Championship structures - the never ending saga?

[south Laois]

Can they not just move on and have 8 groups of 4 in champions league style format? Just don't mention champions league or the dinosaurs at congress will never pass it.

[twohands!!!]

Can they not just move on and have 8 groups of 4 in champions league style format? Just don't mention champions league or the dinosaurs at congress will never pass it.

I'm half-convinced this is why this has no chance of getting passed.

[Rossfan]

Dinosaurs could well be convinced to pass this because it will bring in the €€€€€€s.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

[AZOffaly]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

Which is?

[OgraAnDun]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

Which is?

PaddyPower are currently taking bets on it being the provincial structure at 1/3.

[BennyHarp]

Is this the GAA's first attempt at dipping their toes into a round robin championship format? I don't mind it at first glance. Have they suggested potential dates? How come this didn't form any of the proposals considered last year? It clearly hasn't been designed to help weaker counties? Would Tipp have won through a round robin stage this year? I don't know!

[blewuporstuffed]

Can they not just move on and have 8 groups of 4 in champions league style format? Just don't mention champions league or the dinosaurs at congress will never pass it.

Do you watch the champions league?
In general the group stages are very poor stuff with the real competition only starting when it gates to the last 16 and the knockout stages.
we would just be in the same place we are in now, with the real action no starting until august anyway.

[blewuporstuffed]

From reading these forums it seems the issues with the current system are:

1. Not enough time for club games
2. Too easy for some of the bigger teams to make quarter finals. (Unbalanced structures)
3. Provincial stages have little impact
4. League of little relevance
5. Uncompetitive games
6. Little chance of a shock
7. Dwindling attendances
8. Growing disparity between the bigger and smaller counties.
9. 6 day turnaround

I'm sure there are others

For me the new proposal addresses none of those issues, I don't have a problem with group stages but not at that stage. It serves little practical benefit.

I agree 100% david.
The issues you have listed are the main problems we have and very few (if any?) are solved by this new format.
Infact i would imagine it would make no. 1 even worse

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

Which is?

The Provincials, and the GAA hierarchy.

[AZOffaly]

Is this the GAA's first attempt at dipping their toes into a round robin championship format? I don't mind it at first glance. Have they suggested potential dates? How come this didn't form any of the proposals considered last year? It clearly hasn't been designed to help weaker counties? Would Tipp have won through a round robin stage this year? I don't know!

Tipp probably wouldn't have won through a round robin this year, however if your aim as a county is long term progress, apart from 1 year flashes of sun a lá Wexford in 2008 and Fermanagh 2004, then this approach is probably of more benefit long term.

It will certainly limit cinderella stories, but maybe it will prepare a couple more teams to go to the dance more often.

No matter what system you put in place the top teams will be at the business end. That's usually the idea as well. May the best team win. You have to allow everyone compete, and you have to allow a chance for everyone to gatecrash the party. The current system does that, but this approach would reward the gatecrashers even more by exposing them to top games. This run is so brilliant for Tipperary because they are getting experience of playing very good teams in big games, but my hope is that this experience, allied to lads returning, allied to continuing to improve the underage scene, will give them a base to be in the last 8 on a much more consistant basis. If that's the case, and the last 8 is in this format, then that will bring them on even more.

I'd be worried about calendar more than anything. Where will clubs fit in? I'd also hope there'd be a requirement that *all* provincial championships end at the same time, and that the only replays allowed are in Provincial Finals, All Ireland Semi Finals and Finals.

[AZOffaly]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

Which is?

The Provincials, and the GAA hierarchy.

I know I seem to be in the minority on here, but I like the provincial championships. Offaly beating Longford, and losing to Westmeath, meant a lot, good and bad. I think they could be cleaned up, sped up and made more streamlined, but I still like them, and still hope to see Tipperary win a Munster Football at Senior Level. That's a real goal for these players.

[EastTyrone]

Quick questions on this proposal?
What is the next stage in this process?
Does this have to go to congress now?
Are other proposals allowed to go forward?
Why is your man Duffy in this position?
As a reserve footballer, should I just retire now?

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Wilfully ignoring the big fat limping elephant in the room as per usual.

Which is?

The Provincials, and the GAA hierarchy.

I know I seem to be in the minority on here, but I like the provincial championships. Offaly beating Longford, and losing to Westmeath, meant a lot, good and bad. I think they could be cleaned up, sped up and made more streamlined, but I still like them, and still hope to see Tipperary win a Munster Football at Senior Level. That's a real goal for these players.

Not the Provincials as a competition per se, but their status as a straight route through to the business end of the Championship as a component part. This is a ham-fisted effort to address that (one assumes), that will actually make things worse introducing, as it does, two extra games for the last eight teams.

[AZOffaly]

I think this is a reaction (as everything in the GAA appears to be) to the howling in the meeja about Kerry's 'unfair' route to an All Ireland Semi Final. In this scenario Kerry, (and Dublin I suppose) would  have to play a few serious-ish games in the quarter final group before they made a semi final. So instead of Clare-Tipp-Clare it might be Clare-Tipp-Clare-Dublin-Donegal.

I don't mind this I have to say, but as I said, I'd shorten the provincials, and remove unnecessary replays.