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Could clear this whole mess up with 2 simple steps. Cavan D1 is renamed Ulster Junior and the Kerry Junior is rebranded as the World Series.

😂😂😂 that's funny to be fair!

[But league and championship ARE completely separate. What about that is so hard to understand?]

But league and championship ARE completely separate. What about that is so hard to understand?

Then there should be cases of Divsion 3 and 4 teams playing in a Senior Championship. can you provide any examples?

No problem. Douglas in Cork were division 3 league for a year or 2 and reached Senior county semi final in 2021. Bishopstown also Div 3 and play Senior A football.
John Mitchels in Kerry were playing Senior football and in Div 3 for a few years before dropping to intermediate eventually.

Any other questions?

Massive win for Castlehaven today in Limerick. Dingle possibly should have won it in both normal and extra time but The Haven ground it out. They had a bit more nous and hardened experience on Dingle I think.

On paper you would think St Brigids should win that semi final but Castlehaven will give them a good battle I predict.

Cill na Martra as expected won the intermediate easily.

Kilmurry were appalling in Junior final unfortunately and were too negative. They're capable of much better but on the day it was poor fare.

Well done to Cullyhanna. Well deserved. Haven't a clue what any of the other provincial winners will be like but Munster generally very good. Take a strong strong team to beat Cullyhanna though.

Will be a Cullyhanna v Cill Na Martra Final. Cill Na Martra finished 5th in Cork Division 1. Castlehaven finished 4th.  I mean what possible benefit could Cill Martra have playing the likes of Nemo Rangers in the league lol. Those Cork teams mentioned only have about 2-3 outfield players with the county panel so the standard is going to be high when they play each other in the league and so when one of them go to play in the provincial and All-Ireland Intermediate well then they are going to have a serious advantage no matter this sh*te about league and championship being separate.

But league and championship ARE completely separate. What about that is so hard to understand?

Cill na Martra only won the Intermediate A (4th tier) in Cork in 2019 I think it was - and they had a hard time winning the premier intermediate also, losing a few semi finals.

In Kerry this year you had Ballymacelligott, a team who reached the top half of division 1, losing the Junior final to Listowel who did well to survive in Division 2.

League form from February to May has some relevance but things can change massively with county players returning, extra effort from students who aren't away in college and other factors. I really don't know how anybody can fail to understand this.

Serious performance and victory for Brigids. They won't fear Dingle or Castlehaven so are in a strong position.
Jerome Stack has done a serious job there. Interestingly he coached Castlehaven a few years back and he would know Dingle well also I'm sure. Which gives Brigids another advantage.

Ben O'Carroll has the potential to be a top notch forward over next few years.

[Tipp and Cork like most of the hurling counties have a healthy respect for football]

I must say I find it hilarious when hurling people get on their high horse about the state of hurling in Cavan and Fermanagh.

In Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary football has been treated like sh*t for years. Kilkenny don't even pretend to bother any more.

So I'll listen to arguments about what needs to be done for Cavan hurling when those counties treat football equally.

Did Tipp not play in an All Ireland semi final recently? Cork have won the All Ireland a good few times, Kilkenny compete in the lower end of football Junior I think, and have won it a few times, as for Limerick, they always had a decent team, maybe Waterford and Antrim would have been a better example of underperforming or underfunding ..

These things I wouldn't find hilarious, but each to their own

"Kilkenny compete in the Junior"..😂😂😂 Well - you really disproved my argument, I surrender.
In case you're not aware, that competition is for native born Americans and English players and is played semi-final/final on same weekend like some Féile blitz. That's the level of effort Kilkenny are putting into football. What about club football in Kilkenny? How is that organised pray tell?

I've lived in Tipperary and Cork. Both county boards completely dominated by hurling heads. Officials and coaches in both counties actively discourage dual players playing football. That's quite well known.

There are hardcore football clubs and people in both counties, especially in West Cork which is a heartland of football but the board has treated them like shit to varying degrees over the years. Cork should be a dominant football county but aren't. Why? I could fill a book with stories.
A few years ago at one state the Senior hurlers were training in a college gym in Cork city, paid for by board - while the footballers were forced to rent a warehouse in Fermoy and kit it out themselves. Look up how far Fermoy is from Castlehaven, Bantry or Rosscarbery where footballers were travelling from.
As soon as any talented dual player enters a Cork squad system they are told giving up football is one of the keys to progressing. The large traditional hurling Clubs like Midleton, Sars, Blackrock, Glen Rovers, Na Piarsaigh treat football with absolute spite. The irony being that the one true dual city club who don't - St Finbarrs - excel in both codes because of it.

So to be perfectly honest laughter is all I offer when I hear hurling heads bleating about Leitrim or Cavan hurling. If Hurling snobs ran the GAA and got their wish, football would be banned.
Hurling is a good sport and anyone who wants to play it should be given the opportunity to do so but what hurling people don't seem to get or want to admit though is that
north of the Dublin-Galway line - as Martin Fogarty outlined in many interviews since quitting his role with GAA - there is very little interest in hurling. Hurling is strong in the rich farming counties mainly. There are well documented historical reasons for this.

Not sure how you can draw a comparison between Tipp and Cork and Cavan and Louth. Tipp and Cork like most of the hurling counties have a healthy respect for football and the numbers participating is testament to that. Just because its not the holy grail as it is in Kerry should be no reason to have a cut at them. We all know the same is not true of Cavan and Louth where hurling is almost non existent. Maybe its just a Kerry thing, hurling somehow undermines their superiority complex.

The bolded bit is absolute nonsense. I've lived in Cork for a long time and been involved in GAA at club level.
As I outlined in previous posts, Football is looked on with disdain by the hurling dominated board in Cork (and Tipp) and any meagre success is in spite of this and down to a handful of hardcore football people largely from West or Northwest of Cork or other isolated pockets like Nemo Rangers in the city.

Anyone prepared to discuss how football is treated in Kilkenny? I won't hold my breath.

I must say I find it hilarious when hurling people get on their high horse about the state of hurling in Cavan and Fermanagh.

In Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary football has been treated like sh*t for years. Kilkenny don't even pretend to bother any more.

So I'll listen to arguments about what needs to be done for Cavan hurling when those counties treat football equally.

Did Tipp not play in an All Ireland semi final recently? Cork have won the All Ireland a good few times, Kilkenny compete in the lower end of football Junior I think, and have won it a few times, as for Limerick, they always had a decent team, maybe Waterford and Antrim would have been a better example of underperforming or underfunding ..

These things I wouldn't find hilarious, but each to their own

"Kilkenny compete in the Junior"..😂😂😂 Well - you really disproved my argument, I surrender.
In case you're not aware, that competition is for native born Americans and English players and is played semi-final/final on same weekend like some Féile blitz. That's the level of effort Kilkenny are putting into football. What about club football in Kilkenny? How is that organised pray tell?

I've lived in Tipperary and Cork. Both county boards completely dominated by hurling heads. Officials and coaches in both counties actively discourage dual players playing football. That's quite well known.

There are hardcore football clubs and people in both counties, especially in West Cork which is a heartland of football but the board has treated them like shit to varying degrees over the years. Cork should be a dominant football county but aren't. Why? I could fill a book with stories.
A few years ago at one state the Senior hurlers were training in a college gym in Cork city, paid for by board - while the footballers were forced to rent a warehouse in Fermoy and kit it out themselves. Look up how far Fermoy is from Castlehaven, Bantry or Rosscarbery where footballers were travelling from.
As soon as any talented dual player enters a Cork squad system they are told giving up football is one of the keys to progressing. The large traditional hurling Clubs like Midleton, Sars, Blackrock, Glen Rovers, Na Piarsaigh treat football with absolute spite. The irony being that the one true dual city club who don't - St Finbarrs - excel in both codes because of it.

So to be perfectly honest laughter is all I offer when I hear hurling heads bleating about Leitrim or Cavan hurling. If Hurling snobs ran the GAA and got their wish, football would be banned.
Hurling is a good sport and anyone who wants to play it should be given the opportunity to do so but what hurling people don't seem to get or want to admit though is that
north of the Dublin-Galway line - as Martin Fogarty outlined in many interviews since quitting his role with GAA - there is very little interest in hurling. Hurling is strong in the rich farming counties mainly. There are well documented historical reasons for this.

I must say I find it hilarious when hurling people get on their high horse about the state of hurling in Cavan and Fermanagh.

In Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary football has been treated like sh*t for years. Kilkenny don't even pretend to bother any more.

So I'll listen to arguments about what needs to be done for Cavan hurling when those counties treat football equally.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaa-to-begin-consultation-with-leading-figures-to-explore-football-trends/a2052142375.html

Wouldn't trust some of those mentioned to come up with sensible solutions.

The poor Freshers in College this season are being subjected to the stupid rules where all kickouts have to clear the 45 and no sidelines can go backwards etc. Will make a right horlix of a lot of games.

Know excately how it works, what the point in a divisional tram which can be a mixture of 5/6 teams. Not really what the GAA had in mind. If you played equal graded teams at lower levels you wouldn't win too many. Imagine the 11th team in Dublin Div 1 playing Intermediate football.

What is the point of Divisional teams? Seriously. If I have to answer that then forget it.

Size of Kerry, there should be 12-16 senior teams as is the case in many a smaller county. Get show up that they are very strong at Inter and Junior as they playing against lesser graded teams but get badly shown up against a team of equal grading. Hard to believe Glen were in intermediate football 10/12yrs bck and couldn't get out of Derry.

You clearly don't understand how the Kerry system works.

To make it a more level playing field in the provincial and All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate series rename the current Kerry Intermediate Championship to Senior 2 (like in Dublin), the Premier Junior then becomes Intermediate and Junior stays as Junior. However this will never happen as the No. of titles Kerry clubs would win would be reduced.

Nah. You're either a Senior club or you're not. Simple as.

The obvious and common sense solution would be to allow structures that have worked well for decades to continue - I.e: divisional teams in Kerry. Let them increase the number of Senior clubs, which everyone agrees is needed and everyone benefits.

But never win a senior all-Ireland club. He could with the club down the road.

Since 1996 only one Kerry Club has won a Senior Club All Ireland Final.

That's one title in 27 years.


Playing for a Kerry Senior club does not guaranteed AI club success.

Which tells us the current Kerry club format makes it easier for their club teams to win the Junior and intermediate All Ireland titles and  harder to win the senior AI?

Probably a fair enough summary. There's only 8 Senior clubs (and 10 divisional sides) in Kerry SFC now and almost everyone realises it should be pushed up to 10 clubs which would have a big knock on effect at Intermediate and Junior level.
Croke park are saying no  to it though. They are saying 16 team only is going to be a rigid rule for SFC in every county. Which is absolutely stupid if you ask me. In Cork for example there are 245 clubs and Croke park are saying the same rule should apply there as to Leitrim with 20 odd clubs.

Similar to the minor age grade debacle, the people making decisions in Croke park are far, far removed from the realities on the ground and making decisions that can have a detrimental effect on clubs and players. Kerry are not going to sacrifice the quality of SFC or the Divisional structure that has served us so well over the years, so until Croke park take their head out of their ar5e then the admitted imbalance in Kerry Intermediate and Junior winners will remain.

Whoever picks pundits for RTE on football side is incompetent beyond belief. Enda McGinley isn't bad. Lee Keegan ok. Whelan is ok when not discussing Dublin or Kerry. That's it. Some of the people they have on have the charisma of a turnip.

I'm a shell of a man after the weekend. Can't handle a big session at all these days. Old age. 

What can I add to what has been said already, probably not much. Was a game that could have gone either way. Even with the fallow period of scoring they had it felt around 61/62 mins that Derry might shade it, but thankfully we sprung to life and a scoring burst in last 10+ got us over the line but it was very hairy, too hairy really for us. Derry folk will not like watching the video as they had a massive chance to take it.

Like many I was worried we'd struggle to replicate the intensity of Throne game and it proved that way for a large part Sunday. A good spell in 3rd quarter and last 15 aside we were mediocre. At best. At times in the first half we were a mis-shapen mess. Loads of players unsure of their men, where to go etc and as a result Derry had plenty point chances under zero pressure. The goal was a shambles aswell. One thing to allow McKinless to waltz through into the box but to then have Rodgers and him follow up the shot unattended was fairly criminal. I'd love to say it wasn't repeated but McKinless has a good chance of a goal on 50 mins which only for Ryan making a good save (aided by good pressure from Diarmuid O'Connor) would have put Derry 3 up.
That being said the second half was a much better performance overall. 0-9 to 0-4 doesn't really tell the full story as both sides missed a lot but it was a good return from our POV anyway.
You'd have to say, fair play to Derry players and mgmt - Like many, I thought there was no way their performance and shape against Cork would be good enough here but this was a different approach and the first half was a serious, serious performance level. We were glad of it being only 1-11 to 1-8 at HT really. Rodgers, McFaul, McKinless, Conor Doherty and McCluskey were absolutely piling forward and creating havoc. McGuigan was sharp and took Foley for 0-3 from play. Kickouts were faultless mainly for Derry. Kerry had a black card. It was going fairly well for Derry overall.

Straight from the throw in after HT we got into it though and I do think when we got O'Brien and Begley on we were a much improved team, even though poor use of the ball and some bad shooting meant there was 17 mins we didn't score which is poor. We did enough though. Defended a lot better. Jack Barry had a better handle on Rodgers, McGuigan and McKinless had good moments but ran out of steam a bit. Lynch's kickouts were cracked late when forced long. We have David Clifford..who again, I think can play better, but the service into him at times was sh*t. He lost it at one point after a stupid lobbed ball over his head was sent in when he actually was 1 v 1 in a pocket of space. Still, he just takes so much marking and does so much he's invaluable.

Anyway, on we go. Met a lot of Derry supporters over the weekend, very sound largely to be fair. Derry people are football die-hards and know their football as well as anyone so it was interesting to get some views on the game from outside a Kerry bubble. One Derry fan said to me that he though Derry might have the upper hand conditioning wise but was surprised that Kerry seemed to stay the course a lot better. This was a major achilles heel a few years ago and we were behind the curve completely. But it has been addressed big time now with full time S&C director and other coaches working hard with all groups. The other one Derry people mentioned was the poor shooting and lack of other options up front.  Which was obviously another huge factor and will continue to be a factor until addressed a bit.

I think it'll be a hard one for Derry supporters to take, but some of the players I mentioned above absolutely emptied the tank for the cause. And it's not patronising as I can't imagine an Allstar team being picked without at least McKinless, Rodgers and McGuigan in it. Top class players.

For Kerry, it was one of those games that's great to win as you know there is so much to work on but we got a serious test right down to the last few mins. There have been a lot of semi finals that were drab and fairly one sided but this was not one of them. So, once the bodies recover and the video work is done it should prove very useful. I hope!

P.S: Deliberately not mentioning ref. It's been debated enough. I don't think it was the winning or losing of the game, factors I mentioned above were way bigger IMO.