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Galway's hurlers are not comparable to Kerry footballers.They come into the All-Ireland series completely cold,and in Galway there is real competition form other sports such as rugby and soccer.Also their resources are thin because they are strong at all GAA sports

You claim to have watched Kerry club football but I doubt you have ever been to the county if you come out with tripe like that.

Also, you might reflect a while on Ulster hurling and the fact that neither yourselves or Antrim have even come close to winning an AI despite having no "real competition" year in, year out in Ulster. How do you explain that ? ...no doubt you will come up with a myriad of excuses....that fact that you are just not good enough would never enter your head of course.

One thing is for sure, if the Kerry hurlers had the same oppotunities that you lads have had there'd be a few Liam McCarthy cups winging their way to Tralee.. but I dont see yourselves or Antrim launching campaigns to rescue Kerry hurling from the "unfair" Munster Championship.

Obviously with 3 irate replies from kerry mike ,we seem to have hit a raw nerve!

By the way ,how would playing in a weak ulster be such an advantage to kerry hurlers ,yet you don't consider playing in a weak munster an advantage to kerry footballers--I can't grasp your logic.
I would agree that Ulster Hurling should not be given any advantage.

The fact is that in the past 20 odd years,8 different ulster counties have played in AI semi-finals,whereas apart from Clare's 1 munster title,Kerry  or Cork have got a free ride.While not taking away from the fact that Kerry are an outstanding team,they've definitely benefitted from a skewed system,and the rewards it has brought them..

If Kerry Mike is convinced of the dominance of Kerry football--let Kerry test that dominance in a fairer system.

In reply to Galway Boy,Interesting that you want to continue a system that deprives your neighbours of a title for 32 years!Interesting that the only posters on here defending the current system are from connacht (5 counties) or munster (6 counties,only 2 serious contenders)

Regarding the qualifiers,even for the least glamourous ties,they attract larger attendances in summer than a comparable league match in winter!

In the new system every game has meaning,with those knocked out 1st entering a genuinely meaningful Tommy Murphy,and those that remain only 1 game away from an all-ireland 1/4 final.
With every county guaranteed summer football,and club football revitalised.

 magpie seanie,
Obviously success in the qualifiers,gave you a bit of boost ,if you're still blowing about last year's victory over us

I didn't mean to patronise you,but I think it's good for the GAA to see relatively new kids on the block making an impact:sligo,fermanagh,laois,wexford.
Though my own county,have had no senior success in recent years,we did sample success in the 90s,and have had underage success more recently.I'd love to be supporting the mourne county in major games again,but that is not the main thrust of my argument.

All I want is for GAA to reach it's potential.As a child and an adult ,I attended as many games as I could,but often this would amount to 1-2 games per year.Soccer fans on the other hand can watch numerous meaningul matches for 10 months of the year.Even Irish league soccer fans can watch their team weekly.
How great would it be to be able to take my own kids to packed stadia to support their team 9-10 games every summer.

The provincial series "magic" can easily be replaced by novel pairings such as Kerry-Dublin,Cork-Tyrone,Sligo-Fermanagh,Down-Meath, week in/week out.

I agree with "believe,believe",regarding club football-it is the bedrock of our association,and caters for >90% of our playing members.A more compact county season from  late May to August,allows county players more time with their clubs,and will allow for club competitions to continue without  county players in the summer.Dare I say,like the way Heneken cup and Magniers league operate in rugby.

If those that jealously guard the old system are convinced of its merits-allow a 1 year trial of the new system,and see if there is a desire to return.
Time to change!

Kerry's dominance in GF is not an accident ,and not due to any secret formula-In reality Kerry has a large GAA playing base ,and no significant competition from other sports.Their seasonal preparation involves only having to peak for 4 games a year.This is ridiculously unfair to other counties.

I think this is an absolute red herring as evidenced by the argument that Galway hurlers haven't won bucket loads of All-Irelands. The reason Kerry are so good in my view is that their club structures are the best in the land BY A MILE. Tradition etc plays a huge part in it too I accept but the fact is that if you are a good young fella playing football in Kerry, no matter what level or club, you will get every chance and encouragement to improve, make a name for yourself and if good enough break through to wear the green and gold. It's not the case in my county and I dare say alot of other counties.

Galway's hurlers are not comparable to Kerry footballers.They come into the All-Ireland series completely cold,and in Galway there is real competition form other sports such as rugby and soccer.Also their resources are thin because they are strong at all GAA sports.

Part of the reason why young Kerry footballers develop so well,is because they have been brought up in an atmoshere of success,probably coached by an All-Ireland winner,and they know that if they get onto a Kerry squad ,they're almost guaranteed an All-Ireland medal.
Why should the rest of us be robbed of that opportunity.Having seen Kerry club football at first hand,I'm not convinced they have concocted a master plan for club football.However,the AI system favours their clubs as well,because they know that their county team every year will only be involved in meaningful games from late June to September ,and club football can continue without county players in the summer months,with county players being available for their clubs for the rest of the year.Again,this ideal club structure is not available to other counties,given our less predictable seasons.
Look at Sligo-most recent success via qualifiers,whereas the provincial system hasn't been kind to them.Look what a run of summer games achieved for them .A new system would revitalise  counties like Sligo,by guaranteeing a number of meaningful summer games,and allowing more regular club fixtures.

This isn't sour grapes about Kerry,good luck to them for what they've achieved,but the current system is heavily weighted in their favour-Any other sport would laugh at the unfairness of our All-Ireland series-Indeed I'm surprised Fergal Logan hasn't challenged it under European equality legislation--now there's an idea -anybody know Fergal's mobile no,or will I have to ask Paddy Bradley again

Delighted for Martin Clarke.
Given his unprecedented rise to 1st team status,it shows what an exceptional talent he is ,and an enormous loss to Down football.
While genuinely wishing Martin well, I would be interested to know what steps the county board has taken to ensure there isn't a drain of our best talents to Australia in the future.
Sean Cavanagh rejected overtures from AFL,on the basis that he was convinced he would win All-Irelands at home.How do we make sure that future Down stars have a genuine chance of winning All-Irelands?

If you abolish the provincials, then there is only one cup in the year, many teams will not win Sam for decades, but can aspire to a provincial championship.

How many teams aspire to a provincial championship,yet don't aspire to an All-Ireland?

I think we have to change our mindset,and as gaels we have a responsibility to ensure optimal development of our games in a new era,where soccer and Rugby are a bigger challenge than ever before.

We have a plethora of quality venues throughout the country ,which are rarely filled.
We bum and blow about big crowds @ GAA matches ,but that's because there's so few meaningful GAA matches each year-that when they occur,they're obviously  going to be attractive,and thereby fill stadia.

Kerry's dominance in GF is not an accident ,and not due to any secret formula-In reality Kerry has a large GAA playing base ,and no significant competition from other sports.Their seasonal preparation involves only having to peak for 4 games a year.This is ridiculously unfair to other counties.I think Kerry Mike's jealous guarding of the current system speaks for itself.

In our own county for example,if GAA is going to optimally compete for the hearts and minds of our youth--we need to be filling Newry as many times a year as possible.Capacity venues are priceless,yet the current system doesn't allow for  enough of these fixtures.The capacity Croke park games involving Dublin have been the single biggest marketing tool for the GAA in recent years.

Personally I think there needs to be a guarantee of meaningful games for EVERY county compressed throughout the summer months,with the rest of the year dedicated to club/schools/colleges football,and a proper closed season.During the county season club football will continue but without county players,and the All-Ireland series should be finished by the end of August,to allow all players back to their clubs earlier.

I think this needs to driven by Player welfare,club representatives and marketing experts.

We have superb games,intense rivalries,outstanding venues,but burnt-out players.The current provincial system/league structure is a millstone around our necks,preventing optimal development of the GAA-and needs to be ditched!

Personally,I would favour   a league immediately pre-championship for seeding-leading into a knockout championship with qualifiers and a  serious Tommy Murphy with genuine rewarding of winners/runners up.

Tommy Murphy should be akin to an intermediate club championship-a genuine achievement in itself,rewarded by an upgrade the following year.The Tommy Murphy cup,currently is an example how negative publicity and poor marketing can trivialise a genuinely good concept.

Agree with statto-gael,that would be my  interpretation of the rules,but it brings up a another question about rules surrounding reserves.
Do our rules re reserves,restrict clubs from getting the best out of this level.
Personally ,I feel  reserves should be primarily about developing fringe players,or for players coming back from injury-and I feel the current top 13 rule does not optimise the potential usefulness of a reserve squad.Top 13 unnecessarily restricts the reserve team manager.
My opinion is that the reserves should be similar to soccer reserves,where any player can play for the reserves.Say for example a player is struggling for confidence in the senior team on a friday night ,and the senior team manager decides he could do with a run in the reserves,or indeed a senior player returning from injury,trying to get up to speed-They should be able to play for the reserves.
My point is,that reserves should not be overvalued as a competition in it's own right-the reserves should primarily be a stepping stone for those with the ambition to play senior--with the numbers made up by your recreational footballers.
There would also be scope in some clubs to field a totally recreational 3rds team-to keep players who can not commit to training involved.
I think that much like our senior club leagues,reserves and other levels need to be looked at to see how we can get the most out of them.

Massive loss to the game.Having met  Eamon a number of years ago,the 2 things that struck me about him was his modesty,and his total committment to Derry football.
Thanks,Eamon for your massive contribution to the GAA.
May he rest in peace.
From a Down fan.

Best wishes to Eamon and his family from a Down man.

ACHL Div1
Ballela 1.16 Portaferry 7.29

We only had 12 players so we had to put a fella who was injured in goals and ask portaferry to play 13 a side but they wouldnt agree. We then had to ring two 18 year olds from the area who dont play hurling, and havent in the past, to play 15-a-side. Their corner forward Nigel Milliigan? scored about 3.6 off one of the poor lads!

You should be allowed to play 13 a side in league games where on team only has 13 players. This sort of thing does nobody any good. Portaferry are taking this league very seriously this year and are determined to win it. Fair play to the 2 lads who helped you out.

I suppose Portaferry's logic was that they had 15+ players who wanted a game.I'd imagine they didn't want to deprive 2-3 of their own lads a game of Hurling because another side didn't attend with a full quota.
Part of the problem in Down club Hurling is that if clubs don't meet their responsibility to field 15,then it becomes a Mickey Mouse league.
I'm all for encouraging Hurling in smaller clubs ,but if we start dropping standards then everybody suffers.
I hope Ballela are already working to ensure they have 15 senior Hurlers for their next league game!

As an ex-hurler/footballer,I think the time has come for the Ards clubs to take the lead.They obviously are better organised than the county,but lack of county success obviously has a detrimental effect on their progress.
We have the best game in the world,yet it is becoming less attractive to our youth.To my shame,my own kids do not play hurling,as I don't beleive in travelling 8 miles to the nearest club  for poorly organised training,and 5-6 matches per year.I am prepared to travel 8 miles however to take them to well organised football training,and I know they will get over 20 matches a year,and have a real chance to develop as footballers.
The shock over Sunday's defeat would make you think this annihilation was an isolated incident.Down hurlers have taken some tankings over the last few years at minor ,u21 and senior level.We have no real Hurling nurseries at schools level.
The failings of the county board with regard to Hurling are obvious,but why do Hurling folk let this happen?
Surely there has to be leadership from "the Ards" on this issue,since "the Ards" has the expertise and have the most to lose if this situation isn't remedied.Ballycran/Portaferry and Ballygalget need to get their most knowledgeable,charismatic and forward thinking personalities to grab the bull by the horns now,before Antrim leave us to languish in mediocrity!

In saying that what was agreed by the clubs and county board about the academies and what resources were required, the county board have failed to deliver by not supplying water bottles and a place to train. The U-16's have trained on three seperate pitches in Downpatrick, one was a school pitch with no ball screens and changing rooms, luckily it didn't rain that day. The training bibs were allegedly still in the office in Castlewellan but the academies have been running for more than 4 sessions now and still no sign. A distinct smell of bullshite coming from Mr Bell yet again.

This is unacceptable--surely the time is ripe to put an end to this nonsense.
Down are a top 2nd tier Hurling county ,despite all this organisational  shambles.Our potential if we got our act together is immense.Look at Ballygalget's achievement in getting within a whisker of an All-Ireland,with relatively smaller playing resources than the county team.
Obviously a number of issues need addressed,but an immediate necessity is that every county squad should have their own "logistics" officer to ensure suitable venue and equipment is available to each squad.It comes back to the old chestnut of there being a dedicated centre(s) of excellence for all county teams,which would solve alot of these logistics problems.
I hope ClubDown will now expend their considerable energies in to developing these training venues,now that Páirc Esler is completed.

I hear the county minor hurlers were treated abominably last weekend in Casement by the county board.

There weren't enough jerseys for the panel of 28 and Ronan Sheehan had to go to the O'Neills shop in Newry to buy another 4 out of his own pocket, then they hadn't enough tracksuits for the subs and the mentors had to give them theres. The ones that they did have were old gaelic gear ones, shambolic to say the least.

I bet those young hurlers were proud to play for their county last weekend!!

Why are we such an amateurish outfit?

Shades of Saipan there,me thinks!

The question is do you blame the minor management/mick mccarthy or the county board/FAI.

Whatever the reasons in the famous words of Roy Keane-"it should have been sorted out 2 weeeeks ago!"

I doubt if the above shambles would have happened with the minor footballers--but is that due to county board bias,or due to the organisational skills of the minor football management??

I agree that there are problems with Hurling being considered the poor relation,but it is lazy to just blame the county board.In my opinion all  with a vested interest in Hurling,need to get heads together.The "Ards" is one of the strongest Hurling areas in Ireland and Hurling is now stronger outside the Ards than it has been for many years.Our Hurling potential as a county is massive--but it's time to stop gurning and  instead actively address the shambolic organisation of Hurling in this county.

GAA matches can't be played because of a car boot sale, I'd say that's a GAA issue.

Still, as long as the money is coming in.  It doesn't matter if 10 and 11 year olds don't know what it's like to play on their own pitch.

Sorry Down Fanatic,you're on your own, most would agree with No.1 on this one.

1.It should be discussed under the GAA section as it is relevant if it effects GAA fixtures.
2.Banning your under 12s from your own pitch for apparent financial reasons is inexcusable.
3.Does the money you make on the car-boot sale outweigh the safety concerns,effect on club fixtures,ill-will generated due to Sunday traffic delays,and valuable time input of your club members?
4.Any chance of getting me a few cheap Daniel O'Donnel CDs at this week's car-boot sale?

Don't see how you can castigate Bradley for going against the GAA.
The DRA is part of the GAA which he was entitled to go to.
The fault lies with the GAA rulebook completely, why wouldn't he appeal to the correct channels

It's a joke, but that's the GAA disciplinary process  

I agree wholeheartedly-how can you blame a player in trying every angle to get his suspension lifted-we would all do the same in similar circumstances.
However,it seems every time a ruling is challenged on a technicality,the defendant gets off....surely the committees who apply the rules ,either don't follow proper procedure,or the rules are not watertight enough to prevent such fiascos-.The GAA needs to address it's disciplinary procedures urgently---perhaps Fergal Logan is the man to consult in getting these rules sorted out.
On the subject of Fergal,I think it's ridiculous that people slate him for using his professional expertise to represent his clients!
The problem lies with the GAA  disciplinary procedures or committees being open to legal challenge.