Championship draw 2015

[ck]

The nations thought process?

Connacht: Mmm so Galway get the trip away this year eh
Leinster: Who have to play Dublin first?
Munster: zzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up for the Ulster draw
Ulster: Wow...Jesus... No way!.. That's savage... Christ the night... no!.. lol Such a hoor of a province to get outa!

The provincial system is kinda messed up don't ya think?

[Jinxy]

We should throw the game against Wicklow and get into the qualifiers nice and early.

[Mike Sheehy]

The nations thought process?

Connacht: Mmm so Galway get the trip away this year eh
Leinster: Who have to play Dublin first?
Munster: zzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up for the Ulster draw
Ulster: Wow...Jesus... No way!.. That's savage... Christ the night... no!.. lol Such a hoor of a province to get outa!

The provincial system is kinda messed up don't ya think?

hmmmmm............

Motion: Change provincial system
Vote:   Ulster says NO!

Why do the turkeys keep voting for Christmas so ?

[magpie seanie]

We need to get ourselves fcukin cooking for June. Any time you get straight into the semi final it's a great opportunity. Will add a bit of spice having a rhubarb at the helm....

[Sandy Hill]

Brolly looked and sounded depressed as he talked about each draw. Really, you can see how he should be. There is little to get excited about. Munster as bland as ever. Seedings and byes into Semi-finals leave only a 50/50 chance of Cork/Kerry being forced early into the back door and one of the others having a bit more of a chance of winning a Muster title. Leinster/Connacht draws hard to get excited by as well. Then we have Ulster, and the whole Provincial Championship looks a joke. No seeding here. No soft day trips to New York or London. Not all your games played on your home turf. Just looking at Donegal and in order for them to retain their title have to beat Tyrone, Armagh, Down or Derry and possibly Monaghan. And then they are only in the Quarter finals. It beggars belief?

+1

Harsh reality; Cork and Kerry play one "real" match to qualify for the AI Q Finals while Donegal or Tyrone are faced with 3 to reach the same position!

[Sidney]

The B side of the qualifiers will be much tougher than the A section.

It'll contain four of Donegal/Tyrone/Armagh/Derry/Down and one of Mayo/Galway.

At least three of those seven are guaranteed to be out of the championship before the last 12.

[Syferus]

In fairness it's very questionable if any Ulster team will be a serious AI challenger next year. Competitiveness and quality are two entirely separate issues.

[J70]

  f**k me, you have to laugh!

Is that the hardest draw ever for Donegal or Tyrone? Five of the top six Ulster teams on one side.

Think Monaghan just might be favourites for Ulster next year...

[J70]

Brolly looked and sounded depressed as he talked about each draw. Really, you can see how he should be. There is little to get excited about. Munster as bland as ever. Seedings and byes into Semi-finals leave only a 50/50 chance of Cork/Kerry being forced early into the back door and one of the others having a bit more of a chance of winning a Muster title. Leinster/Connacht draws hard to get excited by as well. Then we have Ulster, and the whole Provincial Championship looks a joke. No seeding here. No soft day trips to New York or London. Not all your games played on your home turf. Just looking at Donegal and in order for them to retain their title have to beat Tyrone, Armagh, Down or Derry and possibly Monaghan. And then they are only in the Quarter finals. It beggars belief?

+1

Harsh reality; Cork and Kerry play one "real" match to qualify for the AI Q Finals while Donegal or Tyrone are faced with 3 to reach the same position!

Make that 4!

[rrhf]

In fairness it's very questionable if any Ulster team will be a serious AI challenger next year. Competitiveness and quality are two entirely separate issues.

and a ref in the semis

[Aaron Boone]

I didn't even know there was a draw tonight.

Like the hurling, you could hibernate from now to August bank holiday weekend next year and you'd catch up pretty quick.

[Mourne Rover]

While it is correct that Down have remarkably been drawn away in their first USC match for nine consecutive seasons, the home hoodoo goes back even further. We were allocated home games in three of the previous seven years, but the redevelopment in Newry meant they all had to be staged at Casement. The last time we actually played at Pairc Esler in our first championship game was against Antrim in 1999.

It could be argued that Ulster is so tough and unpredictable that a home draw offers only a limited advantage, but it would still be nice to get the odd one. However, the other provinces are so imbalanced that a wider restructuring is going to have to be considered.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

In fairness it's very questionable if any Ulster team will be a serious AI challenger next year. Competitiveness and quality are two entirely separate issues.

Exactly.  Donegal are one of the best teams in the country over the past 4 years.  But who in Ulster has done much otherwise? 

Donegal handled Dublin fairly easily this year, but the second-best team in Ulster were absolutely destroyed by Dublin in the previous round. 

[moysider]

The nations thought process?

Connacht: Mmm so Galway get the trip away this year eh
Leinster: Who have to play Dublin first?
Munster: zzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up for the Ulster draw
Ulster: Wow...Jesus... No way!.. That's savage... Christ the night... no!.. lol Such a hoor of a province to get outa!

The provincial system is kinda messed up don't ya think?

Er, no.

Every year now there is a very competitive Division One league with best teams from all provinces that produce good quality games but get risible attendances. Any 'champion's league' championship format would get the same response imo. People might come out for the 1/4 on but that would be it. At least now the provincial system keeps the local skirmishes going which is vital imo. Putting Sam Maguire as a prize for some new formula would cut no ice. Yeah, the competition can be lopsided but it always was.

[orangeman]

Cavan v Monaghan - let the abuse begin, we could have 100 pages before next summer on that thread.

I'll be gutted if it's not much more than that.