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Monaghan GAA thread - 5 Like(s)
Replying To monaghanfootballfan: "Some it feels like they have a bad game and are like na not fighting for my place again. they definitely got a chance. sean jones, loughran walked after a bad game, same with wilson irwin etc. you do wonder is it attitude or management. heard of a similar situation at kilmacud.
see what happens, couple that with excessive injuries raises concerns about management. don't get me wrong, bannigan and con are doing a great job." Its funny. The mainstream sports media who just patronise monaghan with the usual punch above our weight comments continually go on about how the county maxs out every year and gets everything out of itself when the truth is v different. Some of the most talented players in the county mulligan jones by all accounts lack the temperment and dedication for inter county football . Think bannigan places great store on that and hes right. Garland is a great example been in or around the panel since 2018 only becoming a regular last few years but a great attitude to the cause. Think we are jinked as well when it comes to big men. Niall Kearns retired early. Gary Mohan only properly fit for two years cant get fit last few years. Conor Leonard over before started with injuries. Barry Mcbennett one good year then gone. Mcphilips gone travelling but doesn't appear to be rated by management never got a look in last summer so hell be in no rush back. Mccaul a real pedigree footballer cursed by career threatening injuries not even 21. Gallagher and mccarville have been the real unsung heroes this year and one of them isnt really a proper midfielder.
seanie08 (National) - 03/06/2026 16:37:56
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Football Championship 2026 - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Scenicparish: "Ye are a bit like the Man City supporters. When things are going well everyone is following on the bandwagon but when things are not going so good................." Every county is the same. Some would have a bigger vote than others but the fact is the bandwagon support exists in every county
yew_tree (National) - 03/06/2026 10:51:35
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Galway Football thread - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Gaa_lover: "Hard way?
2025
Just needed to beat winless Derry to reach the knock out stages. ThenDrew Down to reach the All-Ireland Quarter-final.
2024 and 2023 just needed to beat Westmeath to reach the knock out stages. Drew Monaghan at home to reach the quarter-finals. 2023 drew Mayo at home to reach the Quarter final and lost Mayo who were far from great as seen in their quarter final performance." We were in a severe group in 2025, containing 4 teams that played NFL div1 in 2025. Some groups had one or no div1 sides by comparison.
Pope_Benedict (National) - 03/06/2026 13:05:01
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Football Championship 2026 - 2 Like(s)
Replying To sourmilk93: "Its pathetic really, the whole thing is made up as they go along.
The earlier draw was done way to early to give counties "time to prepare logistically" giving an unfair advantage to teams not in provincial finals.
Yet the second round draw is done on a Tuesday( I have heard the argument why) i don't agree but can stomach it but no dates or times announced over 24 hours later.
The rules state first team out gets home advantage, Louth should be playing in Ardee if that's where they chose to play. Can pick and chose as we make our way through the year.
All games at this stage should be neutral imo anyway" Also meant to say in relation to this one - the Rule Book also states this as regards "home" venues:
Home Venues for all Senior Inter County Championship games shall be subject to approval by the Central Competitions Control Committee and shall meet the criteria set down by the National Facilities/Health and Safety Committee.
If a county (e.g. Louth) can't provide a home venue that earns that approval and meets those criteria, then they don't get home advantage after all. Nobody's making anything up as they go along. It's as set out in the Rule Book that you appear to have glanced at but not read properly.
As for your view that all games at this stage should be at neutral venues - also set out in the Rule Book that they're to be on a home & away basis. If you disagree with that Rule, well then, there's a process open to you to seek to change it - assuming you're actually a member of the Association, and not just a footballer on the ditch.
Pikeman96 (National) - 04/06/2026 09:35:15
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Ger Brennan - 2 Like(s)
fair play to Ger, he complied 100% with the disproportionate penalty imposed on him.
Good guy, I wish him well on Sunday.
suckvalleypaddy (National) - 03/06/2026 16:28:30
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Hurling Review Public Survey - 2 Like(s)
I see the Hurling Advisory Committee launched their public survey yesterday:
https://www.gaa.ie/article/hurling-review-public-survey
An opportunity for all who know all hurling's problems to point them out and tell the people who matter what they should do to fix them :)
Pikeman96 (National) - 03/06/2026 16:31:11
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Galway Football thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Gaa_lover: "No might about it they were non jeopardy games. My point on what was required to reach the knock out stages is accurate so drop the attitude with your ivory tower remark." You still empty more tank to get results against quality teams. You could be better off playing high 'jeopardy' low quality nondiv1 sides, than low 'jeopardy' high quality encounters. But it seems to be all about 'jeopardy' to you. Galway lost their first 'no jeopardy' match to Dublin by a late point in 2025, then were well behind in their second 'no jeopardy' match in Derry. The jeopardy of these two 'no jeopardy' encounters being that if Galway hadn't recovered to draw in Derry, they were out of the championship, ironically enough regardless of the result of their third 'no jeopardy' match against the then reigning allireland champions.
Pope_Benedict (National) - 03/06/2026 16:45:40
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Galway Football thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Gaa_lover: "Group regardless of strength of opposition was filled with non jeopardy games. Was it last year or two years ago that Galway played Armagh in round 3 and it was a total dead rubber for Armagh?
Objective of the groups was finishing 3rd at least to reach the knock out stages and Galway was always going to do that with Westmeath and winless Derry in the group." You might say 'non jeopardy' sitting in your ivory tower, but teams will still typically have to empty more tank to chisel results against div1 calibre outfits. That might not be the ideal physical preparation for a qfinal.
Pope_Benedict (National) - 03/06/2026 15:10:56
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Galway Football thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Gaa_lover: "Group regardless of strength of opposition was filled with non jeopardy games. Was it last year or two years ago that Galway played Armagh in round 3 and it was a total dead rubber for Armagh?
Objective of the groups was finishing 3rd at least to reach the knock out stages and Galway was always going to do that with Westmeath and winless Derry in the group." No it wasn't. The objective of the group stage was to win the group, and not have to face in to 3 games in 3 weeks, which ended up catching up with Galway in both 2024 and 2025. Galway's task in that regard each year was made much harder than the other provincial winners, primarily by the presence of the ulster runners up (Armagh) instead of the likes of Louth (Leinster runners up) or Clare (Munster)
You hardly think teams were setting out to just finish 3rd?
PressureKick (National) - 03/06/2026 17:12:45
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Football Championship 2026 - 2 Like(s)
Replying To sourmilk93: "Its pathetic really, the whole thing is made up as they go along.
The earlier draw was done way to early to give counties "time to prepare logistically" giving an unfair advantage to teams not in provincial finals.
Yet the second round draw is done on a Tuesday( I have heard the argument why) i don't agree but can stomach it but no dates or times announced over 24 hours later.
The rules state first team out gets home advantage, Louth should be playing in Ardee if that's where they chose to play. Can pick and chose as we make our way through the year.
All games at this stage should be neutral imo anyway" Most appropriately named poster anyway
Claretandblue (National) - 03/06/2026 14:53:49
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Two-Group Leinster SHC - 2 Like(s)
Tadhg, here is what you wrote.
"Now they are all excuses not reasons. There is no justifiable excuse for an attendance of 4000 at a senior leinster championship match in Wexford Town. None whatsoever. The town has a population of 22k and the county has a population of 164k so geography has absolutely nothing to do with it. There should have been 10k wexford diehards there alone. Sure season ticket holders should cover the 4k or close to it.
Maybe, just maybe, its because everyone in wexford knew that they were safe from the drop due to the insurance policy?
I wonder if Wexford were in genuine jeopardy of dropping our of the Leinster Championship what kind of a crowd would have shown up? I would bet that it would be a lot more than 4k. Thats more embarrassing than the performances tbh.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 525 - 28/05/2026 15:39:24 2676307"
So that's not a lecture? It sounds like my old principal in school lecturing me.
There was a "justifiable excuse" - Wexford were out and the match did not matter.
How was there a "justifiable excuse" for 15k from Limerick, Cork, Clare and Wexford in a match where the winners were in to an All-Ireland quarter final, if they are this great army of loyal supporters you seem to think you have? They didn't care too much 10 years ago when you were a bang average side, did they?
StoreysTash (National) - 03/06/2026 14:35:10
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Football Championship 2026 - 2 Like(s)
Replying To hlynch12: "Kerry back as All Ireland favourites at 5/2. Have put 1200 on them to win it out. Investing all my winning from Arsenal winning Premier League." 1200 buttons.
GreenandRed (National) - 03/06/2026 14:28:13
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Donegal GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To eddieSize5Balls: "Playing well in what's basically a friendly tournament isn't the same as playing for your county." Clearly you've never been at the gaeltacht games if u think they are friendlies
greenfan (National) - 03/06/2026 17:52:10
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Westmeath Hurling thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Loughlenegale: "You're trying to hold a few positions here that don't really align.
On one hand, you're saying we should narrow focus early and concentrate on the kids who really want to hurl. But at the same time, you're highlighting that numbers are already an issue. Narrowing the base earlier will only make that worse, not better.
You say you're not forcing kids to choose between codes but then suggest that at development squad level they should pick one. In reality, that is forcing a pathway choice, even if it's not at club level.
So we're not back to square one at all. If hurling's future depends solely on traditional hurling families, then the game is already limiting its own growth. The challenge is developing players from non-hurling backgrounds, not accepting they can't reach the same level.
Kids don't improve by avoiding competition; they improve by playing. Skills are important, but games teach decision-making, awareness and confidence in a way drills never will so a blended approach works.
And asking players to choose at U14 is a solution to an administrative problem, not a development one. Some of the best players in the country thrived because they played both codes for longer, not because they specialised earlier.
As for the seniors, patience matters, but patience without progress is just waiting. Nobody expects overnight success, but it's fair to expect clear improvement, accountability and higher standards along the way." Good. At least this echo chamber is getting a few echoes back. On the short term front, near every genuine Westmeath man, woman, child wants to see success in all GAA codes. Cusack park being filled to the rafters for the first time in decades by the footballers was a result of McHugh bringing the football team to unprecedented levels of success. Kudos to him for that. Football in the county looks in rude health. I hope a Westmeath hurling team will one day be able to lift the Bob O'Keefe trophy as the footballers did the Delaney cup.
Expecting a Joe Mc in year one after the recent loss of talent and experience that we had is a bit much. I imagine you're not going to see any of those lads coming back either. It took a lot to coax Heslin back in from retirement for the footballers. The lads that lined out for the hurlers this year were the fellahs who were willing to put their shoulder to the wheel and should be commended for their efforts. The lads who've moved on felt they had given enough and like Heslin that's their decision. If they decide to come back next year and are ready to commit again then by all means I hope they do. The county board should review the year, hold people accountable if necessary, but I have seen far worse efforts put in by Westmeath hurling teams in recent memory than the current outfit.
The numbers game is important. You yourself admit we need non-hurling people to come into the tent and not the same few hurling dynasties in the county providing pretenders to the throne. Non-hurling people like proximity. Having a hurling club within 10-15 minutes of your family's house is sadly a big consideration that busy young families will make when sending little Mickey, Jimmy or Johnny up to a field for training in any code. You want young lads to develop those key hurling skills early on well getting them out to a field 3 nights a week is a lot easier on non-hurling people's time and diesel when it's 10-15 minutes down the road rather than 30-40 minutes down the road.
You are completely right about hurling development needing to be fostered at a young age. The problem with hurling compared to football is those technical abilities, the fine motor skills of holding and gripping a hurl properly and developing the hand eye coordination to strike a ball, need to begin by age 4 or 5 to have much hope of making a young lad into a competent hurler capable of one day possibly lining out at senior intercounty level.
Strength and conditioning, centres of excellence and all that are all to some extent rendered irrelevant by the above facts, for hurling at least. A tall athletic 12 year old can be turned into a pretty solid footballer with a few months of training. A tall athletic 12 year whose handed a hurl by comparison and given a few months of hurling coaching may as well be out cutting thristles in a field. Barring serious dedication, commitment and or natural talent from that 12 year old individual, it's a near certainty they'll never even make a mediocre adult club hurler.
I understand your logic of saying that it's the ones that want to hurl that will become hurlers. It's way more likely a figure from a Westmeath hurling family will of course nurture and develop a lad with all the necessary skills. However, we have to try and bring some non-hurling people along for the ride. Westmeath are always going to lack serious depth in hurling playing numbers. That's a reality. But, we're shooting ourselves in the foot by not trying to maximise the numbers playing the game at underage whether they're from the North, South, East or West of the county. Like Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh famously said of Seán Óg O hAilpín, "His father's from Fermanagh. His mother's from Fiji. Neither's a hurling stronghold." It shouldn't matter a jot where a lads from in the county. We should be encouraging young lads to hurl.
RadioactiveTan (National) - 03/06/2026 21:12:32
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Football Championship 2026 - 2 Like(s)
Replying To GreenandRed: "It'll be another day after that before tickets go on sale. Not really looking out for supporters. Can they not tell Ticketmaster the venue, just change the throwin date and time and get them to put tickets online a few hours after they announce the fixture time?" What's the rush? Matches 10 days away. It's not like you're O' Hora planning for Everest
Claretandblue (National) - 03/06/2026 12:10:05
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Donegal GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Sixteen and counting! The number of articles in the Indo about the "McGuinness affair". Including three new ones so far today. Honest to God they're like a dog with a bone. Time to move on lads! There's a championship on with sixteen teams still in it!
railwayman (National) - 03/06/2026 11:54:48
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Football Format Changes Discussion - 1 Like(s)
Replying To omahant: "Does my format above on this page balance things out?" You've come with so many different formats our heads are fried. Keep your equations for the class room.
Saynothing (National) - 03/06/2026 17:37:28
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Football Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To sourmilk93: "Its pathetic really, the whole thing is made up as they go along.
The earlier draw was done way to early to give counties "time to prepare logistically" giving an unfair advantage to teams not in provincial finals.
Yet the second round draw is done on a Tuesday( I have heard the argument why) i don't agree but can stomach it but no dates or times announced over 24 hours later.
The rules state first team out gets home advantage, Louth should be playing in Ardee if that's where they chose to play. Can pick and chose as we make our way through the year.
All games at this stage should be neutral imo anyway" The way these things work, the very reason that no dates & times were announced for more than 24 hours was to give counties time to prepare logistically. The "delay" didn't hinder them. It actually would have helped them.
After a draw like this one, counties are consulted before fixtures are set, to see what can be done to accommodate any 'quirks' (for want of a better word) of the draw. Biggest example in this particular round is probably Cork having to go away to Derry.
I obviously don't know what exact discussions took place with Cork County Board between the draw on Tuesday morning and the fixtures being announced today, but I'm guessing they were given time to investigate if it would suit them better or be more cost-efficient to travel up on Friday ahead of a Saturday afternoon game, or travel up on Saturday ahead of a Sunday game. For logistical reasons, like hotel accommodation, etc.
Counties don't always get what they want as a result of such negotations but they can be accommodated if their requests are reasonable and if the other county has no strong objection to them.
Basically, Cork would have been helped by the "delay" in announcing fixture details, as the "delay" would have been to give the time to get organised. They wouldn't have been hindered by it - i.e. they wouldn't have been going "would they ever hurry up and announce the fixtures so that we know when to book a bus and hotel for?"
Pikeman96 (National) - 03/06/2026 17:58:40
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Hurling Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To Overdahill: "My predictions- based entirely off gut so don't ask me to stand over them lol
Dublin beat Galway (by 5 points)
Limerick beat Cork (by 7)
Galway beat Clare (by 4)
Cork beat Offaly (by 10)
Cork beat Dublin (by 9)
Limerick beat Galway (by 6)
Cork finally get over the hump and neat Limerick in a surprisinly drab and low scoring final.
From a Galway perspective I fear a couple of things this week, teams are evenly matched imo if we have Mannion and Daithi but we've had a problem performing in croke park for a while now. Also whether anyone cares to admit it or takes offense, a leinster is not as big a deal for us as a proper leinster county. Dublin are on the crest of a wave and I fear they might actually bully us and it might feel like mroe than a 5 point defeat.
We'll then play clare in thurles or Limerick presumeably and I'm starting to doubt if there is a dying kick in clare
Dublin haven't closed the gap enough on Cork, Limerick will strangle the life out of us, and cork with less hype will make the final a miserable games and grind it out.
All in good fun no one attack me" For me
Galway to win by the margin they were beaten by on Saturday against Dublin (4 points).
Dublin's trajectory of form has been improving across the season this year and will look to properly announce themselves as contenders for the year and the foreseeable with a Leinster title win after getting the Kilkenny monkey off their back in the same year.
For Galway they'll want to settle themselves and get back on track, we started strong with the emphatic win against Kilkenny but quickly learned that it wasn't really what we thought it was at the time. Followed up by 2 disjointed games against Offaly and Kildare. Offaly the accuracy dropped of from where it was the week before then we went to Newbridge with poor 1st half, being down by 10 points at HT to get the score in the 2nd half with 3 - 17 to 4pts.
We faced Dublin then and the first half of the game was a mix of the Offaly game and the 1st half of the Kildare game. The 2nd half then didn't show too much improvement as their was 17 wides recorded.
Then finally Wexford, we're down by 15pts at one stage and pulled it back to 6pts by HT to eventually take control of the 2nd half to win by 8pts.
The deciding factors for me are ultimately how much can we limit the the impact of the Hayes's.
The Munster final I think will be Limerick to win 8pts.
Cork have been in great form in the Championship being the 2nd team ever to go 4 for 4 in the group. They're back line having to deal with players going in and out, yet their hasn't been too much of a dip in standards, however the impact of Darragh Fitzgibbon can't be understated.
For Limerick then they had a mixed bag against Cork in the first game with a good first half and a poor 2nd half with Lynch's red card, poor defending in the full-back line and poor shot selection.
The following 3 games then however have massively improved for them with many players standing out in them.
However the deciding factor here is the Limerick bench to me.
Clare vs Dublin for the 3rd time this year and I think it's 3rd times the charm for Dublin.
Clare's form has been up and down big time in the Championship and for Dublin theirs has been mentioned.
It may depend if Ryan Taylor and Mark Rodgers are available to play as Mark Rodgers in particular as been a shining light for them this year. So I think Dublin would win by 5 points.
Offaly vs Cork quite straightforward with Cork to win by 11pts. Their experience even without Joyce and Fitzgibbon will get them over the line with a bit of comfort.
Then Limerick vs Dublin in the Semi-Final I think Limerick would win by 5. Both teams do look improved this season, however the bench for Limerick once again I think gets them the win.
Galway vs Cork. Unfortunately this is where I see our journey end. We'll hopefully have most of our kinks ironed out however Cork's experience, physicality and level of skill I think will get them the win by 7 points.
Limerick vs Cork in the final then I'd still favour Limerick by half of the margin in the Leinster final, just for the same reason again as the Munster final.
ColmFlaherty (National) - 03/06/2026 18:45:07
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Two-Group Leinster SHC - 1 Like(s)
A lot of talk about u20 progression to Senior so from 2021 - 2025 here's the numbers of that have made the step to Senior baring Offaly as it's practically their squad.
Cork - 16. 7 or 8 of the group are starting most games for them. Cork from around 2014 - 2020/21 had a good team, but not a great team, they do now however.
Galway - 16. 5 or 6 of them starting most games. Galway had won an All-Ireland in 2017 then just fell short in 2018 due to replays during the season. Then followed by 2 appointments of Shane O'Neill and Henry Shefflin who both held the progression of the county back.
Their was some players brought in to try but they couldn't make the step up, thus followed by players leaving and retirements to key players like David Burke and Jason Flynn.
Clare - 14. 6 of them get regular game time. They always the potential to contended for AIs but don't always live up to it every year.
Dublin - 12. 7 of them get good minutes. Never really pushed on since 2013, had some decent years, but over the past 2 or 3 years, the promising players from u20 have settled into the team and look to be coming into form.
Limerick - 10. 4 of them start nearly all their games with another 2 or 3 getting a few appearances from the bench. The most notable team for transitioning u20s I think, have a great team over the past 9 years, winning 6 of the last 9 AIs and have brought in a lot of extremely good talent with the best players this season being from that group.
Tipperary - 7. 4 of them are regulars in the match day teams. Very similar to Clare over the years.
Kilkenny - 7. With all of them being heavily involved this year. Ran out of road with getting to Semis and the final in most years with comfort and have had to test the u20s over the last few years gone by.
Waterford - 6. With 5 featuring in every game this year. Always have the potential to push on for more, but can never make it stick.
The point I'm trying to get across is that you can have the most talented group to exist but you also need the right management to bring them through.
ColmFlaherty (National) - 03/06/2026 17:27:56
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