National Forum

6 Teams Left In A Hurling May 24Th

(Oldest Posts First)

Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?

OpenStand (Limerick) - Posts: 770 - 27/05/2026 14:21:42    2676020

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Replying To OpenStand:  "Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?"
tipp clubs been playing and will continue to play league games and have divisional championship games starting next month with county championship after that

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3979 - 27/05/2026 14:53:01    2676039

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Replying To OpenStand:  "Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?"
Its the negative side of the split season. The alternative is a double round robin provincial championship with a straight all ireland final between the winners. The NHL would have to be shortened though.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 476 - 27/05/2026 15:00:32    2676043

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Every year with this. There's only 10 serious teams. They can only play each other so many times. Any more games at this stage would get very tiresome. why are people so determined to mess witth what's already working.

Who gives a fiddlers about the world cup, a total red herring Donal og & Pat spillane have managed to out into peoples heads aabout other sports getting more airtime. People who wanted to watch the world cup are going to watch it regardless.

Overdahill (Galway) - Posts: 128 - 27/05/2026 15:26:49    2676060

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Curren split structure is fine but I'd argue it needs to allow finals to go into August. Having it all done and dusted before Galway Races is mad.

There's no sport at all really in first few weeks in August. Premier league and rugby starts mid to late August.

GAA need to be cuter and it would not have any impact on clubs as it could be 2-4 counties that may need to move their championship back a week or two.

Allowances can be found eg provincial club byes.

The impact on promotion is terrible. As a Gaelic football fan first, I only start watching the hurling come the semi final stages now as matches are always up against a Gaelic football match before that.

Case in point. Last years key game in Munster went directly against the Ulster football final.

shaggykev (Donegal) - Posts: 449 - 27/05/2026 15:38:41    2676067

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Replying To OpenStand:  "Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?"
Why does it seem mad? It's the same system that's been in place for the last number of years, minus Joe Mac winers this year.

We know well in advance when the competition begins, all the dates for the matches, the games that may go to penalties and those that won't', and when the competition ends.

So, why is it hard to get your head around any of that?

Would a headline of , "Only 4 teams Out in Hurling May 24th", change the situation in any way?

foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 2554 - 27/05/2026 15:50:02    2676072

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "Its the negative side of the split season. The alternative is a double round robin provincial championship with a straight all ireland final between the winners. The NHL would have to be shortened though."
Play the Provincial Championships as straight knockout, then a 12 team AI round robin, 2 groups of 6. Just get rid of League finals.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19855 - 27/05/2026 16:55:10    2676109

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Replying To Viking66:  "Play the Provincial Championships as straight knockout, then a 12 team AI round robin, 2 groups of 6. Just get rid of League finals."
Nah, not for me. The Munster Championship is great the way it is. Some years will be better than others but the crowds speak for its popularity. No reason to mess with that imo.

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 476 - 27/05/2026 17:07:49    2676112

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Replying To Viking66:  "Play the Provincial Championships as straight knockout, then a 12 team AI round robin, 2 groups of 6. Just get rid of League finals."
That sounds fine, but then we'd get the same moaning as we get in football that the provincials have been "devalued" because winning them doesn't confer any advantage over other teams in the AI series.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1736 - 27/05/2026 18:28:09    2676132

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Replying To Viking66:  "Play the Provincial Championships as straight knockout, then a 12 team AI round robin, 2 groups of 6. Just get rid of League finals."
The 12 teams should get 12 cups and 'middles' too, just like the young lads. No one should ever be knocked out, it could be bad for mental health too.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4749 - 27/05/2026 19:04:50    2676145

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Replying To OpenStand:  "Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?"
Spot on about the World Cup point. Most counties will have games from end of January to maybe middle of June. People aren't going to club games so there premier league games from August to end of may then every 2 years an international soccer tournament that people watch. No wonder numbers are falling at games around the country the interest is always going to drop when there's 7 months of the year with no games on. No pr stunts by the Gaa as well to generate interest. Compare to the amount of pr other sports have.

Lúla571210 (Louth) - Posts: 179 - 27/05/2026 21:02:19    2676159

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "The 12 teams should get 12 cups and 'middles' too, just like the young lads. No one should ever be knocked out, it could be bad for mental health too."
1 all ireland champion.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19855 - 27/05/2026 21:56:12    2676167

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "Nah, not for me. The Munster Championship is great the way it is. Some years will be better than others but the crowds speak for its popularity. No reason to mess with that imo."
Its very uneven. The team that finished 3rd and got to the AI series lost 2 of their games by 15 and 16 points.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19855 - 27/05/2026 21:57:53    2676168

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "That sounds fine, but then we'd get the same moaning as we get in football that the provincials have been "devalued" because winning them doesn't confer any advantage over other teams in the AI series."
Winning your Province means something to whoever wins it. Except Galway. And they wont be in a Provincial Championship.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19855 - 27/05/2026 22:02:55    2676170

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Replying To Lúla571210:  "Spot on about the World Cup point. Most counties will have games from end of January to maybe middle of June. People aren't going to club games so there premier league games from August to end of may then every 2 years an international soccer tournament that people watch. No wonder numbers are falling at games around the country the interest is always going to drop when there's 7 months of the year with no games on. No pr stunts by the Gaa as well to generate interest. Compare to the amount of pr other sports have."
Most of the pr that other sports (namely soccer) is not from the organisation but a media company connected to it - look at sky sports who promote their soccer coverage or the darts. Not necessarily their respective association. Media care little about all bar a few counties and competitions.
As for the out in may argument - welcome to the world of the smaller county for the vast majority of the 140 or so years the Gaa has been in existence! Where's the crying about Westmeath or Antrim or ourselves for the last few decades! This has been our lot for ages! The players though haven't spoken against it really. Most want a life and some down time. It's only a game after all..

old yellar (None) - Posts: 2654 - 27/05/2026 22:35:17    2676184

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Replying To OpenStand:  "Seems mad that there are only 6 teams and 7 matchs left in this years all ireland hurling championship. Be very little PR of hurling with only 7 games . The football will be similar in another 2/3 weeks . The World Cup will never have had such a free run at the Irish sporting public to promote soccer .
Are the Waterford , Tipperary , Kilkenny hurling championships starting soon seen as they are all out in May ?"
The GAA don't do a good good of promoting intercounty GAA. The World Cup, Premier League, 6 Nations rugby etc aren't the cause of this. They might take a look at how other sports promote their brands and try and improve how they do it. Starts at clubs and in schoolyards in August where parents chat to parents of young children who might be interested in football, hurling and camogie.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8587 - 28/05/2026 03:16:41    2676199

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Replying To Lúla571210:  "Spot on about the World Cup point. Most counties will have games from end of January to maybe middle of June. People aren't going to club games so there premier league games from August to end of may then every 2 years an international soccer tournament that people watch. No wonder numbers are falling at games around the country the interest is always going to drop when there's 7 months of the year with no games on. No pr stunts by the Gaa as well to generate interest. Compare to the amount of pr other sports have."
Exactly. Such an own goal. You can see how much kids love being at live sports and then GAA surrenders half the year to other sports.

The myth that this will increase playing numbers and attendances at club level is already being exposed and tacitly admitted in GAA's own demographic report.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4336 - 28/05/2026 08:09:43    2676204

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "The 12 teams should get 12 cups and 'middles' too, just like the young lads. No one should ever be knocked out, it could be bad for mental health too."
Well done for completely missing the point. Its about having more exposure to hurling in the summer months as hurling is at its best when played in good weather. Not playing off the showpiece competition like a box ticking exercise where player's have little chance to recover from injuries.
7 hurling games left while football has 30 plus tge same amount of tailtann Cup is the opposite of promoting our best product

richiepmurphy (Kilkenny) - Posts: 97 - 28/05/2026 08:44:53    2676208

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At the moment - Hurling does a great job of getting out of the way of the All Ireland football championship - and because of its round robin provincials - also doesn't match footballs provincials for excitement.

There is always another way - keeping 13 counties hurling in Liam Mc Carthy until 1st weekend of june - 12 until mid june, 8 until start of july.

All Ireland Hurling finals on August Bank Holiday
- Liam McCarthy on Sunday + Nicky Rackard
- Joe McDonagh Christy Ring, and Lory Meagher on the Saturday

Mid July - Semi finals in the above

Start July - qfinals in Liam McCarthy - 8 teams - provincial finals + prelim qfinal winners

Mid June - Provincial finals (4 teams) + Prelim Qfinals (8 teams)

Finish round robins on June Bank Holiday

That would mean for 2026
Munster final - Cork v Tipp
Leinster final - Galway v Dublin

Prelim qfinals
Clare v (Carlow/Laois)
Offaly v Kildare
Waterford v Wexford
Kilkenny v Tipp

To facilitate that - you would have to change Leinster to 2 x groups of 4 - all finished by mid May
A - Galway, Dublin, Offaly, Kilkenny
B - Wexford, Kildare, Carlow, Laois
Leinster Semi - Winner A v Winner B + 2nd A v 3rd A - June bank holiday

Leinster Play offs (June bank holiday)
PO1 - 4th A v 4th B,
PO2 - 2nd B v 3rd B

Loser PO1 v loser PO2 - winner into All Ireland series (played 1st weekend June)

Leinster would have 5 spots in prelim q finals - Leinster semi losers (2) + Leinster play off winners (2)

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1842 - 28/05/2026 09:29:18    2676214

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