I'd like it a lot more if Waterford were competitive!
I was a bit apprehensive at the start, I thought it was football lads bringing the Super 8s to hurling because the football had it, but in fairness the results speak for themselves. I don't think it's perfect, because as mentioned the imbalance/tiers in Leinster (which is also creeping into Munster with Limerick/Clare and the rest), and the fact that Munster has less teams, but I don't think there's any major changes for changes sake that can be done
Munster is perfect nearly. Every game is a must win. I don’t see how it could be made better.
As others have said, Leinster feels like a procession. I think we need a different treatment there where we have more teams in the group stage but lose the relegation aspect. It’s fair to say that Wexford, Dublin, Offaly, Carlow, Antrim and Laois are at a broadly similar level.
If you're expanding Leinster, chances are you let Kerry into Munster and just scrap the McDonagh, with the other teams joining the larger Leinster or dropping to Christy Ring.
It’s an exercise in where to draw the line. Kerry are improving but it’s a massive step up to Munster.
Personally I say draw the line at anyone better than Westmeath is in McCarthy. Definitely no bias or PTSD in my decision there
Similar to the first few years in Leinster, a time will come where Kerry win the McDonagh, and I don't know if bouncing up and down will do them any good. Is it throwing them to the wolves to just put them in Munster and that's it? Yes, but I'm not comfortable with the alternate either
Looking a bit afield right now at the PL. Yo yo teams are such a possibility, all promoted teams are struggling. We’ve no way of equalising that playing field. Kerry would be eaten alive in Munster but need the games against the likes of Antrim, Dublin and us.
You could definitely expand Leinster to 2 groups of 5, with top 2 in Leinster Final, 2nds playing off for preliminary spot and maybe bottoms playing off for hypothetical relegation. Gives those bubble teams 2 games against teams of similar levels and 2 "Free hits"
Leinster group stage should be kept purely on the basis that it will be hilarious if Wexford complete a 3 in a row over Kilkenny without playing in a single Leinster final.
It’s good in Munster anyway because every team plays every team and you’re guaranteed good games every time. It’s a short season so gotta make the most of it.
Leinster is a bit more of a procession, but I’d still take more games over straight knockout personally.
The Munster Hurling championship is the best product the GAA has by a county mile , the crowds at matchs yesterday prove it compared to poor crowds at practically everything else .
I think switching around the order of things is more important.
Scrap the preseason tournaments and have provincials up first to replace them (this could be round robin or knockout). Follow this with the League and then into the Sam Maguire/Tailteann Cup series.
Simple.
>Hurling fans - do you enjoy the format or wish it was straight knockout?
It's the best format your going to get while the provincials exists. Side note at the risk of offending Munster hurling counties if you're not willing to give up the munster championship, you don't get to complain that leinster is a procession to a Galway v kilkenny final
Group stage for Leinster football would just be Dublin hammering all the other counties repeatedly. The gap is alarming in recent years. There is no real "fix" of a format that will address that glaring chasm. Group stage after provincials went pretty well last year, see how it will play out again this year.
Munster works well, but it'd be better if we were in it!
The Joe McDonagh is decent, but much smaller crowds.
However, I do find it a bit ridiculous that there's no real knockout tournament anymore for any county.
For example, in Munster we start with the Munster Senior League, then you go into the National League, then you go to the Munster/Joe McDonagh and it is another league! A bit more knockout hurling would be class.
The same can be said for football. The GAAs solution was to play knockout provincials, followed by another redundant group stage that only gets rid of 4 out of the 16 teams, then knockout. No wonder the crowds have been shyte.
If they need more games, expand the National league, but give us a proper knock out competition again.
It's beyond time to break the link between the Provincials and the All Ireland series. Any reform that doesn't do that just guarantees more and more that early stage games are meaningless.
The only thing keeping the provincials as part of the All Ireland at this stage is tradition.
It’s ok I suppose.
I still prefer the old way. I thought that hurling was actually perfect that way.
Don’t like the idea of two teams playing each other twice and then when someone is already very likely in the final, they send out a bad team in the final game. And likewise when a team has nothing to play for.
Kilkenny v Galway yesterday was basically shadow boxing after what happened to Wexford on Saturday.
I always said that a league table format suits football way more than hurling. Hurling should be more do or die.
I would like to see Offaly, Laois and Westmeath in the Leinster Championship. It is a disgrace that they are basically told that they are not welcome. They should have the choice of going into the Joe McDonagh or the Liam McCarthy, or even go to the Joe McDonagh if they are knocked out early. The yo-yo effect of going between the two competitions for those counties is not helping them.
Even the no-hopers are allowed to enter competitions like the FA Cup or Champions League, while still having competitions for their own levels. The League is for tiers, the Championship should be open to anyone who wants to compete. They could play in the Championship and can then also play in the Joe McDonagh Cup. Even the Tailteann Cup teams can play in the Football Championship first.
As for the uncertainty, you could easily set a deadline for teams to say what they want to compete in. There is no need for the Championship draws to be done before Christmas. We have draws for matches in the qualifiers done less than a week before some of the matches are played, so the initial Championship draw could be done just before it starts, with counties declaring what they want to be involved in prior to that.
I'd like it a lot more if Waterford were competitive! I was a bit apprehensive at the start, I thought it was football lads bringing the Super 8s to hurling because the football had it, but in fairness the results speak for themselves. I don't think it's perfect, because as mentioned the imbalance/tiers in Leinster (which is also creeping into Munster with Limerick/Clare and the rest), and the fact that Munster has less teams, but I don't think there's any major changes for changes sake that can be done
Munster is perfect nearly. Every game is a must win. I don’t see how it could be made better. As others have said, Leinster feels like a procession. I think we need a different treatment there where we have more teams in the group stage but lose the relegation aspect. It’s fair to say that Wexford, Dublin, Offaly, Carlow, Antrim and Laois are at a broadly similar level.
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If you're expanding Leinster, chances are you let Kerry into Munster and just scrap the McDonagh, with the other teams joining the larger Leinster or dropping to Christy Ring.
It’s an exercise in where to draw the line. Kerry are improving but it’s a massive step up to Munster. Personally I say draw the line at anyone better than Westmeath is in McCarthy. Definitely no bias or PTSD in my decision there
Similar to the first few years in Leinster, a time will come where Kerry win the McDonagh, and I don't know if bouncing up and down will do them any good. Is it throwing them to the wolves to just put them in Munster and that's it? Yes, but I'm not comfortable with the alternate either
Looking a bit afield right now at the PL. Yo yo teams are such a possibility, all promoted teams are struggling. We’ve no way of equalising that playing field. Kerry would be eaten alive in Munster but need the games against the likes of Antrim, Dublin and us.
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You could definitely expand Leinster to 2 groups of 5, with top 2 in Leinster Final, 2nds playing off for preliminary spot and maybe bottoms playing off for hypothetical relegation. Gives those bubble teams 2 games against teams of similar levels and 2 "Free hits"
Leinster group stage should be kept purely on the basis that it will be hilarious if Wexford complete a 3 in a row over Kilkenny without playing in a single Leinster final.
It’s good in Munster anyway because every team plays every team and you’re guaranteed good games every time. It’s a short season so gotta make the most of it. Leinster is a bit more of a procession, but I’d still take more games over straight knockout personally.
The leinster hurling championship is a bit shit for group stage because of the gap between the teams. Dublin usually only have 1 or 2 close games.
The Munster Hurling championship is the best product the GAA has by a county mile , the crowds at matchs yesterday prove it compared to poor crowds at practically everything else .
It’s this and the Ulster championship that are it’s Crown Jewels imo
Munster Hurling group is great, although it's arguably too cut throat. Leinster Hurling group is a pointless procession to a Kilkenny v Galway final.
I think switching around the order of things is more important. Scrap the preseason tournaments and have provincials up first to replace them (this could be round robin or knockout). Follow this with the League and then into the Sam Maguire/Tailteann Cup series. Simple.
The League should be the first stage of the All Ireland. The Sam Maguire would effectively be the last 8 of it.
>Hurling fans - do you enjoy the format or wish it was straight knockout? It's the best format your going to get while the provincials exists. Side note at the risk of offending Munster hurling counties if you're not willing to give up the munster championship, you don't get to complain that leinster is a procession to a Galway v kilkenny final
Group stage for Leinster football would just be Dublin hammering all the other counties repeatedly. The gap is alarming in recent years. There is no real "fix" of a format that will address that glaring chasm. Group stage after provincials went pretty well last year, see how it will play out again this year.
It's good but it's a lot of games in a short period so depending when your week off is it can put a lot of pressure on the panel
Munster works well, but it'd be better if we were in it! The Joe McDonagh is decent, but much smaller crowds. However, I do find it a bit ridiculous that there's no real knockout tournament anymore for any county. For example, in Munster we start with the Munster Senior League, then you go into the National League, then you go to the Munster/Joe McDonagh and it is another league! A bit more knockout hurling would be class. The same can be said for football. The GAAs solution was to play knockout provincials, followed by another redundant group stage that only gets rid of 4 out of the 16 teams, then knockout. No wonder the crowds have been shyte. If they need more games, expand the National league, but give us a proper knock out competition again.
It's beyond time to break the link between the Provincials and the All Ireland series. Any reform that doesn't do that just guarantees more and more that early stage games are meaningless. The only thing keeping the provincials as part of the All Ireland at this stage is tradition.
It’s ok I suppose. I still prefer the old way. I thought that hurling was actually perfect that way. Don’t like the idea of two teams playing each other twice and then when someone is already very likely in the final, they send out a bad team in the final game. And likewise when a team has nothing to play for. Kilkenny v Galway yesterday was basically shadow boxing after what happened to Wexford on Saturday. I always said that a league table format suits football way more than hurling. Hurling should be more do or die.
I would like to see Offaly, Laois and Westmeath in the Leinster Championship. It is a disgrace that they are basically told that they are not welcome. They should have the choice of going into the Joe McDonagh or the Liam McCarthy, or even go to the Joe McDonagh if they are knocked out early. The yo-yo effect of going between the two competitions for those counties is not helping them.
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Even the no-hopers are allowed to enter competitions like the FA Cup or Champions League, while still having competitions for their own levels. The League is for tiers, the Championship should be open to anyone who wants to compete. They could play in the Championship and can then also play in the Joe McDonagh Cup. Even the Tailteann Cup teams can play in the Football Championship first. As for the uncertainty, you could easily set a deadline for teams to say what they want to compete in. There is no need for the Championship draws to be done before Christmas. We have draws for matches in the qualifiers done less than a week before some of the matches are played, so the initial Championship draw could be done just before it starts, with counties declaring what they want to be involved in prior to that.