How are 3 teams so dominant in inter county hurling over such a sustained period of t

wherearewe45 · 20-08-2018 10:14PM #1

Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork

Sorry if this has been discussed before but after the final yesterday I went looking up the roll of honor. Those 3 teams have won the vast vast majority of finals over the years. Limerick are fourth most successful in the country with 8 wins. You would imagine teams/counties would rise and fall but these 3 are so dominant throughout the history of the GAA.

I says · 20-08-2018 10:42PM

Because they are the best in it,and a system at a time when fewer matches would win you an all Ireland.
With the latest changes in the hurling scene with Galway into Leinster since 09 and the new league format for the provincial finals and AI series you will still have the big three winning it but I think a lot more teams can win it now with this format.
There is only a puck of the ball in it now between most teams in it now as a rising tide lifts all boats.
You could say the new modern era of hurling has started in the last ten years.

BloodyBill · 20-08-2018 10:59PM

Plus they are single sport counties more or less. Cork have half a million people. Tipp 150,000 but noted athletes always and great temperament. Kilkenny are well Kilkenny. When cricket was huge they were the best at that aswell. Limerick always had the rugby since the late 1800s and the hard luck stories and weight of Mick Mackey and the first superstar GAA team just was too much for so long. Everyone else like Wexford.. Clare and Waterford and Dublin...well more reasons or excuses I'm sure...Limericks 1 yesterday was worth some amount.

Motivator · 20-08-2018 11:04PM

I would love to see the great Waterford team of 2002 - 2007, the great Cork team of the early 2000s vs the Kilkenny team from 2006 - 2010 all playing each other now. Cork were an absolutely brilliant team to watch when they were in full flow. Fitness wise I’d say teams from that era would be blown out of it now. Probably only Cork were big into their fitness back then (nothing compared to now) but I think skill wise those three teams will never be surpassed. Those Waterford v Cork games from 2003 - 2007 were by far the best games I’ve ever seen and I don’t think I’ll see better than the 2004 Munster Final or the 2007 drawn All Ireland Quarter Final. They were epic games and it’s a pity those great teams and great players are just memories now. The game has evolved and we’ll never see players and characters like those from that era again.

In relation to periods of dominance, I don’t think we’re going to see one particular team take over and dominate like Kilkenny did or like Dublin are doing now in the football. Since 2013, the gap between Kilkenny and the rest began to shorten but it took a long time for it to end. Now, I believe we’ve the most competitive hurling Championship in my lifetime and it’s a real throwback to the mid 1990s. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Waterford, Clare or Wexford go very close next year. Kilkenny will be back challenging again, Tipperary will be back and of course Limerick, Cork and Galway will be fancying themselves again. This year will be very hard to surpass but I think 2019 whilst maybe it won’t be as exciting, it will be even more competitive. Realistically speaking, there’s probably no more than 3 points separating any of the 7 counties that can realistically win the All Ireland.

Credit to Limerick yesterday, they were more than deserving of their win. Thankfully nothing has been made of the Galway comeback in the media. I was hoping I wouldn’t be reading “Lucky Limerick hang on” etc. they were miles better than Galway yesterday but they caught Galway on an off day. It would have been some 70 mins if Galway were firing. It was a flat enough game for 65 minutes but I was delighted to see Limerick do it. Their win should inspire the other counties crying out for a bit of success. 2019 can’t come quick enough.

LoughNeagh2017 · 21-08-2018 04:57PM

Hurling isn't a sport that will grow on this island, all these football parishes won't start hurling clubs, why would you risk injuries? Hurling will never have strength in Ulster any time soon. I've only ever been to one hurling game in my life, Armagh v Roscommon in 2007, I've never seen my county play hurling. The only places where it seems to be growing is Derry city because I suppose people encourage the children to play the most "Irish" game, the Derry team have a few players from Derry city which is rare on the football side of things.

salmocab · 21-08-2018 05:02PM

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

Hurling isn't a sport that will grow on this island, all these football parishes won't start hurling clubs, why would you risk injuries? Hurling will never have strength in Ulster any time soon. I've only ever been to one hurling game in my life, Armagh v Roscommon in 2007, I've never seen my county play hurling. The only places where it seems to be growing is Derry city because I suppose people encourage the children to play the most "Irish" game, the Derry team have a few players from Derry city which is rare on the football side of things.

Your probably right but there are counties that can get up there, Wexford Dublin and Offaly seem like they could get to the top for various reasons, they all have hurling tradition of some description. Geographically it’s unlikely to spread much though.
Just to be clear when I say to the top I’m not suggesting winning AIs anytime soon but competing higher than they are and maybe eventually competing for AIs in real terms.

Davys Fits · 21-08-2018 05:07PM

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

Hurling isn't a sport that will grow on this island, all these football parishes won't start hurling clubs, why would you risk injuries? Hurling will never have strength in Ulster any time soon. I've only ever been to one hurling game in my life, Armagh v Roscommon in 2007, I've never seen my county play hurling. The only places where it seems to be growing is Derry city because I suppose people encourage the children to play the most "Irish" game, the Derry team have a few players from Derry city which is rare on the football side of things.

Interesting post. I always suspected that hurling would be a hard sell to ulster and connaught where football has bedded in. It certainly will take decades for that to change if ever. However Dublin and the greater Dublin counties is another story and there is huge potential here. Hurling spreads very slowly. I think the roll of honor proves that. But it is growing.

Powerhouse · 21-08-2018 05:13PM

I says wrote: »

Because they are the best in it,and a system at a time when fewer matches would win you an all Ireland.
With the latest changes in the hurling scene with Galway into Leinster since 09 and the new league format for the provincial finals and AI series you will still have the big three winning it but I think a lot more teams can win it now with this format.

It's funny that you mention the round robin as an advantage to counties which appear to be less strong naturally. In almost any sport it is traditionally argued that elongated campaigns militate against those teams and that knockout gives more chance of an upset. In hurling, in the long run, long campaigns should suit counties that, over the long run, produce more good hurlers. That would suggest that the new format should make it more difficult for teams outside the usual suspects to win.

There might be other reasons for expecting that into the future a lot more counties will win it but I would think the format is not one of them.

arctictree · 21-08-2018 05:14PM

Hurling in the greater Dublin region is growing well. Kildare and Meath are getting slowly more competitive and Wicklow should be back to 8 senior teams in a couple of years. Lots of work being done at juvenile level.

Heres Johnny · 21-08-2018 05:18PM

Just had a quick look there the 3 counties have won 93 out of the 131 championships so it is definitely biased towards those 3 who have between them won it on average 3 out of 4 times, or 1 each every 4 years on average.
Limerick as said are next but well back.

In football Dublin and Kerry have won it 64 times between them or approx in in 2 times or 1 each every 4 years on average.

So hurling isn't any less competitive than football really, it's heavily weighted in both towards the elite.

I'd say cork are next in football but way back a bit like Limerick hurling.

Talking historical results of course

ProudDUB · 21-08-2018 05:25PM

Davys Fits wrote: »

Interesting post. I always suspected that hurling would be a hard sell to ulster and connaught where football has bedded in. It certainly will take decades for that to change if ever. However Dublin and the greater Dublin counties is another story and there is huge potential here. Hurling spreads very slowly. I think the roll of honor proves that. But it is growing.

Unfortunately hurling will always be a hard sell in Dublin too, despite the recent success in 2011 & 2013. The footballers will always be the bigger draw and talented dual athletes (Diarmuid Connolly, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny, Con O'Callaghan for example) will continue to pick football, if that is where their heart lies, or they want to have a decent chance of winning silverware.

Bonniedog · 21-08-2018 05:50PM

ProudDUB wrote: »

Unfortunately hurling will always be a hard sell in Dublin too, despite the recent success in 2011 & 2013. The footballers will always be the bigger draw and talented dual athletes (Diarmuid Connolly, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny, Con O'Callaghan for example) will continue to pick football, if that is where their heart lies, or they want to have a decent chance of winning silverware.

That might change once the current senior team comes to the end of the road. Underage and colleges football in Dublin is behind hurling, which has never been the case before. Also the virtual ending of dual players from an early age might end the loss of the sort of players you refer to if they are on good hurling teams.

This year's championship proved that seniors are not a million miles off but same can be said of top 8/9 teams. Be interesting to see if Gilroy can introduce a more ruthless approach from football compared to years of abysmal failures.

Daly changed that mindset to a great extent as did Lar for a year or two but it has never lasted once the footballers get on a roll.

C__MC · 21-08-2018 06:01PM

I dont think you'll see the big 3 dominate any time soon- the odd one here and there

Coaching is good now from club to county to schools to colleges. Players now have every chance to develop.

Structure is the key word here. I'd say from the foundation of the GAA to about 2000- the development of young players was sub standard- now its professional almost at U14 level. The warm ups- fitness, stick work is tuned to such a fine level.

Hurling wont grow any time soon in ulster and cannaught- its just not realistic. The numbers arent' there and its not pushed

nlrkjos · 21-08-2018 06:12PM

BloodyBill wrote: »

Plus they are single sport counties more or less. Cork have half a million people. Tipp 150,000 but noted athletes always and great temperament. Kilkenny are well Kilkenny. When cricket was huge they were the best at that aswell. Limerick always had the rugby since the late 1800s and the hard luck stories and weight of Mick Mackey and the first superstar GAA team just was too much for so long. Everyone else like Wexford.. Clare and Waterford and Dublin...well more reasons or excuses I'm sure...Limericks 1 yesterday was worth some amount.

Difficult to see Cork as a single sport county...hurling, football, soccer, rugby are all big in Cork, basketball,rowing,boxing and athletics are pretty well supported too. I know my local GAA, Rowing and soccer clubs all try to tie in together where there are clashes in fixtures, both adult and under age.

Niles Crane · 21-08-2018 06:31PM

Because at any point in the sports history hurling has only played properly in about 10 counties, so it's been fairly easy for the top counties to dominate due to lack of competition.

The_Kew_Tour · 21-08-2018 06:34PM

Lack of competition in football too as Kerry and Dublin have won the most by miles

The_Kew_Tour · 21-08-2018 06:35PM

Funny to think that Limerick have been the 4th most successful team in Hurling and still only won 2 AIs in 78 years

Niles Crane · 21-08-2018 06:42PM

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Lack of competition in football too as Kerry and Dublin have won the most by miles

Spread of counties is much bigger in football.

The last new hurling winner were Offaly in 1981.

Since then 4 different first time football winners have emerged.

Add to that the number of teams who haven't won all ireland but have been genuinely competitive by getting to all ireland semi/quarter finals at various stages and the spread is much bigger in football.

The_Kew_Tour · 21-08-2018 06:45PM

Niles Crane wrote: »

Spread of counties is much bigger in football.

The last new hurling winner were Offaly in 1981.

Since then 4 different first time football winners have emerged.

Add to that the number of teams who haven't won all ireland but have been genuinely competitive by getting to all ireland semi/quarter finals at various stages and the spread is much bigger in football.

Spread is little better but it's not huge.

19 Teams have won a Football AI
13 in Hurling.

Ulster and Connaught teams had teams decades without winning AIs

Niles Crane · 21-08-2018 07:14PM

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Spread is little better but it's not huge.

19 Teams have won a Football AI
13 in Hurling.

Ulster and Connaught teams had teams decades without winning AIs

Yeah but outside of the winning look at the spread of teams who get to All Ireland quarter finals and onwards for the last 25 years and pretty much for all of hurling's history it's been the same 10 counties that play against each other over and over again.

Since the qualifiers were introduced on 2001
All the counties in Connacht apart from Leitrim have got to an all ireland quarter final (Leitrim go to a semi final in 1994)
5 of the 6 counties in Munster have got to an all Ireland quarter final.
All counties in Ulster apart from Antrim
6 counties in Leinster (Offaly got to a semi final in 1997)

Over a 20/25 year period 75% - 80% of counties will get to an all ireland quarter finals in football whereas the teams in the quarter finals onwards in hurling are the same 10 counties over and over again.

LoughNeagh2017 · 21-08-2018 07:36PM

I also should mention that a lot of clubs don't have the facilities to have hurling clubs, the pitches are used for all the underage football teams, the seniors and the ladies training sessions, you would need to have another training field which some clubs can't afford.

That reminds me of a joke some people play on a man who owns a field beside the pitch, they pretend to measure up the field doing foot paces and he comes out shouting.

Sonny678 · 21-08-2018 10:19PM

Niles Crane wrote:

Yeah but outside of the winning look at the spread of teams who get to All Ireland quarter finals and onwards for the last 25 years and pretty much for all of hurling's history it's been the same 10 counties that play against each other over and over again.

Niles Crane wrote:

Since the qualifiers were introduced on 2001 All the counties in Connacht apart from Leitrim have got to an all ireland quarter final (Leitrim go to a semi final in 1994) 5 of the 6 counties in Munster have got to an all Ireland quarter final. All counties in Ulster apart from Antrim 6 counties in Leinster (Offaly got to a semi final in 1997)

Niles Crane wrote:

Over a 20/25 year period 75% - 80% of counties will get to an all ireland quarter finals in football whereas the teams in the quarter finals onwards in hurling are the same 10 counties over and over again.

The sucess in both codes is dominated by a couple of counties. Most counties are starved of provincial and All Ireland sucess in both codes. A handful of counties in both codes have had consistent sucess over the decades. There isnt a big gap in unsucessful counties between hurling and football as people think. In hurling in terms of provincial and All Ireland sucess , the sucessful counties over the decades have been kilkenny Cork Tipperary Galway Wexford Limerick Clare and Waterford ( With Tipp Cork and kilkenny really being sucessful consistently over the decades since Independence in 1920s). In football the sucessful counties consistently over decades haves been Kerry Dublin Galway Meath Cork Down Tyrone and Mayo( With Kerry Dublin Galway Meath and Cork really being sucesful consistently sucessful over the decades since Independence).

But in football there are strong football counties with great tradition great club great supporters but lack as much sucess as most of hurling counties.

Munster
limerick have not won Munster senior title or an All Ireland senior football title in 120 year. limerick have never won national league div 1 title
Clare have never won a football All Ireland senior title and have won 1 Munster senior football title in 90 years. Clare have never won national league div 1 title
Tippearey havent won a Munster senior football title in over 80 years. Tipp have never won national league div 1 title
Waterford have never won Football All Ireland senior title or national league div 1 title. And Waterford havent won Munster senior football title in 120 years.

Connacht
Sligo have never won All Ireland football senior title or reached a final and have won 2 Connacht titles in 90 years and never won national league div 1 title
Leitrim have never won All Ireland senior title or reached a final or national league div 1 title. Leitrim have won 2 Connacht titles in 120 years.
Roscommon havent won All Ireland senior football title in over 70 years. Roscommon have reached 1 All Ireland football senior final in 55 years.
Mayo havent won an All Ireland football senior title in over 70 years

Ulster
Monaghan have never won an All Ireland senior football title and reached 1 final in over 90 years ago
Antrim have never won an All Ireland senior title and havent won Ulster senior football title in over 70 years
Cavan havent won All Ireland senior football title or reached a final in over 70 years. Cavan have won 1 Ulster football senior title in 50 years
Fermanagh have never won an Ulster senior title

leinster
Wexford have not won a football All Ireland senior title in 100 years and not won national league division 1 final and havent won a leinster senior title in 70 years
Carlow have never won an All Ireland senior football title or national league div 1 title and havent won a leinster football senior title in over 70 years
Wicklow have never won Leinster senior football title
Westmeath have never won All Ireland senior football title or reached a final or won national league division 1 final. Westmeath have won 1 leinater football senior title in 100 years
Laois have never won an All Ireland senior football title and have won 1 leinster football title in 60 years.
Kildare havent won All Ireland football senior title in 90 years and reached 1 All Ireland football final in 90 years. kildare have never won a national league div 1 title and have won 2 leinster senior football titles in 60 years
longford have never won an All Ireland senior title or reached a final. longford have won 1 leinster title in 120 years
Louth havent won All Ireland senior title or leinster in over 60 years. louth have never won national league div 1 title

Thats 21 counties out of 32 that have been starved of All Ireland sucess and most of them have been starved of provicial sucess over all in football. A handful of hurling counties have dominated hurling. A handful of football counties have dominated football.

Joe Daly · 21-08-2018 10:46PM

salmocab wrote: »

Your probably right but there are counties that can get up there, Wexford Dublin and Offaly seem like they could get to the top for various reasons, they all have hurling tradition of some description. Geographically it’s unlikely to spread much though.
Just to be clear when I say to the top I’m not suggesting winning AIs anytime soon but competing higher than they are and maybe eventually competing for AIs in real terms.

Reading somewhere that Dublin lost twenty all Ireland senior titles last in 1961 won six, its amazing how much teams like Galway even kilkenny lost 20, 26, other counties like Wexford lost 11.

letsseehere14 · 21-08-2018 11:01PM

C__MC wrote:

I dont think you'll see the big 3 dominate any time soon- the odd one here and there

I dunno. 1 (or 2) swallows doesn't make a summer. The last 2 years have been great and it's great to have new winners. But Tipp and Cork have shared the last 5 Munster senior championships. 8 of the last 10. More successful now than their historical average.
Last 4 Munster minor championships shared between them too and both in an u21 final. That's pretty dominant.
Cork are a player or two away from AI success with a young team that could win a good few. Tipp may be on the wane still have such fire power to do damage over the next 2 or 3 years with pretty successful minors coming down the lines and a decent u21 team this year. They put the right man in charge they'll be one of the favourites every year.

Kilkenny granted are at their lowest point in 20 years. That will be interesting as I think Galway need a competitive Leinster championship. The biggest pity with the new format is that as it stands Leinster is such an easy run for the same 3. Dublin the only ones in their way and will need to topple at least 2 of the 3 to make it through I think.
All in all I still wouldn't be surprised if the big 3 win 50% plus of the next few championships but they could also lock the rest out too.

Sunday was the best hurling day of my life bar none. I'm still on cloud 9. Still hoarse. But I'm also level headed enough to know that the big 3 are waiting in the long grass. That back to back All Irelands is very difficult to achieve and that nobody will fear either ourselves or Galway next year, definetly not any of Kilkenny, Cork or Tipperary. Its going to be an interesting one in 2019. Hopefully as great as this year's ending with a Limerick back to back.

CrabRevolution · 21-08-2018 11:44PM

arctictree wrote: »

Hurling in the greater Dublin region is growing well. Kildare and Meath are getting slowly more competitive and Wicklow should be back to 8 senior teams in a couple of years. Lots of work being done at juvenile level.

We are? There's little evidence of that.

Meath won 1 game from 6 in the Minor+ U21 Hurling this year against fellow "tier 2" teams.

Our Seniors beat Kerry in Navan in April 2017, and have lost the next 7 championship games on the trot, most being heavy defeats. We've finished in last place both years we've been in the SHC group.

It wouldn't be a popular opinion, but I always reckoned Meath simply overachieved in 2016 winning the CR by playing out of their skins. People thought that simply by beating Antrim we instantly became a Liam MacCarthy standard team, which we clearly aren't.

Pauliedragon · 21-08-2018 11:54PM

It's a snowball effect sometimes. When a team does well it generates interest and more kids take it up therefore the talent pool is deeper. It's like in the 90's every second kid had an Irish soccer jersey on, fast forward to 2018 they all have rugby jerseys on. In the 90's the nearest rugby club for kids to me was about 15kms away now there's 3 within 5kms.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 22-08-2018 12:55AM

Hurling is very strongly embedded in a relatively small region of the country where it was always played.

Niles Crane · 22-08-2018 04:44AM

Sonny678 wrote: »

The sucess in both codes is dominated by a couple of counties. Most counties are starved of provincial and All Ireland sucess in both codes. A handful of counties in both codes have had consistent sucess over the decades. There isnt a big gap in unsucessful counties between hurling and football as people think. In hurling in terms of provincial and All Ireland sucess , the sucessful counties over the decades have been kilkenny Cork Tipperary Galway Wexford Limerick Clare and Waterford ( With Tipp Cork and kilkenny really being sucessful consistently over the decades since Independence in 1920s). In football the sucessful counties consistently over decades haves been Kerry Dublin Galway Meath Cork Down Tyrone and Mayo( With Kerry Dublin Galway Meath and Cork really being sucesful consistently sucessful over the decades since Independence).

But in football there are strong football counties with great tradition great club great supporters but lack as much sucess as most of hurling counties.

Munster
limerick have not won Munster senior title or an All Ireland senior football title in 120 year. limerick have never won national league div 1 title
Clare have never won a football All Ireland senior title and have won 1 Munster senior football title in 90 years. Clare have never won national league div 1 title
Tippearey havent won a Munster senior football title in over 80 years. Tipp have never won national league div 1 title
Waterford have never won Football All Ireland senior title or national league div 1 title. And Waterford havent won Munster senior football title in 120 years.

Connacht
Sligo have never won All Ireland football senior title or reached a final and have won 2 Connacht titles in 90 years and never won national league div 1 title
Leitrim have never won All Ireland senior title or reached a final or national league div 1 title. Leitrim have won 2 Connacht titles in 120 years.
Roscommon havent won All Ireland senior football title in over 70 years. Roscommon have reached 1 All Ireland football senior final in 55 years.
Mayo havent won an All Ireland football senior title in over 70 years

Ulster
Monaghan have never won an All Ireland senior football title and reached 1 final in over 90 years ago
Antrim have never won an All Ireland senior title and havent won Ulster senior football title in over 70 years
Cavan havent won All Ireland senior football title or reached a final in over 70 years. Cavan have won 1 Ulster football senior title in 50 years
Fermanagh have never won an Ulster senior title

leinster
Wexford have not won a football All Ireland senior title in 100 years and not won national league division 1 final and havent won a leinster senior title in 70 years
Carlow have never won an All Ireland senior football title or national league div 1 title and havent won a leinster football senior title in over 70 years
Wicklow have never won Leinster senior football title
Westmeath have never won All Ireland senior football title or reached a final or won national league division 1 final. Westmeath have won 1 leinater football senior title in 100 years
Laois have never won an All Ireland senior football title and have won 1 leinster football title in 60 years.
Kildare havent won All Ireland football senior title in 90 years and reached 1 All Ireland football final in 90 years. kildare have never won a national league div 1 title and have won 2 leinster senior football titles in 60 years
longford have never won an All Ireland senior title or reached a final. longford have won 1 leinster title in 120 years
Louth havent won All Ireland senior title or leinster in over 60 years. louth have never won national league div 1 title

Thats 21 counties out of 32 that have been starved of All Ireland sucess and most of them have been starved of provicial sucess over all in football. A handful of hurling counties have dominated hurling. A handful of football counties have dominated football.

But again, those counties have had relative degrees of success i.e getting to AI quarter finals, the difference is the same 10 teams are rotating constantly in the quarter finals in hurling whereas in football there is always a surprise team every now and then and basically every county has some hope of getting far in the championship which is not the case in hurling.

Sonny678 · 22-08-2018 06:23AM

Niles Crane wrote:

But again, those counties have had relative degrees of success i.e getting to AI quarter finals, the difference is the same 10 teams are rotating constantly in the quarter finals in hurling whereas in football there is always a surprise team every now and then and basically every county has some hope of getting far in the championship which is not the case in hurling.

Reaching quarter finals is not real sucess. Winning trophies and competitions in any sport is the true measurement of sucess. And when you compare both codes a handful of teams have dominated. Look at this

In the last 100 years in hurling 3 counties have won 71 of the All Irelands eg Kilkenny Cork and Tipp
In the last 100 years in football 6 counties have won 74 of the All Irelands eg Kerry Dublin Galway Meath Cork and Down.
So in 100 years in hurling where you have maybe 10 to 11 hurling counties, 3 counties have won over 70% of the All Irelands.
While in 100 years in football where you have 32 counties, 6 counties have won over 70% of the All Irelands.
People seem to think hurling is dominated by a few counties. Football has also.

Ulster teams sucess in the last 25 years with first wins for Derry Donegal Tyrone and Armagh and a sucessful period in leinster football between 95 to 04 when Meath Dublin kildare Offaly Laois and Westmeath winning leinster, gives a false imprsssion of many counties having broad sucess.

The fact is outside Ulster many counties have been starved of sucess for decades. Even in Ulster Cavan and Antrim , the aristocrats of Ulster football have been in the doldrums for 70 plus years. While Connacht has only won 2 All Irelands in over half century of footballWhile take out kerry and Cork in Munster, the rest of the counties are nearly 100 years from their last real sucess. Clares win in 1992 was the only victory outside the big two in Munster in generations.

In leinster take out Dublin and Meath (and Offalys 20 year sucessful period 1961 to 82). The rest of the counties in leinster are starved of all Ireland sucess and have not really being sucessful at provicial level in over 70 plus years.
Thats three out of the 4 proviences where only handful of counties have being winning Sam consistently for generations and winning provicial titles consistently.. And up to 1990 Ulster football was way behind leinster and Munster football. Football had had similar enough tends to hurling trends in terms of sucessful counties. In that a handful of counties have dominated both codes.

elefant · 22-08-2018 06:55AM

It could be as simple as hurling is a really, really difficult sport to master.

Any decent athlete can be made into a decent footballer, but if you don't grow up playing hurling you won't ever get within a million miles of the guys who grow up with hurls as extensions of their arms in Kilkenny, Tipperary, North Cork, South Galway etc. It would take decades of work, and a remarkable sporting culture change, for a county with traditionally little hurling to be able to compete against counties with such rich hurling heritage.

Niles Crane · 22-08-2018 10:14AM

Sonny678 wrote: »

Reaching quarter finals is not real sucess. Winning trophies and competitions in any sport is the true measurement of sucess. And when you compare both codes a handful of teams have dominated. Look at this

In the last 100 years in hurling 3 counties have won 71 of the All Irelands eg Kilkenny Cork and Tipp
In the last 100 years in football 6 counties have won 74 of the All Irelands eg Kerry Dublin Galway Meath Cork and Down.
So in 100 years in hurling where you have maybe 10 to 11 hurling counties, 3 counties have won over 70% of the All Irelands.
While in 100 years in football where you have 32 counties, 6 counties have won over 70% of the All Irelands.
People seem to think hurling is dominated by a few counties. Football has also.

Ulster teams sucess in the last 25 years with first wins for Derry Donegal Tyrone and Armagh and a sucessful period in leinster football between 95 to 04 when Meath Dublin kildare Offaly Laois and Westmeath winning leinster, gives a false imprsssion of many counties having broad sucess.

The fact is outside Ulster many counties have been starved of sucess for decades. Even in Ulster Cavan and Antrim , the aristocrats of Ulster football have been in the doldrums for 70 plus years. While Connacht has only won 2 All Irelands in over half century of footballWhile take out kerry and Cork in Munster, the rest of the counties are nearly 100 years from their last real sucess. Clares win in 1992 was the only victory outside the big two in Munster in generations.

In leinster take out Dublin and Meath (and Offalys 20 year sucessful period 1961 to 82). The rest of the counties in leinster are starved of all Ireland sucess and have not really being sucessful at provicial level in over 70 plus years.
Thats three out of the 4 proviences where only handful of counties have being winning Sam consistently for generations and winning provicial titles consistently.. And up to 1990 Ulster football was way behind leinster and Munster football. Football had had similar enough tends to hurling trends in terms of sucessful counties. In that a handful of counties have dominated both codes.

I would disagreee with that.

I consider competitiveness to be competing and progressing through a competition not actually winning.Monaghan have been a very competitive side in the last 10-15 years while at the same time only getting to an all ireland semi final once, however nobody would dispute that they have been competitive in the championship.

How are 3 teams so dominant in inter county hurling over such a sustained period of t

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