coverage of everything outside Division 1 just shows why the smaller counties are against a tiered championship. Would be like the Joe McDonagh cup, something else they don't recognise the existence of.