Replying To Black+Blue: "See Pat Spillane slagging off the Leinster Counties again in the Independent today....spends time pointing out that Dublin has a bigger population than the other 11 counties put together then says ...sure only 15 can take to the field ... his parting shot is that all of Leinster has raised the white flag
Wonder why he didn't accuse Waterford, Limerick or Tipp ( last year aside ) of waving the white flag in Munster ? or Sligo,London, New York or Leitrim in Connacht ? ....
Not slagging any of the above Proud counties, just sick of the double standards re the Provincials and the same old tired lines about others need to step up/try harder/push themselves more in Leinster to match Dublin..."
A good few Leinster counties that get walloped by Dublin year have bigger populations than Mayo, Donegal, Kerry, Tyrone to name a few. Such counties also would be perceived as "wealthy" counties with not as much immigration as western counties. I think it's fair to say a few could be doing better but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.
Replying To Whammo86: "Having the qualifiers for a top tier gives that mixed strength program of games.
16 teams start as being qualified for the main tournament.
Leave 4 places to be up for grabs for the bottom 16 in a qualifying tournament.
Those 4 teams will have a mixed quality program of games.
The top 16 teams don't need to play the bottom 12 and teams don't get an advantage from moving lower."
So, help me with your next steps here. After the Bottom 16 qualifiers, you'd have a Top 20 (with say, 10 games each) and a Tier 2 of 12 (with say, 11 games, or regional 2x6, 10 games each). Presumably you have promotion from Tier 2 ? Say, Finalists go up to guaranteed 16 Tier 1 spots in the following year (after playing an easier schedule), while displacing 6 teams from current year Top 20 (who played a tougher opponent mix) ? Only difference seems to be that the Lower 12 can play for a Tier 2 trophy ?
Replying To yew_tree: "A good few Leinster counties that get walloped by Dublin year have bigger populations than Mayo, Donegal, Kerry, Tyrone to name a few. Such counties also would be perceived as "wealthy" counties with not as much immigration as western counties. I think it's fair to say a few could be doing better but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong."
True but alot of the those counties are getting to the stage where they are humiliated and damaged psychologically (in a purely sporting sense) by constant beatings from the Dubs. Any momentum, feel good factor, positive vibes, good work in training or whatever is wiped out every year in Leinster. Mayo, Kerry, Donegal etc don't have to live with that and get provincial success from time to time. Although we are probably getting to the stage where Mayo and maybe some others don't really believe they can beat the Dubs.