Neil Francis

Started by vetoldthe, June 17, 2018, 07:01:31 PM

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vetoldthe

Neil writing in the Independent today
Still having a dig at the Gaa. :(

Itchy

He needs to show us the viewership number to prove his point.

Dinny Breen

He's a dick. Paid to stir.
#newbridgeornowhere

mrdeeds

In Australia the soccer viewing figures dwarfed the Rugby and Cricket.

Jinxy

Come on lads, don't take the bait.
The article is deliberately designed to wind people up.
It's ok to ignore these things.
If you were any use you'd be playing.

moysider

Quote from: Jinxy on June 17, 2018, 09:17:38 PM
Come on lads, don't take the bait.
The article is deliberately designed to wind people up.
It's ok to ignore these things.

Ignoring things is easy. Like I always thought Gerry Kiernan had a point about GAA.

Jinxy

That wasn't a deliberate wind-up though.
He really does hate the GAA.  ;D
The best bit of that was clowns on social media slagging him off for 'only' finishing 9th in the marathon at the '84 Olympics.
If you were any use you'd be playing.

moysider

Quote from: Jinxy on June 17, 2018, 11:21:49 PM
That wasn't a deliberate wind-up though.
He really does hate the GAA.  ;D
The best bit of that was clowns on social media slagging him off for 'only' finishing 9th in the marathon at the '84 Olympics.

A lot of people hate the GAA. Mostly in strong and successful GAA counties in my experience. A lot of GAA people hate soccer and rugby also. I just read the Francis column today and see nothing objectionable tbh. The GAA is not a national game because we don't play other nations. Our 'soccer' team seems to be getting poorer with less quality players as the years go by. Often they are unwatchable. They get hammered 5-1 in a WC qualifier and it seemed like the FAI were desperate for the manager to stay on!

Kiernan's criticism was ok too. There are lads in their 40's and 50's that spend more time running training and are fitter than some senior club players and even some senior county players in their 20s. Maybe it is not the GAA players that instigate it but all the talk of 'sacrifices' is wearing.

yellowcard

By claiming rugby as the national sport (again) he is simply trying to keep his name in the headlines. Francis is not the worst pundit, at least he gives his opinion but I think he is deliberately trying to wind people up on this issue knowing that he will get a reaction.

The amount of media coverage that an end of season series junket with very little meaning attracts is mystifying.   

straightred

Quote from: yellowcard on June 18, 2018, 10:21:17 AM
By claiming rugby as the national sport (again) he is simply trying to keep his name in the headlines. Francis is not the worst pundit, at least he gives his opinion but I think he is deliberately trying to wind people up on this issue knowing that he will get a reaction.

The amount of media coverage that an end of season series junket with very little meaning attracts is mystifying.   

In a vacuum maybe we might take a mild passing interest in it but the World Cup is on and we have meaningful GAA games as well so a poxy rugby friendly is way down the pecking order. Francis needs to understand that saying something repeatedly will never make it true

Dinny Breen

Quote from: yellowcard on June 18, 2018, 10:21:17 AM
By claiming rugby as the national sport (again) he is simply trying to keep his name in the headlines. Francis is not the worst pundit, at least he gives his opinion but I think he is deliberately trying to wind people up on this issue knowing that he will get a reaction.

The amount of media coverage that an end of season series junket with very little meaning attracts is mystifying.   

You don't understand test rugby if you think get hammered in contact by professional sports men with an average weight of 100kg is a junket. It's fair to say also you don't understand professional rugby or indeed the cultural significance around test rugby period if you think a test win has little meaning.
#newbridgeornowhere

yellowcard

Quote from: Dinny Breen on June 18, 2018, 10:32:58 AM
Quote from: yellowcard on June 18, 2018, 10:21:17 AM
By claiming rugby as the national sport (again) he is simply trying to keep his name in the headlines. Francis is not the worst pundit, at least he gives his opinion but I think he is deliberately trying to wind people up on this issue knowing that he will get a reaction.

The amount of media coverage that an end of season series junket with very little meaning attracts is mystifying.   

You don't understand test rugby if you think get hammered in contact by professional sports men with an average weight of 100kg is a junket. It's fair to say also you don't understand professional rugby or indeed the cultural significance around test rugby period if you think a test win has little meaning.

You're probably right, I don't understand it then.

Die hard rugby followers might understand it but I would hazard a guess that there are an awful lot of 'event junkies' in the country who purely tune in for big Heineken Cup and 6 nations matches and do not really follow the sport outside of those occasions. I would classify myself amongst them but for Neil Francis to claim it as the national sport because of this is just for wind up purposes and I doubt if he genuinely believes his own assertion. 

Jinxy

Quote from: moysider on June 17, 2018, 11:44:40 PM
Quote from: Jinxy on June 17, 2018, 11:21:49 PM
That wasn't a deliberate wind-up though.
He really does hate the GAA.  ;D
The best bit of that was clowns on social media slagging him off for 'only' finishing 9th in the marathon at the '84 Olympics.

A lot of people hate the GAA. Mostly in strong and successful GAA counties in my experience. A lot of GAA people hate soccer and rugby also. I just read the Francis column today and see nothing objectionable tbh. The GAA is not a national game because we don't play other nations. Our 'soccer' team seems to be getting poorer with less quality players as the years go by. Often they are unwatchable. They get hammered 5-1 in a WC qualifier and it seemed like the FAI were desperate for the manager to stay on!

Kiernan's criticism was ok too. There are lads in their 40's and 50's that spend more time running training and are fitter than some senior club players and even some senior county players in their 20s. Maybe it is not the GAA players that instigate it but all the talk of 'sacrifices' is wearing.

By that rationale, they are also fitter than the vast majority of professional rugby players.
My issue with Jerry is that he thinks fitness=the ability to run long distances.
Why would somebody playing a team sport on a pitch with set dimensions train to run long distances, when intermittent sprints are the dominant activity?
I know a few veteran marathon runners who are quite happy to pound the roads for hours on end, but they have very little speed or strength.
If you put them on a football field they'd be lost, and probably end up getting hurt.
Does that mean they aren't fit?
Of course not.
Fitness is sports specific.
If you were any use you'd be playing.

Shamrock Shore

Neil is an aul windbag and not to be taken seriously.

Jinxy

He has a point about the provincial finals to be fair.
If you were any use you'd be playing.