The 2024 All Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup)

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082490#Comment_122082490

Does anyone know the draw for the semi finals? Or is that yet to happen?

Excuse me if that's an ignorant question.

Just wondering if Dublin and Kerry are more likely to meet in Semis or Final.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082609#Comment_122082609

Not just that, but it goes back to when the draws for the League games and the Provincial championship were made in December 2023. That gave the counties the opportunity to plan where they would finish in the League, to avoid damaging their chances in the Provincials. But even in the Provincials it is obvious that Derry and Monaghan decided that getting a longer rest would be a better option than battling for Seed 1 and 2.

The only surprise is that Mayo did not take it easy against Roscommon. Dublin and Kerry don't have that luxury, because they have no serious opposition in Leinster and Munster. There would be a scandal if they took the course that the Mayo and Galway players are planning, and managed to lose to Louth and Clare. But how Mayo and Galway are both going to arrange to lose is a bit of a conundrum.

None of this is serious, just a riposte against the nonsense.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082703#Comment_122082703

Semi-Finals
13-14.07.2024 (Sat/Sun)
The four quarter-final winners shall play against each other in the Semi-Final based on a
draw, subject to the avoidance of repeat pairings from the championship, where possible.

Final
28.07.2024 (Sun) | (Replay: 10.08.2024 (Sat))
The winners of the All-Ireland Semi-Finals shall meet in the All-Ireland Final.
Venues Venues for the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final shall be determined by the
Central Competitions Control Committee.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082726#Comment_122082726

Thanks.

So it's not decided yet.

pjohnson

The looser of Connacht gets themselves in a better position to go further than the winner. Shouldn't be done till after all seedings are final..

starlit

Have they not done the draw yet? I thought it was to be today?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082770#Comment_122082770

The Connacht champions will surely finish ahead of Westmeath.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082155#Comment_122082155

Paidi O'Sé in his book really showed how handy Kerry had it. Most of the time it was peak for Cork and Dublin. Roscommon were a bit awkward at one stage for them. But mostly could winter well as much as he liked. Then started do training later on to "tune in".

Today's championship is much better than it once was compared to that. But there is still a lot of fluff until the business end "after the provincials". Where it is the league in all but name, with a div2/3 team thrown in to make up the numbers.

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082155#Comment_122082155

At least Sligo got to a semi final though. Thats unlikely to happen again any time soon even if they won Connacht.

Always_Running

For the All Ireland championship I'm think the last four could be Dublin,Kerry,Donegal,Derry and one of the latter two could reach the final if Kerry and Dublin are paired together in the semi final.

Will be plenty tipping Kildare to win the Tailteann Cup but in their current state of mind it's unlikely. Down or Sligo I'd fancy more to win that competition.

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082478#Comment_122082478

Re the Connacht final, neither side will go hell for leather. Both Galway and Mayo have ticked the Connacht title box numerous times in recent years and for both its AI or nothing. McStay and Joyce would gladly sacrifice a Connacht title for an easier route to an AI final.

So neither will be bothered about winning, its going to be low intensity with both sides minding themselves, especially given the farcically easy championships Kerry and Dublin will have had. It would be madness for Galway or Mayo to exert themselves in this game and if they had any sense they wouldn't.

dxhound2005

Pile on the money on a draw with the bookies 13/2. It is the only logical outcome. And see if they will offer odds on 10 penalty misses or more.

Sligo are 11/2 for the Tailteann, good money to be made there as well.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122083622#Comment_122083622

Re the Connacht final, neither side will go hell for leather. Both Galway and Mayo have ticked the Connacht title box numerous times in recent years and for both its AI or nothing. McStay and Joyce would gladly sacrifice a Connacht title for an easier route to an AI final.

I disagree .

Does losing it actually give anyone a easier route?

Are the likes of Mayo or Galway so scared of having to play Derry plus Armagh or Donegal that they are willing to not win a Connacht title and face Dublin instead?

Think about it, it's ludicrous.

McStay hasn't won a Connacht title with Mayo as manager, many Mayo players have not won one.

Do you think they would pass up on the chance just to get into a different group.

If it were Cork and Kerry do you think people would be suggesting that either not be interested in winning a Munster title?

Would they f**k

threeball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122081662#Comment_122081662

Shows how ridiculous it is, doing a draw for a group before the games are even played. How can you expect teams to not look at that and then decide whether their next game is worth winning. Even if a manager is all in, some players will check out psychologically. Everything the GAA do seems farcical sometimes.

threeball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122083622#Comment_122083622

I'm not sure Joyce would. He has an irrational hatred of Mayo and will want to win at all costs. His players, not so much.

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122083814#Comment_122083814

Kerry have no rival in Munster and have an easy draw should they win, so moot point. They will win Munster in 2nd gear. Neither Kerry or Dublin will face a division 1 team until the group stage and even then Kerry will only face one Division 1 team before advancing.

If Mayo win Connacht they are potentially facing a group with two other Division 1 teams if Armagh lose Ulster final.

That will be a total of 4 Division 1 teams Mayo will face. In a squad of limited depth and frequent injuries thats a big ask. At this level its about player management.

If Mayo go all out for a Connacht title, they might as well say goodbye to an AI. McStay is not stupid, he knows the limitations of his squad. Joyce would be the same.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122084185#Comment_122084185

Firstly I don't think Mayo are winning an All Ireland full stop.

But think about it this way, what group have Mayo and Galway a better chance of winning and getting straight into a quarter final and thus having a platform to go deeper in the championship.

In reality Mayo or Galway are going to lose to Dublin in the championship 9 times out of 10.

So do you intentionally lose the Connacht final and put all your focus on one game against Dublin that you are likely to lose anyway ?

Mayo or Galway v Derry, Armagh or Donegal is a far more even contest.

Mayo or Galways chances of beating them are much greater than beating Dublin

Plus Derry/Donegal/Armagh are likely to take points off each other, Dublin on the other hand are not losing to Roscommon or Cavan.

The goal for Mayo and Galway should be to win their group and get straight to the quarter finals, that gives them a better platform to go a step further, and that's easier to achieve in a group without Dublin than in a group with Dublin.

MacDanger

I'd agree with Fr Tod here, both sides will want to win.

Apart from the feel good factor of being Connacht champions, if you win, you have a better chance of topping the group than if you lose (even though the winner will have a harder group overall).

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122084246#Comment_122084246

Mayo haven't a hope of winning an AI this year, particularly with the uneven championship. If they win Connacht, its a group with either Derry/Donegal or Derry/Armagh, either way a very tough group, where there's a good chance they come third or else come first/second but only after giving it their all in two tough games. So that would be three tough games within a few weeks, which for this Mayo team is impossible.

Mayo's best hope is to manage their players, reach a quarter final and peak then. That's unlikely as this group are prone to tiredness and injury with little depth.

On the face of it, the Dublin group looks slightly easier, though you can never write off Roscommon, or Cavan for that matter. They'd have a better chance of coming second though with not so many tough games, and then hope they reach a QF and peak.

Either way its a big ask, but I know for certain Mayo are not bothered about winning Connacht. The provincial championships are essentially dead, the group stage draw this year beforehand was probably the final nail in the Connacht Championship. Both sides will be minding their players, and there's no way the likes of Walsh, Comer or Conroy will be risked in any way and a few on the Mayo side too. At most they'll be given a short run out.

dxhound2005

I say give it a go (Mayo). They engineered a Seed 3 position last year, and that did not work out. It is only the second year of the arrangement, so expirement with getting Seed 1. Next year try for Seed 2.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122083006#Comment_122083006

There's more than a hint of irony about a Dublin supporter telling any other county from any other era about how " handy" they have it.

Trampas

why don’t they run all the provincials finals over the same weekend to give teams the a same breaks for the rest of the championship. Where Munster and Connaught get an extra week for same number of games

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122086174#Comment_122086174

Because the organization of the provincial championships are the domain of the provincial councils.

They organize the schedule of their championship and as long as it is done by some date determined by the CCCE or whatever they can take as short or as long as they like.

It's always been that way, going back to at least the early 2000s, and probably much earlier the Munster final was always the first week of July, the Leinster one not until the third week of July.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122075559#Comment_122075559

The current seeding in Munster was mainly driven by Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. A fairer system would be seeding based on league. 3 and 4 drawn against 5 and 6 in the quarter-finals. 1 and 2 drawn against the the winners in the semi-finals.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122079751#Comment_122079751

Sligo beat London and New York last year to be Seed 2 above league champions Mayo who were seed 3! There's an argument for provincial winners only qualifying, with the remainder based on the league. If the GAA want to maintain provincial runners-up as well, they should at least be seeded on league placing.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122081517#Comment_122081517

There are two possible provincial runners-up that Seeds 4 will fancy there chances of getting through. Seed 4 Cork finished second and Seed 2 Louth finished 4th last year. Seed 4 Donegal finished 2nd last year and Seed 2 Clare finished 4th.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122081598#Comment_122081598

It is a very balanced draw. Helped by all being seeded based on the league.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122082685#Comment_122082685

Fully agree. The provincial championship draws could be after the league, using league placing for seeding.

The All-Ireland group stage draw then should be after the provincial finals.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122086192#Comment_122086192

The Provincial council thing is only part of the issue, the two weekends is as much because RTÉ cover all provincial finals. People will be interested enough in the Connacht and Ulster finals, not least because they determine who will be in which group.

legendary.xix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122086174#Comment_122086174

Leinster and Ulster have an extra round to fit in. Connacht and Munster have every second weekend from 1, 3 and 5. Ulster spread their 4 quarter-finals over two weekends. Leinster is 1, 2, 4 and 6. 6 weekends is about the minimum that Ulster can work with.