Hurling League Format

O Riain

Yeh the fact that Kilkenny are also hammering the other Group 1B team, Galway, only further adds to the fire that the league should be changed.

oh wait... Galway are 1A and getting hammered so I guess that makes the dublin score irrelevent. Sh!t happens lads, Dublin may have been useless but theyre in Division 1A next year. If they want to stay up then they better get better. Same goes for any team wanting to play in 1A, if your good enough, you'll go up, if you're not then you'll go down. Its the whole point of a league and Its as simple as that.

the kelt

O Riain wrote: »

Yeh the fact that Kilkenny are also hammering the other Group 1B team, Galway, only further adds to the fire that the league should be changed.

oh wait... Galway are 1A and getting hammered so I guess that makes the dublin score irrelevent. Sh!t happens lads, Dublin may have been useless but theyre in Division 1A next year. If they want to stay up then they better get better. Same goes for any team wanting to play in 1A, if your good enough, you'll go up, if you're not then you'll go down. Its the whole point of a league and Its as simple as that.

No the point of a league is the best team over the course of the league wins it that team being Limerick in 1b and forgive me but there is a huge difference in a 7 point defeat and a 15 point defeat don't you think.

Mr Tibbs

O Riain wrote: »

Yeh the fact that Kilkenny are also hammering the other Group 1B team, Galway, only further adds to the fire that the league should be changed.

oh wait... Galway are 1A and getting hammered so I guess that makes the dublin score irrelevent. Sh!t happens lads, Dublin may have been useless but theyre in Division 1A next year. If they want to stay up then they better get better. Same goes for any team wanting to play in 1A, if your good enough, you'll go up, if you're not then you'll go down. Its the whole point of a league and Its as simple as that.

And there I was looking forward to a more competitive second game. The league final will be a good game with the two best teams having come through.

O Riain

the kelt wrote: »

No the point of a league is the best team over the course of the league wins it that team being Limerick in 1b and forgive me but there is a huge difference in a 7 point defeat and a 15 point defeat don't you think.

Harsh on limerick I agree but the league cant be blamed for the hammering Dublin got. They have been on a downward spiral the last few years but its good to see them go back up. As for the 7 point defeat versus the 15 point. Disregarding the howler the Goalkeeper left in at the end it was a 12 point defeat with 9 of those points coming from goals which would bury any team. Galway on the other hand lost by 7 points in a game where there was only one goal a piece making this much more indicative of a very poor galway performance.

Anyway I think its unfair that the division 1b team get a semi-final spot when they're clearly not up to it and the 4th place 1A team is left in limbo.

Mal-Adjusted

O Riain wrote: »

Disregarding the howler the Goalkeeper left in at the end

Why in gods name would you disregard a goal? If a team lets it in, it should stand against them.
That's the same kind of sh1te that some people spew after losing a game when they say "we should have won, we were the better team for 60 minutes!" It's a 70 minute game!

O Riain wrote: »

Anyway I think its unfair that the division 1b team get a semi-final spot when they're clearly not up to it and the 4th place 1A team is left in limbo.

I agree with you here, but I guess it's an incentive to do better at 1b. Promotion alone should be enough of an incentive, i suppose. Maybe it's to drum up a bit of interest in the public?

willietherock

From a neutral point of view, truly desperate stuff today. Dublin are a shadow of the team they were two yrs ago. Daly had to go last yr but didn't. Cant see them getting any better come championship. Galway were septic. No fullback, young Donoghue exposed again. Bring back Tony Og. Midfield too slow and forwards, Donnellan aside, at nothing. Another yr, another stroll for KK.

Mountainlad

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

I agree with you here, but I guess it's an incentive to do better at 1b. Promotion alone should be enough of an incentive, i suppose. Maybe it's to drum up a bit of interest in the public?

There's no point in searching for logic in an idiotic decision. We can derive some non-existent rationale from the decision but the fact is it's stupidity. What's even worse is to think that some genius decided it would be a good idea that we have quarter finals next year involving 8 teams split evenly from the two divisions....and then somehow that proposal got a majority vote!!

Today really flew in the face of the argument some people hold that the league structure should be retained as it's more exciting and competitive. Awful stuff.

jordainius

This years quarter finals based on next years (proposed) format

Tipperary -v- Wexford
Kilkenny -v- Offaly
Galway -v- Dublin
Waterford -v- Limerick

It makes absolutely no sense to bring 4 division 2 teams into the quarter finals, the current proposal for next year is bonkers. Two middle of the road division two teams being sent out against the top two division one teams, why do they think this is a good idea??

Rightwing

O Riain wrote: »

Harsh on limerick I agree but the league cant be blamed for the hammering Dublin got. They have been on a downward spiral the last few years but its good to see them go back up. As for the 7 point defeat versus the 15 point. Disregarding the howler the Goalkeeper left in at the end it was a 12 point defeat with 9 of those points coming from goals which would bury any team. Galway on the other hand lost by 7 points in a game where there was only one goal a piece making this much more indicative of a very poor galway performance.

Anyway I think its unfair that the division 1b team get a semi-final spot when they're clearly not up to it and the 4th place 1A team is left in limbo.

The sad facts are that 4th placed team aren't up to it either. When KK & Tipp turn it on, no one else can live with them. Now that Declan Ryan is gone, expect the KK-Tipp dominance to resume.

KevIRL

Its unfortunate that people are taking a sample size of one single game to say that the current format isnt working and is way out of synch. This format has been running for exactly 2 years now, 2 years is a pretty small time to do a full analysis but its a bit better than a single game. Given that last years promoted team Clare have not gone back down to division 1B its fair to say that over the pretty small sample to date its not the disaster people are making out after todays game. Not only did they not go back down but they were in with a shout of making the semi finals this year going into the final game of the group stage.

I do think the format could do with some change, primarily allowing more games and have given my thoughts on this, however to suggest making major changes on the back of one game is a bit laughable imo.

Poulgorm

The provincial championships do not mean what they once did, with the backdoor system.

What I would like to see are the provincial championships played in February / March. The league should start in April: Division 1 (initially) expanded to about 10 teams (current division 1A teams + say, Limerick, Cork, Wexford & Offaly): let them all play each other - every team gets 9 games. The top 4 then play in the All Ireland semi finals.

Or the other option is that division 1A stays as it is and the teams play each other twice (home & away - 10 games in total).

Love to see it given a trial for one season anyway.

the kelt

KevIRL wrote: »

Its unfortunate that people are taking a sample size of one single game to say that the current format isnt working and is way out of synch. This format has been running for exactly 2 years now, 2 years is a pretty small time to do a full analysis but its a bit better than a single game. Given that last years promoted team Clare have not gone back down to division 1B its fair to say that over the pretty small sample to date its not the disaster people are making out after todays game. Not only did they not go back down but they were in with a shout of making the semi finals this year going into the final game of the group stage.

I do think the format could do with some change, primarily allowing more games and have given my thoughts on this, however to suggest making major changes on the back of one game is a bit laughable imo.

Unfortunately it isnt on the back of one game, the systems installed for the past number of years have been a problem.

For what its worth i dont expect any major changes, as things stand there is a core group of 6 or 7 teams that getting stronger and stronger pulling away from the rest so why would they want to change it and there is a lot of pull within the GAA within that core group of counties. If the relegation of Cork doesnt change it then nothing will.

jordainius

Poulgorm wrote: »

The provincial championships do not mean what they once did, with the backdoor system.

What I would like to see are the provincial championships played in February / March. The league should start in April: Division 1 (initially) expanded to about 10 teams (current division 1A teams + say, Limerick, Cork, Wexford & Offaly): let them all play each other - every team gets 9 games. The top 4 then play in the All Ireland semi finals.

Awful idea!! Your answer to the provincial championships not meaning what they once did is to make them 100% meaningless. If the backdoor system has made the provincial championships then maybe that means its the backdoor that needs to go....

You want to eliminate the league and merge the league and championship into a bloated monster inevitibly full of dead rubbers in the latter rounds requiring 9 weekends for group games over the summer, the only thing worse than too few championship games is too many.

And all these extra county games would only cause further chaos for club championships

feargale

jordainius wrote: »

Awful idea!! Your answer to the provincial championships not meaning what they once did is to make them 100% meaningless. If the backdoor system has made the provincial championships then maybe that means its the backdoor that needs to go....
You want to eliminate the league and merge the league and championship into a bloated monster inevitibly full of dead rubbers in the latter rounds requiring 9 weekends for group games over the summer, the only thing worse than too few championship games is too many.
And all these extra county games would only cause further chaos for club championships

Hear, hear. Most soccer countries, including Ireland and England, have two main competitions, 1. A knockout competition and 2. A competition where all play all. Time was when the GAA had the same. Now it has neither.

KevIRL

KevIRL wrote: »

I've given my thoughts on this on other threads. The league format is mostly fine as is. I do feel more games are needed though and they should look at making it home and away games. Keep the 6 team structure and make it home and away games for each team, meaning teams get 10 league games. Have the top 2 go into a league final with the bottom 2 getting relegated, top 2 come up from div 2.

Thats what I feel should happen, what will happen though unfortunately is some sort of change to keep Cork in the top division.

Whoever said the GAA werent predictable?

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2013/1001/477680-hurling-league-top-flight-could-see-expansion/

A proposal will be put to the Central Council of the GAA that will see an increase in the number of teams in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A from six to eight.

If it is carried, both Cork and Limerick would play in the top flight in 2014.

The Rebels were beaten in a relegation play-off by Clare last spring, condemning them to Division 1B. Limerick lost out to Dublin for the right to get promoted from the second tier.

The number of teams contesting the latter division would remain at six under the proposed new format

Meetings were recently held with county officers to consider progress on the implementation of the National Hurling Development Plan.

Among the matters discussed was the structure of the Hurling League for next year. An opportunity to consider an alternative format was subsequently agreed.

The GAA’s Central Council will meet on Saturday, 12 October, where a simple majority vote will be required to implement the changes that, if accepted, will be in place for a five-year period.

Proposed restructuring of Allianz Hurling League

Division 1A Tipperary, Kilkenny, Galway, Waterford, Clare, Dublin

Cork, Limerick

Division 1B Offaly, Wexford, Antrim, Carlow, Laois, Westmeath

Division 2A Kerry, Derry, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, London

Division 2B Down, Mayo, Armagh, Roscommon, Fingal, Donegal

Division 3A Louth, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Monaghan

Division 3B Longford, Sligo, Warwickshire, Leitrim

poolboy

I don't normally subscribe to conspiracy theories but......:eek:

yomtea98

I feel the league should be expanded to ten teams.Next year if it goes to eight you still have the same problem.A team too good for 1b is relegated.I think bringing up Wexford and Offaly into 1a is the best way

KevIRL

yomtea98 wrote: »

I feel the league should be expanded to ten teams.Next year if it goes to eight you still have the same problem.A team too good for 1b is relegated.I think bringing up Wexford and Offaly into 1a is the best way

It was fine the way it was. Only problem was not enough games, making it home and away would have fixed that.

Mal-Adjusted

yomtea98 wrote: »

I feel the league should be expanded to ten teams.Next year if it goes to eight you still have the same problem.A team too good for 1b is relegated.I think bringing up Wexford and Offaly into 1a is the best way

But does that not simply create a buffer between the top 8 and relegation? Realistically, Offaly and Wexford would probably not be good enough for division 1A at the moment, but still head and shoulders above the rest in 1B. They'd be bouncing up and down every other year.

The league is a great opportunity to promote developing hurling counties. You're guaranteed a minimum number of games at a level you can be competitive at. Why all the focus on the top division?

the kelt

KevIRL wrote: »

Whoever said the GAA werent predictable?

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2013/1001/477680-hurling-league-top-flight-could-see-expansion/

Well, well, well, now isn't that a shock!

Heaven forbid that Cork got relegated as per the rules, nah, let's just change the rules and crap all over the smaller counties, again!

So basically Offaly, Wexford, Laois, Carlow, Westmeath and Antrim spent a few months playing each other to earn the right to play against the best top 8 team who have had a few months hurling teams of a much higher level. Not only that they even get less games.

Please can someone tell me the logic behind that, the likes of Offaly, Wexford etc need more games not less and more games against better opposition.

A disgrace if this goes through an absolute disgrace but then again no real surprise.

Gerry91

the kelt wrote: »

Well, well, well, now isn't that a shock!

Heaven forbid that Cork got relegated as per the rules, nah, let's just change the rules and crap all over the smaller counties, again!

So basically Offaly, Wexford, Laois, Carlow, Westmeath and Antrim spent a few months playing each other to earn the right to play against the best top 8 team who have had a few months hurling teams of a much higher level. Not only that they even get less games.

Please can someone tell me the logic behind that, the likes of Offaly, Wexford etc need more games not less and more games against better opposition.

A disgrace if this goes through an absolute disgrace but then again but then again no real surprise.

Was always going to happen really...

poolboy

So the gist of the national hurling " development" plan is to cut offaly Wexford Laois and Antrim loose and let them watch as the others sail away into the distance getting stronger as they go because they are getting the opportunity to play better quality opposition. National plan my hole, take cork and limerick into division 1 and they have exactly the top tier they want and screw the rest.

thinkstoomuch1

the kelt wrote: »

Well, well, well, now isn't that a shock!

Heaven forbid that Cork got relegated as per the rules, nah, let's just change the rules and crap all over the smaller counties, again!

So basically Offaly, Wexford, Laois, Carlow, Westmeath and Antrim spent a few months playing each other to earn the right to play against the best top 8 team who have had a few months hurling teams of a much higher level. Not only that they even get less games.

Please can someone tell me the logic behind that, the likes of Offaly, Wexford etc need more games not less and more games against better opposition.

A disgrace if this goes through an absolute disgrace but then again no real surprise.

Im a corkman,ashamed by that decision.Tis no wonder were hated by most.


The cork county board had a big input in this,worried bout gate recipts next year.


It was set in stone in april,dillon from croke park said it coudnt be changed till 2015.A disgrace its been changed.

Duffy defended it too.

Im nt sure,may be wrong,but john fenton and john meyler sure were on the development committee.

Mountainlad

Has it actually been changed yet?

deisedude

Fcuking disgraceful and shameful from the GAA. The likes of Westmeath and Laois have both given Galway a game in the past 2 years. Definite signs of improvement and this I believe is attributable to them playing a better standard of team in the league. It didn't adversely affect Limerick or Dublin this year either. Jesus shur Clare were in div 1b before last season and they are all Ireland champions now

This is elitism at the highest level and goes to show the GAA dont give a flying **** about the weaker counties. They would rather change the rules to keep Cork happy. You can be sure there would be no change to the format of the league if it was Waterford or Clare who were relegated instead

thinkstoomuch1

deisedude wrote: »

Fcuking disgraceful and shameful from the GAA. The likes of Westmeath and Laois have both given Galway a game in the past 2 years. Definite signs of improvement and this I believe is attributable to them playing a better standard of team in the league. It didn't adversely affect Limerick or Dublin this year either. Jesus shur Clare were in div 1b before last season and they are all Ireland champions now

This is elitism at the highest level and goes to show the GAA dont give a flying **** about the weaker counties. They would rather change the rules to keep Cork happy. You can be sure there would be no change to the format of the league if it was Waterford or Clare who were relegated instead

Theirs geuine cork fans disgusted by that also,if they change it.

Amprodude

thinkstoomuch1 wrote: »

Theirs geuine cork fans disgusted by that also,if they change it.

Its a disgrace. Nothing should be changed until 2015. Jesus Frank and the boys are a right shower. I hope we are left where we are so that something will be done in the long term for Cork hurling ad its in a crisis without underage success.

deisedude

thinkstoomuch1 wrote: »

Theirs geuine cork fans disgusted by that also,if they change it.

It's not the fault of Cork fans, it's your county board pulling strokes. One person in particular comes to mind

copacetic

I'm disgusted by this, other counties have been badly shafted before and lived with it. Dublin saw out their year without looking for the entire system to be changed.

Now as soon as Cork have to play in the lower division a rule change appears out of nowhere to prevent it actually happening? Doesn't give a great impression that the GAA know what the hell they are doing or that it's not just driven by selfish county reasons by those with the sway.

Rightwing

Last year I believed it should have been changed, but after the championship this year no way. Just no way.

Limk and cork deserve to be in division 1b, both teams are good enough to match teams in 1A in the championship, and for the likes of offaly etc playing limk and cork would do them good.

deisedude

Amprodude wrote: »

Its a disgrace. Nothing should be changed until 2015. Jesus Frank and the boys are a right shower. I hope we are left where we are so that something will be done in the long term for Cork hurling ad its in a crisis without underage success.

Corks overachievement this year will paper over the cracks for a bit longer. But shur at least ye will get a stadium with leg room to make up for it

the kelt

It's a disgrace if it goes ahead, even financially counties like Wexford will take a huge hit.

2013 saw the lowest ever league income with only 2 home games for the county. If this goes ahead there is a real possibility of the same happening and even less attendances. The likes of Limerick and Cork visiting Wexford Park would draw a huge crowd. Financially it will even hit counties abilities to compete.

If it goes ahead it's elitism and stroke pulling of the highest order. This is not promoting the game on a national level and it proves the suspicion that outside if the well established hurling counties the GAA do not care one iota about hurling in the rest of the country. On no level apart from benefiting Cork and Limerick does this make any sense and will be a black day for hurling in this country at a time when it's stock couldn't be any higher following the season gone by.

Hammer Archer

Purely from a selfish point of view, I hope it goes ahead as it'll mean Meath get out of Division 2B and get to play against higher quality teams having lost the final the past two years running. Feel sorry for Down though. Christy Ring champions and they'll be stuck playing the likes of Fingal and Donegal.

thinkstoomuch1

deisedude wrote: »

It's not the fault of Cork fans, it's your county board pulling strokes. One person in particular comes to mind

Yeah its a joke.


They are only interested in gate receipts and money,like u said ,the white elephant of the staduim.


Its worse that cork in it by default,as prevention better than cure.If we appointed astute management underage and invested money they have, we would be better and not in div 2.

What an embarrassement for gaa and cork.I have no problem with it changing,but the fact it changes as were down is a joke.Wait til 2015 like they said.

One rule for some,another for us.

On a day,not one,and fully vindicated ,of 45 players,a county with such talent as cork get a single nomination in the u21 awards,were now going to be probaly in div 1 by default.


They say it comes in threes.

So next wk or after,when the minor and u21 managers are named,it be same old story,inept men that havent a got clue.

Always the same with cork, one step forward ten steps back.

desaparecidos

desaparecidos wrote: »

Definitely needs to be 8 teams in division 1 and 2. This is how the teams finished this year and how 8 teams in each division would look like:

Div 1:
Kilkenny
Tipperary
Waterford
Galway
Clare
Cork
Limerick
Dublin

Div 2:
Offaly
Wexford
Antrim
Carlow
Westmeath
Laois
Kerry
Derry

This is the only way to bring teams on who are trying to break into the elites. You might look at Kerry or Derry and say they've no chance against Offaly or Wexford, but you could easily say the same about Limerick / Dublin vs Kilkenny / Tipperary.

Id go 10 for division 1 and perhaps 6...or maybe 8 teams in division 2. In division 1 you could have semis and a final after the 9 rounds and same in division 2. Either scrap or cut down games in the Waterford Crystal/Walsh cups etc.

thinkstoomuch1

Mountainlad wrote: »

Has it actually been changed yet?

Just a formality by the sounds of it.

Duffy and liam o neill approved it for vote at central council.Sum rule was listed that their entitled to etc.


Limerick have said its nt confirmed,but after past expierence,i dnt blame them not counting their chickens.
All counties met with proposals apparently.

Cork was the power behind it ,though,you'd imgaine.

The cork chairman has said he wants to go on record to thank Padraic Duffy and liam o neill for taking their proposals on board ,and hope its approved at central council.Hard to c it wont.

Some turnaround by the GAA.

Quixoticelixer

It was inevitable that if ever of the big 3 (Ck, Kk, Ty) got relegated from division 1 that the 6 team division 1 would immediately be scrapped.

I prefer the proposed format, I think the current format has massive flaws, but at this stage the most important thing is that they quit changing the format every few years.

Dirty Dingus McGee

It a complate disgrace that the league fomat is changing AGAIN.If Cork hadn't been relegated the format would have stayed as it was and as soon as Clare,Limerick etc are relegated to the new division 2 these teams will start whinging again and saying that being in division 2 is hindering their championshp preparation, that is why the format was changed to 2 6 team divsions.

The truth is the hurling league at this stage is a complete farce and I cannot understand why a league which had 2 very competitve and exciting divisions was scrapped in favour of 1 good division and one division where there will be a huge amount of one sided matches.Better to have 5 rounds of exciting matches than having 7 rounds of a lower standard of hurling and lower competitive edge.There was real bite to both 6 teams divisions this is now gone and the hurling league ober the last couple of years has been really exciting it's ridiculous to change it.

shamco

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

It a complate disgrace that the league fomat is changing AGAIN.If Cork hadn't been relegated the format would have stayed as it was and as soon as Clare,Limerick etc are relegated to the new division 2 these teams will start whinging again and saying that being in division 2 is hindering their championshp preparation, that is why the format was changed to 2 6 team divsions.

The truth is the hurling league at this stage is a complete farce and I cannot understand why a league which had 2 very competitve and exciting divisions was scrapped in favour of 1 good division and one division where there will be a huge amount of one sided matches.Better to have 5 rounds of exciting matches than having 7 rounds of a lower standard of hurling and lower competitive edge.There was real bite to both 6 teams divisions this is now gone and the hurling league ober the last couple of years has been really exciting it's ridiculous to change it.

While I agree that the new fromat is better I never believed that the GAA would relegate Cork. If it was Clare I don't think the format would have changed. Eventhough we are AI champions

KevIRL

Expect news later today of a change to of format to 2013 all Ireland so that cork can win that too

jacool

After a fantastic league competition, and a memorable Championship, and a mere 4 days after the President of CLG praises hurling, off they go to score a huge own goal.
e.g. What would have happened had Shane O'Donnell had his leg broken in the relegation final? Clare's All-Ireland bid could have been scuppered by a match the GAA are making redundant.
Proof I suppose that this is still an amateur organisation.

In comparison the NFL want to extend the play-offs in the States, but they put out the proposal first, for comment and feedback, not like here, where the relegation of Cork clearly cannot be countenanced. This doesn't send out a positive message to the hurlers of Antrim, Laois, Offaly and Wexford at all.
They could have relished taking on All-Ireland finalists, as a chance to bring them on a level.

thinkstoomuch1

No change to structure of hurling league before 2015
Friday, April 19, 2013
Regardless of what proposals may be brought to Central Council regarding a change to the current structure of the Allianz Hurling League, Cork, Limerick, Offaly,
GAA communications manager Alan Milton yesterday confirmed any efforts to change the league formats would have to go before Central Council — but not before 2015.

“We haven’t heard anything yet from any county, but if anyone wants to propose changing the current format they can bring it to Central Council, that’s the forum for any such discussions,” he said.

“Because it’s not a rule change it doesn’t have to go before Congress. There’s no urgency though, the current structure will be in place for 2014 and that will not change. The earliest that anything can happen is 2015, and that’s if the appetite is there among the counties.”

Despite the mounting dissatisfaction with the current structure, which was only introduced in 2012 and tweaked for 2013, the complaints from several high-profile managers that the lack of games doesn’t allow for experimentation and the complaints from several high-profile counties about lost revenue, that appetite for change may not be shared elsewhere.

“Central Council has only recently come to the end of a lengthy and very thorough debate on this,” he said. “I don’t know if there was ever before such deliberation in the GAA on a competition and its structure, certainly not in recent times.

“Any county is entitled to bring it up again, but whether or not there’s an appetite to tackle it again, I don’t know.”

However, contrary to the common notion the format was created by officials in Croke Park, it was in fact a structure voted in by the counties themselves.

“Every county has representation on the Central Council and as with all other GAA matters, every county voted on this,” Milton explained.

“It’s the same if it’s a proposal dealing with football only. Every delegate from every county has a vote, that’s how Central Council operates, as a unit. There were three separate formats up for discussion, one from the Hurling Development Workgroup committee, one from the CCC and one from the Management Committee. The first two proposed the six-team groups, the Management Committee proposal was for an eight-team division.

“So seriously was the discussion taken that the vote was actually postponed on the first occasion to allow the delegates more time to tease out the different proposals. I think everyone appreciated that this was a big decision, a big call, and no-one wanted it rushed.

“When the vote was taken, they decided on the current set-up. The hope at Central Council was that this decision would put the issue to bed for a number of years, that the new structures would be given a chance to bed in, that we would get some degree of consistency in the competition, of permanency.

“We were trying to get away from the idea of constant chopping and changing. It was a very democratic forum, the way this structure was introduced.”

Judging by the reaction from the bigger hurling counties now, however, it’s certainly drawn out a majority of detractors. However, the current format has its defenders and there are positives emerging.

“It could be argued that already it’s working. When you look at how it all ended up in Division 1A, everything coming down to the final round of games, that generated huge interest.

“But something everyone seems to be overlooking is just how competitive all the other divisions have become — that was one of the ideas behind this structure. Next year you’re going to have Laois back up in Division 1B and with Cork, Limerick, Offaly, Wexford and Antrim, it’s going to be a competitive division again.

“The bottom line is that if any county wants to revisit this they can start the process, they’re entitled to do that, but it will take a sea change from the current opinion.”

JessePinkman

I have suggested this before as the fairest league structure

8 team Div 1

Tipperary
Kilkenny
Galway
Waterford
Clare
Cork
Limerick
Dublin

2 teams relegated

Top 4 into Semi's

8 team Div 2

Offaly
Wexford
Antrim
Carlow
Laois
Westmeath
Kerry
Derry

2 up & 2 Down

8 Team Div 3
Meath
London
Down
Mayo
Wicklow
Kildare
Armagh
Roscommon

2 up & 1 Down

10 team Div 4

2 groups of 5


Monaghan
Fingal
Tyrone
Warwickshire
Fermanagh

Leitrim
Sligo
Donegal
Louth
Longford

Top 2 play off for promotion to div 3

Formosa

After this decision (once it's rubber stamped), I won't be going to ANY 2014 league matches.

What a farce. An amateur organisation run by amateurs.

Davin Stand

Easy to see now why Limerick proposed the seeded draw for the Munster SFC. Promotion to Div. 1(a) of the National Hurling League is a nice reward. Anyway, Cork were never going to be relegated to Div. 1(b). Cork's power and influence at top level in the GAA should be a matter of concern for all counties.

thinkstoomuch1

Davin Stand wrote: »

Easy to see now why Limerick proposed the seeded draw for the Munster SFC. Promotion to Div. 1(a) of the National Hurling League is a nice reward. Anyway, Cork were never going to be relegated to Div. 1(b). Cork's power and influence at top level in the GAA should be a matter of concern for all counties.

Its never been Cork,its been just one voice thats it.


The fact the board thanked duffy and o neill for acknowleging them and they wanted it to go on record, is a power statement.

Bob ryan said that.

But their is only one main man in cork.He was meant to take a back seat,and only involved in the Pairc,yet theirs three managerial poistions up in the next wk or two at intercounty for cork,yet Frank is on every single committee.

feargale

It's not the first time the league goal-posts were moved in mid-game. Bad enough doing it to facilitate the favoured, but it's been done in the past to keep one or two developing counties down.

brilliantboy

This is a real kick in the back for the likes of Wexford, Offaly and Antrim

But then, we all know the small fish never get the breaks

Mal-Adjusted

feargale wrote: »

but it's been done in the past to keep one or two developing counties down.

really? that's pretty bad. was that the Wexford debacle of a few years ago or something else?

premierstone

Formosa wrote: »

After this decision (once it's rubber stamped), I won't be going to ANY 2014 league matches.

What a farce. An amateur organisation run by amateurs.

Do you think an amatuer organisation should be run that professionals?

brilliantboy wrote: »

This is a real kick in the back for the likes of Wexford, Offaly and Antrim

But then, we all know the small fish never get the breaks

Not too many were worried about the small fish in Munster Football a few weeks back when they were shafted by the powers that be with suprise suprise the help of Cork and Limerick, looks like the footballers of Clare, Tipp, Waterford and Limerick were merely pawns in all of this.