Messages

I agree, a big day out in Croke Park can mean a hell of a lot of some counties and Limerick do have a tough route, but a new structure doesn't mean they'll get their day. 

Nor should it, but why should some counties be forever forced to face a harder/easier route than others, why should Mayo and Galway only have to be one of the 2 best teams out of 5 to get to the business end of the championship while your own county have to be one of the two best out of 12?

That is probably the main reason why i wud bring this system in. Kerry and Cork are almost always automatically a game away from the quarter finals. Any fair competition should be completely randomized. That way everyone gets a fair honest crack at it.

And once again, the provincial is becoming uninteresting now with the back-door. However the National League was always uninteresting even though id go to a lot of the games to see how teams are getting on (but thats really all it has to offer). So why not play the provincial in its place? That way you've two competitive, exciting tournaments and the important provincial tradition is kept.

I don't like soccerisms creeping into GAA but this is one that could improve the excitement of the All-Ireland football championship big time. Apparently it even got Jack O' Connor's seal of approval!!

At the moment, I feel sorry for weak teams Ulster and Leinster, Ulster particularly, who probably have the most competitive provincial championship and also for weak teams in Connaght and Munster.

Its very difficult for a team like say, Monaghan or Down to come out of Ulster clean and straight into a quarter final. Its not easy to come out of such a competitive province and then go far. Also the weaker teams in Munster and Connaght must see provincial finals as almost impossible. Like how do Tipperary ever expect to beat Kerry or Cork but if they were in Leinster maybe they'd stand a better chance. Then what if Kerry were put in Ulster, would they cruise to the AI quarter final as easily. It seems Cork or Kerry are almost guarenteed a quarter final spot as one of them will win Munster. Same goes to Mayo and Galway. It just seems like some teams have a much greater and tougher distance to travel.

Imagine 8 groups of 4 (32 counties - ok I know theres New York and London but lets imagine theres 32 teams) and each team plays each other twice, home and away or alternatively just once in a neutral ground. The top 2 qualify into the All-Ireland last 16 whereas the teams in 3rd and 4th place could go into a Tommy Murphy like cup. Could you imagine Kerry playing say Kildare in their first game or Galway playing say Cavan in their first. Wouldn't it be more interesting and wouldn't every team get a fair crack at it and also get to play more games? It would also give a good indication of the the most consistent teams and some of the weaker counties might get a better chance of getting far and would at least go into the 2nd division (Tommy Murphy) tournament. They could seed the groups on how each county performed in the previous year.

I wouldn't like to loose the provincial championships as they are a big part of the tradition but they could be played seperately on another time of the year or even replace the National League. Playing them seperately might even restore their significance as I find the backdoor system has slightly taken away from the interest of the provincial comps.

Whatye think?

The two Donegal lads? Very random altogether. Bear in mind that Donegal got beaten by Cork by more or less the same as Dublin did to Kerry and yet no Dublin players are on it, even though the likes of Bernard Brogan would have shone in a similar fashion to the donegal lads in their previous games. I dont think any Dublin players deserve a spot but I certainly dont think any Donegal players do either. Tommy Walsh for Murphy and Marc O Se for Lacey.

Have to agree with J70 on this one. How well a player's team does should only matter in the context of giving them game time to allow the pundits enough time to evaluate their abilities. Outside of that, it should not really matter how well a players team did. Following your logic, the likes of Declan Browne or Matty Forde would probably never have got an all-star despite being two of the best forwads of their generation.

I think Murphy is not quite the finished article yet and we are going to see a whole lot more from him in the future, but in IMHO Lacey was the best man marker this year.

Ok, I think some of ye have mistaken me. I understand how good Murphy and Lacey are but I just think there were players that deserved a place ahead of them. I dont think Brogan deserves a spot either. I just think Tommy Walsh was influencial for Kerry in getting that all-Ireland. When Meath and Cork got close, he got some brilliant scores that ultimately won them the matches and got Kerry the All-Ireland. Any player that does that in my view deserves a place and should prob get it ahead of Murphy, no disrespect to him. I also thought

Anthony Lynch was fantastic and maybe deserves Lacey's spot. He made a show of Gooch in Munster and the only points he got off him in the final were from frees and Gooch is the player I probably rate the highest. The only player he kind of struggled against was Stephen O' Neill who I thought was excellent in the games he played and probably just about deserves the spot for such a brilliant return to the game.

I do think Shields and Pierce O'Neill are strange choices.

aye, but against who?  Clare, Carlow, Antrim?  In their good victories, they beat Derry and Galway, are they any better than Kildare and Meath? 

He did it in every game and also against Cork.

Derry maybe but Galway no. Sure Kildare were very good this yr and nearly beat Tyrone. Meath got to an All-Ireland semi final, and only for a bad penalty decsion might have beaten Kerry?

Ye, bit of a strange pick. Surely Tommy Walsh would be on it seen as he was hugely influencial in the final and when he came on in the semi, scoring some crucial and also brilliant scores.

The two Donegal lads? Very random altogether. Bear in mind that Donegal got beaten by Cork by more or less the same as Dublin did to Kerry and yet no Dublin players are on it, even though the likes of Bernard Brogan would have shone in a similar fashion to the donegal lads in their previous games. I dont think any Dublin players deserve a spot but I certainly dont think any Donegal players do either. Tommy Walsh for Murphy and Marc O Se for Lacey.

And yes the All Star team will be different but not entirely in a good way. Dara O Se will be on it because hes Dara O Se. Hes a great player and all but lets be honest he didnt really do much this yr. Scanlon was the man. He or Dermot Early(best midfielder of the yr) or Nicholas Murphy are sadly gonna loose out because Dara will have to get an all-star