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Move Dublin Into Connacht

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Makes sense when you think of it. No more than our hurlers were moved into Leinster to give them more intensive challenges (and hasn't that worked out beautifully?), Dublin are currently twiddling their thumbs in the Leinster football championship. Why, I even just read one of their posters who said "Leinster is just about turning up and taking care of that without picking up injuries" (http://hoganstand.com/Forum/FindPost?MessageID=2087986). What's the point in that? If Dublin want to stay top of the heap, it's in their interest to head west young men! Connacht will have three Div 1 teams next year. Time for the Leinster championship to be dissolved and Dublin to come play west of the Shannon for a change. We'll even let you have some home fixtures straight off the bat. festinog (Galway) - Posts: 3097 - 25/03/2018 23:47:20 2088056 Link
Be good in the short term, in fact id move ourselves and Kerry for a few years, would improve the fortunes of Munster and Leinster teams however artificially. I think you eventually would have the same problem, i cant think of many years Sam headed West to Connacht. Would Connacht be as strong as Ulster at the moment. TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 26/03/2018 08:57:53 2088102 Link
In the early stages of the championship it the matches between Division 1 teams Mayo and Galway, Tyrone and Monaghan and Cavan and Donegal that I'm looking forward to. Kerry and Dublin do not face this type of challenge early on. Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 26/03/2018 10:00:40 2088141 Link
Move Dublin, Kerry, Mayo, Tyrone, Monaghan, Roscommon, Cavan and Galway into one division and then allow for relegation and promotion to occur so teams of a certain standard can play each other year by year.....oh no wait that happens already and its proving a far better competition than any provincial championship is keithlemon (Australia) - Posts: 920 - 26/03/2018 10:08:02 2088150 Link
There's only one Connacht team who can be relied upon to bring Sam West. We did it 3-in a row and we nearly had another 3 between 98 and 01 but 2 done us OK! The_DOC (Galway) - Posts: 709 - 26/03/2018 10:19:27 2088156 Link
I disagree with letting them have home fixtures, festinog. We need to be fair! Wests_Awake (Galway) - Posts: 877 - 26/03/2018 10:24:17 2088157 Link
Replying To festinog: "Makes sense when you think of it. No more than our hurlers were moved into Leinster to give them more intensive challenges (and hasn't that worked out beautifully?), Dublin are currently twiddling their thumbs in the Leinster football championship. Why, I even just read one of their posters who said "Leinster is just about turning up and taking care of that without picking up injuries" (http://hoganstand.com/Forum/FindPost?MessageID=2087986). What's the point in that? If Dublin want to stay top of the heap, it's in their interest to head west young men! Connacht will have three Div 1 teams next year. Time for the Leinster championship to be dissolved and Dublin to come play west of the Shannon for a change. We'll even let you have some home fixtures straight off the bat." Where do u suggest putting the rest of the Leinster teams if you think it should be dissolved. Up until one week ago both had two teams in division 1. dubshurling7 (Dublin) - Posts: 1017 - 26/03/2018 10:39:54 2088164 Link
Dublin haven't done too badly in the absence of a competitive provincial championship, to be fair! May not be the worst idea to rotate the Dubs around the provinces on an annual basis, they get competitive games early on, their fans get some trips away, provincial venues get another big gate and the other Leinster teams get something to play for. Who loses? The irony of this thread is that we probably have the most competitive Connacht championship in some time, there's no great need for more external teams in the race for Nestor. Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/03/2018 11:04:28 2088183 Link
Scrapping the outdated provincial system would be a better long term solution than moving counties around to try to keep it competitive. GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2105 - 26/03/2018 11:17:13 2088192 Link
Replying To GeniusGerry: "Scrapping the outdated provincial system would be a better long term solution than moving counties around to try to keep it competitive." Problem with removing the provincial championships is that you remove the only prospect of silverware for a lot of teams outside the race for Sam (I anticipate a lot of wisecracks about Mayo following this statement!). There have been some great/controversial scenes arising out of unheralded teams winning their regional cup- think Clare in 1992, Leitrim in 1994, Offaly in 1997, Armagh in 1999, Laois in 2003, Westmeath in 2004, Sligo in 2007, Meath in 2010, Donegal in 2011, Galway in 2016, Roscommon last year. That gets lost if the only titles available are national ones. Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/03/2018 11:51:18 2088215 Link
Replying To Gleebo: "Problem with removing the provincial championships is that you remove the only prospect of silverware for a lot of teams outside the race for Sam (I anticipate a lot of wisecracks about Mayo following this statement!). There have been some great/controversial scenes arising out of unheralded teams winning their regional cup- think Clare in 1992, Leitrim in 1994, Offaly in 1997, Armagh in 1999, Laois in 2003, Westmeath in 2004, Sligo in 2007, Meath in 2010, Donegal in 2011, Galway in 2016, Roscommon last year. That gets lost if the only titles available are national ones." That's true, but a tiered championship would give teams a chance of silverware too. I don't think it's enough of a reason to retain the status quo. It's a very unbalanced system at the minute, and that's coming from a fan of a county that has benefited enormously from it over the years. There have been lots of good formats suggested and I don't want to derail the thread so I am not going to put anything specific forward, but I think that should be what we work towards rather than moving counties around the provinces as suggested in the OP. That would devalue the whole thing anyway. GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2105 - 26/03/2018 12:23:50 2088237 Link
Replying To GeniusGerry: "That's true, but a tiered championship would give teams a chance of silverware too. I don't think it's enough of a reason to retain the status quo. It's a very unbalanced system at the minute, and that's coming from a fan of a county that has benefited enormously from it over the years. There have been lots of good formats suggested and I don't want to derail the thread so I am not going to put anything specific forward, but I think that should be what we work towards rather than moving counties around the provinces as suggested in the OP. That would devalue the whole thing anyway." Agree completely with that Also I respect the honesty in your post. jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 26/03/2018 12:54:39 2088251 Link
Scrap the provincials. Have a tiered championship. Senior, Intermediate and Junior. All 3 championships get equal promotion and TV time. It will work wonders. TheFrenchCannotBeTrusted (Kildare) - Posts: 7 - 26/03/2018 13:44:02 2088274 Link
Trouble with all these suggestions of a tiered championship is that the counties which are supposed to benefit from such structures-the less successful ones- don't actually want it. They want to play the Dubs, Kerry etc. in the championship. Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/03/2018 13:57:45 2088279 Link
Replying To Gleebo: "Trouble with all these suggestions of a tiered championship is that the counties which are supposed to benefit from such structures-the less successful ones- don't actually want it. They want to play the Dubs, Kerry etc. in the championship." Totally agree with you, most counties will not want it. But we have to be sensible, the current format needs change. I cant see anything other than a tiered championship working with promotion and relegation between the tiers. I would like to race against Usain Bolt in the 100 metre olympic final but I am not good enough - so should I be allowed to? Bit of an extreme analogy but you can catch my meaning, you should have to earn the right to play with the top teams. Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1876 - 26/03/2018 14:17:06 2088285 Link
Ditching the provincials would mean losing out on a lot of local derbies and bragging rights plus the bigger crowds they bring. I think Sligo v Mayo or Roscommon v Leitrim has more local interest than Sligo v Waterford or Leitrim v Antrim in a second or third tier championship. Run the provincials before and separate from an open draw All Ireland. GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7360 - 26/03/2018 14:21:04 2088288 Link
But why don't the weaker counties want it? They have no chance of winning anything in the current format. A tiered system would give them a great chance of success and progression. If all of the 3 championships get equal promotion i think it would be a great success. TheFrenchCannotBeTrusted (Kildare) - Posts: 7 - 26/03/2018 14:34:46 2088303 Link
Replying To Green_Gold: "Totally agree with you, most counties will not want it. But we have to be sensible, the current format needs change. I cant see anything other than a tiered championship working with promotion and relegation between the tiers. I would like to race against Usain Bolt in the 100 metre olympic final but I am not good enough - so should I be allowed to? Bit of an extreme analogy but you can catch my meaning, you should have to earn the right to play with the top teams." I still haven't seen a better proposal to balance the need for competitiveness and the need for inclusion than Jim McGuinness's idea that came out three years back. Of course, it didn't go anywhere. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/jim-mcguinness-how-i-would-reinvigorate-football-championship-1.2241993 Having meaningful games in the NFL, provincial championships and All-Ireland series would be a lot better than what we have now, IMO. Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/03/2018 16:22:05 2088356 Link
Replying To TheFrenchCannotBeTrusted: "Scrap the provincials. Have a tiered championship. Senior, Intermediate and Junior. All 3 championships get equal promotion and TV time. It will work wonders." Would agree with a teired championship in Football the way it is in the Hurling. The GAA could sell the rights to each competition with allocated throw in times to avoid clashes, however BBC(NI) would be a big loser as the Ulster Football Championship is their local sport highlight outside the NW200. Brian_Coyote (Antrim) - Posts: 346 - 26/03/2018 16:34:02 2088358 Link
Replying To Green_Gold: "Totally agree with you, most counties will not want it. But we have to be sensible, the current format needs change. I cant see anything other than a tiered championship working with promotion and relegation between the tiers. I would like to race against Usain Bolt in the 100 metre olympic final but I am not good enough - so should I be allowed to? Bit of an extreme analogy but you can catch my meaning, you should have to earn the right to play with the top teams." Not that extreme. Ireland spend a fortune sending big teams of athletes to Olympic and world championships with little or no chance of success. As for the All-Ireland football c'ships, it is ridiculous to try forcing some kind of Mickey-Mouse competition on counties that do not want it. How can the GAA claim to listen to it's 'grass-roots' when they turn a deaf ear to the opinions of the players from the so-called weaker counties who state categorically that that they have no interest in such a competition. Rather than trying to keep players involved, it seems that we are more interested in driving them away from the game. Looking at the All-Ireland c'ship as it stands, it might help if the lower ranking counties (from League placings) were automatically given home advantage in their c'ship games. neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 26/03/2018 17:02:20 2088379 Link