FRC Part 2. The 8 team provinces?

[Rossfan]

Connacht comprises of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon.
For GAA purposes Mayo have Ballaghaderreen Co Roscommon added while London and New York GAA Boards are also included probably because the bulk of emigrants over the years were from the Connacht Counties. So you can't have 4 eights if you start with 33 anyway.
The real Connacht Championship is played between those seven GAA entities.
If all this boloxology of moving Counties around the "Provinces" happens then they won't really be Provincial Championships.
Who is going to force 2 of Laois or Offaly or Carlow or Wexford into an eight team Group of Counties where Cork and Kerry will continue to rule the roost and apart from Laois bate the sh1te out of the newcomers?
THe FRC originally came up with a proposal that the losers of Prelim rounds in Leinster and Ulster be then parachuted into Connacht and Munster so they could also have 4 Qtr finals. This they said would make it handier for streamlining the Championships by playing all Qtr finals over 2 weekends.
So why can't they streamline the current system so all the Provincial Qtr Finals are played over the same 2 weekends.?
Obviosly they've gone away from the idea of parachuting the Prelim losers so then you're back to creating artificial groups of 8 and forcing some Counties out of the real Province and into a maky uppy "Province".
Wait till we have Cavan v Westmeath in a game billed as a "Connacht Final"
FFS pure illogical sh1teology.

[Syferus]

I don't want that Itchy bollix in Connacht.

[Zulu]

Yes AZ, I'm only talking about inter county. I don't accept the dual county argument, I know you're involved with Tipp football development squads so you might lose some of your better players if they had to chose at minor level but I think that's a small price to pay to give club players a better season and inter county players a better crack at their chosen code. Bear in mind you would be able to transform minor and U21 in both codes if they didn't have to worry about each other. These are grades which should have a big player development aspect to them but many lads only get a handful of championship games over a 3-5 year period of playing minor and U21 IC.

[AZOffaly]

Well I think in a county like Tipp, where football is slowly struggling to gain parity, an edict like that would f**k us over completely, excuse my language. It's easy to be blasé about it when it doesn't impact you, but I think that would destroy all advances in Tipp, (and anywhere else a less dominant game is trying to carve out a niche for itself).

The counties that essentially practice this already, informally, are the ones who have no presence in the second code and that's hardly ideal GAA utopia either.

I think you should be free to play what you like in your age grade, and when you reach Senior you must chose, if you want to do that. It will still have an impact on 'dual' counties, but less so than imposing this at development squad age or minor. I simply cannot imagine a scenario where kids of 14, to 18 are being told they must choose between hurling and football, and having any sort of progress made in Football in Tipp.

[Jinxy]

Please god we'll win the championship game in the Eastern Conference.

[Zulu]

Well I think in a county like Tipp, where football is slowly struggling to gain parity, an edict like that would f**k us over completely, excuse my language. It's easy to be blasé about it when it doesn't impact you, but I think that would destroy all advances in Tipp, (and anywhere else a less dominant game is trying to carve out a niche for itself).

The counties that essentially practice this already, informally, are the ones who have no presence in the second code and that's hardly ideal GAA utopia either.

I think you should be free to play what you like in your age grade, and when you reach Senior you must chose, if you want to do that. It will still have an impact on 'dual' counties, but less so than imposing this at development squad age or minor. I simply cannot imagine a scenario where kids of 14, to 18 are being told they must choose between hurling and football, and having any sort of progress made in Football in Tipp.

I'm far from being blasé about it and I don't suggest this because it doesn't affect me, nothing in the Irish GAA season affects me, I have suggested this for a long time even as a club football coach in hurling counties.

I haven't suggested 14 year olds chose either. I'm talking minor, U21 and senior. If it was implemented then clubs would get a massive boost. As it is, if your a Tipp club with a dual player at IC U21 level and on one of the senior teams then you'll be hard pressed to see that guy from February to August. If you can can find a solution that doesn't break eggs then brilliant but I don't think that's possible.

The comparison with counties like Kilkenny or Tyrone doesn't hold true either IMO. You can have a very healthy dual club scene while limiting players to one code at inter county level. I played in two hurling counties but both had decent club football scenes bar the fact we had no structure to our season, which was due to IC action.

[AZOffaly]

I don't agree with you Zulu I'm afraid. I'm on board with the whole idea of streamlining the county season, and making a structured calendar for clubs. I'm also in favour of constraining a player to a specific age band, in order to eliminate county U21s or senior being constrained by County Minor games, or vice versa. But to stop a lad who believes he can manage it, from playing for his county in both codes is a step too far for me, and in counties that rely on the dual player, especially at the naturally constrained 'age bands' would be a killer blow to development of the weaker code in those counties.

[Zulu]

AZ, there'll be plenty of people who wouldn't agree with my proposal and for different reasons to yours but I think only a radical solution can solve the very real issues that exist. People have look beyond their own situation for a national solution. I've no real interest in any sport bar GAA but if I had a young son I'm not sure I'd be encouraging him down the GAA path. It would be grand for him if he's the next Aidan Walsh but if he's simply a decent club player he'll have a very dissatisfying club career ahead of him. I can honestly say I'd be very very slow to coach a club level again, particularly in a dual county, there's no satisfaction in it.

[AZOffaly]

A national solution which negates all the work people have done in trying to promote hurling and football in counties which favour the other, is not a solution as far as I can see. Another one to file in the agree to disagree column so. 

[Zulu]

Yerra don't worry about AZ, I'm sure there are topics on which you do know what you're talking about

[AZOffaly]

Yerra don't worry about AZ, I'm sure there are topics on which you do know what you're talking about

I'm not so sure about that.

[Zulu]

I bet you can name every Offaly town starting with B? I'll get you started, Banagher, Birr.....

[AZOffaly]

I bet you can name every Offaly town starting with B? I'll get you started, Banagher, Birr.....

Limiting to just B is very divisive in my view, and seriously handicaps people doing good work in towns beginning with other letters. Why should Ferbane, Clara and Tullamore bother if they're not allowed be in this list?

[Zulu]

  jaysus, I was only trying to build your shattered confidence. I've always said it, never deal with a man from a land locked county, being so far from the sea makes them unyielding, stubborn, obtuse and uncompromising which I'm assured are four different characteristics.

From now on only counties with a coast can play championship, you land lubbers can see who can throw midgets the farthest or some such for your sporting entertainment.

[StephenC]

In all the times I've seen the "move this country to this other province" proposal, I've never seen it made by a poster from one of the counties that would move. It's somewhat easy as a (for example) Meath lad to say that Longford will play in Connacht but I'd love to know what the Longfords, Cavan's etc feel about it?