Championship and Covid

CBear1993

Dublin and other counties have been doing midweek games along with Friday and saturdays for years. Even some league games be before 12pm on a Sunday morning. Seems to be no issue?

I think if there was a poll carried out you’d find majority of players wouldn’t care if they never saw a Sunday game again

CrabRevolution

CBear1993 wrote: »

Dublin and other counties have been doing midweek games along with Friday and saturdays for years. Even some league games be before 12pm on a Sunday morning. Seems to be no issue?

I think if there was a poll carried out you’d find majority of players wouldn’t care if they never saw a Sunday game again

That's my experience too. It's gotten to the point where most players I know would think "If saturday is free, why do we bother playing sunday games at all?".

In Meath you'll often see fixtures released and then rereleased a day or two later with games moved back from sunday to thursday/friday/saturday at the clubs request. One club seems to always get a thursday/friday evening championship game and it's seen as favourable treatment by the county board

On the point above about small clubs needing sunday games; if numbers are so thin on the ground that a light friday session before a match is what makes or breaks your season then you've far bigger issues than what day games are held.

TCDStudent1

CBear1993 wrote: »

Dublin and other counties have been doing midweek games along with Friday and saturdays for years. Even some league games be before 12pm on a Sunday morning. Seems to be no issue?

I think if there was a poll carried out you’d find majority of players wouldn’t care if they never saw a Sunday game again

And I agree that it works to a point. However, I do not think NO Sunday games would work. Particularly for smaller clubs.

mountgomery burns

In smaller counties, the boards can be heavily reliant on a small number of venues.

Midweek can be awkward for lads in college and commuting. Also plenty of lads in college or otherwise could be working earlier on Saturdays. I know in Waterford they are heavily dependent on Fraher Field, so realistically how many games can you have there on a Saturday?

And I think that's going to be even more so the case this year to be honest given grounds will have to have different points of entry, and also be able to manage the limitation on spectators which is very difficult to do in an open field.

Hulk Hands

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2020/0610/1146554-gaa-may-speed-up-announcement-of-2020-championship/

The good news of last week starting to subside a little reading this. An utterly bizarre desire to get the league finished first before the championship.

Why is the league a priority at all over Championship? December - Feb are the coldest & wettest months we have. Get a straight knockout championship ran off from mid October & November while we hang on to whatever's left of the weather and not have championship hanging over players head as we go into and past Christmas. The prospect of attending Championship games in the misery of Jan hardly appeals either.

Run the couple of league games left off in late Jan if needed before we start proper again.

TCDStudent1

Hulk Hands wrote: »

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2020/0610/1146554-gaa-may-speed-up-announcement-of-2020-championship/

The good news of last week starting to subside a little reading this. An utterly bizarre desire to get the league finished first before the championship.

Why is the league a priority at all over Championship? December - Feb are the coldest & wettest months we have. Get a straight knockout championship ran off from mid October & November while we hang on to whatever's left of the weather and not have championship hanging over players head as we go into and past Christmas. The prospect of attending Championship games in the misery of Jan hardly appeals either.

Run the couple of league games left off in late Jan if needed before we start proper again.

There's a big part of me that wants to see the league finished rather than a championship. Maybe I am biassed because Galway had been performing well. However, I think I would prefer to see Galway play Mayo & Dublin in concluding rounds of league than Galway be drawn against a Waterford or Limerick in an open draw championship. I'd prefer the more 'equal' matches in the league than the mismatches that a championship would inevitably bring. On the other hand, I think an AI final in Croke Park under lights at end of Nov / early Dec could be something special (if there can be a crowd).



Another argument for finishing the league is that teams will not go in cold into championship. They will organise challenges or A v B games. If they do this, would you be as well of just to use the 2 last league rounds as their preparation?


The article states: "However, many county boards are expecting pressure to come from inter-county managers looking for access to their players for training, which could prove problematic for clubs still involved in their respective championships."

Can definitely see that being an issue. For example, it means that the players who get to a county final with their club are at a disadvantage when it comes to inter-county training.

mountgomery burns

Not sure if that's inferring Galway v Waterford would be a mismatch but anyway...

Any County that would stand over league at the expense of championship is showing a serious lack of ambition. Cannot see the league being played for the remainder of the year. Better off null and void it at this stage, what harm at the end of the day.

Any championship started this year should be finished this year if at all possible.

TCDStudent1

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Not sure if that's inferring Galway v Waterford would be a mismatch but anyway...

Any County that would stand over league at the expense of championship is showing a serious lack of ambition. Cannot see the league being played for the remainder of the year. Better off null and void it at this stage, what harm at the end of the day.

Any championship started this year should be finished this year if at all possible.

Was referring to football :) In the same way, I dont want to see Dublin hammering Longford etc.

mountgomery burns

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Was referring to football :) In the same way, I dont want to see Dublin hammering Longford etc.

How dare you!!!...no probably fair comment in that case haha.

CrabRevolution

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Not sure if that's inferring Galway v Waterford would be a mismatch but anyway...

Any County that would stand over league at the expense of championship is showing a serious lack of ambition. Cannot see the league being played for the remainder of the year. Better off null and void it at this stage, what harm at the end of the day.

Any championship started this year should be finished this year if at all possible.

Playing the rest of the league is the most fair solution. Calling it void without at least making an effort to complete it is a bit of an insult to the efforts the counties but in this year. Kerry and Antrim were getting ready to play the Div 2A final with a chance to play with the big teams next year in Division 1, it'd be utterly galling to cancel it now and have the 2 of them in divison 2A again next year.

If there's no time for the league to be finished so be it, but cancelling it now would be a terrible idea.

xredmanlfcx

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

While I understand the point you are making, there is a difficulty with this. A lot of rural clubs have to deal with players not being available for training during the week (working in Dublin, away in college etc.). Therefore, the only opportunity to have them train is at the weekend. By having a Sunday game, it means you can at least have them part of light training on Friday evening. A Saturday game rules out Friday training. And this makes a difference, particularly for smaller clubs who struggle for numbers. If players are constantly seeing low numbers at training, it saps morale. You also have the problem of these away based players having to rush home on a Friday evening to be there in time for a match which is hardly ideal. With training, there can be a bit more leeway given.



I think a mixture of Friday, Saturday & Sunday games is the best approach.

I agree with the first paragraph.

With the second paragraph, you only mean a mix of days just during the Covid-19, yes? Otherwise, the paragraphs contradict each other.

TCDStudent1

xredmanlfcx wrote: »

I agree with the first paragraph.

With the second paragraph, you only mean a mix of days just during the Covid-19, yes? Otherwise, the paragraphs contradict each other.

The point I was trying to make is that it's hard for smaller clubs to accommodate Friday evening matches all the time. I think it is reasonable to have some on Friday evenings. As the previous poster said, it allows lads to have the weekend etc. However, Friday evening matches do not fit into everyone's schedule (e.g. people working in Dublin who have a distance to travel home after work). I believe the best solution is to have a balance by mixing it up.

BonnieSituation

GAA looking to speed up the calendar:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2020/0610/1146554-gaa-may-speed-up-announcement-of-2020-championship/

Of course though...

From there it would be straight to championship action and, while provisionally agreed to be a straight knockout format, there is still some hope that a backdoor could be offered to counties, depending on a number of factors, including how the country is faring in the fight against the pandemic.

If that was the case, there is a strong chance the 2020 All-Ireland semi-finals and finals could spill over to early 2021.

Yep, backdoors still on the cards.

threeball

The league outweighs championship importance right now. Counties that worked hard for promotion are entitled to see that through. Being confined to another year in a lower division just because fans want to a few middling championship games played off in December makes no sense. Times that performed poorly deserve to get relegated, this shouldn't be used as a loophole to escape.

mountgomery burns

Ah cmon the league is never more important that championship ffs. Ask the players which they'd prefer, regardless of the time of year and they'll tell you.

Not to mention plenty of counties interest in the league is already over. Can't believe this is even an idea to be honest.

Always_Running

Sounds like the league or at least round 6 will be played before the championship starts.

Round six of the Allianz football league is provisionally being fixed to reopen the GAA inter-county season on the weekend of October 17.

However, it is undecided when to play the final round.

The final round would only feature a small number of games with anything at stake, with one proposal this week at a meeting between the GAA and county boards to fix games either in a gap week during the provisional championships or between the provincials and the All-Ireland series.

manofwisdom

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Ah cmon the league is never more important that championship ffs. Ask the players which they'd prefer, regardless of the time of year and they'll tell you.

Not to mention plenty of counties interest in the league is already over. Can't believe this is even an idea to be honest.

Plenty a bit of exaggeration. Meath will be one of the few that won't be interested to restart the league as it might mean they will get another year in Div 1. However a few competitive league games under their belt would be better preparation for the championship than a glut of challenges.

The majority of counties have either a league title to fight for, relegation to avoid or promotion to gain once it re-starts. Only 2 remaining games to be played would be more sensible to first finish out that competition than have a situation whereby a second wave comes this winter (hopefully not) and the GAA are left with two unfinished competitions.

mountgomery burns

You could finish the league in January if required and scrap the finals. The league is a warm up competition for championship, we're talking about an unprecedented situation with a very limited time frame to play games. Don't understand how the league could take priority in this instance, regardless of how many games have been played.

arctictree

Can anyone explain why the GAA are not allowing 15 players to train on June 29th as per Government guidelines?

CrabRevolution

mountgomery burns wrote: »

You could finish the league in January if required and scrap the finals. The league is a warm up competition for championship, we're talking about an unprecedented situation with a very limited time frame to play games. Don't understand how the league could take priority in this instance, regardless of how many games have been played.

Under the proposal to play round 6 described above, the league still is being used as a warmup for the championship.

mountgomery burns

So clubs championships are to be run on a condensed basis to facilitate a warm-up game for the inter county championships?

Bear in mind this is all very much football focused, there's still 3 rounds of the Division 1 hurling league to be played!!

TCDStudent1

mountgomery burns wrote: »

So clubs championships are to be run on a condensed basis to facilitate a warm-up game for the inter county championships?

Bear in mind this is all very much football focused, there's still 3 rounds of the Division 1 hurling league to be played!!

And I think that's a big problem, with or without leagues. Some counties will be completing their club championship very close to the start of the inter county championship. This means counties will have to plan without some of their players. Admittedly, this is quite familiar territory, e.g. Corofin in Galway. However, it is still not ideal.



I have also read that some counties intend to run both a league & championship for clubs which I cannot understand. There isnt enough time!!!!

dundalkfc10

arctictree wrote: »

Can anyone explain why the GAA are not allowing 15 players to train on June 29th as per Government guidelines?

Clubs are doing it anyway, so who cares

arctictree

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Clubs are doing it anyway, so who cares

Our club just sent around guidelines that only 10 allowed per training session. I have about 14 kids on the panel I train. I wont be sending any home, that's for sure.

ja_

arctictree wrote: »

Can anyone explain why the GAA are not allowing 15 players to train on June 29th as per Government guidelines?

10 of each age group so 10 15 year olds 10 14 year olds etc. it's going to be an issue for clubs with one pitch if they police it which they probably won't. ill be training all my team

castletownman

I don't know if many of ye saw the storm potentially going to brew in Wexford that cropped up on Twitter last night. So our county chairman took to one of the national papers the other day in a self-promotion piece to show how proactive Wexford are in being one of only three counties to formulate a restart plan for the club championships.

The only thing is, none of the clubs were consulted about it, and what has happened is that they reduced the club championship window (that the GAA themselves devised) by three weeks, seemingly so the county hurlers in particular can get the best preparation time for their own restart.

There was a video conference held for all clubs whereby no vote was held over the new championship format, and instead the clubs were essentially told 'this is what ye are doing. End of discussion'. No delegates were allowed to question the decision, and instead there appeared to 'plants' who were only allowed speak to proclaim how great a job the chairman is doing.

So a disgruntled club player sent an anonymous letter to the county board outlining the above in better language than myself, with the CPA getting on board and one of the Wexford online news outlets picking up the story too. In his letter titled 'Wexford Club Players Given Two Fingered Salute by County Board Officials', he also mentioned how clubs are obligated to sell model county tickets to raise money for the county board, even though their own season has been cut short to accommodate Davy and the boys.

I really hope it snowballs into something substantial (as callow as it sounds), as our chairman has been very Trumpian in his leadership since he took office. From day one, he installed a blanket ban on local media attending county board meetings so they can basically drip-feed the information they want known, and actually branded the local media as 'fake news' in his very first opening address. Yet, he has no qualms of going to the national press any chance he gets to tell the country how great Wexford are doing in terms of getting finance on board etc. The club players have drawn the short straw long enough- their summer activity consist of an All-County League in both codes but, with no real bearing on championship seeding or anything, there are weekly walk-overs and some high-profile clubs don't even bothering entering the damn thing. It's all messy.

TCDStudent1

castletownman wrote: »

I don't know if many of ye saw the storm potentially going to brew in Wexford that cropped up on Twitter last night. So our county chairman took to one of the national papers the other day in a self-promotion piece to show how proactive Wexford are in being one of only three counties to formulate a restart plan for the club championships.

The only thing is, none of the clubs were consulted about it, and what has happened is that they reduced the club championship window (that the GAA themselves devised) by three weeks, seemingly so the county hurlers in particular can get the best preparation time for their own restart.

There was a video conference held for all clubs whereby no vote was held over the new championship format, and instead the clubs were essentially told 'this is what ye are doing. End of discussion'. No delegates were allowed to question the decision, and instead there appeared to 'plants' who were only allowed speak to proclaim how great a job the chairman is doing.

So a disgruntled club player sent an anonymous letter to the county board outlining the above in better language than myself, with the CPA getting on board and one of the Wexford online news outlets picking up the story too. In his letter titled 'Wexford Club Players Given Two Fingered Salute by County Board Officials', he also mentioned how clubs are obligated to sell model county tickets to raise money for the county board, even though their own season has been cut short to accommodate Davy and the boys.

I really hope it snowballs into something substantial (as callow as it sounds), as our chairman has been very Trumpian in his leadership since he took office. From day one, he installed a blanket ban on local media attending county board meetings so they can basically drip-feed the information they want known, and actually branded the local media as 'fake news' in his very first opening address. Yet, he has no qualms of going to the national press any chance he gets to tell the country how great Wexford are doing in terms of getting finance on board etc. The club players have drawn the short straw long enough- their summer activity consist of an All-County League in both codes but, with no real bearing on championship seeding or anything, there are weekly walk-overs and some high-profile clubs don't even bothering entering the damn thing. It's all messy.

They talked a little about the Wexford proposal on the GAA hour. The schedule sounded pretty intense.

PTH2009

very much welcome any sort of IC championship for 2020. Look it will be different and more of a feeling of a league match given the time of year it could be held but it will be nice to have after all this ****e

I imagine only a few weeks rest after the championship and then its onto 2021 prep

Cant see any players/managers wanting to end there IC careers/tenures in 2020 under the circumstances. Could be wrong in saying that

This is a time for clubs to stand up and set a marker for the future. This is bigger than billy big nuts bringing the family to one game a year. The GAA at a local level is the life of the country regardless of what the accountants in Croke Park think.

kksaints

castletownman wrote: »

I don't know if many of ye saw the storm potentially going to brew in Wexford that cropped up on Twitter last night. So our county chairman took to one of the national papers the other day in a self-promotion piece to show how proactive Wexford are in being one of only three counties to formulate a restart plan for the club championships.

The only thing is, none of the clubs were consulted about it, and what has happened is that they reduced the club championship window (that the GAA themselves devised) by three weeks, seemingly so the county hurlers in particular can get the best preparation time for their own restart.

There was a video conference held for all clubs whereby no vote was held over the new championship format, and instead the clubs were essentially told 'this is what ye are doing. End of discussion'. No delegates were allowed to question the decision, and instead there appeared to 'plants' who were only allowed speak to proclaim how great a job the chairman is doing.

So a disgruntled club player sent an anonymous letter to the county board outlining the above in better language than myself, with the CPA getting on board and one of the Wexford online news outlets picking up the story too. In his letter titled 'Wexford Club Players Given Two Fingered Salute by County Board Officials', he also mentioned how clubs are obligated to sell model county tickets to raise money for the county board, even though their own season has been cut short to accommodate Davy and the boys.

I really hope it snowballs into something substantial (as callow as it sounds), as our chairman has been very Trumpian in his leadership since he took office. From day one, he installed a blanket ban on local media attending county board meetings so they can basically drip-feed the information they want known, and actually branded the local media as 'fake news' in his very first opening address. Yet, he has no qualms of going to the national press any chance he gets to tell the country how great Wexford are doing in terms of getting finance on board etc. The club players have drawn the short straw long enough- their summer activity consist of an All-County League in both codes but, with no real bearing on championship seeding or anything, there are weekly walk-overs and some high-profile clubs don't even bothering entering the damn thing. It's all messy.

The Wexford case is interesting for a few reasons. One is that in some ways its possibly better to try and run your club championship off as quickly as possible and having a few weeks to spare in case a team needs to quarantine so having a spare week or two at the end of the club window may be an advantage.

However, it looks very obvious that this is more of a case to run off the club championship as quickly as possible to give the county panel more time to train together which would be a mistake imo but would Wexford people really care about the club championship if it increases their chances of winning the All-Ireland, probably not.