The Leinster Championship is dead.

gormdubhgorm

JeffKenna wrote: »

That's the case for any city in Ireland.

I am talking county wise not just city. And the vast populations and areas with no GAA are not the same as what Dublin has.Plus there is an anti GAA vibe from many in Dublin that you would not get elsewhere in Ireland maybe except in NI !

Dickie10

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Would you not think semi-pro would kill the game? Dublin would just hoover up all the best players.

I think you are half right though. Club football will be the future and inter county football will go the way of the Railway Cup. History.

It could be based on the AFL in Australia , regions have 1 or 2 pro clubs , dublin have 5 or 6. Prob just morket it right and the rest will follow Tv money etc, could start bringing in foregn players from irish america etc.

gormdubhgorm

Dickie10 wrote: »

It could be based on the AFL in Australia , regions have 1 or 2 pro clubs , dublin have 5 or 6. Prob just morket it right and the rest will follow Tv money etc, could start bringing in foregn players from irish america etc.

Jayus that is really thinking ahead! Wouldn't happen in the next 50 years i'd say.

GAA tweaks things rather than moves forwards trying to please everyone and no one. I think that is the main problem with the GAA it is too democratic for it's own good. So they make bits of changes here and there.

the kelt

Unless something is done i can see intercounty football going the way of the railway cup within my lifetime.

Theres an element amongst Dublin people that doesnt look at the bigger picture either. Many are just happy that they are winning and thats it, couldnt care about anything else. Which i can understand to be fair.

Not only in the other counties in Leinster are footballers disillusioned but also in Dublin itself. The senior panel is one team of c 30 players and thats it.

There are so many talented footballers in Dublin that will never see County football.

I can see Club football taking over. We all know of Dublin club teams and others around the country with some of the best footballers in the country playing with them, i mean the likes of Parnells brought it to the extreme.

In my opinion its not beyond the realms of possibility to see within my lifetime a semi pro Gaelic Football league being fought out between a number of super clubs around the country.

Its a case of demand and supply, the sheer size of some of these clubs and financial backing just requires an ambition to break away. Think about it.

Twelve super clubs around the country hoovering up the talent thats fed up getting walloped by a Dublin juggernaut every year with a semi pro set up playing every week or so against teams of a similar level. All it needs is a TV sponsor and someone with a vision to bring it about.

I know which id prefer to watch, Dublin hammering a team by twenty points in a half empty croke park or 2 evenly match superclubs with some of the best talent in the country on both sides!

By what they have done the GAA imho have only sped up this proccess.

Did you smash it

If the game goes pro it’ll be a league of the best players in the country. The cream of county players. It won’t involve club standard players.

moycullen14

Think this is going down a very interesting route. The problem with the football championship is structural. You cannot have a competition where one of the teams (Leitrim) has a population/catchment of 32,000 and another has 1.35M.

The problem with Dublin (and to some extent it's shared with Leinster in Rugby) is that if they ever got their act together, they would be unstoppable. They have and they are.

All the talk of financial doping, grants, etc. is ignoring the elephant in the room - Dublin is too big and too different from every other county in the country.
Unless you 'hobble' Dublin, this will continue and probably get worse.

It's worth looking at rugby because they had to change their competitive units with the onset of professionalism.

Rugby went down the fusion route - merging clubs into provinces. Maybe the GAA needs to go down the fission route - moving from county to club.

One thing for sure, the new unit - whatever it is - must exist and be real. Makey-uppy units won't work.

Think there is something in the club route. At least it would allow Leitrim to compete with Dublin.

LeBash

The problem with Leinster isn't Dublin, its the rest.

Dublin have won 5 all Ireland but they didn't absolutely run away with the finals.

Anything that is being said about Dublin could be said about Kerry as well, Tyrone at a time, etc, etc.

Nothing in life will be totally fair but nobody was complaining in Leinster in the 90s when Meath were absolutely knocking 7 shades out of Dublin physically and on the score board.

Rugby is challenging for players as a professional sport and Dublin has 4 soccer teams in the League of Ireland, all who are investing in youth and paying players. The pool of players will shrink and the coaching talent will move for money in time.

robbiezero

LeBash wrote: »

The problem with Leinster isn't Dublin, its the rest.

Dublin have won 5 all Ireland but they didn't absolutely run away with the finals.

Anything that is being said about Dublin could be said about Kerry as well, Tyrone at a time, etc, etc.

Nothing in life will be totally fair but nobody was complaining in Leinster in the 90s when Meath were absolutely knocking 7 shades out of Dublin physically and on the score board.

Rugby is challenging for players as a professional sport and Dublin has 4 soccer teams in the League of Ireland, all who are investing in youth and paying players. The pool of players will shrink and the coaching talent will move for money in time.

Dubs and Meath both won 4 Leinsters in the 90s

castletownman

robbiezero wrote: »

Dubs and Meath both won 4 Leinsters in the 90s

Imagine only winning four Leinster titles, one All-Ireland and appearing in two other All-Ireland finals in a decade.

Its a wonder Dublin football ever recovered at all.

Hammer Archer

LeBash wrote: »

Nothing in life will be totally fair but nobody was complaining in Leinster in the 90s when Meath were absolutely knocking 7 shades out of Dublin physically and on the score board.

I think you're misremembering the 1990s. Meath beat Dublin by 3 in 1990, by 1 in the four game saga in 1991, by 2 in 1996, 3 in 1997 (Dublin missed a last minute penalty) and by 5 in 1999.
Dublin beat Meath by 1 in 1993 & 1994 and by 10(!) in 1995. Even when Meath were at their strongest in the 1990s, matches against Dublin were generally close fought affairs. The only hammering was dished out by Dublin in 1995.
As mentioned, Meath and Dublin each won 4 Leinsters in the 90s.

Big Ears

robbiezero wrote: »

Dubs and Meath both won 4 Leinsters in the 90s

There's plenty in that post to dissect. Most of the things said about Dublin could not be said about Tyrone.
Tipp have more football All-Ireland's than Tyrone for God sake, and while Tyrone have won 7 Ulster titles in the last 20 years, that's nowhere close to 15 of 16.
The amount of finance Tyrone GAA receive is also not causing problems

It is simply deflection, and something Dublin GAA fans need to stop with tbh. As crazy as it sounds, Dublin fans more than anyone should be shouting from the rooftops to spread some of the funding they receive into other counties.
Of course it seems counterintuitive, but we've just had several pages of people discussing splitting Dublin or removing Inter-County as we know it altogether, and while it won't be tomorrow or the year after, the GAA will react if people stop going to games due to lack of competition.

The GAA need Intercounty to fund development, and if they can't make any money because Dublin are too strong, they'll take drastic action to rectify that if required.
It might be in 10, 15 or 20 years, but the greatest run a team has ever gone on will quite possibly end with them not existing anymore.

Removing funding will not hamper Dublin very much, but if spent correctly it could potentially bring on some others. Maybe it won't, and if it won't then changes will come anyway.
But if anyone wants to keep Dublin as one Intercounty unit, then defunding them is the only chance there is of that being possible.

jmayo

LeBash wrote: »

The problem with Leinster isn't Dublin, its the rest.

Dublin have won 5 all Ireland but they didn't absolutely run away with the finals.

I might get stick for this, but I am going to say it anyway.
The GAA hierarchy should get down on bended knee and thank Kerry, Donegal and most especially the major boxoffice draw that is Mayo for saving football for the last 10 odd years.
And yes Mayo is the biggest draw because they have great support and everyone is waiting to see what they bring to the party or as some have said how they manage to lose in new weird ways.

Without the challenge these teams brought to Dublin it would have turned the All Ireland into the farce that is Leinster.

the kelt

LeBash wrote: »

The problem with Leinster isn't Dublin, its the rest.

Dublin have won 5 all Ireland but they didn't absolutely run away with the finals.

Anything that is being said about Dublin could be said about Kerry as well, Tyrone at a time, etc, etc.

Nothing in life will be totally fair but nobody was complaining in Leinster in the 90s when Meath were absolutely knocking 7 shades out of Dublin physically and on the score board.

Rugby is challenging for players as a professional sport and Dublin has 4 soccer teams in the League of Ireland, all who are investing in youth and paying players. The pool of players will shrink and the coaching talent will move for money in time.

They didnt run away with Leinster finals either at the start of their 10 in a row. Funnily enough that same argument was being used at the time, its ok, its nothing to do with funding, only a kick of a ball between the teams at the start in Leinster, only beat Wexford by 3 points and Meath by 3 the following year.

The last 3 years its up to 18, 17 and 21 points.

The all ireland wont go the same way, sure they have been run close, yep only beat Kerry by 3 Mayo twice by a point which ahs now jumped to 6! Yep a replay with Kerry last time around but still end up winning by 6!

A pattern here possibly, first 3 leinster wins of the 10 in a row were by 3 points, 3 points and 7 points followed by a massacre after that.

But sure its grand, not running away with the Ai finals, well at least at the start, only 3 points and by 1 a few times after that but now jumping to 6.

I wonder whats coming next??

Scoundrel

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Amusing very selective! Meath a div 2 team nearly 2 decades! Kildare a yo yo team in NFL. Plus Kildare > underachievers in GAA pop. resources talent untapped.

It's the last 2 years I should think that's a good barometer of where a team is now and the league doesn't matter a ****e 2 Div 3 teams are provincial champions and the multi million euro Dubs don't even win it every year shows how little it matters.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

With some of the arguments here, I'm expecting people to tell me that PSG are just lucky to have a special golden generation who will soon fade away.

RoyalCelt

Bambi wrote: »

Ballymuns had a GAA team since the 60s or the 1890s if you count Kickhams as a Ballymun team back then, Clontarf since the 60s, Templogue (Now TSS) founded in the 60s or 70s. Whats interesting is theres swathes of "New Dublin" without GAA clubs while some traditional GAA areas have aging populations and no space for pitches so room for improvement in uptake

So what you're saying is with more investment there could be even more booming clubs in Dublin so they can get even better and beat meath by 30+ points instead. Can't wait!


Just to touch on other posts here:

I do actually agree that at this stage pulling the plug on dublin funding and diverting it elsewhere prob won't actually result in Dublin not winning leinster every year. It will probably allow teams to lose to dublin by under 10 points or the occasional narrow loss but that's about it.

It's been very frustrating watching the current situation unfold knowing a once epic province was dying a slow death. The frustrating thing is the nationwide coverage it now gets was nowhere to be seen a decade ago when real change could have happened before it's too late.

Nobody outside leinster cared until dublin starting winning the all Ireland every year. At the rate we're going the only way to make it competitive again is by making Dublin North and South while also investing massively into the development of GAA in other Leinster counties.

gormdubhgorm

the kelt wrote: »

Unless something is done i can see intercounty football going the way of the railway cup within my lifetime.

I believe this inevitable in 50 years time club football will be number one ahead of inter county. No bad thing in my view. It will be the next step in the evolution of the GAA.

Whether people like it or not Dublin's use of resources has brought Gaelic football on to a new level. Before Dublin wasted their resources and facilities they were one of the major underachievers in the GAA.

I remember my country cousins laughing at Dublin all mouth and no trousers. Never backed up the hype. Yet they claimed Dublin had this big population and played all their games at 'home' in CP.

The real question that has to be asked about Leinster how Meath and Kildare fell so far so fast. What happened them? Ok you can argue the Dubs dominated Leinster as Kerry have done in Munster - (Slighty less than Kerry over a 20 year period)

But what have Kildare and Meath done outside Leinster since the backdoor system?
Can you remember Meath or Kildare beating any teams in the backdoor system except teams that they should have?

Did the tactics Kildare used get the best of those crop of u21 and minor players they had?

Why has Meath fallen so fast since Sean Boylan left? Why are Meath so dependant on one club 'Ratoath' for the future of Meath football? Surely that says something went wrong somewhere?

Did you smash it

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I believe this inevitable in 50 years time club football will be number one ahead of inter county.

Why do you think that?

gormdubhgorm

Scoundrel wrote: »

It's the last 2 years I should think that's a good barometer of where a team is now and the league doesn't matter a ****e 2 Div 3 teams are provincial champions and the multi million euro Dubs don't even win it every year shows how little it matters.

Not true a real barometer of a teams cycle is 7/8 years. And the league does matter many teams treat it seriously. You are just being very selective in your cherry picking to suit an argument.

Meath have been in the doldrums for decades. Changing managers in hope rather than expectation. Kildare are a yo-yo county always struggled when they got to division 1. Not only that there is a real question about how inept tactics did not get the best out the Kildare talent coming through at minor and u21 level.

Ask yourself how have Meath and Kildare done outside Leinster since the backdoor system? Given Meath and Kildare's population and resources relative to other counties outside Leinster and excluding Dublin.

Ask yourself when examine Kildare and Meath's record in the backdoor system have they overachieved or underachieved?

An honest answer should give you an answer, as to a large part of the problem which has now happened in Leinster football.

Louth, Wicklow, Carlow were always also rans never really had a hope of winning anything except in the freak year of 2010 with Louth. Those counties never whinged in fact most would have focused on club football. Leinster inter county was a bit of a novelty. Wexford had a couple of years where Jason Ryan, a good manager galvanised a good set of players.

Micko gave Laois and Kildare a leg up as he was a celebrity manager and attracted players and hype. Plus he knew how to manage/motivate a team. What has happened them since?

Same thing happened with Westmeath and Paidi. What has happened them since?

Same thing happened with Tommy Lyons and Offaly he motivated the team hyped them up got them going. What has happened them since?

That shows to me getting a good manager and players is important regardless of facilities, funding and so on. The correct use of the tools available is crucial. The right people in charge.

Meath and Kildare have an awful lot to answer for as the counties have been clearly mismanaged. And they are underachieving which has been demonstrated not by 1/2 years but for decades since the introduction of the back door system.

gormdubhgorm

Did you smash it wrote: »

Why do you think that?

Because as clubs are much smaller entities (than counties) it gives more counties clubs a chance to be competitive. Love of the parish etc is still strong. The AI club championship is a great competition. And it was shown this year when the clubs were given a straight run at it (no inter county disruption) played in nice weather what a great competition it will become if let grow.

You only have to look at shocks in Leinster Rathnew beating Vincent's or Mullinaughta beating Kilmacud Crokes. It is GAA in it's purest form imo. Love of the parish and lads winning with fellas they grew up with since play school!

Did you smash it

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Because as clubs are much smaller entities (than counties) it gives more counties clubs a chance to be competitive. Love of the parish etc is still strong. The AI club championship is a great competition. And it was shown this year when the clubs were given a straight run at it (no inter county disruption) played in nice weather what a great competition it will become if let grow.

You only have to look at shocks in Leinster Rathnew beating Vincent's or Mullinaughta beating Kilmacud Crokes. It is GAA in it's purest form imo. Love of the parish and lads winning with fellas they grew up with since play school!

Ok. Personally I don’t see club growing bigger than county.

People will always want to see the best players in the country play with each other and compete against each other. Club doesn’t provide that.

gormdubhgorm

Did you smash it wrote: »

Ok. Personally I don’t see club growing bigger than county.

People will always want to see the best players in the country play with each other and compete against each other. Club doesn’t provide that.

it gives a much larger spread. The Dublin club championship is very competitive for instance with a lot of clubs in a chance of winning it.

The spread of inter county players in clubs all over the country gives clubs a chance of doing something on the day. Plus not only that the club is tremendously proud of their 'local star' the inter county player.

If clubs were let play instead of being messed around by inter county it would be a great competition. I always enjoy watching other counties championship finals. Seeing how the stars on either side perform. And looking out for fellas who I have not heard of who look handy.

Pure GAA.

Given Dublin's dominance of Leinster I can see many players from inter county not bothering with it. Playing with their clubs instead. Wicklow were a notorious county for it until Micko rounded them up. It will go the same with other counties. Would you be bothered? The club is where it is at the end of the day.

Scoundrel

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Not true a real barometer of a teams cycle is 7/8 years. And the league does matter many teams treat it seriously. You are just being very selective in your cherry picking to suit an argument.

Meath have been in the doldrums for decades. Changing managers in hope rather than expectation. Kildare are a yo-yo county always struggled when they got to division 1. Not only that there is a real question about how inept tactics did not get the best out the Kildare talent coming through at minor and u21 level.

Ask yourself how have Meath and Kildare done outside Leinster since the backdoor system? Given Meath and Kildare's population and resources relative to other counties outside Leinster and excluding Dublin.

Ask yourself when examine Kildare and Meath's record in the backdoor system have they overachieved or underachieved?

An honest answer should give you an answer, as to a large part of the problem which has now happened in Leinster football.

Louth, Wicklow, Carlow were always also rans never really had a hope of winning anything except in the freak year of 2010 with Louth. Those counties never whinged in fact most would have focused on club football. Leinster inter county was a bit of a novelty. Wexford had a couple of years where a good manager galvanised a good set of players.

Micko gave Laois and Kildare a leg up as he was a celebrity manager and attracted players and hype. Plus he knew how to manage/motivate a team. What has happened them since?

Same thing happened with Westmeath and Paidi. What has happened them since?

Same thing happened with Tommy Lyons and Offaly he motivated the team hyped them up got them going. What has happened them since?

That shows to me getting a good manager and players is important regardless of facilities, funding and so on. The correct use of the tools available is crucial. The right people in charge.

Meath and Kildare have an awful lot to answer for as the counties have been clearly mismanaged. And they are underachieving which has been demonstrated not by 1/2 years but for decades since the introduction of the back door system.

Sorry i'm not going to entertain this nonsense that it is all Kildare and Meaths fault yes mistakes have been made in both counties but the single biggest change since 2010 or so has been the emergence of the multi million euro Dublin behemoth funded by the GAA it is not an organic change it is one that is funded by and created by the GAA all Kildare Meath and the other Leinster counties are asking for is fairness and a level playing field yet we are continually denied that and worse still being blamed for it being so uneven.

And as for poor backdoor records Kildare were once kings of the backdoor ffs regularly getting to QFs and super 8s over the last 10 years and one semi final. Kildare lost the 2002 2003 and 2009 leinster finals narrowly Meath lost several Leinster finals in that period narrowly and robbed one disgraceful victory. Now ask yourself what has changed? Meath and Kildare are operating at roughly the same level as they were it's the multi million euro Dubs that has changed.

gormdubhgorm

Scoundrel wrote: »

Sorry i'm not going to entertain this nonsense that it is all Kildare and Meaths fault yes mistakes have been made in both counties but the single biggest change since 2010 or so has been the emergence of the multi million euro Dublin behemoth funded by the GAA it is not an organic change it is one that is funded by and created by the GAA all Kildare Meath and the other Leinster counties are asking for is fairness and a level playing field yet we are continually denied that and worse still being blamed for it being so uneven.

And as for poor backdoor records Kildare were once kings of the backdoor ffs regularly getting to QFs and super 8s over the last 10 years and one semi final. Kildare lost the 2002 2003 and 2009 leinster finals narrowly Meath lost several Leinster finals in that period narrowly and robbed one disgraceful victory. Now ask yourself what has changed? Meath and Kildare are operating at roughly the same level as they were it's the multi million euro Dubs that has changed.

But did Kildare beat anyone in the backdoor they were not supposed to beat? That is my point!

Plus the tactics Kildare used with the players they had were questionable. What happened those u21s and minors they had under used and hamstrung by limited tactics.

At best Kieran McGeeney only ever got Kildare fit, and did not do much with them at all. Who did Kildare beat that they were not supposed to? Where was the improvement?

Meath are dependant on one club team Ratoath for their young players who have only recently emerged what does that say? A well run club with good people and a plan a structure. What happened the rest of Meath club football?

The problem is Dublin got organised for a change and have learnt form Tyrone, Donegal, borrowed from basketball, rugby league and taken the game on to a new level. Meath and Kildare in contrast have gone backwards.

I remember watching a Kildare v Galway div 2 final and both managers ideas of 'tactics' was to funnel everyone back and rarely attack at all. No fast breaks or anything was awful to watch. Two teams hamstrung by limited managers use of very good players.

Sh1te managers and sh1te tactics that is what has changed in Meath and Kildare misuse of resources and talented players. As well as Dublin evolving the game to a different level through excellent use tactics, talent and resources.

Did you smash it

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

it gives a much larger spread. The Dublin club championship is very competitive for instance with a lot of clubs in a chance of winning it.

The spread of inter county players in clubs all over the country gives clubs a chance of doing something on the day. Plus not only that the club is tremendously proud of their 'local star' the inter county player.

If clubs were let play instead of being messed around by inter county it would be a great competition. I always enjoy watching other counties championship finals. Seeing how the stars on either side perform. And looking out for fellas who I have not heard of who look handy.

Pure GAA.

Given Dublin's dominance of Leinster I can see many players from inter county not bothering with it. Playing with their clubs instead. Wicklow were a notorious county for it until Micko rounded them up. It will go the same with other counties. Would you be bothered? The club is where it is at the end of the day.

I think you’ve been reading too many joe Brolly articles.

Intercounty is what attracts the crowds, the sponsorship and the tv deals.

People want to see jack mccaffrey play with diarmuid Connolly not with “some lad”

What you’re proposing could happen but there’s no evidence to support it.

Scoundrel

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

But did Kildare beat anyone in the backdoor they were not supposed to beat? That is my point!

Plus the tactics Kildare used with the players they had were questionable. What happened those u21s and minors they had under used and hamstrung by limited tactics.

At best Kieran McGeeney only ever got Kildare fit, and did not do much with them at all. Who did Kildare beat that they were not supposed to? Where was the improvement?

Meath are dependant on one club team Ratoath for their young players who have only recently emerged what does that say? A well run club with good people and a plan a structure. What happened the rest of Meath club football?

The problem is Dublin got organised for a change and have learnt form Tyrone, Donegal, borrowed from basketball, rugby league and taken the game on to a new level. Meath and Kildare in contrast have gone backwards.

I remember watching a Kildare v Galway div 2 final and both managers ideas of 'tactics' was to funnel everyone back and rarely attack at all. No fast breaks or anything was awful to watch. Two teams hamstrung by limited managers use of very good players.

Sh1te managers and sh1te tactics that is what has changed in Meath and Kildare misuse of resources and talented players. As well as Dublin evolving the game to a different level through excellent use tactics, talent and resources.

Resources my dear man is what this is all about and Dublin have far more of them than anyone else given to them the rest of the post is just a fancier rehashing of the old " the other teams just need to work harder" nonsense.

Did you smash it

Southampton is a far better ran club than Man Utd but Man utd finish further up the table. I wonder why.

There’s a lot of bull**** out there about the greatness of John Costello. Easy to run a profitable county board when multinationals are creaming themselves to offer you fat endorsement deals.

I just laugh at how people in the media buy into the nonsense at this stage.

jmayo

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

With some of the arguments here, I'm expecting people to tell me that PSG are just lucky to have a special golden generation who will soon fade away.

Always makes me laugh when you hear someone claim "money doesn't buy you success".

It is not always a guarantee, but it shure as hell does always seem to help a lot.
In soccer PSG, City, Blackburn, Chelsea, Real are all proof.
In Rugby Union Toulon, Saracens, Exeter.

All with massive investment and success.

Yeah yeah we know GAA is different.
Players are not bought and sold and they all still work.
They play where they were born.

And of course analysts, coaches, physios, psychologists, dieticians, strength and fitness coaches, rehabilitation, all work for free in GAA world.

It's a bit like how home venues aren't an advantage.

Tis a funny old world, the GAA it bucks all the normal trends.

corny

RoyalCelt wrote: »

I do actually agree that at this stage pulling the plug on dublin funding and diverting it elsewhere prob won't actually result in Dublin not winning leinster every year. It will probably allow teams to lose to dublin by under 10 points or the occasional narrow loss but that's about it.

Yeah the belief that the development money is a silver bullet is just silly imo. Dublin won the same amount of Leinster Minors as Kildare last decade. If the development money was THE factor we'd expect to see a similar return at minor. We won more minor titles in the eighties when we didn't have a penny to our name.;)

Dublin's dominance only becomes real when the young lads establish themselves in the club game and touch base with the inter county set up. Thats where they're learning to play the game better than everyone else, not when they're 9 years of age with tainted money. Thats why I have a problem with these muppets lazily citing this as some elixir.

I'm with you in that as things stand I don't think you can stop Dublin now at Leinster level and they're in danger of crushing the spirit nationally at this rate. We need a real debate about what can be done and to my mind we're not getting that. In this thread and in the media nationally the undertone that the GAA bought All Irelands for Dublin is real. They ignore the fact that promoting Gaelic games and getting kids to our game is ****ing good thing. This leads to a trenchant attitude amongst Dubs who just shrug their shoulders and say **** them.

The development budget will be redistributed but if thats the only measure, and we sit back and wait 10 years for Meath/Kildare to fight back... well enjoy the wait i say to anyone who believes it.

The Lost Sheep

jmayo wrote: »

Always makes me laugh when you hear someone claim "money doesn't buy you success".

It is not always a guarantee, but it shure as hell does always seem to help a lot.
In soccer PSG, City, Blackburn, Chelsea, Real are all proof.
In Rugby Union Toulon, Saracens, Exeter.

All with massive investment and success.

Yeah yeah we know GAA is different.
Players are not bought and sold and they all still work.
They play where they were born.

And of course analysts, coaches, physios, psychologists, dieticians, strength and fitness coaches, rehabilitation, all work for free in GAA world.

It's a bit like how home venues aren't an advantage.

Tis a funny old world, the GAA it bucks all the normal trends.

Exeter not really the same in rugby. Not really same as Sarries/Toulon at all. Look at their squad etc. But yes GAA is slightly different