National Forum

Championship Open Draw

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Replying To Gaa_lover:  "A big disappointment that New York can't take part in the Connacht championship however it was expected and with such poor leadership at the top its not known when the USA will manage to control the virus in the way Ireland currently has."
Indeed....great GAA people in NY. It's a tragedy what is happening in the US...the country is falling apart.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 10339 - 26/06/2020 18:42:19    2281917

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Does anyone know the reason of the semi final been changed this year. As far as I know ulster were down to play Connacht.. now it's Leinster v Ulster and Munster v Connacht."
Saw that myself in the fixtures list, surely that has to be an error. Its supposed to be Ulster v Connaught and Leinster v Munster. No valid reason to change the pairings that I can see.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1730 - 26/06/2020 19:00:25    2281920

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The winners of Clare v Limerick in MHC first round is to double as league final

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1106 - 26/06/2020 19:03:56    2281922

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Does anyone know the reason of the semi final been changed this year. As far as I know ulster were down to play Connacht.. now it's Leinster v Ulster and Munster v Connacht."
Ulster were down to play Connacht in the Super 8s but that is not the semi-final. Putting Ulster and Connacht champions together in Super 8s meant there was still a chance for the semi finals to be Connacht v Munster and Ulster v Leinster, like it was 3 years ago. No Super 8s now so straight to the scheduled semi-final pairings.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2484 - 26/06/2020 19:32:27    2281925

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Replying To Soma:  "Ulster were down to play Connacht in the Super 8s but that is not the semi-final. Putting Ulster and Connacht champions together in Super 8s meant there was still a chance for the semi finals to be Connacht v Munster and Ulster v Leinster, like it was 3 years ago. No Super 8s now so straight to the scheduled semi-final pairings."
Except it's not true to say it's exactly as scheduled. If that is the case they should have been transparent and have a draw to see which one or Ulster/Connacht plays which one of Leinster/Munster. If it falls as it is then fair enough no one can complain but by deciding this based on no merit or logic looks like an attempt to keep Ulster out of the AI final.

DL4SAM (Donegal) - Posts: 17 - 26/06/2020 20:06:17    2281933

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Blue Santy Hats it is so. ;)

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 3671 - 26/06/2020 20:31:08    2281935

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Replying To DL4SAM:  "Except it's not true to say it's exactly as scheduled. If that is the case they should have been transparent and have a draw to see which one or Ulster/Connacht plays which one of Leinster/Munster. If it falls as it is then fair enough no one can complain but by deciding this based on no merit or logic looks like an attempt to keep Ulster out of the AI final."
This thing of seeing a conspiracy in everything is terrible and doing Ulster football no favours. In 2017, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996,1993 etc etc the semi final pairings were Ulster v Leinster and Munster v Connacht. In 2018 with the Super 8s, to make sure the rotation could stay going they put the Munster and Connacht champions in 1 group and Leinster and Ulster in the other so there was still the chance of the Munster v Ulster, Connacht v Leinster rotation and the same change was made last year. Its no conspiracy, it is just the GAA rotating the semi-final pairings as they have done for as long as anyone can remember.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2484 - 27/06/2020 00:39:46    2281968

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There is a pretty easy way to ensure the competition doesn't look rigged.

Don't rig it. Have an open draw or an open league. Simple.

tyroneed (Tyrone) - Posts: 700 - 27/06/2020 11:09:03    2281988

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Replying To tyroneed:  "There is a pretty easy way to ensure the competition doesn't look rigged.

Don't rig it. Have an open draw or an open league. Simple."
100% think that this should be the future, I don't think there's much else could have been done for this year.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 3111 - 27/06/2020 13:35:49    2282009

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Replying To yew_tree:  "Indeed....great GAA people in NY. It's a tragedy what is happening in the US...the country is falling apart."
Totally agree, the USis becoming ungovernable and more importantly Covid 19 is absolutely raging through some states.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4434 - 27/06/2020 13:53:53    2282011

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Replying To arock:  "Totally agree, the USis becoming ungovernable and more importantly Covid 19 is absolutely raging through some states."
That's because the dollar and industry is being put as usual before people. The ignorance of those determined to carry on as if it will not effect them.

America is a great country to visit and Ive spent summers there and visited dozens of times but if your struggling financially it's no place to be and increasingly it's no place to bring up kids.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 10339 - 27/06/2020 14:50:41    2282019

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Replying To Soma:  "This thing of seeing a conspiracy in everything is terrible and doing Ulster football no favours. In 2017, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996,1993 etc etc the semi final pairings were Ulster v Leinster and Munster v Connacht. In 2018 with the Super 8s, to make sure the rotation could stay going they put the Munster and Connacht champions in 1 group and Leinster and Ulster in the other so there was still the chance of the Munster v Ulster, Connacht v Leinster rotation and the same change was made last year. Its no conspiracy, it is just the GAA rotating the semi-final pairings as they have done for as long as anyone can remember."
2020 is different fair enough and some compromises have to be made to have a Championship at all.

However there is no logic to how the GAA have decided the All Ireland pairings. In 2018 the Ulster Champions were paired in the All Ireland series with Leinster Champions and in 2019 the Ulster Champions were paired with the Munster champions.

Yes they were quarter finals and the nature of the competition would mean any random semi final pairings could come out of those groups but at the start of the series that was the pairings and competition results would determine what happened thereafter.

In 2020 the All Ireland series was due to pair Ulst/Con and Lein/Muns so whilst trying to keep a straight face I can understand people asking why the pairings at the start of the All Ireland series were changed. It shouldn't have mattered the series was starting at the semi final stage.

As I said there is very little logic; although I don't believe it's a conspiracy against Ulster. The Championship doesn't have it's exclusive window this year as it'll be competing with huge soccer internationals/Premier league soccer (if we like that or not), Rugby internationals and Champions cup rugby. So the GAA may prefer to encourage a narrative in the media ending with two teams at the centre of that narrative playing in a final the media are significantly interested in; especially the southern media.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 27/06/2020 15:38:06    2282026

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Does anyone know the reason of the semi final been changed this year. As far as I know ulster were down to play Connacht.. now it's Leinster v Ulster and Munster v Connacht."
its not changed at all.from before super 8 s and backdoor the system still same and its due to be munster v Connaught and ulster v leinster

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 630 - 27/06/2020 15:41:41    2282027

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Replying To tyroneed:  "There is a pretty easy way to ensure the competition doesn't look rigged.

Don't rig it. Have an open draw or an open league. Simple."
What's not already open about the league ?

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1106 - 27/06/2020 16:47:08    2282032

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Replying To sam1884:  "2020 is different fair enough and some compromises have to be made to have a Championship at all.

However there is no logic to how the GAA have decided the All Ireland pairings. In 2018 the Ulster Champions were paired in the All Ireland series with Leinster Champions and in 2019 the Ulster Champions were paired with the Munster champions.

Yes they were quarter finals and the nature of the competition would mean any random semi final pairings could come out of those groups but at the start of the series that was the pairings and competition results would determine what happened thereafter.

In 2020 the All Ireland series was due to pair Ulst/Con and Lein/Muns so whilst trying to keep a straight face I can understand people asking why the pairings at the start of the All Ireland series were changed. It shouldn't have mattered the series was starting at the semi final stage.

As I said there is very little logic; although I don't believe it's a conspiracy against Ulster. The Championship doesn't have it's exclusive window this year as it'll be competing with huge soccer internationals/Premier league soccer (if we like that or not), Rugby internationals and Champions cup rugby. So the GAA may prefer to encourage a narrative in the media ending with two teams at the centre of that narrative playing in a final the media are significantly interested in; especially the southern media."
There is perfect logic to it, but anyone who likes a conspiracy theory will always find an angle. 2017 Leinster v Ulster was the semi-final schedule, so in 2018 when the Super 8s started they were paired together to make sure the Ulster champions would not have to play the Leinster champions (Dublin) at the semi-final stage 2 years in a row. This year the rotation means they are due to play at the semi-final stage so that's how it has been fixed. It's not complicated and it's not a conspiracy, as ever the best team in the country will end up winning Sam.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2484 - 27/06/2020 19:54:37    2282055

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Replying To sam1884:  "2020 is different fair enough and some compromises have to be made to have a Championship at all.

However there is no logic to how the GAA have decided the All Ireland pairings. In 2018 the Ulster Champions were paired in the All Ireland series with Leinster Champions and in 2019 the Ulster Champions were paired with the Munster champions.

Yes they were quarter finals and the nature of the competition would mean any random semi final pairings could come out of those groups but at the start of the series that was the pairings and competition results would determine what happened thereafter.

In 2020 the All Ireland series was due to pair Ulst/Con and Lein/Muns so whilst trying to keep a straight face I can understand people asking why the pairings at the start of the All Ireland series were changed. It shouldn't have mattered the series was starting at the semi final stage.

As I said there is very little logic; although I don't believe it's a conspiracy against Ulster. The Championship doesn't have it's exclusive window this year as it'll be competing with huge soccer internationals/Premier league soccer (if we like that or not), Rugby internationals and Champions cup rugby. So the GAA may prefer to encourage a narrative in the media ending with two teams at the centre of that narrative playing in a final the media are significantly interested in; especially the southern media."
Yeah I agree with you.

It seems they ignored 2018 and 2019 and went back to 2017 as the last year of the rotation.

It's not obvious to me which is the correct way to do it, I'd have felt a draw would've been fairer for this year.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 3111 - 28/06/2020 10:46:49    2282107

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Replying To Breezy:  "What's not already open about the league ?"
He means the championship format should be a league style format.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 3111 - 28/06/2020 13:31:59    2282124

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Replying To Soma:  "This thing of seeing a conspiracy in everything is terrible and doing Ulster football no favours. In 2017, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996,1993 etc etc the semi final pairings were Ulster v Leinster and Munster v Connacht. In 2018 with the Super 8s, to make sure the rotation could stay going they put the Munster and Connacht champions in 1 group and Leinster and Ulster in the other so there was still the chance of the Munster v Ulster, Connacht v Leinster rotation and the same change was made last year. Its no conspiracy, it is just the GAA rotating the semi-final pairings as they have done for as long as anyone can remember."
Funny how everyone is saying that Dublin won't get a challenge in Leinster but then nobody wants to play them in a Semi final, logic would dictate that they would be easier beat in a Semi rather than a Final. Conspiracy theories in the GAA are nothing but excuses for failure.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 982 - 28/06/2020 14:19:46    2282129

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Replying To zinny:  "Funny how everyone is saying that Dublin won't get a challenge in Leinster but then nobody wants to play them in a Semi final, logic would dictate that they would be easier beat in a Semi rather than a Final. Conspiracy theories in the GAA are nothing but excuses for failure."
2010-2019 was probably the worst decade for Ulster football in terms of results in the main competitions in living memory, but the big focus seems to be on championship formats and Kerry. As long as the conspiracy theories stay getting rolled out it's hard to see how things will be turned around.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2484 - 28/06/2020 16:23:45    2282146

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