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Championship 2026

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Winning the league and really building on last year's championship were really positive steps forward. But just interested to see what people would classify as a successful championship, an acceptable championship and an overall disappointing championship? It's a bit mad to compare the outlook from this time 12 months ago to now. I would think many here would find it very disappointing if we don't walk away with the Delaney Cup. Faithfulmeath (Meath) - Posts: 64 - 13/04/2026 13:04:48 2666143 Link
Replying To Faithfulmeath: "Winning the league and really building on last year's championship were really positive steps forward. But just interested to see what people would classify as a successful championship, an acceptable championship and an overall disappointing championship? It's a bit mad to compare the outlook from this time 12 months ago to now. I would think many here would find it very disappointing if we don't walk away with the Delaney Cup." In ways, securing promotion to Division 1 is a major goal achieved in the progression of this team. A super achievement. Winning the Division 2 title is probably not as important in it's own right but was good for Meath to a) beat Cork having lost to them in the league phase; and, b) win silverware in Croke Park. The next step has to be a Leinster title. Last year was the chance of chances having taking down Dublin. We turned off in midfield for 15 mins and rightly cost us the game. Leinsters are hard come by and even in our glory days there was never sustained dominance over Dublin and it's a big task having to beat them again should we meet in a final - even getting back to a final is a tough task. Leinster has to be the Top Priority and the lads could enjoy their football into June and July if they could win Leinster this year. Moving into All Ireland Series it's hard to know how the draw and new format will work but getting out to quarter final and accounting for a top 5 side along the way would be super. I would see little merit in looking beyond that this year especially if we come up short in provincial. Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 839 - 13/04/2026 18:20:05 2666233 Link
Replying To Faithfulmeath: "Winning the league and really building on last year's championship were really positive steps forward. But just interested to see what people would classify as a successful championship, an acceptable championship and an overall disappointing championship? It's a bit mad to compare the outlook from this time 12 months ago to now. I would think many here would find it very disappointing if we don't walk away with the Delaney Cup." Leinster should be the priority this year but can't look beyond Westmeath as that'll be a tough one. AthboyCelt (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 13/04/2026 19:47:14 2666249 Link
Ahahahahahahaha Walter_White (Louth) - Posts: 23 - 19/04/2026 16:20:21 2667228 Link
Hahahhhahahhahahahhaahhaha Lolou37 (Louth) - Posts: 21 - 19/04/2026 23:30:04 2667391 Link
So what are we hoping for in the draw today? Personally, I think the lads will be fired up with a point to prove so won't mind a challenge albeit Kerry or Armagh away would be tough places to get a result. I'd fancy giving any of the others a rattle. gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 04/05/2026 07:55:24 2670790 Link
Anyone but Kerry I'd say. Not only are they the best side and a long trip, but they'll feel they owe us a beating. MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 185 - 04/05/2026 09:29:59 2670797 Link
Replying To gwanyagudthing: "So what are we hoping for in the draw today? Personally, I think the lads will be fired up with a point to prove so won't mind a challenge albeit Kerry or Armagh away would be tough places to get a result. I'd fancy giving any of the others a rattle." Westmeath LobinstownMan (Meath) - Posts: 139 - 04/05/2026 10:14:55 2670801 Link
Heard they played Wicklow on Saturday and were 4-10 to 0-6 up at half time. Didnt hear the final score, hoping to avoid Kerry, Armagh and Galway in the draw today. Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 328 - 04/05/2026 10:47:33 2670808 Link
Leinster winner or loser. Would feel confident against either Westmeath or Dublin. Like lads are saying, Kerry away would not be a good game as they'd want to get us back for last year. Don't know about Cork either, we seem to go win/loss/win/loss with them so we're due our loss there. NYRoyal (USA) - Posts: 112 - 04/05/2026 11:11:25 2670811 Link
That's not a bad draw. Tough obviously but Definitely winnable southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1080 - 04/05/2026 13:54:17 2670857 Link
Decent draw - will be a tough game but we can spend the next 3 weeks prepping whereas Cork will be focussing on Kerry. If the lads have designs on a decent run they have to fancy they can beat Cork. gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 04/05/2026 14:02:28 2670862 Link
Not a good draw in my opinion. The only advantage is the familiarity. Nothing between the teams in my opinion. I'm finding it very hard to gather interest if I am being brutally honest. You shouldn't have any business being in a shake up for Sam when losing to a Div. 3 team. Obviously, you can say same with Donegal and it was just a bad day at office but realistically this championship season is likely to be forgettable. Hard to know how the team will approach the fixture given the amount of time off (and seeing as our prep for the Wmeath game was obviously non-existent). Time will tell whether the break is good or bad Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 839 - 04/05/2026 14:32:15 2670880 Link
Replying To Royalio11: "Not a good draw in my opinion. The only advantage is the familiarity. Nothing between the teams in my opinion. I'm finding it very hard to gather interest if I am being brutally honest. You shouldn't have any business being in a shake up for Sam when losing to a Div. 3 team. Obviously, you can say same with Donegal and it was just a bad day at office but realistically this championship season is likely to be forgettable. Hard to know how the team will approach the fixture given the amount of time off (and seeing as our prep for the Wmeath game was obviously non-existent). Time will tell whether the break is good or bad" ridiculous post!! What are you on about? Faithfulmeath (Meath) - Posts: 64 - 04/05/2026 15:17:39 2670895 Link
Replying To gwanyagudthing: "Decent draw - will be a tough game but we can spend the next 3 weeks prepping whereas Cork will be focussing on Kerry. If the lads have designs on a decent run they have to fancy they can beat Cork." 100% agree. I know we've played Cork more times than we can count but Robbie can go to the Munster Final and check if there's anything different there now. We avoided Kerry, Galway and Armagh. Hand on heart, we know can beat Cork. They'll be thinking same about us but if we've Matty Costello and a few lads back, they will be the difference. NYRoyal (USA) - Posts: 112 - 04/05/2026 15:33:34 2670907 Link
Replying To Royalio11: "Not a good draw in my opinion. The only advantage is the familiarity. Nothing between the teams in my opinion. I'm finding it very hard to gather interest if I am being brutally honest. You shouldn't have any business being in a shake up for Sam when losing to a Div. 3 team. Obviously, you can say same with Donegal and it was just a bad day at office but realistically this championship season is likely to be forgettable. Hard to know how the team will approach the fixture given the amount of time off (and seeing as our prep for the Wmeath game was obviously non-existent). Time will tell whether the break is good or bad" Jesus thats some OTT dramatic summation of the season. Its hard to fathom the response of some people on here to a setback when you consider what went on before current set up took over. Its as if people with no interest or experience of playing football just decided to join the hoganstand forum. Like it was always gonna be a graph of upward trajectory? Even last years brilliant season we had loads of setbacks. A bit of cop on and maybe think before you put up your next message. southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1080 - 04/05/2026 15:45:02 2670911 Link
Replying To southmeathgael: "Jesus thats some OTT dramatic summation of the season. Its hard to fathom the response of some people on here to a setback when you consider what went on before current set up took over. Its as if people with no interest or experience of playing football just decided to join the hoganstand forum. Like it was always gonna be a graph of upward trajectory? Even last years brilliant season we had loads of setbacks. A bit of cop on and maybe think before you put up your next message." Entitled to my opinion like everyone else. Put into context, our last 2 championship games were a 5 point defeat to Westmeath and a 20 point defeat to Donegal. So, looking at provincial championship this year where we would avoided Louth/Dublin until a final it was a disaster to fall at first hurdle. That's not progress and sets us out of seeding for next year so there are considerable ramifications of our provincial campaign. You would need to be deluded to have any encouragement or confidence coming into this All Ireland series. There is a serious fragility about our backs and I made reference to it after league final. These are issues that needed to be resolved 9 months ago, 6 months ago, 3 months ago and 3 weeks ago. They have not been sorted out and I cannot see them being sorted out before we play Cork. At the end of the day, Championship is what matters and we are well off it. As I say, time will tell and we could well end up sharing a similar view soon. . Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 839 - 04/05/2026 16:53:41 2670931 Link
Replying To Royalio11: "Entitled to my opinion like everyone else. Put into context, our last 2 championship games were a 5 point defeat to Westmeath and a 20 point defeat to Donegal. So, looking at provincial championship this year where we would avoided Louth/Dublin until a final it was a disaster to fall at first hurdle. That's not progress and sets us out of seeding for next year so there are considerable ramifications of our provincial campaign. You would need to be deluded to have any encouragement or confidence coming into this All Ireland series. There is a serious fragility about our backs and I made reference to it after league final. These are issues that needed to be resolved 9 months ago, 6 months ago, 3 months ago and 3 weeks ago. They have not been sorted out and I cannot see them being sorted out before we play Cork. At the end of the day, Championship is what matters and we are well off it. As I say, time will tell and we could well end up sharing a similar view soon. ." Yeah, id go cork slight favourites for this one on the basis that they bet us well the 1st game, their keeper gifted us 7-8 points in the div 2 final plus they have the home advantage. Id assume that RB will stick with same back line but he hopefully has plan b and c at the ready to cover cork threat bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1851 - 04/05/2026 18:29:24 2670960 Link
Replying To Royalio11: "Entitled to my opinion like everyone else. Put into context, our last 2 championship games were a 5 point defeat to Westmeath and a 20 point defeat to Donegal. So, looking at provincial championship this year where we would avoided Louth/Dublin until a final it was a disaster to fall at first hurdle. That's not progress and sets us out of seeding for next year so there are considerable ramifications of our provincial campaign. You would need to be deluded to have any encouragement or confidence coming into this All Ireland series. There is a serious fragility about our backs and I made reference to it after league final. These are issues that needed to be resolved 9 months ago, 6 months ago, 3 months ago and 3 weeks ago. They have not been sorted out and I cannot see them being sorted out before we play Cork. At the end of the day, Championship is what matters and we are well off it. As I say, time will tell and we could well end up sharing a similar view soon. ." You are 100% entitled to your opinion but it is a very negative take. I've been critical of our defensive set up but overall it has been a great few months getting promoted to Div1 and having earned our spot in the all Ireland series through those efforts. Ok, we messed up in Leinster but look at Louth - won their first game and went out with a whimper the next day. Look at Down, same thing. If we beat Cork which is very achievable and get on another roll, the loss in Leinster will be a small setback in an otherwise good year. gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 04/05/2026 18:45:06 2670964 Link