GAA President Nickey Brennan has revealed the details of the newly-structured Hurling Championship proposals which are set to be placed before Special Congress on 4 October at Croke Park.
Speaking at the launch of the M Donnelly All-Ireland Handball 60 X 30 Finals which will be held at Headquarters on Saturday next, Brennan pointed out that the HDC plans are coming on well, with Leinster Council officials the last of the provinces to have their say on the proposed changes at a special meeting in Portlaoise on Tuesday night.
The President is hoping to ease the concerns of Leinster officials, over the proposed introduction of both Antrim and Galway to their provincial championship.
He explained: 'What we want to do in Portlaoise is explain to Leinster how we feel about why we are asking them to facilitate Galway and Antrim.'
'We were up in Ulster last week and Ulster have completely come on board at this stage. If there are any fears on the Leinster side let them mention them tonight and we will hopefully allay those fears.'
A new four-tier structure is being proposed by the Hurling Development Committee (HDC), which will see an additional tier to the current system, with the fourth competition, proposed to be called the Lory Meagher Cup to cater for teams at the bottom end of the hurling structure.
The Liam McCarthy will continue with 12 teams and then under that there will be three tiers of competitions with eight teams each.
Proposed changes to the Leinster Hurling championship for 2009.
The championship will comprise of seven teams - Kilkenny, Wexford, Offaly, Laois, Dublin, Galway & Antrim
The proposal will be that the Leinster champions (Kilkenny)automatically get into the semi-final.
The other six teams will go into the first round proper. There will be a draw made for them in October this year after Congress and there will be three winners.
Those three winners will go into the hat with Kilkenny to pair off the semi-finalists. It is propsed that the draw for the semi-final will not take place until after the first round is completed in May 2009.
Beyond Leinster
The three losers in Leinster will meet up with the loser coming from the first round in Munster. That will be called pool one. They will play off down to two teams.
The other pool will be the two beaten semi-finalists in Munster, and the two beaten semi-finalists in Leinster. They will play down to two teams and then there will be crossover games between both pools.
They will be quarter-finals involving the beaten provincial finalists, with the winners of those playing the Leinster and Munster champions respectively in the semi-final."
Ulster Championship
The Ulster Championship will remain in place for the 2009 season. Along with their involvement in Leinster, Antrim are also expected to partake in their own provincial series.
The plans outlined above, if ratified by Congress are expcted to be in place for five years.
No Westmeath?
They didn't even win the Ring and Carlow who won the Christy Ring lost to Laois in a play-off
I dont like the idea of Galway or Antrim playing in a 'Leinster Final'. Call it something else for Gods sake.
Surely the Ulster championship should be played first and the winners(maybe not antrim) play on in 'Leinster'
Other wise it sounds good. I am not in favour of the open draw as it will end up with too many games, many of them of no consequence in the later stages.
QuoteI dont like the idea of Galway or Antrim playing in a 'Leinster Final'. Call it something else for Gods sake.
Exactly. Galway, Leinster Champions 2012 sound a bit stupid. Tri-Provinces or something would be a better title.
Connacht is a pointless province anyway, might as well push to have it amalgamated into Leinster anyway. To be honest I don't care what they call it as long as it improves hurling
Quote from: EddieMerx on September 03, 2008, 01:55:08 PM
To be honest I don't care what they call it as long as it improves hurling
Damn straight
Quote from: thejuice on September 03, 2008, 02:31:40 PM
Quote from: EddieMerx on September 03, 2008, 01:55:08 PM
To be honest I don't care what they call it as long as it improves hurling
Damn straight
Seconded. Also how are Antrim going to play in two competitions. What would happen if for arguemnts sake they won both?
Why don't they just get rid of the holy Munster championship and run it along the lines of the champions league group stages? More hurling, more matches, less old firm all irelands. If Tipp want to play Cork in early July around hay time I'm sure goal could organise something.
Quote from: corn02 on September 03, 2008, 03:57:17 PM
Quote from: thejuice on September 03, 2008, 02:31:40 PM
Quote from: EddieMerx on September 03, 2008, 01:55:08 PM
To be honest I don't care what they call it as long as it improves hurling
Damn straight
Seconded. Also how are Antrim going to play in two competitions. What would happen if for arguemnts sake they won both?
Antrim have been doing this for the last four years or so. Since the link was broken between the ulster championship and the all ireland in 2004 it does not matter who the ulster champions are. A lot of people have not realised this since Antrim have continued to win ulster but it has no link to all-ireland series.
The proposals seem fair enough the only issue being could antrim be playing an ulster championship one week and leinster the next, timing injuries suspensions could be an issue to say nothing of the knock on effect for club games in antrim. But despite those concerns I would be broadly in favour.
QuoteAntrim have been doing this for the last four years or so. Since the link was broken between the ulster championship and the all ireland in 2004 it does not matter who the ulster champions are. A lot of people have not realised this since Antrim have continued to win ulster but it has no link to all-ireland series.
The proposals seem fair enough the only issue being could antrim be playing an ulster championship one week and leinster the next, timing injuries suspensions could be an issue to say nothing of the knock on effect for club games in antrim. But despite those concerns I would be broadly in favour.
It was a very competitive Ulster champinship this year with Down running Antrim close. So maybe the ulster champions being rewarded with a plce in a "rest of Ireland champinsip" might be a good idea.
Quote from: Galforever on September 05, 2008, 12:45:33 PM
QuoteAntrim have been doing this for the last four years or so. Since the link was broken between the ulster championship and the all ireland in 2004 it does not matter who the ulster champions are. A lot of people have not realised this since Antrim have continued to win ulster but it has no link to all-ireland series.
The proposals seem fair enough the only issue being could antrim be playing an ulster championship one week and leinster the next, timing injuries suspensions could be an issue to say nothing of the knock on effect for club games in antrim. But despite those concerns I would be broadly in favour.
It was a very competitive Ulster champinship this year with Down running Antrim close. So maybe the ulster champions being rewarded with a plce in a "rest of Ireland champinsip" might be a good idea.
10 years off feet dragging and Galway finally accept the common sense approach
Quote from: Gnevin on September 07, 2008, 04:39:20 PM
Quote from: Galforever on September 05, 2008, 12:45:33 PM
QuoteAntrim have been doing this for the last four years or so. Since the link was broken between the ulster championship and the all ireland in 2004 it does not matter who the ulster champions are. A lot of people have not realised this since Antrim have continued to win ulster but it has no link to all-ireland series.
The proposals seem fair enough the only issue being could antrim be playing an ulster championship one week and leinster the next, timing injuries suspensions could be an issue to say nothing of the knock on effect for club games in antrim. But despite those concerns I would be broadly in favour.
It was a very competitive Ulster champinship this year with Down running Antrim close. So maybe the ulster champions being rewarded with a plce in a "rest of Ireland champinsip" might be a good idea.
10 years off feet dragging and Galway finally accept the common sense approach
Like a lot of things in this country politics not the game was the reason for the delay. Conor Hayes wanted to take Galway into Leinster when he was manager.
The Galway CB were against it.
The reason for that was that in Connacht they (County Board) are effectively a provincial council, in Leinster they would be a mere county board.
The Leinster championship needs Kilkenny to be kicked out of it, rather than Galway to be brought in.
Quote from: The Wedger on September 08, 2008, 07:57:40 AM
The Leinster championship needs Kilkenny to be kicked out of it, rather than Galway to be brought in.
That is the strangest suggestion i have seen on this board in a long time .
Quote from: Gnevin on September 10, 2008, 10:12:54 PM
Quote from: The Wedger on September 08, 2008, 07:57:40 AM
The Leinster championship needs Kilkenny to be kicked out of it, rather than Galway to be brought in.
That is the strangest suggestion i have seen on this board in a long time .
True, but it's not a bad idea, what Leinster need is for Kilkenny to get out. It would allow the teams there to develop. Not to be completley demoralised every time. Not a single player, manager, fan from any of the other counties in Leinster believe that they could be Kilkenny, they go in to the match with the attitude of keeping the score down, playing them is just a formality to them. That alone, that attitude is bad for hurling in general.
Quote from: Reillers on September 10, 2008, 10:41:22 PM
Quote from: Gnevin on September 10, 2008, 10:12:54 PM
Quote from: The Wedger on September 08, 2008, 07:57:40 AM
The Leinster championship needs Kilkenny to be kicked out of it, rather than Galway to be brought in.
That is the strangest suggestion i have seen on this board in a long time .
True, but it's not a bad idea, what Leinster need is for Kilkenny to get out. It would allow the teams there to develop. Not to be completley demoralised every time. Not a single player, manager, fan from any of the other counties in Leinster believe that they could be Kilkenny, they go in to the match with the attitude of keeping the score down, playing them is just a formality to them. That alone, that attitude is bad for hurling in general.
And Munster teams love drawing Kilkenny . Its a terrible idea ,its saying play worse or we ban you ::)
Quote from: Gnevin on September 10, 2008, 10:45:35 PM
Quote from: Reillers on September 10, 2008, 10:41:22 PM
Quote from: Gnevin on September 10, 2008, 10:12:54 PM
Quote from: The Wedger on September 08, 2008, 07:57:40 AM
The Leinster championship needs Kilkenny to be kicked out of it, rather than Galway to be brought in.
That is the strangest suggestion i have seen on this board in a long time .
True, but it's not a bad idea, what Leinster need is for Kilkenny to get out. It would allow the teams there to develop. Not to be completley demoralised every time. Not a single player, manager, fan from any of the other counties in Leinster believe that they could be Kilkenny, they go in to the match with the attitude of keeping the score down, playing them is just a formality to them. That alone, that attitude is bad for hurling in general.
And Munster teams love drawing Kilkenny . Its a terrible idea ,its saying play worse or we ban you ::)
God ya, it would and should never happen, but it's the only thing that would help Leinster hurling.
Where would you put Kilkenny????????? In Munster where they just hammered the best ye have to offer by 23 points ::)
Don't think it would be good for a team to have to play in 2 provincial championships, where did they come up with this idea????
Quote from: downgirl on September 11, 2008, 10:34:31 PM
Don't think it would be good for a team to have to play in 2 provincial championships, where did they come up with this idea????
I think Antrim want to support the Ulster Championship and it was their idea to play in both.
Does this new system apply to under age too?
Where would you put Kilkenny??? In Munster where they just hammered the best ye have to offer by 23 points
munster would be begging to get rid of the cats after a couple of years of being perrenially beaten by them. there is no solution to it. the cats are currently in a league of their own.
Quote from: INDIANA on September 13, 2008, 08:11:24 PM
Where would you put Kilkenny??? In Munster where they just hammered the best ye have to offer by 23 points
munster would be begging to get rid of the cats after a couple of years of being perrenially beaten by them. there is no solution to it. the cats are currently in a league of their own.
Probably, I think Kilkenny, well that praticular team anyway, hit their peak against Waterford in the final, it was their best, you can't get any better then that. But anyway, I don't know how well Kileknny would do in Munster at the start, better then the teams there..ya, much better, but Munster is a strange competition. Anything can and usually does happen, I don't think they'd understand Munster either, but that's another matter.
They wouldn't understand Munster? Its not rocket science. Play at 80% capacity against any of the counties in Munster and win handy. Whats not to understand?
I agree that its not beneficial to anyone to have a lopsided Leinster championship but Im not sure what the best solution is. KK wont always be this dominant though. Sport is about cycles and eventually someone will come from the pack and we'll be waxing lyrical about how unstoppable they are. No need for sweeping changes just yet id say.
DUBLIN COUNTY board last night voted to reject the entry of Galway into the Leinster hurling championship as well as other reforms due before next month's special congress.
The proposal to bring Galway and Antrim into Leinster had been made by the Hurling Development Committee but was voted down by a sizeable margin at last night's meeting. Among the arguments heard were that the move would not be in Dublin's interests (though some delegates appeared unaware that the proposal would not apply to underage championships) and that Galway themselves appeared ambivalent on the issue.
Antrim's proposed admission was, however, welcomed.
Other matters for debate on October 4th are the proposed disciplinary changes that include the dismissal of any player who picks up a yellow card but the permission that he be replaced.
The feeling of delegates was that there are already rules adequately dealing with discipline and these should be enforced.
Finally the revised proposals to counter burn-out, which would see the under-21 championships replaced by an under-20 grade, were also rejected.
Quote from: Declan on September 16, 2008, 01:40:40 PM
DUBLIN COUNTY board last night voted to reject the entry of Galway into the Leinster hurling championship as well as other reforms due before next month's special congress.
The proposal to bring Galway and Antrim into Leinster had been made by the Hurling Development Committee but was voted down by a sizeable margin at last night's meeting. Among the arguments heard were that the move would not be in Dublin's interests (though some delegates appeared unaware that the proposal would not apply to underage championships) and that Galway themselves appeared ambivalent on the issue.
Antrim's proposed admission was, however, welcomed.
Other matters for debate on October 4th are the proposed disciplinary changes that include the dismissal of any player who picks up a yellow card but the permission that he be replaced.
The feeling of delegates was that there are already rules adequately dealing with discipline and these should be enforced.
Finally the revised proposals to counter burn-out, which would see the under-21 championships replaced by an under-20 grade, were also rejected.
Jasus looks like the DCB got out of the wrong side of bed that day
I think its funny thw way they accepted antrim but not galway. they may aswell issue a statement saying we only want to play against teams we are better than. anybody who can beat us can get f****d.
I suppose I can understand where Dublin are coming from, Dublin have done a massive amount of work to raise the profile of hurling within the county, the addition of Galway would see them further down the pecking order in Leinster.
can't understand why people can't see where dublin are coming from its bad enough having the manchester utd of hurling in leinster before inviting in another sleeping giant like galway if they were organised properly. I'd be more concerned about why they won't invite carlow and westmeath in to compete in their own provincial championship. would they prefer if these counties simply packed it up. I think they would.
It would be unfair on the weaker counties if Galway came in, but it's unfair on the stronger counties that Kilkenny are unchalleneged all year till the semi final. Someone will always suffer and be unhappy. If Kilkenny are going to be stoped it needs to be leveled off because at the moment they don't have a hard game to play till the AI semi after the Munster teams are after beating the living daylights out of eachother. But someone will always be unhappy, if it was our decision we'd put Galway in, but it's not our decision.
At the end of the day, it's not up to us. It's their decision to make.
kilkenny wouldn't be tested in munster either reillers , thats the reality. If you think they would be you're still smoking the hardstuff. only cork would give them a game. the rest would get the shite knocked out of them. i don;t how you can justify the likes of limerick,waterford and clare as being capable of giving the cats a game. even dublin would have a chance of beating them. wouldn't matter where the cats were reillers they still wouldn';t get a game till thye played cork.
I was talking about Galway going into Leinster.
And it's not neccesarily about beating Kilkenny, they might beat every team in Munster but we'll never know, because as good as they are and they're bloody good, they're never tested, not till the semi final, after everyone else played Munster and the qualifiers and quarter finals.
They might still win, but it's not fair on the other Munster teams who are tested, it doesn't matter that KK are better then most of them, it's the fact that they're not tested, the Munster teams don't have the luxury of not having a serious test till the AI semi final, then if they do get to the final or semi and face KK, and it's hard enough that it's KK who they've to play but the fact that they haven't been tested at all, which means that they're fresh and sharp, will always tilt it in KK's favour more so.
Like I'm not saying KK wouldn't win if Galway were there, but they'd be tested which would kinda level it off fairness wise for the Munster teams. But the Leinster teams would suffer as well like and at the end of the day, it's their call.
Reillers you keep going on about how the Munster teams have it so tough and Kilkenny have it so easy!! anytime a munster team played a Leinster team this year they either lost or were damn lucky to win and when they did play Kilkenny they were hammered like the rest of Leinster... truth of the fact is throw Wexford, Offaly or Dublin into the current Munster Championship and they would be well able hold their own, throw Kilkenny in and they would walk over everybody and their hardest game would be against Cork who they would beat by 10 or so points. Simple fact is since Cork and Waterford have slipped back all hurling counties apart from Kilkenny are pretty close.
Quote from: EddieMerx on September 22, 2008, 06:20:39 PM
Reillers you keep going on about how the Munster teams have it so tough and Kilkenny have it so easy!! anytime a munster team played a Leinster team this year they either lost or were damn lucky to win and when they did play Kilkenny they were hammered like the rest of Leinster... truth of the fact is throw Wexford, Offaly or Dublin into the current Munster Championship and they would be well able hold their own, throw Kilkenny in and they would walk over everybody and their hardest game would be against Cork who they would beat by 10 or so points. Simple fact is since Cork and Waterford have slipped back all hurling counties apart from Kilkenny are pretty close.
Well said Eddie. I agree with every word of that.
Quote from: EddieMerx on September 22, 2008, 06:20:39 PM
Reillers you keep going on about how the Munster teams have it so tough and Kilkenny have it so easy!! anytime a munster team played a Leinster team this year they either lost or were damn lucky to win and when they did play Kilkenny they were hammered like the rest of Leinster... truth of the fact is throw Wexford, Offaly or Dublin into the current Munster Championship and they would be well able hold their own, throw Kilkenny in and they would walk over everybody and their hardest game would be against Cork who they would beat by 10 or so points. Simple fact is since Cork and Waterford have slipped back all hurling counties apart from Kilkenny are pretty close.
Yet again the games, as good as the Leinster counties did, are taken out of context. Waterford were very poor, Limerick were the worst I've seen for a long time and Cork were very flat against Dublin.
Both Cork and Waterford played a lot better in the rest of their games.
And like I said, it doesn't matter that Kilkenny could or couldn't beat the Munster teams, I said that all ready, it shouldn't matter how well they'd do in Munster, it's about making it fair, which at the minute it isn't, not for Galway, the Munster teams or anyone wanting to see a half competitive Leinster match.
Waterford played Offaly and Wexford... so which game did they play well in? the 23 point defeat to Kilkenny or the poor standard game against Tipp??? So I take it Leinster teams playing well against Munster teams is out of context because every year we have to face a drubbing from the cats!!! Ye Munster boys are doing a bloody good job at stopping the Cats. 2 years and the best ye have to offer have been seriously humiliated in the All-Ireland final by the cats.
Wexford rejected Galway's bid to joi Leinster last night - looks like this one is doomed !
Offaly now too. Have leinster and Ulster swaped roles? Are Ulster now 'pro change' while Leinster are holding the GAA in the dark ages? ;)
Mate of mine was at the Dublin meeting where it was discussed and said the main reasons it was rejected were the following:
1 By letting in Galway and Antrim into Leinster the chances of a proper League based Championship would go out the window.
2 The new proposal was seen as a sop to Munster and their fairytale opinion of the Munster hurling championship.
3 There was some argument as to whether a 3 year "opt out Clause" by Leinster was part of the proposals.
4 There was some anger at comments that by voting no to the proposals that Dublin would be seen to be selfish and parochial. Pointed out at meeting that both Antrim and Galway were in favour solely for their own interests.
He said it was a very good meeting and as delegated by our club he voted No.
Personally, I really want to see a 12 team championship run on a two 6 team basis with top team in each group going into semis , next 2 in 1/4 finals and the bottom 2 going into relegation play off with 1 going down each year and the Christy Ring winner going up each year.
Matter for Munster council to run their own championship if they want.
Keep the provincial championships the way they are. Run them off as a seperate competiton.
Then afterwards have an open draw for the All Ireland Series. To keep some impetus from the Provincial Champions have a bonus point awarded going forward to the AI Open draw.
Four pools of three counties: (perhaps no more than two provincial champos allowed in one group):
GROUP 1
Kilkenny (1pt)
Tipperary (1pt)
Offaly
GROUP 2
Galway (1pt)
Limerick
Cork
GROUP 3
Antrim (1pt)
Laois
Wexford
GOUP 4
Dublin
Waterford
Clare
Top teams in each group qualify for quarter finals in another open draw..
bottom teams do battle for relegation in open draw
Loser of relegation final goes down, Christy Ring winners promoted.
Some incentives all round... win your provincial gets you close to an AI Quarter Final.
to revive the all-ireland hurling championship, the provincial championships have to go as part of the liam mc carthy cup. provincial councils can then choose to run the provincial championships on their own time if they want.
Quote from: INDIANA on September 27, 2008, 02:01:35 PM
to revive the all-ireland hurling championship, the provincial championships have to go as part of the liam mc carthy cup. provincial councils can then choose to run the provincial championships on their own time if they want.
Agree, look at how well Camogie is doing since they ran the championship on a league basis and played the provincial as a seperate tournament. Only 5 years ago there were two camogie teams in Ireland now there are 5 or 6 at a similar standard.........
What really gets my goat about all the Munster Championship hyperbole is that it consists of only FOUR games.
It and a Leinster(only) Championship could both be played off as separate independent competitions in May.
Then let an All Ireland Championship( in whatever format -groups or straight k.o or whatever) commence first Sunday in July e.g..
Just for old times sake the Leinster and munster champions could be seeded and kept apart as long as practical.
But because the GAA are afraid the oul pals with the big nos of votes in Cork/Tipp/Limerick might be upset the Munster SHC is being kept as an integral part of the All Ireland SHC to the detriment of the game of hurling.
If Galway and Antrim come into Leinster, it's simply not a Leinster championship anymore. If we want to do away with the provincial championships, that's another story, but you can't just add two counties to a province and still "pretend" it's a provincial competition.
Sure Galway have a problem, but it's facetious to talk about bringing them in to improve the Leinster championship. What does it do for the other teams in Leinster? What about the likes of Laois? Shouldn't we be working more on raising their standard than throwing in another possible big beating?
The interesting thing is, regardless of the vote at Congress, Leinster Council have the right to bring them in, or not, as they see fit. While it's probably unlikely they'll go against a majority vote, they may well attach more weight to what way the Leinster counties vote.
just been passed for 3 years
Good. It was looking touch and go.
Delighted that this has been passed. It gives hurling a boost that is very welcome. Will also allow Galway to get more competitive game(s) before they hit the knockout stages.
Dont know how this will pan out but after about 5 formats in 6 years can I please ask the GAA to let this system run for the full 3 years.
Dont go running off in a knee jerk to change it again after the first Breheny whinge in Reillysrag.
It will be one less excuse for Sambo and Woody now, i can just hear them next year "we need to get out of Leinster to save Antrim hurling"
Hopefully Galway can take the Bob O'Keefe cup back west across the Shannon next year to where it rightfully belongs ;D
so it is one. well it'l make Leinster a bit more interesting but hopefuly wont stem the progress of Dublin and Westmeath.
Great news. I cant understand how Leinster teams think that this will weaken their chances. If they are to be good enough to win Leinster they will be good enough to beat KK and in that case probably Galway aswell in a given year. Easy access to the Leinster final doesnt mean a better chance of winiing it. With this new system teams will earn it to get to the final and be a better team for it.
However if for instance Offaly or dare I say Dublin were to beat KK in the semi and loose to Galway in the final I could see another sit down at croker.
farcical to still call it the leinster championship. the reality is this decision is simply to give brennan and his cabal at the top of hurling a showcase leinster final between galway and kilkenny every year and to keep the riff raff like westmeath and carlow out of thier own provincial championship thus ensuring they remian in the shithouse as regards making any strides. i don't know why the gaa don't go the whole hog and put an announcement in the paper and say they want these counties to retire. Its an absolute farce if you ask me.
Quote from: INDIANA on October 05, 2008, 08:33:38 PM
farcical to still call it the leinster championship. the reality is this decision is simply to give brennan and his cabal at the top of hurling a showcase leinster final between galway and kilkenny every year and to keep the riff raff like westmeath and carlow out of thier own provincial championship thus ensuring they remian in the shithouse as regards making any strides. i don't know why the gaa don't go the whole hog and put an announcement in the paper and say they want these counties to retire. Its an absolute farce if you ask me.
Surely too improve you have to play the best and as has been said to win Leinster you need to beat Kilkenny so beating Galway shouldn't be a major issue. I can see this going very well. Galway to win an AI within 3 years !
The connacht football championship is a crap championship as well, would galway and mayo appreciate it if tyrone were invited into their provincial championship? I doubt it. the leinster championship is distorted by having the greatest team in the history of hurling in it and offaly, wexford and to a lesser extent dublin proved that when they played the "might" of munster this year. Weall want galway to improve, but does it have to be at the expense of everyone else?
Quote from: INDIANA on October 05, 2008, 10:16:26 PM
The connacht football championship is a crap championship as well, would galway and mayo appreciate it if tyrone were invited into their provincial championship? I doubt it. the leinster championship is distorted by having the greatest team in the history of hurling in it and offaly, wexford and to a lesser extent dublin proved that when they played the "might" of munster this year. Weall want galway to improve, but does it have to be at the expense of everyone else?
Are you saying Dublin can't learn anything by playing Galway? What is their to fear from Galway sure they are 2nd best but Dublin and the others should be still focusing on Offaly and Wexford as their Goals this year . I really fail to see how getting beat by Galway is so terrible yet getting our asses handed too us by Kilkenny isn't .
because in any given season if kilkenny were to regress , you'd be damn lucky to beat the cats and galway in the one year just to win leinster, and what does a leinster championship mean to galway. I mean they aren't from leinster, what would winning the connacht football championship mena to the dublin footballers? SFA, in reality and its the same with this. it will mean nothing to galway to win a leinster championship where as for offaly ,wexford and dublin it would be like winning the all-ireland.
Good news for Antrim in particular - there was a plea from Sambo in the Irish News on Saturday and thankfully delegates listened to him.
Quote from: INDIANA on October 05, 2008, 11:08:56 PM
because in any given season if kilkenny were to regress , you'd be damn lucky to beat the cats and galway in the one year just to win leinster, and what does a leinster championship mean to galway. I mean they aren't from leinster, what would winning the connacht football championship mena to the dublin footballers? SFA, in reality and its the same with this. it will mean nothing to galway to win a leinster championship where as for offaly ,wexford and dublin it would be like winning the all-ireland.
Sure, but if they are good enough they will beat both of them and will be better than winning an Ireland!
QuoteThe connacht football championship is a crap championship as well, would galway and mayo appreciate it if tyrone were invited into their provincial championship? I doubt it. the leinster championship is distorted by having the greatest team in the history of hurling in it and offaly, wexford and to a lesser extent dublin proved that when they played the "might" of munster this year. Weall want galway to improve, but does it have to be at the expense of everyone else?
??? ??? ???
You are comparing the leinster hurling with connacht football? In Leinster, there is NO competition for Kilkenny.
In Connacht, matches are generally very competitive. Leitrim ran Galway very close this year, Sligo won Connacht last year, Roscommon generally arent far off & of course, there is usually nothing between Galway & Mayo so I dont really see your point & how you can compare them.
I would prefer if the leinster championship was abandoned to be replaced by a rest of Ireland championship (If the draw allows, a Galway-Antrim leinster final would not be the craziest idea ever). But I would have Westmeth & Carlow in there as well.
mate you mistake closeness for quality. mayo and galway are barely top8 football teams yet you compare them to the greatest team in history. Revise your post and come back to me.
Quote from: INDIANA on October 09, 2008, 09:54:37 PM
mate you mistake closeness for quality.
Sure you could have said that about the Leinster football championship yet you say Connacht is poor. Connacht had been a good deal better than Leinster over the past decade.
Quotemate you mistake closeness for quality. mayo and galway are barely top8 football teams yet you compare them to the greatest team in history. Revise your post and come back to me.
I dont want to get into a debate about the quality of Connacht football on a hurling thread but to say that Galway/Mayo are barely top 8 teams is just ridiculous. Mayo ran the eventual all-ireland champions closer than anyone this year. And Galway werent too far off beating Kerry so I just cant see where you are coming from??? The only possible teams I'd have ahead of them are Tyrone, Kerry, Cork? I cant see how you can claim any of the other teams are definitely ahead of them ??? ???
Comparing Connacht football with Leinster hurling makes just no sense because you are not comparing like with like.
Back to the hurling, You seem to be suggesting that there is quality in Leinster hurling outside Kilkenny? And your evidence is where exactly? That some leinster teams NEARLY beat some Munster teams this year & that Offaly beat a very poor Limerick team. If these Leinster teams were genuinely on par with the top teams in Munster (Cork, Waterford & Tipp) then they would be BEATING these teams and getting into an all-ireland final with Kilkenny themselves. I would also imagine that we would be seeing these teams competing for league titles (especially as a league title should mean more to these guys than it does to Kilkenny) but I dont think theres been a League winner outside Leinster (apart from Kilkenny) for years (Did Offaly & Wexford play in a final a while back?)