Donegal v Kerry - 2025 All-Ireland Football Final

[tiempo]

The McKaigue segment on BBC was cringe but not as bad as Niblock's poetry at the start. Niblock trying to be Seamus Heaney.
People like McKaigue and Neil McManus don't have the voice for TV due to their co.Antrim accents.

Also I never know who those celebrity guests are in the box. Maybe I am out of touch with society.

Exactly why I swerved BBC

RTE commentary was passable, which is all it needed to be, no concocted pre-canned phrases to squeeze in Clive Tyldsley style

[Saffrongael]

The McKaigue segment on BBC was cringe but not as bad as Niblock's poetry at the start. Niblock trying to be Seamus Heaney.
People like McKaigue and Neil McManus don't have the voice for TV due to their co.Antrim accents.

Also I never know who those celebrity guests are in the box. Maybe I am out of touch with society.

Exactly why I swerved BBC

RTE commentary was passable, which is all it needed to be, no concocted pre-canned phrases to squeeze in Clive Tyldsley style

Enda McEvoy in the Irish Examiner

Why do BBC Northern Ireland have an Irish female comedian you've never heard of, an English actor you've never heard of, Douglas Henshall (a Scottish actor you may or may not have heard of) and Martin Compston, the small guy from Line of Duty, empanelled to give their thoughts on the match?

[DaleCooper]

The celebrity stuff is cringe central but seems tailored to the hypothetical non Irish "GAA curious" audience.

Theres no harm doing it , but the constant gushing and explaining how GAELIC FOOOOOTBALL is played is tiresome.

[AustinPowers]

The old rules covered team limitations when up against a superior team that couldn't man mark 1 on 1. Still think 3 up a silly rule, 2 enough.Armagh and Galway employed double sweepers last year and that game although tight, was a horror show.

I'd take a tight pulsating encounter over the procession that occurred yesterday any day. Two pointers killed yesterday as a contest.

Of the 11 knock out games in the All Ireland series only 3 were decided by a single score.

Last year it was 8 out of 11.

I understand the new rules are here to stay and I think things will improve but I don't think it's improved the game or the entertainment yet.

Exactly this.
I don't get the current fawning over how good the game is now.

There was no excitement or edge to that final - it was pretty much a walk over. The point of the rules now is to allow teams like Kerry with "superior" footballing talent to always overcome the teams with lesser talent.
It removes the ability of an underdog of having their day through the use of tactics.


I get it though, 2 ultra defensive teams made for what some see as a lesser spectacle and that argument has won out, in no small part due to the commentators on RTE.  But give me a tense, tight game any day over a poor all-ireland final.

For what it's worth, Kerry were by far the better side.
Their main players stood up, where Donegal looked rather ordinary. Murphy was exposed as being too slow for a game at that pace, gave away ball and missed an easy free. He did score a few, but compare him (the Donegal star player before the final) to both Cliffords and he was miles off.
McBrearty too - played that impact role all year, but had no impact against Kerry.
Taking off Galen was a mistake imo.

I feel Donegal might slide again now - as without Murphy this year, I doubt they'd have got as far as they did.
You'd imagine he'll retire again now, possibly McBrearty too. Will McGuinness go? He doesn't strike me as the kind of manager who sticks if he doesn't think there is an AI in a team - hard to know what he'll think after that final.

The FRC's intent is to improve the game.  The irony, at the inter-county level, is that the rule changes have made the championship's biggest problem worse.  Kerry highlighted this flaw over the past three games.

For years the complaint has been lack of competitiveness.  The GAA response was to kick 16 counties out of the championship every year, have the big counties play extra games against each other, and pretend the problem doesn't exist.

The rules changes expand this problem into the big counties because teams can no longer defence superior talent.  Kerry waltzed over Armagh, Tyrone & Donegal.  That's the best the rest of Ireland has to offer.  It's the best that will be offered for the rest of this decade.

I turned the tv off after 15 minutes yesterday.  It was 10-2 and it sure looked like there was no defence even on the field for Kerry's 10 points.  They came so easily that it seemed like a joke.

We've all been fooled by the novelty of the new rules and convinced something better is now in place.  However I saw the Canadian Football League go all offence in the 1990s and it ruined Canadian football because scoring became too easy.  Casual fans love it as it requires minimal effort to be entertained.  But what about the real lifetime fans?

On top of the novelty, as pointed out, you've got RTE and all authority manufacturing consent.  Brainwashing all fans that the new rules are a done deal, so accept them.

If I was an optimist, I'd be relieved that Kerry's run came just in time for the FRC to roll back the rule changes that have destroyed the offence-defence balance.  Unfortunately the more I see the GAA at work, the more cynical I become.

2024 scores resemble Gaelic football scores going back to the "glory years"(whenever those glory years were).  2025 scoring is double.  So which is really closer to the traditional game and which is something completely different?

The GAA's Frankenstein monster is now on the loose!

Good post. And spot on

I read something about Clifford  getting 0-6 from 3 kicks , and had the ball in his hands for  less than 2 seconds or something. That sounds little  difference  to  a kicker in American football coming on to take a kick, then going off again

Is that  what people want to see from  supposedly the great forward in history? Move the chess  pieces around relentlessly for 2- 3 minutes ,  Clifford  runs around  until he gets himself a yard of  space , and boom .. a 2 pointer? Crowd goes wild,  oh what a  genius Jim gavin is. The game is brilliant now !!

Really???

Jesus, some people are either easily pleased , or brainwashed by  the FRC/RTE

[EoinW]

The FRC's intent is to improve the game.  The irony, at the inter-county level, is that the rule changes have made the championship's biggest problem worse.  Kerry highlighted this flaw over the past three games.

For years the complaint has been lack of competitiveness.  The GAA response was to kick 16 counties out of the championship every year, have the big counties play extra games against each other, and pretend the problem doesn't exist.

The rules changes expand this problem into the big counties because teams can no longer defence superior talent.  Kerry waltzed over Armagh, Tyrone & Donegal.  That's the best the rest of Ireland has to offer.  It's the best that will be offered for the rest of this decade.

I turned the tv off after 15 minutes yesterday.  It was 10-2 and it sure looked like there was no defence even on the field for Kerry's 10 points.  They came so easily that it seemed like a joke.  Harlem Globetrotters?

We've all been fooled by the novelty of the new rules and convinced something better is now in place.  However I saw the Canadian Football League go all offence in the 1990s and it ruined Canadian football because scoring became too easy.  Casual fans love it as it requires minimal effort to be entertained.  But what about the real lifetime fans?

On top of the novelty, as pointed out, you've got RTE and all authority manufacturing consent.  Brainwashing all fans that the new rules have saved the game and are a done deal, so accept them.

If I was an optimist, I'd be relieved that Kerry's run came just in time for the FRC to roll back the rule changes that have destroyed the offence-defence balance.  Unfortunately the more I see the GAA at work, the more cynical I become.

2024 scores resemble Gaelic football scores going back to the "glory years"(whenever those glory years were).  2025 scoring is double.  So which is really closer to the traditional game and which is something completely different?

The GAA's Frankenstein monster is now on the loose!

[EoinW]

What is irksome for me is that historically Ulster has won All Irelands rarely. To reach the middle of this decade and see great potential for another brief period of Ulster success - with Armagh, Donegal & Tyrone leading the way - was reason for optimism.

Then the RFC came along to neutralize the common strength of Ulster teams, their defensive system.  Notice that since the original changes there's only been one tweek.  That was in February when the Ulster counties, with their attacking goalkeepers took advantage of a loophole in the new rules.  It took the RFC one week to shut that down!  Would we have seen any reaction from the FRC if Kerry or Dublin had offensive minded goalkeepers?

I don't wish to be cynical but it sure seems like the game was completely changed this year before Ulster could have another 4-5 year All Ireland dominance.  The slaves aren't getting off the plantation this time!

[DaleCooper]

The county game just got too big for its boots, the GAA then becomes dependant on it for cash flow bonanza and then you have the corporate shite talk about the "product" and "advertising our brand".


Its hard to be negative nancy but the county professionalism wasn't nipped in the bud when it should have been.

[Rossfan]

Dear God!!!

[DaleCooper]

Im doubtful there's a ploy to stop Ulster teams considering they bring fair support. In general the GAA probably worried about attendance and negativity amongst supporters.

Learn to kick points from 40metres, its not rocket science

[trueblue1234]

Some serious sh!te talked on this board over the last 24 hrs. As much as I think there ever was, and that's a high bar! 😂

We give out bout these charlatan managers coming in with their buzz words and next level analysis. Not a patch on the spoofers in here.

[OakLeaf]

I don't wish to be cynical but it sure seems like the game was completely changed this year before Ulster could have another 4-5 year All Ireland dominance.  The slaves aren't getting off the plantation this time!

The rules are the same for everyone. It's only the first year, so i think we need to give them a chance to bed in. Teams will eventually learn how to maximise their performance within the new rules. Football was much more enjoyable this year, and as teams adapt the competiveness will tighten up as well.

[Rossfan]

3 sane sensible posts....

[tiempo]

The county game just got too big for its boots, the GAA then becomes dependant on it for cash flow bonanza and then you have the corporate shite talk about the "product" and "advertising our brand".


Its hard to be negative nancy but the county professionalism wasn't nipped in the bud when it should have been.

The GAA had serious competition from soccer and rugby from 88 through to present day

The GAA seems to have won that battle on the whole

Players who have gone through the Sigerson system have become accustomed to inducement, the horse has largely bolted, it needs to be managed now by limiting the amount of training county teams can do and pushing back on quango (GPA) influence on format and scheduling, the GPA exert influence far beyond their democratic mandate and need reigned in

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=hrxFrNSvpUKfwz6H4bd_zm3iulVCsQpAvXN8q3bExLFUN1NaV1FDNTBaQk1YUExOM0xUVDczMTRPUS4u&route=shorturl

[rodney trotter]

I remember Peter Keane was slow to call up Paudie Clifford to the kerry panel. 2020 was his first year and that was a knockout championship. He is in line to win his 4th All Star.

[imtommygunn]

You shut him down and it goes a long way to beating Kerry. When Dublin beat them a massive reason (IMO) was that Jack McCaffrey came on and Clifford couldn't keep with him so fouled him repeatedly and got a yellow. Derry ran them close because McCloskey was on him and Tyrone had Meyler on him that worked one day. He makes them tick.