Who is the most bitter after Dubs do 5 in a row

[larryin89]

It's pure shite , it's nothing to do with the GAA we grew up on . They are a semi pro team in a competition with amateur teams , sin e. The celebrations were rubbish , it's all manufactured rubbish and that's even crept into the supporter . It's all very disappointing but I do not for one minute have any bad thing to say about the actual players , fantastic sportsmen , very dedicated .

Question for the dubs who think it's all well and good , at what point does dominance by one team become a problem in an amateur sport, if ye won 7 out of the next nine , have we a problem , or will this just be another special group of  talented young men ?

[From the Bunker]

It's pure shite , it's nothing to do with the GAA we grew up on . They are a semi pro team in a competition with amateur teams , sin e. The celebrations were rubbish , it's all manufactured rubbish and that's even crept into the supporter . It's all very disappointing but I do not for one minute have any bad thing to say about the actual players , fantastic sportsmen , very dedicated .

Question for the dubs who think it's all well and good , at what point does dominance by one team become a problem in an amateur sport, if ye won 7 out of the next nine , have we a problem , or will this just be another special group of  talented young men ?

This is not a question that Dubs can or have to answer. No more than Crossmaglen had to answer in the Armagh Championship for years!

There will be a further decline in attendances next summer. Even Dublin fans will wait until the later stages before they have an interest. Will be interesting to see if the Dubs have a go at the League again next year after taking this years League campaign off?

As Seafroid said, the intercounty game is broke. The GAA have gone head first down a long road and it's a long road back. If there is a road back.

[highorlow]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

[High Fielder]

County boundaries don't work in the context of the GAA. We all want them to, and it would be great if they did. But they just don't. The best footballer could be born in Leitrim and never reach the top of his or her sport. That's not right in my opinion

[GalwayBayBoy]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Great praise for those Dublin GAA volunteers from the chairman of Na Fianna. Undoubtably the best and hardest working volunteers in the land. And an example to the rest of us.

[Ed Ricketts]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Interesting that. The Dublin Problem has been a topic for a few years now, but with every success it becomes more prominent. Go back to 2016 and it was pretty much a subject exclusively for a few of us troglodytes on internet forums, but just three later we have regular open discourse on national television. The GAA public are slowly but surely waking up to The Problem and change is coming. Six, seven, eight - it's now a matter of when, not if, the break up happens.

[Mayo Border]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Great praise for those Dublin GAA volunteers from the chairman of Na Fianna. Undoubtably the best and hardest working volunteers in the land. And an example to the rest of us.

The Na Fianna man refused to acknowledge the exorbitant funding available to Dublin GAA. He confirmed the bar has been raised and it is up to all other counties to raise their levels to catch up. And  he mentioned the hundreds of thousands of hours the volunteers put in including his club's 174 teams

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Interesting that. The Dublin Problem has been a topic for a few years now, but with every success it becomes more prominent. Go back to 2016 and it was pretty much a subject exclusively for a few of us troglodytes on internet forums, but just three later we have regular open discourse on national television. The GAA public are slowly but surely waking up to The Problem and change is coming. Six, seven, eight - it's now a matter of when, not if, the break up happens.

Doubt there'll be a split.  Lot of Dublin people would have little to no interest in supporting part of their county.  And presumably, at least the Leinster Council would have to approve it--which is doubtful given the likely hit it would mean on Leinster GAA finances.  The better move from the GAA would be to concentrate funding on other counties, to try to make them better, rather than trying to split Dublin.

[MayoBuck]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Great praise for those Dublin GAA volunteers from the chairman of Na Fianna. Undoubtably the best and hardest working volunteers in the land. And an example to the rest of us.

The Na Fianna man refused to acknowledge the exorbitant funding available to Dublin GAA. He confirmed the bar has been raised and it is up to all other counties to raise their levels to catch up. And  he mentioned the hundreds of thousands of hours the volunteers put in including his club's 174 teams

It was pretty pointless having someone like him on prime time (a club mate of John Horan). He had no authority to speak about the Dublin finances.

[dublin7]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Great praise for those Dublin GAA volunteers from the chairman of Na Fianna. Undoubtably the best and hardest working volunteers in the land. And an example to the rest of us.

The Na Fianna man refused to acknowledge the exorbitant funding available to Dublin GAA. He confirmed the bar has been raised and it is up to all other counties to raise their levels to catch up. And  he mentioned the hundreds of thousands of hours the volunteers put in including his club's 174 teams

Dubs make history on Sat night so RTÉ show this Prime Time Special on the following Monday. Classy move. Whatever about funding issues it's disappointing and insulting how people look down on Dublin GAA volunteers with their snide comments.  I'm abroad and didn't watch it (not that I would anyway)but did they point out the number of former Dublin footballers/hurlers involved in coaching underage teams in Dublin on a purely voluntary level?

[J70]

Topic was on prime time there this evening. Anyone with RTE1 +1 will get it at 22:30

Interesting that. The Dublin Problem has been a topic for a few years now, but with every success it becomes more prominent. Go back to 2016 and it was pretty much a subject exclusively for a few of us troglodytes on internet forums, but just three later we have regular open discourse on national television. The GAA public are slowly but surely waking up to The Problem and change is coming. Six, seven, eight - it's now a matter of when, not if, the break up happens.

Doubt there'll be a split.  Lot of Dublin people would have little to no interest in supporting part of their county.  And presumably, at least the Leinster Council would have to approve it--which is doubtful given the likely hit it would mean on Leinster GAA finances.  The better move from the GAA would be to concentrate funding on other counties, to try to make them better, rather than trying to split Dublin.

Is that a definite though?

Its more than a decade since I lived in Dublin, but I lived there for a number of years and knew and was close with many Dubs. Particularly in my earlier years there, there was always a good bit of banter and rivalry between the north and south sides of the city. Obviously the county team unites everyone, but would it be that much of a stretch to see a spirited rivalry develop and support generated for two county teams divided by the Liffey?

[Jell 0 Biafra]

It's not a given, no.  Just my opinion, informed by what I've heard from other Dublin people.  I've never heard anyone say they'd be interested in a split team, and I've heard plenty disavow any interest in county football if a split were to happen.  By way of comparison, people on here from outside Dublin have from time to time voiced similar lack of interest in county amalgamations as a way of curtailing Dublin dominance.

On the North/South thing, yes, you're right of course, there is a natural rivalry built in there.  But someone stuck up hypothetical line-outs for Dublin North and Dublin South here a year or two ago.  Both teams looked very strong, on paper at least.  And given the current squad--and those knocking on the door--there'd be a real possibility of North/South Dubin AI finals.   Which seems like something those with a  "Split Dublin" perspective would want to avoid.  So what do you do then?  Split Dublin into smaller units?  Well, then you lose the inbuilt rivalry of North/South.  I, for one, can't image ever caring particularly much about the fortunes of a Fingal team. I'd be far more in favor of other counties being targeted for development and funding rather than trying to take Dublin down a level. 

Considering doing any of this assumes that Dublin's current domination is a problem to be solved.  But Kerry won 7 in 9 years, and Kilkenny looked like they'd never stop winning in the hurling, but both of those eventually came to an end.  Yes, population and home advantage weren't factors there, but while we were living through those years, it was sometimes hard to see the dominance ending. Until it did.  What happens when Gavin retires? When Cluxton calls it a day?  Dublin's bench looked less intimidating this year than in previous ones.  Mick Fitz, Cooper and Philly Mc are all getting up there age wise. Kerry are on the way back up.  Maybe these are the early cracks appearing.

[Ohtoohtobe]

I think people get swept up in the general hand-wringing and forget how tight most of Dublin's critical games in this five-in-a-row actually were. Here's a reminder:

2015: Dublin blew a seven-point lead in the semi-final against Mayo – shades of 06 – and clung on by their fingernails, almost literally, McCaffrey diving to block the killer blow from Sweeney. In the replay, they were four points down with a quarter of the game to go before dominating and winning convincingly. They won a tense final by three points.

2016: Dublin were five points down at half-time in the semi-final against Kerry, two down with nine minutes to go, and level in injury time, before winning by two. In the final, they were outplayed by Mayo for much of it but two own goals helped them scrape a draw. In the replay, Cillian O'Connor missed a free to send the game to extra-time.

2017: Mayo had a free in the 71st minute to go ahead. They missed. Dublin got a free in the sixth minute of injury time. They didn't miss.

2019: Kerry led by a point at the end of normal time and David Moran just had to play a routine pass to Tommy Walsh, who was completely unmarked, for what would surely have been the decisive score. He took a play instead, lost possession, and Dublin drew and won the replay convincingly.

I'd argue that 2018 was the only year this decade when Dublin were comfortably better than everyone. I grew up watching the Dublin team of the early 90s and if they'd been as calm in the decisive moments (eg scoring penalties, scoring routine frees, picking the right pass in injury time) they'd have won three or four All-Irelands. Put it another way, this five-in-a-row was far harder earned than Kerry's would have been if Kerry had held their nerve in 82.

I don't see what money has to do with those decisive moments where Dublin did the right thing and their opponents didn't. I think the more extreme people who shout "financial doping" aren't able to take the pain of watching a county they dislike clean up titles. I get that, I'm a Kildare fan, I don't like seeing Dublin win, but you have to take a deep breath, have some class, and offer your congratulations. I routinely do this with Dublin friends and family. It's painful, but Jesus lads, it's football, there's more important things – none of are getting out of here alive, as Colin Regan says.

That's not to say we should bury our head about financial inequities in how the GAA is run but that to me is a separate conversation. The GAA could easily fix some of the other small inequities - picking dressing rooms, playing Dublin songs in the build-up to games, etc. 

But as far as the football goes, it comes down to this: if Mayo and Kerry had been as composed under pressure as Dublin, and Dublin had been as panicky as they used to be, it would have been business as usual this decade in terms of not many teams putting All-Irelands back to back.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Good points.  Would add to that, though not part of the five-in-a-row, the 2013 semi-final against Kerry, which Dublin were losing until injury time.

Another thing I'd look at before splitting Dublin would be having AI series games involving Dublin in Semple, or Pairc ui Chaoimh, or some other suitable venue.  Given the narrow margins of victory oohtoohtobe highlighted, it seems reasonable to think that Mayo or Kerry would be more likely to win a tight final/semi against Dublin outside of Croker.

[High Fielder]

But who wants to be talking about Mayo Kerry and Dublin all the time? It's boring. It doesn't work. The biggest inequity is the make up itself. And now the Turkeys will vote for Christmas with a second tier. Where's the plan to make all this more even? No plan. We're tossing over the embers of one of the most imbalanced sports there is. It's a flawed concept and you'll still be debating the same issues in twenty years time