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

Ya. Agreed. If you look at most championship type structures across different sports, they only get interesting towards the finish - when it comes to real knock out. And I don't see why there is a need to complain about that. Isn't it lovely to get more games to go to. Until the players start to complain about it, I certainly won't. It was lovely getting ready to head off to the Mayo match on Sunday - and even though the football quality was poor, it was still a great day out. And roll on 2 weeks again to the Cork match. I just love going to the matches. They don't all have to be knock-out championship matches to enjoy them.

I don't know about anyone else but I pick and chose the games before the business end in this format- if my own team is in it - I make the choice of going or watching on GAAGO/Telly. If other teams are playing and it happens to be on/or if there might be game I should watch with some potential needle/shock I tune in. I do the same with Dublin club football keeping an eye on the groups looking for the 50/50 tie or the tie that is the glamour one etc

Louth v Mayo for instance despite all the talk by some posters saying the match was a disgrace to football etc. I found it fascinating could Mayo hold on or break Louth down and impose themselves on the match? Could Louth (with the magic of Mulroy + strategic tactics) cause a major shock?

Plus I think GAAGO is great showing games that I know well would not be put on television in normal circumstances - my only gripe with it is buffering occasionally - which maybe my internet connection/Television casting app I don't know? Or is it a GAAGO issue?

Plus people go on about dead rubbers as if they are completely pointless. In the Super 8's format Tyrone v Dublin was a dead rubber a few years ago 2019. Harte v Gavin.

But Bugler made his championship debut, Healy park was packed - lovely day. Bugler is flying it now. Unfortunately it also heralded the end of Rory O'Carroll at intercounty level. It allows managers to find things out about future stars and fading stars. Plus a nice day out for fans if they are in the humour for a match.

Derry and Clare would be a dead rubber in a 2 go through system.

Group 1 and 2 could have had dead rubbers had the fixtures fallen differently.

Next weekend we have 15 out of 16 teams with something to play for - either playing for survival, or for home advantage in next round, or for a bye to QF. Every team will want to win.

After that we will have 4 rounds of knockout games, that's 11 knockout games in this format. If top two went out at group stage you would only have 3 rounds and 7 knockout games.

If ye would have a bit of patience there is plenty of still plenty football and plenty of "jeopardy" still to come

But get to the better teams and teams of a supposed similar level playing more games, more days out, more economies around the country helped.

Your idea of a 32 team knockout championship being 'box office' is more hope than reality. People want to see teams of a similar level play each other. A 32 team knock out just leads to one sided games at worst or the better teams could end up drawing each other early on. This won't bring in the revenue and it would be a drain on the GAA's finances IMO.

The reason why people remember Dublin v Meath 30 years on is not because of it being as 'boring as ****' before it. It is because it was a four in row as well as the two best teams in the country at the time. The four in a row was the main thing very rare. Meath had a three in a row v Kildare in 1997. Then a knackered Meath lost Leinster to Offaly.

What you sound like you want is the return of replays? But the problem with that is it can clog the fixture calendar up very quickly.

32 team knockout is not hope at all, it is a proven way of making sure that every single game has meaning and importance and in doing so increases the engagement and investment of the supporters.

You say better teams drawing each other early on as if that is a bad thing, as if it wouldn't be headline news that Galway are playing Mayo in the first game and that one of them will be gone at the end of it. The buzz around that alone would huge, especially when compared to the complete lack of **** anybody is giving about the current setup. And for every one sided game there will be an upset, remember those?

Seriously, we are how many games into the current all-ireland championship and there is a complete lack of buzz surrounding it. And why? For the incredibly simple reason that risk and drama creates the buzz and this setup has none of that. Just a bunch more games that nobody asked for.

The draw itself for a knockout tournament would get more interest than any of these dead rubber games, because at least it would actually have meaning.

But of course all of this assumes that people want a championship for sporting reasons. You mention the revenue more than once, I guess if that is peoples priority then why bother.

And I don't know why you say I want replays, nothing I have said indicates that at all.

Interesting that by "chaff" you think I meant the smaller teams. You may think of them as chaff but I do not.

Chaff is the meaningless games.

Nah wouldn't last when Dublin were beaten by Meath back in 91 - Dubs switched off from it. No buzz when your team is out in the first preliminary round. The main reason it is remembered was because of replays. Are you going to bring back replays as well?

The current system as I see it is a way to have better quality games and improve standards. I bet if you asked Westmeath supporters did they have a buzz in their two games so far they would say yes.

Why on earth do you keep mentioning replays?

8 groups of 4 with 2 qualifying?????

every team gets 3 games……..that simple

Tell me how Leitrim drawing Kerry away in round 1 will lead to more meaningful games, and help either team go improve?

One reason why Meath v Dublin was so memorable was because even in 1991 it was rare to see such an epic tie, we forget there were many many did ties back in the good old days, we were in many ways saved by no live TV and Michael O'Heir and Michael O'Muireahrtai's imagination and commentaries.

This system as it is isn't perfect, but as said above let it play out and see after these preliminaries are over how the whole thing looks...

The provincial championships were interesting this year before the finals. There were good efforts to make provincial finals.

Clare made the Munster final fair and square, as did Louth in Leinster. Sligo exacerbated the criticism of provincial championships. If provincial draws were seeded on league placing, the Connacht final would have been Galway/Roscommon v Mayo.

The current setup has 99 games. 99 games over 16 weeks. And you want to talk about meaningless games in a straight knockout competition as if that would be worse?

You also ignore that the league and provincials would be run separately to the open draw in my scenario, so it is not just one game.

As for nobody using knock out for their competition, I'd say that old Fa cup had quite a good run of it.

I said nothing about replays and still say nothing about replays, so if you are using replays to dismiss my opinion then I don't know what to say to you.