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For sure Lefty!
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 13884 - 09/09/2024 15:17:08 2569105 Link 0 |
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Anybody know the permutations. In group A I think only Castletown are safe while all other teams can qualify. This is a tough group. shels and Gusserane are guaranteed first and second spot in group B. Think Sarsfields are safe but can still finish fifth. Naomh Eanna can still qualify or end up in a relegation final. St James the same but I could be wrong?
WexMurph (Wexford) - Posts: 239 - 09/09/2024 17:11:20 2569134 Link 0 |
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The way I see it is Castletown are safe but amazingly could come 4th, Crossabeg could win the group or be in a relegation final Right on the other one as well, the top two can't be moved only who comes top, Sarsfields could come 5th but won't be in a relegation final. All to play for at the weekend - even if some of the football has been pretty poor - unfortunately given the margins now its hard to see much attacking football being played over the weekend - so exciting to talk about but not to watch. zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1900 - 09/09/2024 19:11:29 2569152 Link 0 |
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A Senior B semi-final??? Here's one for you and others to ponder. Do you or anybody else remember those sort of competitions from when they ran for a few years around the late 2000s, before we dropped from 16 teams to 12 in each grade? Four groups of four, with top two going into the proper quarter-finals, and bottom two going into what they called the B semi-finals. These doubled up as relegation play-offs, with losers going down that road instead. Meant you could be relegated even if you finished third in your group. Basically, these "B championships" were competitions for teams 9 to 16 in each grade. They're largely forgotten about. They're not even recorded in the Dom Williams "Wexford GAA Bible". And find me a club that boasts of or even happily remembers winning one of these so-called "B championships". My own club won one of them one year, and we certainly don't make a big deal of it. I'd say most of the players involved don't even remember it, because it meant so little. One thing I do remember is that even the headline on the newspaper match report said "[Club name] finish ninth best". Basically, no appetite back then for continuing with a so-called B championship for also-rans, and I can't see any appetite for creating one now. On a separate point, and on your last line - "Most clubs/players guaranteed 8 championship games between hurling and football". As opposed to what we have now, which guarantees at least 6 matches for every hurling team, at least 5 for every football team, and 50 out of 60 football teams getting at least one more match as well. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 10/09/2024 10:35:19 2569224 Link 0 |
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Talking to few players so far and what they have said is another week or 2 break during champ would be great esp for the payers who dual lefty (Wexford) - Posts: 219 - 10/09/2024 11:35:28 2569231 Link 0 |
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finish ninth best". Basically, no appetite back then for continuing with a so-called B championship for also-rans, and I can't see any appetite for creating one now. On a separate point, and on your last line - "Most clubs/players guaranteed 8 championship games between hurling and football". As opposed to what we have now, which guarantees at least 6 matches for every hurling team, at least 5 for every football team, and 50 out of 60 football teams getting at least one more match as well."]The issue we are tackling now is players saying they want a couple of break weeks? Therefore less games? Agree about the B Championship idea, but it's a way of ensuring that whoever finishes 3rd gets at least one more game, without the threat of relegation. An alternative idea would be the 2nds playing 3rds in a preliminary QF but that would necessitate another weekend. And remove the advantage of finishing 2nd. Have you a better idea how they could get 1 more game? Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 13884 - 10/09/2024 12:31:02 2569247 Link 0 |
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Have already said myself I thought the break for the Fleadh was great, even though I didn't go anywhere near the Fleadh, and I'm not a player either. However, reality is that to build another break into the championship any year, you basically have four options: 1. Hope that all Wexford inter-county teams are knocked out earlier in their championships, so that the club championships can start earlier. Wexford coming fourth or worse in Leinster senior hurling, and failing to get out of the group in the Tailteann Cup, would be "perfect" in this regard. 2. Play a stack of midweek games during July & August so that not so many games have to be played later in the year. 3. Accept that our club championships wouldn't be finished in time for Leinster Club Championships. And remember you can't just nominate a team to take part there if your club championship isn't finished. 4. Change our club championships structure so there are fewer games involved. Wonder which of those four anybody would choose? Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 10/09/2024 12:41:37 2569251 Link 0 |
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@Viking66 - as a follow-on from the post I've just put up, before seeing your post afterwards: Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 10/09/2024 12:44:53 2569255 Link 0 |
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Exactly and the changes to the Hurling championship showed one other aspect, it's not just about playing games but no matter how many you play you always are in the championship.
zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1900 - 10/09/2024 13:34:17 2569267 Link 0 |
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Players want to play, ie more games, players would rather play matches than train, so plenty of games please Lockerroomboy (Wexford) - Posts: 472 - 10/09/2024 14:10:23 2569273 Link 0 |
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The only reason I put up the same change I proposed a few years ago again is point 4 there.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 13884 - 10/09/2024 14:25:41 2569278 Link 0 |
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We may as well face it lads we are never going to have an ideal amount of games that everyone is happy with:-D Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 13884 - 10/09/2024 14:27:54 2569280 Link 0 |
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Exactly. Simply can't have everything that everybody wants. But as long as we don't have everything, some people will complain about the lack of the things that they want themselves. Which in turn means there'll always be complaints, no matter what's ever done. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 10/09/2024 16:30:58 2569298 Link 0 |
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Anyway bar the split season Football stayed the same , so the question is did the change have any impact? first I think we all have to recognize that club football is suffering from the same problems plaguing inter county - the product being delivered to the public is poor. This is even worse for club as as much as you can admire at the top level in inter country the precision and tactics, at club level in Wexford there is little to admire. Is that why the the attendance is down or is it because because the change in structure. Every team this weekend has something to play for - will that bring more to watch the games? however I don't think anyone going will expect open football and all of the teams will do what it takes to win and the winners will say it was justified. Anyway the change could have impacted the attendance but we have to recognize that until the product improves we won't see an increase in the attendances. zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1900 - 10/09/2024 22:22:45 2569329 Link 0 |
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I do wonder and continue to wonder whether we should just take decisions in regards to championship structures away from the power of the club's, just appoint a dedicated committee and remove the ability of clubs to vote on it (I believe ironically we would actually require a majority of the clubs to vote to do that) My own experience, and backed up by this forum is that everybody wants everything without any real considerations of what that actually entails and whatcan actually be done. I mean looking on here players want more games but more breaks! We changed the entire GAA calendar to give a defined calendar where lads then know when to take holidays yet players still take holidays during championship and also want it seems to define extra breaks in championships to facilitate a session in Laois on top of that. More games are wanted but also don't take away the option of 3 clubs per grade to play in provincial club championships. U20/21 must be played (for me its actually the most important grade of all cos the drop off after minor is killing clubs) but literally there is no time that this can be played that doesn't raise an issue. Every club mainly votes for what's best for them, not what the best structure is or what works best overall for the county as a whole. Clubs vote as to what's most likely to get them success or even more apt, what's least likely to hurt them, hence the fact we have a hurling championship that's more or less removed any jeopardy for the entire group stage. Perhaps we just need to get back to what's best overall for the county. tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1427 - 11/09/2024 10:00:16 2569364 Link 0 |
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An excellent post. I sometimes wonder myself if the power to decide on championship structures should be taken away from the clubs, but as you say, the clubs themselves would have to vote in favour of that happening. That's a very unlikely prospect, as being able to vote on the structures is one of the greatest powers they have. You're 100% right though that many vote mainly for what will increase their own chances, or decrease the chances of them suffering. Example was a good idea put forward by the top table a few years ago (and somebody suggested it here too, in recent times), where top team in each group would go straight to semi-finals, and 2nd and 3rd would play quarter-finals. Clubs shot it down because it would see only six teams going through, instead of eight. They were afraid they'd be one of the "unlucky" two. Even take this year's hurling structure. I'd be absolutely amazed if there wasn't at least one or two who voted for it out of thoughts like "we could get away with a bad start but still have a chance if we pick things up as we go along", or "Tommy's going to America for the summer, but he'd be back in September for the knock-out stages, so it wouldn't matter if we lose the group games without him." Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 11/09/2024 12:50:26 2569402 Link 0 |
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I'd have to also agree with that suggestion - Clubs will serve their best interests and not think of the wider consequences of their actions or votes. For my own club we felt that the changes Adrian Fenlon suggested about the hurling championship suited us best. We were not overly worried how / if it affected other clubs. Personally i was amazed that not one football club / dual club had any sort of complaint or objection to the hurling championship changing or the split season been removed. There current setup does not suit football or is not going to improve the standard of football in the county. The split season guaranteed that clubs concentrated fully on Football for 6-8 weeks but the current setup now means hurling takes priority and the football is threw in for 15 mins at the end of training. MyOhMi (Wexford) - Posts: 159 - 12/09/2024 09:04:23 2569492 Link 0 |
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I agree on this, but I feel as stated Football only clubs would have had their best interests in thinking maybe it could be a year that they would catch duel clubs on the hop when focusing on hurling also
btwex90 (Wexford) - Posts: 27 - 12/09/2024 10:30:47 2569498 Link 0 |
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Have said it before and I'll say it again - football clubs and certain "football people" in particular had it all wrong with their complaints about the split season. They failed to see it was potentially one of the greatest things ever for football in Wexford, with every club concentrating 100% on football for six to eight weeks (apart from the three who'd have qualified for Leinster Club Hurling, as they'd be splitting their time between the two codes). And not only that, but concentrating 100% on football at a crucial time of year in terms of players putting their hands up for the following year's inter-county campaign. Their complaints about football always going after the hurling didn't stand up either. More than once, I heard some of them say "why do we always have to play in winter?" - ignoring the fact that they were still only being asked to play into October, which is the month they always wanted to be playing in anyway, since that's when county semi-finals and finals are generally held. Show me a "football person" who doesn't want his club playing in October this year! Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2622 - 12/09/2024 11:05:16 2569505 Link 0 |
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That's a very good point about the full focus for 6-8 weeks of training. For a football only player though you have to remember that after the league is over they have a number of months where there is no competitive football for them and training sessions will most likely become hurling only also. I don't think there's any perfect solution to be honest. The demands of both games have changed and I think the days of top level dual players are numbered.
SunnySouthEast (Wexford) - Posts: 16 - 12/09/2024 11:45:22 2569519 Link 0 |