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Gary Sice should be dedicating that MOTM award to Maurice Deegan. Gaoth Dobhair punished for every foul Corofin lads and dragging and no frees awarded. Think Doctor Crokes will win final handy enough.

[You can expect the 3 O'Se's, Gooch, Spillane and Liston to up the anti media wise. Ex-Kerry Players will throw in their worth. They ran an excellently orchestrated ''Street wise Mayo'' Campaign in 2014. Worked a treat to]

One thing I am going to enjoy this year is watching Kerry. Their fear of losing one of their crowns as having the best team ever (70's/80's) is on the horizon. They will burst a gut to make sure it does not happen both off and on the field.

You can expect the 3 O'Se's, Gooch, Spillane and Liston to up the anti media wise. Ex-Kerry Players will throw in their worth. They ran an excellently orchestrated ''Street wise Mayo'' Campaign in 2014. Worked a treat to. 

They will also back anyone who could get in their way. Any Dublin player who does anything dodgy on or off the field of play will have his offence exaggerated, heavy scrutinised and a call for blood!

Yerra. I dont remember any campaign against Mayo in?? Lee Keegan got a red card for lashing at Donnchadh Walsh and somehow won the appeal.

Dont need him. Time FAI started proper structurefor young players instead chasing English players. We got a couple from Scotland and the north in recent years. Chaps like Andy Townsend, John Aldridge, Mark Lawrence and Tony Cascarino pick and choose when they declare themselves as irish

The biggest issue in Dublin  is not enough clubs

look at a county that has had relative success at underage for their size without a huge development money spend

eg Roscommon.
they reached something like 8 U21 finals in Connacht in a row and reached two All Ireland U21 finals (met the Dublin juggernaut on both occasions).
most of the Roscommon players on those teams are no longer playing county football and in fact a lot of them are no longer playing club football!
Why? they haven't got the opportunity to study/work/live near home and travelling long distances for games and training isn't feasible.

Roscommon have had a huge turnover of players in the last 5 years alone, as most young players cannot give the commitment needed.
The county is hugely economically disadvantaged as they cannot pull in huge team or individual sponsorships to help with team costs.

and that is a team that reached the last 8 last summer and is Division 1. if they are in that boat, how are the counties outside the top 10 teams meant to compete?

https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/ewan-mackenna-how-obscenely-good-dublin-gaa-have-it-is-best-highlighted-by-how-disgracefully-bad-some-others-have-it-37771428.html

When are counties like Fermanagh, Leitrim, Longford and Sligo going to learn that they are not worth investing money in? They have little or no fan base. The GAA are not going to invest in half arse supported counties. There's no money in it!

They already full know it. When Croke Park turns them down, the county board meekly retreat. Shrug, move on. No fight, no effort at publicising it. All the Dubs fault of course.

The reality is that people are deflecting.

They say that the Dublin underage teams are not dominating. That's a straw man argument. Kids dont benefit from sports science. They are kids. They benefit from coaching and practice and only when they get to an older age does the finanical doping kick in with more analysis, more sophisticated sports science. If anything it proves the point. Dublin are not dominating because those players are not naturally the best players. They are coached and moulded into a system that makes them dominate.

Dublins game is a tightly defined system based on an athletic running game. They run and run and run with ball in hand and they will bring in a few more lads off the bench to run. They dont play a particularly stylish game though they do have a few exceptional players. They play in a tightly defined system. They in the main wear you down by sheer athleticism and a deep bench and each player playing a role. Throw in a few reliable free takers and its a template that can take even average or below average kids and win games. Plenty of Dublin players were not underage stars. Brian Fenton was playing Junior B for example. They will analyse a Defensive system like tyrones and systematically take it apart. That system takes resources, analaysis, and lots and lots of money.

You would never see a Gooch play for Dublin for example. A scrawny skillfull player. He just wouldnt fit the template.

Dublin Football had a tradition. Add in the finanical doping and they have dominated Leinster and then the All Ireland. This will continue. One or two traditional counties will give them a game but will eventually be burnt off and Football will be over.

Dublin do not have a hurling tradition. None. Their last all ireland final appearance was 1938. Yet were able to compete from a zero base with enormous financial resources being pumped in brining in outside Counties managers. However Hurling relies much more than football on skill rather than athleticism.

As the coaching improves and the current generation of players turn the corner into coaches then Dublin will have tradition and in another ten years will probably come to Dominate Hurling in the Same way.

The reality is the full time administrators are Dubs and will prioritise their own county and it wont change and they wont care.Throw in the fact they play most of their games at home and it generates money then Dublin are basically a home town team soaking up all the money around

It doesnt detract that they have good players or a good manager or hard working back room team.

But it does detract from the sport and from fair play. Most fair weather fans dont care. And they have jumped on the bandwagon.

Anyone who actually cares about the game and its long term survival does.

https://punditarena.com/features/emackenna/mackenna-on-monday-dublin-financial-advantage-must-be-addressed


The author is Ewan MacKenna once again- I'm aware people don't like him because he is of one of the few voices in the sports media who consistently calls out the Dubs and their unfair advantages (and because he can be quite combative generally), but please actually address the points he makes in the article rather than attacking his other work.

This funding imbalance has to be addressed- if Dublin continue to dominate, people will lose interest in Gaelic Football. The decline has probably already started- the attendance decline noted last week is ominous.

Great heart by our lads to dig out result. Can't remember last time won first 3 league games.

Mike Smith will tell u different . Orinalk6 Leitrim village but not far from football. Should be with Michaels instead of the Townseys. Thankfully young Beirne won't going near ye despite the offer.

Would you not be concentrating on Div 4 instead of drinking on the Ros side of the river and interfering in Division 1.

Yerra when the rossies are throwing the insults they must be rattled .Sure we be meeting ye on the way down when the money  is gone paying all the imports. Sure the 3 dalys should be be playing with Mohil until family jumped ship. Their uncle George Dugdale was great footballer with Leitrim. Beat ye in 94. You might remind last time ye Galway and Mayo in same year.???o1 doesn't count with the skullduggery wit Ray Connelly

Mike Smith will tell u different . Orinalk6 Leitrim village but not far from football. Should be with Michaels instead of the Townseys. Thankfully young Beirne won't going near ye despite the offer.

You look at this and you see different

+1 i

Monaghan and Kerry beating Dublin outside Croker. Is it it time to move Dublin outside Croker Park for championship games??

The drinks are on. The Ging bar in Carrick tonight for a drink if anyone about.

Good man - helping the Riscommon economy.
Exciting stuff from Tralee, nearly as good as the Hyde last Sunday.

Sure we gave ye the Smiths. Good Leitrim Gaels men before they went to the dark side.

Kerry lay down a marker tonight. Watch this space

Just goes to show that Dublin can beat anybody outside of Croke Park. Croke Park gives them no advantage.

+1

The drinks are on. The Ging bar in Carrick tonight for a drink if anyone about.