Meath vs Dublin - 26/06/16

[twohands!!!]

Leinster at the moment is a bit like a street where everyone has a nice mid-range saloon car, or a comfortable hatchback in their driveway, except for this one guy who has a ferrari.
You walk out your front door every morning and get into your perfectly serviceable car to go to work, but you have to drive past the ferrari and deal with the depressing thought that you'll never have one.
Basically... it's all relative.
In every other province, the worst you have to deal with is a higher spec saloon car or maybe a nice Merc.
That doesn't have the same soul-destroying effect.

People give out about the setup in Munster but the 4 counties of Clare, Tipp, Limerick and Waterford are the ones who have come up with the structure that mostly keeps the 2 weakest teams away from the traditional heavyweights of Cork and Kerry.

The thing about Leinster is that it's not a provincial issue, it's a league status issue - you look at where the Leinster teams were in the league this year

Division 1- Dublin
bottom half of Division 2 - Meath
relegated from Division 2 - Laois
Division 3 - Westmeath Longford Offaly Kildare
Division 4 - Louth Carlow Wicklow Wexford
MIA - Kilkenny

Anyone expecting a competitive Leinster championship would need their head examined.

[Zulu]

The provincial championships are rubbish, that's the issue. They usually have been and mostly will be in the future. The provincial championships/qualifiers are now like the league, except worse, insofar as it's a sporting sideshow where everyone is going through the motions until the real business starts in August. Yes, weaker counties will have some minor victories, Longford and Limerick yesterday for example or Tipp or Galway upsetting the odds but by and large they are footnotes that not even the teams involved will rank very high in time.

[seafoid]

Anyone who thinks the Dubs are eternal should consider Spain Vs Italy

[Rossfan]

Italy has nearly twice the population of Spain.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Italy has nearly twice the population of Spain.

No it doesn't.

[thejuice]

How many full time coaches do Italy have though?

Dubs might well decline in time but until that happens its a mountain the rest of Leinster just can't climb.

I reckon this Meath team could have a good run the championship but if they come up against the Dubs again it'll be the same result.

[seafoid]

Italy has nearly twice the population of Spain.

Only if you consider Catalonia as independent .
Spain won everything 2008 to 2012 just like the Dubs do now

[heffo]

Italy has nearly twice the population of Spain.

Only if you consider Catalonia as independent .
Spain won everything 2008 to 2012 just like the Dubs do now

No O'Byrne cup this year. Those Longford hoors. It still rankles.

[INDIANA]

How many full time coaches do Italy have though?

Dubs might well decline in time but until that happens its a mountain the rest of Leinster just can't climb.

I reckon this Meath team could have a good run the championship but if they come up against the Dubs again it'll be the same result.

The sooner Meath realise they are crap. The sooner they'll get back to where they should be.

Still in denial. One of the worst Meath teams I've ever seen. They just gave up.

And when they couldn't live with some lads they resorted to forearm smashes and kicking lads in the head.

Dublin are beatable this year but Leinster just makes you despair when you see the state of Kildare and Meath football.

[thejuice]

Ah Indiana. We're under no illusions what-so-ever about where we are. The lads didn't just give up, they just tired out against a team with unprecedented fitness and talent. They were bursting a gut out there.

Sure there are one or two on the team who aren't up to the expected level but we'll see how it goes. My judgment is that we have a decent enough team that can go a few rounds in the qualifiers. We'll see if I'm right about that in the coming weeks.

[INDIANA]

Ah Indiana. We're under no illusions what-so-ever about where we are. The lads didn't just give up, they just tired out against a team with unprecedented fitness and talent. They were bursting a gut out there.

Sure there are one or two on the team who aren't up to the expected level but we'll see how it goes. My judgment is that we have a decent enough team that can go a few rounds in the qualifiers. We'll see if I'm right about that in the coming weeks.

You didn't try to win the game. Lads like Reilly, Newman and Wallace are well able to score. But play a game-plan that gives them a chance to show what they do best. It's pointless playing defensive against Dublin - 29 times out of 30 you will lose because they are better with the ball then anyone else

to beat them you have to hold onto the ball and have a definitive plan to score against them. You won plenty of ball at midfield in the first half but it was absolutely redundant when you play one up front. If anything you won midfield hands down in the first half.

Honestly O Dowd gave up before he started. To me for Meath football that's shameful. Everyone has a defensive structure but you must attack to beat Dublin.

Dublin are beatable this year but whether anyone will be brave enough to go for it against them remains to be seen.

[Jinxy]

Give us back our Ferrari.

[thejuice]

We went man to man in 2014 and got completely destroyed, while in the two preceding years we were more defensive and were much closer. So we had to come up with something different that drew from those experiences.

The game plan to attack which worked in the first half fell apart in the second half because Dublin made the necessary changes and our players ran out of steam, that's what happens. Just as our tackling got sloppy as well and Rock punished us.

Honestly Indiana, I just wish it was something as simple our lads just needing to "have a go" at beating the Dubs.

Which teams can you honestly say have a realistic chance of beating Dublin this year?

[westbound]

Ah Indiana. We're under no illusions what-so-ever about where we are. The lads didn't just give up, they just tired out against a team with unprecedented fitness and talent. They were bursting a gut out there.

Sure there are one or two on the team who aren't up to the expected level but we'll see how it goes. My judgment is that we have a decent enough team that can go a few rounds in the qualifiers. We'll see if I'm right about that in the coming weeks.

You didn't try to win the game. Lads like Reilly, Newman and Wallace are well able to score. But play a game-plan that gives them a chance to show what they do best. It's pointless playing defensive against Dublin - 29 times out of 30 you will lose because they are better with the ball then anyone else

to beat them you have to hold onto the ball and have a definitive plan to score against them. You won plenty of ball at midfield in the first half but it was absolutely redundant when you play one up front. If anything you won midfield hands down in the first half.

Honestly O Dowd gave up before he started. To me for Meath football that's shameful. Everyone has a defensive structure but you must attack to beat Dublin.

Dublin are beatable this year but whether anyone will be brave enough to go for it against them remains to be seen.

I reckon if you DON'T play defensively against them you will lose 59 times out of 60! Therefore the chances of beating them increased by meath playing defensively!

[Lar Naparka]

Anyone who thinks the Dubs are eternal should consider Spain Vs Italy

Can't agree with you here. You are not comparing like with like. There are plenty of other countries that can match them in population and resources.

Same goes for Kerry in football and Kilkenny in hurling; there's no credible analogy that can be drawn between either of them and Dublin.
Neither country has an overwhelming superiority in playing numbers or resources over all competitors. They each got to the top through sheer talent alone.

Kilkenny has less than half the number of senior clubs as Cork  (27 vs 12) and, as for finances, they tag along behind many others.
There was quite a controversy some years ago when  the members of the AI-winning team had to stand outside church gates with buckets in their hands to raise money to pay for their own holiday abroad. Imagine the Dubs being reduced to this!

Kerry and all counties along the western seaboard have serious problems with rural depopulation/ emigration and clubs having to amalgamate in order to survive. Neither Kerry, nor indeed any other county, has the playing numbers and resources of Dublin.

They don't get to play all their championship games on their home pitch either.
Supposing some of Dublin's panel had to get into their cars after work or college and set off for a training session over 100 miles away. After getting back around 1.30 am or so and then be up for work or college and repeat this two or three times a week, they might not be as invincible as they are now.
And the gap between Dublin and the rest is only going to widen in the foreseeable future. I've no problem with Jim Gavin and his players per se but spare me the crap that if only other counties tried harder, they could match the Dubs without a bother.