Awwwwnow (Cavan) - Posts: 1050 - 23/02/2017 10:45:08    1959795

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4508 - 23/02/2017 10:49:35    1959797

manfromdelmonte (UK) - Posts: 541 - 23/02/2017 11:00:28    1959805

opa01 (Cavan) - Posts: 517 - 23/02/2017 11:26:15    1959819

The present system 4 quarters will increase to 12 games if Duffy proposals go through.
That at least would at another month of games to what we already have.
So condensing the provincials would be a waste of time if we going to add a month to the quarters. What rightminded CB are going to vote for that unless there is a big financial carrot dangled before them which there will be. Because it's always about money.
I really don't think it's Pauric Duffy job to restructure the championship and if the motion is defeated in my opinion there should be calls for him to resign

Awwwwnow (Cavan) - Posts: 1050 - 23/02/2017 11:38:54    1959824

Firstly nobody can deny, the end of the football Championship would be exciting. Dublin V Kerry in a packed Killarney, or Tyrone inviting Mayo to Omagh etc during the months of July or August. It would be good for the sport and good for the economy. It would improve the football championship product and make it very marketable. This is likely the reasons why the CPA suggested it would be unfair on hurling, because in reality we all know, we would be guaranteed some cracking football matches during the summer. If the GAA were honest about there motives, people may have become sold on the idea. However the reality is they have tried to package it up as improving weaker counties, and solving the club player problem. How on earth does the 8 elite teams playing the best games of the year, whilst maintaining the same old structures beforehand improve the likes of Antrim, Wicklow, Leitrim etc?! How does increased matches amongst the elite improve the fixture problem in those counties?! Yes stopping replays and bringing forward the All Ireland finals will help, but that still brings most of the elite counties to the beginning of August before clubs get a free run. During the Quarter Final round robin, county managers will not be allowing much club action, whilst that is being played off. I have a fear this plan is to ensure the elite play off at the end of year, because the main motivation is not weaker counties but money. Guaranteeing these matches in front of sell outs, pretty much guarantees increased TV money and sponsorship. This needs to be voted down at Congress and a better solution put in place, because if passed, the bigger counties are going to be given a free road to steam ahead of the rest, the gap will become unreachable.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 999 - 23/02/2017 11:39:42    1959825

KYTotalFootball (Kerry) - Posts: 280 - 23/02/2017 12:17:43    1959842

It was said on local radio that Mayo as well as other Connacht counties are backing the super 8 proposal, I am totally opposed to it but here would be an amendment to it, after the provincial finals we will have 12 teams, 4 provincial champs, 4 runners up, 4 qualifiers, now if the 4 provincial champs had a playoff game ie Munster v Ulster and Leinster v Connacht and the same with the 4 provincial runners up, then the winners progress to the super 8 so in theory you would have 2 provincial champs, 2 provincial runners up and 4 qualifiers. The reason for this is Mayo, Dublin, Kerry and Cork will easily be included every year in the super 8 either as provincial champs or runners up, if the provincials had to play a knockout game before the super 8 I bet you those 4 counties would vote against it. The plan is for money pure and simple, they see those 4 teams making it every year so actually there is only 4 places available and without a doubt Tyrone will be there, it does nothing for weaker counties

riverboys (Mayo) - Posts: 1389 - 23/02/2017 12:20:57    1959843

I think it's nothing more than another red herring of a proposal, just some trivial shite to try and distract us from the real issues for another little while. The issues I'm referring to specifically are the poor treatment of club players and the poor championship structure which a lot of players want significantly changed.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/02/2017 12:57:25    1959856

Do county boards have a say in this or is it simply the club delegates? I see mayo county board made a statement that they are backing it? Same in Tipp. Does that mean that by default all clubs in both countys will be backing it or can the club delegates decide to do what they like on the day?

unclegerry (Mayo) - Posts: 1223 - 23/02/2017 13:03:35    1959861

73forever (Limerick) - Posts: 89 - 23/02/2017 13:52:20    1959877

Skelling (USA) - Posts: 289 - 23/02/2017 16:35:55    1959943

Westmeath reject Duffy plan tonight seemingly by big Margin

jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1689 - 23/02/2017 22:14:23    1960071

It's a good idea. It gives people more matches between the best team which is what people want to see.

Juts because it doesn't solve all of the GAA's problems doesn't mean it isn't a worthwhile idea.The GPA and CPA are being very childish about this.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 24/02/2017 05:41:51    1960105

This a champions-league type scenario that will be a boon to the the top county teams and and an absolute disaster for everyone else. It is a kick in the teeth to the majority of counties who have no hope of qualifying for the "super 8" or whatever the hell it will be called. It lets all club players know exactly where they stand - that the GAA does not give a s***e about them. This will ultimately lead to an elite professional competition for the top counties and the death of the GAA in the rest of the country.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 1033 - 24/02/2017 09:04:08    1960134

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4953 - 24/02/2017 09:46:13    1960144

ifindoubt (Donegal) - Posts: 133 - 24/02/2017 11:47:35    1960190

Just as a more general observation, does anyone else get the feeling that the GAA is really now reaching a serious crisis point in its history?

The club situation has been allowed to fester for years and it is now coming to a head with the emergence of the CPA. You get the sense that if something is not done to acknowledge the club player's plight, the nuclear option of a CPA conducted, nationwide club players strike looms into view.

There has been a constant cacophony for meaningful inter-county Championship restructuring over the past five years. Despite this any proposed initiative has been meet with fierce opposition. On the one hand the 'weaker' counties rejected last year's proposal for a two-tier system and though there seems to be more support for the newly proposed 'Super 8' format, this will, in practice, only further the division line between the top and bottom.
In fairness to the GAA, any prospect of Championship restructuring has to surmount the hugely divergent and vested interests of Provincial Councils and County Boards, Clubs and the Media.
The problem is significant: how do you structure a season which gives club players regular games, does the same for inter-county players, has enough high profile/high quality matches to ensure prominent media coverage, retains the provincial set-ups and at the same time ensures a level playing field.
It is a huge issue, but it is now coming to crisis point because Croke Park seems hell bent on forcing through their own plans and while (as in the case of the Super 8) they might have gotten County Boards and the Media on board, they have ignored the voices of club and county players.
There seems to be no appetite for Croke Park, the provincial councils, the GPA and CPA to sit down together and trash out a workable and long term solution. Yet we all know this is the only way the issue will ever be resolved.
If I could use an analogy from our recent history, the Peace Process floundered for several years because all parties were not included in the talks . Nothing meaningful could be done by just negotiating with the SDLP and the UUP. Eventually both Governments realised that unless SF and the DUP were brought in from the cold there could never be a lasting peace agreement.
Croke Park may not like the GPA or the CPA but they have to acknowledge their co-operation is essential if the restructuring issue is to be resolved.

The statement of the Tyrone players last night also raises the third major crisis issue; the spiraling expenditure on county set-ups, the huge sponsorship and funding disparities between the likes of Dublin and the rest and the ever increasing reality of professionalism or at least semi-professionalism.
It seems like we have already reached the point of no return. Akin to the statesmen of Europe who sleepwalked into the First World War in 1914, the GAA seems to be unaware that they are on the cusp of destroying one of their core ethos - amateurism.
The specter of professionalism will destroy what the GAA is.
I know in my heart it will mean the death of my own county's tradition in game, the Kerry's of this world will never be able to match the Dublin's or Cork's in a professional era, let alone how the likes of Roscommon, Clare etc can cope.

I don't know maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic, but I can't shake the feeling we are at a huge cross-road right now.

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 24/02/2017 12:38:49    1960203

This whole issue of some counties in the top table and the rest not being able to catch up has been brewing for the past 50 or 60 years but had come to a head back in 2001 when the qualifiers were introduced, people were conned into believing that this would help weaker counties giving them more games, an odd team or 2 got more games but in the next few years they went nowhere, we all accept that it gives stronger counties a 2nd chance to win Sam, the imbalance should have been sorted out before the 2000s we had plenty of chances to do so at Congress but nothing was done, after the introduction of the qualifiers teams got more professional and outrageous money was and still is being spent by some counties and this has widened the gap between the elite counties and the average counties, the weaker counties haven't a hope, the counties have said they want to keep the provincial championships and if this is kept separate to the All Ireland championship it will destroy it so both have to work together, the GAA have to put a cap on spending and try to find a way to improve the championship while keeping the provincial championships, the super 8 won't do this, what I can see happening is Kerry, Cork, Mayo and Dublin putting out weak teams (fringe players) in the provincial champs while keeping the big guns for the super 8, it will make a mockery of the provincial championships, it's bad enough as it is

riverboys (Mayo) - Posts: 1389 - 24/02/2017 13:35:04    1960220

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3027 - 24/02/2017 14:05:02    1960229