Queens withdraw from McKenna Cup

[Syferus]

Colleges should have the players, very simple as they were the rules set down before lord micky started messing. Have to laugh at all this 'important for getting ready for the national league'! National league is a dud too.

Mckenna cup gets ready for national league.
National league gets ready for provincial championship.
provincial championship gets ready for the qualifer/ or last 8 when the GAA season finally really starts.
Even worse than this counties want to train in november so they can get ready for the dud that is the mckenna cup.

Colleges on the other hand have the sigerson in february which is their highlight of the year.

You've swallowed all the media hype in one go there. For the majority of counties their number one aim is promotion or progress in the league, it's only the five or so teams with a snowball's chance of winning the All-Ireland that think the real business begins in any sense at all in August.

Arrah Syfín I thought you might have got some biteen of sense of late but you're off again embarrassing us Ros lads 

So I'll take it as read that you think our county team's goal for 2013 is to beat Mayo and win Connacht and not to reach Division 2, then?

There's a big difference between what you hope for and what your aims are. Back to scoil for you.

[Rossfan]

We fell into Roinn a Ceathar in 2010 but won Craobh Chonnachta. 

[Syferus]

We fell into Roinn a Ceathar in 2010 but won Craobh Chonnachta. 

And were you even aiming to win Connacht, let alone expecting it, after being relegated? The reality is every single Roscommon fan at that point would have been ok with getting Leitrim and not getting beat out of the ground in the Connacht final and maybe getting a good draw in round four of the qualifiers.

I'll repeat: what we hope will happen is different to what our aims are.

[Orchardman]

Colleges should have the players, very simple as they were the rules set down before lord micky started messing. Have to laugh at all this 'important for getting ready for the national league'! National league is a dud too.

Mckenna cup gets ready for national league.
National league gets ready for provincial championship.
provincial championship gets ready for the qualifer/ or last 8 when the GAA season finally really starts.
Even worse than this counties want to train in november so they can get ready for the dud that is the mckenna cup.

Colleges on the other hand have the sigerson in february which is their highlight of the year.

You've swallowed all the media hype in one go there. For the majority of counties their number one aim is promotion or progress in the league, it's only the five or so teams with a snowball's chance of winning the All-Ireland that think the real business begins in any sense at all in August.

Wrong again. I have swallowed no media hype, in fact the opposite. I have been banging this drum for ages about the GAA calender. I wouldn't go to watch a county game until the summer, and then I would go to a fair few games in croker involving various teams (not just all ireland finals like bandwagon jumpers), as i love watching proper games that matter. The rest of the year i play club football and watch games on TV. But i would barely even look for a mckenna cup scoreline.

But that's not for everyone and fair play to the armagh supporters who travel anywhere to watch them in every game

[Orchardman]

Colleges should have the players, very simple as they were the rules set down before lord micky started messing. Have to laugh at all this 'important for getting ready for the national league'! National league is a dud too.

Mckenna cup gets ready for national league.
National league gets ready for provincial championship.
provincial championship gets ready for the qualifer/ or last 8 when the GAA season finally really starts.
Even worse than this counties want to train in november so they can get ready for the dud that is the mckenna cup.

Colleges on the other hand have the sigerson in february which is their highlight of the year.

DIT beat St Marys in the Ryan Cup final 2 weeks. Harldy a lifetime ago. Its the same thing as the league ending in April and Championship starting in May. Sigerson starts at the end of Januray.

Challenge games are meant for a season. Or maybe Queens,UUJ,ST Marys should appaly for the FBD League, too late now but maybe for next year or the O Byrne cup although it has lots of teams as it is

I dont get ur point, are u agreeing or disagreeing with me? I know the ryan cup final was 2 weeks ago

[Syferus]

Colleges should have the players, very simple as they were the rules set down before lord micky started messing. Have to laugh at all this 'important for getting ready for the national league'! National league is a dud too.

Mckenna cup gets ready for national league.
National league gets ready for provincial championship.
provincial championship gets ready for the qualifer/ or last 8 when the GAA season finally really starts.
Even worse than this counties want to train in november so they can get ready for the dud that is the mckenna cup.

Colleges on the other hand have the sigerson in february which is their highlight of the year.

You've swallowed all the media hype in one go there. For the majority of counties their number one aim is promotion or progress in the league, it's only the five or so teams with a snowball's chance of winning the All-Ireland that think the real business begins in any sense at all in August.

Wrong again. I have swallowed no media hype, in fact the opposite. I have been banging this drum for ages about the GAA calender. I wouldn't go to watch a county game until the summer, and then I would go to a fair few games in croker involving various teams (not just all ireland finals like bandwagon jumpers), as i love watching proper games that matter. The rest of the year i play club football and watch games on TV. But i would barely even look for a mckenna cup scoreline.

But that's not for everyone and fair play to the armagh supporters who travel anywhere to watch them in every game

But none of that changes what the team's aim is, of course supporters are going to have disparate aims, ambitions and interests.

Almost every team bellow the top eight or so will usually have their key aim for the year be to either get promoted or, if they've been promoted the previous season, stablise and establish consistent league form. The only times that's not the case these days is when the championship draw throws up a 'soft' route to a provincial final or you happen to be managed by Mick O'Dwyer, the only manager that takes his holidays in the Spring.

If they achieve that much their focus will become the championship but most counties have realised consistent performance at the top end of the league is about the only way to have any chance of consistent form year-in-year-out in the championship.

[INDIANA]

I don't see why the colleges should get the players for the Mc Kenna Cup.

County football is the highest standard of the game and is the pinnacle for any player.  If a manager is trying to build a team for the NFL especially in a rebuild phase he can't do it if he hasn't got his players for January.

Sigerson should be moved to Pre-Christmas in my view. It's just not feasible that every football competition can be accomodated like it used to be.

I'm not sure the benefits of college football are there anymore. Some of the players are trying to train for county senior teams, u21 teams, club teams and university teams and nobody overall gives a shite about them.

Any wonder lads pack up at 22 now.

[DuffleKing]

I'm always suspicious when people try to tell players what is good for them and what should be their priority. Certainly it makes me smile back to my student days. nd think of some of the greats who played sigerson & what it meant to them at the time when i see people try to run down the competition. I doubt things have changed dramatically, if at all.

For the majority of people who play sigerson cup it is the pinnacle of their career. Most aren't lucky enough to play county senior and never get beyond club level.

[Don Johnson]

They're gone, what the frig happens now?

http://www.gaeliclife.com/2012/12/19/queens-withdraw-from-dr-mckenna-cup/

[ck]

Hope St. Mickey Harte, Lord Paul Grimley and King Peter the great are all happy now. I'm sure they don't give a damn. The Ulster council look like a spineless bunch of incompetents in all of this.

[ck]

Also I didn't think Queens would actually pull out and suspected that it was just hot air but fair play to them for standing up to those who refuse to enforce the rules.

[The Brick]

Think it is an absolute disgrace that Ulster Council have let this fester for almost 10 years. Players genuinely want to be able to play for their university but are being left in the predicament that if they do not go to their counties they will have less of a chance playing NFL and championship games post Sigerson. Queens should never have been put in a situation like this to withdraw their weakened team and i have full sympathy for them on this. A line needs to be drawn very quickly as to the selection process of players for the mckenna cup or else the future of this competition will be in serious jeopardy. Why would universities field a weakened team prior to the biggest competition in their calendar? You wouldnt be expecting donegal kerry or dublin to field a weak team in last couple of games prior to championship?

[rodney trotter]

It's going on a few years

Colleges should have the players, very simple as they were the rules set down before lord micky started messing. Have to laugh at all this 'important for getting ready for the national league'! National league is a dud too.

Mckenna cup gets ready for national league.
National league gets ready for provincial championship.
provincial championship gets ready for the qualifer/ or last 8 when the GAA season finally really starts.
Even worse than this counties want to train in november so they can get ready for the dud that is the mckenna cup.

Colleges on the other hand have the sigerson in february which is their highlight of the year.

DIT beat St Marys in the Ryan Cup final 2 weeks. Harldy a lifetime ago. Its the same thing as the league ending in April and Championship starting in May. Sigerson starts at the end of Januray.

Challenge games are meant for a season. Or maybe Queens,UUJ,ST Marys should appaly for the FBD League, too late now but maybe for next year or the O Byrne cup although it has lots of teams as it is

I dont get ur point, are u agreeing or disagreeing with me? I know the ryan cup final was 2 weeks ago

3 games in the McKenna Cup, played at Challenge game standard. What is the difference in the colleges playing 3 challenge games in that time against other colleges in preperation or against the likes of Cross or Ballymun etc.
County teams would obiously need the players as they have done very little training and a few games in the McKenna cup to get a squad for the League.

Its unfortunate what happend, but as you siad the Mckenna cup is a "dud" competition so what are they really missing, Hardly missing sun shine football in July .

County teams have only been trianing since the 8th of December they need the players more.

[Armamike]

Hope St. Mickey Harte, Lord Paul Grimley and King Peter the great are all happy now. I'm sure they don't give a damn. The Ulster council look like a spineless bunch of incompetents in all of this.

It's about time Armagh got a bit selfish as a county. Every year for donkey's years we've been going into the league without any semblance of a panel because of the university and Cross players missing.  The Armagh management are trying to build a team and need these players on board from day 1.  It's may be a different scenario for more settled and experienced squads who can afford the luxury of being without 6 or 7 students.

[Orior]

I'm very disappointed by this but I also think Queens did the right thing.

Of course it is all Mickey Harte's fault.