The 2023 All Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup)

It might turn out to be a blessing in the long run but we wanted to win today and we didn't.

Poor enough spectacle for the neutral but there was a good crowd at the match considering it was Easter sun and lashing rain. It may not have seemed like it on TV but there was a great championship atmosphere for most of the game from when the goal went in to the last few mins.

As others have said, we went for goals way too early instead of remaining calm and working scores; I'd have thought we'd have enough experience to stick to the game plan, not a great sign

Well done to the Rossies

As 3rd seeds, our first game in the group will be away to the 1st seeds so it'll be a tough one to start with. Lose and we're likely not topping the group meaning we'll have 3 games on the bounce to make a QF

Thats a pessimistic view, i wouldnt be worried about playing any of the top seeds, 1 in 3 chance it could Galway

My Predictions:

1st Seeds: Dublin, Kerry, Galway, Tyrone

2nd Seeds: Louth, Clare, Sligo, Armagh

3rd Seeds: Mayo, Roscommon, Monaghan, Donegal

4th Seeds: Derry, Cork, Kildare, Westmeath

Galway and Roscommon could swap places.

Ulster is a lot more wide open and Cavan could sneak in there as second seeds and knock Kildare out.

Leinster runners up could really be anyone of 4 teams: Louth/Meath/Westmeath/Offaly.

I don't think provincial finalists should get seeded so high going and only provincial winners should be guaranteed entry to Sam next year. The seedings should all be league based as it's a fairer system. Otherwise Kerry and Dublin will be No.1 seeds most years.

They haven't sidelined weaker teams.

They have just created the kind of graded competition that is absolutely normal in practically every other A-level competition in sport.

Being in the Tailteann should not be the insult some are making it out to be.

For me the happy medium would be that provincial runner-ups get into the groups, but aren't seeded 2. Instead they are seeded 2,3 or 4 based on their league position. So it would be the same 16 teams but it would lead to, probably, more equitable groups. Though a counter-point would be that it reduces the possibility of a group of death.

e.g., based on recyclebins provincial predictions (and correcting his minor Donegal/Derry mistake). Number in brackets is league ranking, hopefully I haven't got it wrong. Provincial runner-ups in bold

1st Seeds: Dublin, Kerry, Galway, Tyrone

2nd Seeds: Mayo (1), Roscommon (3), Monaghan (6), Derry (8)

3rd Seeds: Armagh (9), Donegal (10), Louth (11), Cork (12)

4th Seeds: Kildare (13), Clare (17), Westmeath (20) Sligo (23)

As a Cavan supporter, I really enjoyed the Tailteann campaign last year and was devastated when we lost the Final.

I have no problem with us having another crack at it this year. I’d feel we are better than some of the teams in the top 16 but the bottom line is we aren’t going to win Sam.

The Tailteann is a cup we can win.

"They’ve already sidelined weaker teams enough IMO, I think of you reach a provincial final you deserve a crack at the groups."

Well maybe, if the provincial championships were all run off the same, ie seeded but they are not. Sligo will be in it after betaing London and more than likely NY, hardly fair? Weaker counties in other provinces done have such an easy route

Potentially there could be 4 or 5 teams from Division 3 and 4 in group stages for Sam. If Sligo and Westmeath end up in one group the games could be very one sided.

The whole system is very poorly thought out. Fans won't know who or where and when they play until very late in the day.

The likes of Cork could potentially end up in the Tailteann which does no good for anyone. They are not a bottom 16 team.

The club and ladies championship structures are done a lot better where you're playing teams at your level and can be promoted and relegated based on results. Not on results from another province!

Maybe Cork have some cunning plan. This was only a month ago.

Storming second half sees Cork comfortably overcome Clare

Cork 3-10 Clare 1-8

Report by Kieran Shannon for the Irish Examiner newspaper

The notion that Cork are on their way back to being a legitimate force and promotion contenders gained further credibility here after they ultimately comfortably dispatched of a Clare side that for the past six years have been very much a bogey team for them.

Only once in the last five league or championship clashes between the sides had Cork emerged victorious but a massive second half performance saw them win at their ease in front of 2,596 people.

We are not heading towards any segregated world.

It has always been segregated.

Kids can dream all they want about winning the All Ireland but it's never gonna happen for most counties. What good are the dreams of those kids in Wicklow, Limerick, Waterford, Fermanagh.

They can dream of winning the Tailteann Cup and there should be no shame in that. What will help is if people stuck in the past stop telling them their is shame in it.

Spot on. It was great to see Westmeath celebrate wildly after winning last years Tailteann Cup. That final v Cavan was an excellent game. I can see the Tailteann going from strength to strength as the years go by.

So called weaker teams have never had it so good in the history of the gaa

On a given year a potential 24 out of 32 teams would have a shot of competing in sam based on league position in a normal year (depending on where the tailteann Cup winners and provincial finalists land). Any team can qualify for Sam by winning 2 or 3 provincial games.

Do you think that if we keep the likes of carlow and laois in the Sam maguire that one day they are going to have a magical year and go all the way? Well the good news is they still have that option, and the even better news is that they also now have a much better option to compete in a competition they can win.

Which do you think is better for the young players of weaker counties, witnessing repeated beatings year after year in a competition they will never win or competing in a competition they might actually win? I know which one I would pick - and you only have to look at the scenes from westmeath last year to see what it means to real gaa people.