Has Gaelic Football lost it's appeal?

The Talking Bread

Westwood wrote: »

Never had appeal, pure ****e.

Why would you wander into a GAA forum just to troll like that. Pathetic

blanch152

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Dublin haven't lost in 25 games in the Leinster championship
When have they ever done that before?

Not even Kilkenny did that in hurling

Yeah, Kilkenny won only 16 in 19 Leinster Hurling Championships from 1998.

Kerry won 16 in 20 Munster Football Championships from 1968 to 1986.

Yep, nobody has dominated a provincial championship like Dublin. When did some people start watching GAA?

Wildly Boaring

Have stopped watching it really.
Super 8s? Why?
Surely time to sort out an A and B format somehow.

Never a hurling fan and watched far more this year. Edge of the seat stuff. That's what sports fans want.

2019 is a forgone conclusion.

All for the evolution and can see why teams would defend and break fast but it's just getting dull really really dull

grbear

I may have missed them but I don't think think RTE have released the viewing figures for yesterday's final. If they were good then we'd surely have heard so by now.



I don't think football is in a good place at the moment but it's a fixable situation. The level of preparation has never been better among the good teams, the general execution of game plans is good and the game is probably more tactically advanced than it's ever been. The problem is that negativity and cynicism is beneficial in today's game.

If we focus on Galway for a minute they embraced a more defensive style this year and even though people weren't as entertained watching them you can also make a case for this being Galways best year since they last won an All-Ireland. They have players who could play a more exciting style but being negative has made them the fourth best team of 2018. It's hard to argue that's a positive.

Tweaking rules to encourage attacking play won't affect Dublin's current dominance (and I wouldn't support rules being brought in to try and blunt Dublin as they are simply a great team) but would make most games a more enjoyable spectacle.

Danjamin1

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Dublin haven't lost in 25 games in the Leinster championship
When have they ever done that before?

Not even Kilkenny did that in hurling

Just trying to find Kerry’s current streak and came across the fact Kerry have done 8 Munster titles in a row twice. They’ve won it every year since 2013. They’ve won Munster 80 times. Add the fact they’ve won more all Ireland’s than anyone and you have one historically dominant team. Is anyone concerned about Munster and Kerry?

I love watching Dublin win but I honestly just want to see good football being played. There’s nothing as bad as watching a poor game. Will never forget the game against Donegal in 2011. Dire.

conor05

VonZan wrote: »

Noveight wrote: »

An incredibly competitive and open era in hurling coinciding with Dublin's continuing stranglehold on Sam isn't helping the game's appeal. SHC 2018 had countless thrills and spills compared to the relatively mundane and predictable SFC.

Not entirely fair I suppose that the two games are compared the way they are as often as they are, but it can't really be helped.

Lots of fantastic work been done at underage in hurling in Dublin too it has to be said. More and more kids are preferring to play and watch hurling. Maybe the Ciaran Kilkenny's of the future might choose the small ball instead with the level of talent coming through. No doubt still the biggest problem is the dominance of Dublin Football swallowing up the top hurling talent that tend to be very good footballers in their own right.

I think the dominance of Dublin in football will start to slowly change the process of developing players in other countries as they begin to catch up some what. I think Dublin's dominance will last for a few more years but Leinster will definitely get tougher in the medium term with counties like Kildare, Longford, Meath all doing some good work at underage level.

I think the GAA need to do something for the counties that are falling behind. There is no point in flogging a dead horse but at least you could try and give some facilities back to areas that could badly use them. I think we'll see a lot more hostility from county boards towards the GAA as currently the Championship is losing interest and fans and players are starting to get annoyed.

A lot of good under 14 and under 16 hurlers in Kilmacud, Vincent’s and Na Fianna are picking hurling over hurling.
I think in 5-10 years Dublin hurling will be very very strong.
The standard of hurling in the Dublin SHC is ferociously high this last 2/3 years.

conor05

conor05 wrote: »

VonZan wrote: »

Noveight wrote: »

An incredibly competitive and open era in hurling coinciding with Dublin's continuing stranglehold on Sam isn't helping the game's appeal. SHC 2018 had countless thrills and spills compared to the relatively mundane and predictable SFC.

Not entirely fair I suppose that the two games are compared the way they are as often as they are, but it can't really be helped.

Lots of fantastic work been done at underage in hurling in Dublin too it has to be said. More and more kids are preferring to play and watch hurling. Maybe the Ciaran Kilkenny's of the future might choose the small ball instead with the level of talent coming through. No doubt still the biggest problem is the dominance of Dublin Football swallowing up the top hurling talent that tend to be very good footballers in their own right.

I think the dominance of Dublin in football will start to slowly change the process of developing players in other countries as they begin to catch up some what. I think Dublin's dominance will last for a few more years but Leinster will definitely get tougher in the medium term with counties like Kildare, Longford, Meath all doing some good work at underage level.

I think the GAA need to do something for the counties that are falling behind. There is no point in flogging a dead horse but at least you could try and give some facilities back to areas that could badly use them. I think we'll see a lot more hostility from county boards towards the GAA as currently the Championship is losing interest and fans and players are starting to get annoyed.

A lot of good under 14 and under 16 dual footballers/hurlers in Kilmacud, Vincent’s and Na Fianna are picking hurling over football on Dublin underage teams.
I think in 5-10 years Dublin hurling will be very very strong.
The standard of hurling in the Dublin SHC is ferociously high this last 2/3 years.

Noveight

conor05 wrote: »

I think in 5-10 years Dublin hurling will be very very strong.

Completely OT and at risk of taking an absolute flaming here, but will Dublin's professionalism in regards to Sam Maguire spread to their hurling outfit? By the year 2025 will both he and Liam be permanent residents in the capital?

My tongue is firmly in my cheek, of course

Powerhouse

Will I Am Not wrote: »

Did hurling lose its appeal when Kilkenny were so dominant?

Yes. It’s the opposite now when several counties can aspire to winning and it makes for a far greater spectacle. The attendance at Cork v Limerick in Croke Park this year was bigger than Kilkenny’s Leinster final and AI semi final in 2015 combined.

sicknotexi

Bring in a hand pass rule can't play 2/3 hand passes in a row. I'd also ban the hand pass goal, looks terrible and is not very skilful most of the time.
Abolish the dumb black card, sin bin is a better system.

Fann Linn

Powerhouse wrote: »

Yes. It’s the opposite now when several counties can aspire to winning and it makes for a far greater spectacle. The attendance at Cork v Limerick in Croke Park this year was bigger than Kilkenny’s Leinster final and AI semi final in 2015 combined.

And was Kilkenny split in two or four along local authority lines or were rule changes introduced to make hurling the great spectacle it currently is?

Or did the other counties just get better?

Blue Magic

Yes, Gaelic Football has absolutely lost its appeal. Until there is a split of Dublin in half then it's not even close to a level playing field...

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

The weakness of Leinster is part of it. If Mayo, Dublin or Tyrone were in Leinster they would have had to really earn provincial titles. They would still have onw loads but could not have dominated prior to 2013 or so.

Sheep breeder

Football had a good year with Carlow, Kildare, Fermanagh, having a good run and the Kerry minors achieving 5 in a row. The one thing that the gaa has over other sports is grass roots and club loyalty and family involvement and big pride in own county team let it be Dublin, Carlow, WIcklow,Leitrim. I would rather watch a junior B game than watch some of the soccer that does be on the tv and as for skill the gaa player is streets a head of any soccer player.

LoughNeagh2017

I think sport is overrated in general, it is just the drama outside of it that probably keeps people interested.

I wouldn't recommend playing it to any young relatives of mine particularly because of the sledging you hear about nowadays but maybe that is present in other sports too.

I played up until U-16 in 2008 and left like many of the other people my age, I noticed there are only 2 or 3 of my old team in the club seniors.

Fann Linn

Blue Magic wrote: »

Yes, Gaelic Football has absolutely lost its appeal. Until there is a split of Dublin in half then it's not even close to a level playing field...

Look forward to Kerry being split in two so considering their 5 in a row yesterday. Or does your suggestion just apply to Dublin?

Blue Magic

Fann Linn wrote: »

Look forward to Kerry being split in two so considering their 5 in a row yesterday. Or does your suggestion just apply to Dublin?

Of course it does. It's the cash resource levels, pick of players, huge population relative to the rest of the country and so on...

It's really a no-brainer when you consider all the other counties trying to compete. Something which I know is beyond the majority of Dubs

LoughNeagh2017

I don't know what people see in hurling, you can't see the ball half the time, constant long range scoring, it's not actually enjoyable to watch an invisible ball constantly go over the bar.

It is constant ping pong, one end of the field to the other, I remember I used to gamble on hurling and it was vomit inducing to watch during those tight All Ireland games, it can't be healthy for fans to deal with that drama.

Quazzie

Football will never get be as appealing as long as there is one professional team playing among the rest of the amateurs

The Talking Bread

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

I think sport is overrated in general, it is just the drama outside of it that probably keeps people interested.

I wouldn't recommend playing it to any young relatives of mine particularly because of the sledging you hear about nowadays but maybe that is present in other sports too.

I played up until U-16 in 2008 and left like many of the other people my age, I noticed there are only 2 or 3 of my old team in the club seniors.

Ah, will you stop. You wouldn't recommend your young relatives playing a sport for fear of being sledged? ! As if it is an endemic!

Fann Linn

Blue Magic wrote: »

Of course it does. It's the cash resource levels, pick of players, huge population relative to the rest of the country and so on...

It's really a no-brainer when you consider all the other counties trying to compete. Something which I know is beyond the majority of Dubs

Okay I get it. You don't like Dublin.

lalababa

Niles Crane wrote: »

The problem is that those games are few and far between.

Last years all ireland final was one of the greatest games of all time but there were not too many other quality games in the whole championship season.

The average game has declined in entertainment value the great games (which have always been rare in any sport) are great but the average game has declined massively in entertainment value, I stopped going to watch Offaly a few years ago as I honestly couldn't take anymore of the crap football being played and I suspect I'm not the only one in the country who became fed up with the type of football on show.

The rules of the sport badly need to be changed as this negative era has been allowed to go on for far too long and something needs to be done to stop it.When you here so many former and current players and so many fasn constantly complaining about the sport it's a sign that there is something seriously wrong which needs to be fixed.

This a thousand times. Back in the day pocession changed so quickly and for example a center back could break out and hoof it forward - who could say what would happen - nobody knew! This provided excitement. Now one team have the ball for 2 min s until they score or it breaks down then other team do the same- ad nauseum.
Get rid of hand pass and enforce 4 step rule, then backs can time a tackle!
Nobody knows what a foul is! What is a foul?- feck knows! Only give a free if he hits the deck! Skullduggery abounds with few yellows and fewer reds, and the idiot black cards. 'Sure you can't send someone off sure that'd ruin the game'!
The game is ruined, no excitement, win at all costs bollocks- club players pumping iron before going to work in the morning, running around cones under floodlights in January.
That said fair play to them and the supporters and fans that still enjoy it. One man's meat etc.

I says

Did it ever have any?
‘‘Twas sh1te in the eighties when Kerry won everything as well history repeating.

gaffer91

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I wouldn't go to see a county game as a neutral fan

I used to regularly do this

This is a great point- I used to regularly attend Double header quarter finals, Leinster finals etc around 8-9 years ago. I wouldn't dream of spending money on it now.

Gaelic Football has definitely lost its appeal and will probably continue to do so. The big issue is of course Dublin- their dominance is mostly explained by their massive unfair funding and population advantages. People are rapidly losing interest because there is no end in sight to when they will stop winning.

When you beyond Dublin and the unfairness that surrounds their victories, there are issues with the gulf between the Mayos, Kerrys, Tyrones etc and the rest. There are much more hammerings dished out than there used to be and significant upsets are much more rare. Don't forget as recently as 2004 Fermanagh beat a terrific Armagh team that had contested the last two finals and then drew with Mayo before losing in a close replay. Laois beat a great Tyrone team in 2006. Down beat Kerry in 2010 etc. It's almost unthinkable that these kind of upsets would happen today. I found the celebrations after Fermanagh lost by "only" 8 points to Dublin in 2015 pathetic- this kind of margin would have been considered huge 10 years ago. As would a 6 point final loss.

I also agree standard of football has declined- too much defensiveness, diving and handpassing.

At local levels, issues with rural depopulation will have an effect.

I think Gaelic Football will wither away over the next few years and no longer be Ireland's premier sport.

Mehapoy

Blue Magic wrote: »

Fann Linn wrote: »

Look forward to Kerry being split in two so considering their 5 in a row yesterday. Or does your suggestion just apply to Dublin?

Of course it does. It's the cash resource levels, pick of players, huge population relative to the rest of the country and so on...

It's really a no-brainer when you consider all the other counties trying to compete. Something which I know is beyond the majority of Dubs

Should be splitting up cork as well then, what is it 220 clubs?

nice_guy80

Mehapoy wrote: »

Should be splitting up cork as well then, what is it 220 clubs?

they don't get millions from the rest of the GAA to develop players though

Mehapoy

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Mehapoy wrote: »

Should be splitting up cork as well then, what is it 220 clubs?

they don't get millions from the rest of the GAA to develop players though

So then it's funding that's the problem not splitting up the county, solution should be a centralised sponsorship pot the al counties contribute to and then receive funding inline with playing population with a limit on what can be spent on the county senior teams, and for the 20+ counties not funding hurling to start

Speakerboxx

Mehapoy wrote: »

Should be splitting up cork as well then, what is it 220 clubs?

then you would have 2 terrible cork teams as opposed to one.

robbiezero

For me, yes it has lost its appeal. Entertainment value of the games itself has decreased quite a bit and one juggernaut team dominating the championship has also detracted hugely from its appeal.
Even Dublin as they fine tune their "process" are not that great to watch. Their process game is all about retaining possession and setting up a high percentage shot at goal and in order to do that they eliminate a lot of the "low percentage of execution" skills
e.g. contested high fielding - They don't (or very rarely) kick the ball out for a contest in the midfield or kick high ball into their forwards.
kick passing - Dubs used to be a brilliant kick passing team, but they have largely eschewed this skill as favor of the high-percentage hand pass. Tyrones range of kick passing in the first 15 minutes was excellent to watch.
Long range point kicking - again not a high percentage still so rarely taken on by the Dubs.
The process is all about hard running and hand-passing to set up a high percentage shot in front of the goals and I find this quite boring. It's also a pity as the Dubs are a wonderfully skillful team, probably the most skillful team to ever play the game and you do get to see it in some games e.g. the high fielding of Fenton and Howard vs Donegal (notably on the opposition kickout rather than their own), but it has become a bit too rare for my liking.

Wildly Boaring

There's always the haves and have nots in GAA and in most sports.

Thinking about it again, I have no real problem that Dublin are so good and far ahead. The rest need to catch up. As pointed out Kerry have 5 minors in a row, Mayo v close in recent years.

I too used attend games as a neutral. Went to couple Munster finals. Went to double and triple headers in croker. Went to Tyrone Armagh in Ulster.

Majority of team sports are played by defending and breaking hard. Man on man marking leaves the defending team at a disadvantage. And these sports are exciting to their supporters.

GAA need to decide how they want the game to develop. They have not developed the rules to follow the development of the game or to drive the game the way they want.
AFL has the mark
Basketball waterpolo etc the shot clock
Basketball also has backcourt and 3 in the key
Soccer rugby the offside line
Netball has some mad zonal system

These rules are there to either speed the game or create space on the pitch for the attacker to exploit.

On top of this other sports have to constantly tweak their rules to maintain a balance of attack/defence.

Rugby constantly mess with the ruck to give more rights to attack or defence.
Rugby also invented bonus points and have more points for try.
Soccer messes with the offside line.

The GAA invented the black card and then refs were abused so much for using it that it doesn't exist in high priority games.

Takes more than my humble brain to give the answer here.
Proper mark?
Shot clock?
13 a side?
Limit number of players inside 45?
Number of handpasses limited?
Backcourt at the 45?
Define the tackle?
Allow rolling subs?