National Forum

Sunday Game

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "Pat was a bit of craic. He didn't take himself too seriously and is still entertaining on the independent podcast. Joe could be funny, but he had a personality where he could give it out, but was very thin skinned if he got anything back. He also made things quite personal and clearly had a few agendas with some players, managers and counties which coloured a lot of his thoughts.
He used to go well overboard with some of his stuff. He has a style where he exaggerates significantly to make a point, which is fine to a point, but it often got to the stage where he'd be describing things which never happened, just to make his argument."
Brolly was and still is annoying. But the Sunday Game highlights show does need some livening up. Not by Spillane and Brolly but a few characters and less scripted-sounding conversation.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8666 - 18/06/2026 16:14:56    2680478

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Replying To Fionn:  "100%
And you'd defo miss Pat Spillane and Joe Brolly also."
You most certainly would not. That panel was way, way past its sell by date and had become a very sad parody of what a panel should be.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6212 - 18/06/2026 22:41:32    2680524

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Replying To Greengrass:  "You most certainly would not. That panel was way, way past its sell by date and had become a very sad parody of what a panel should be."
For all their faults, they were entertaining to say the least.

The majority of the new batch….. zzzzzzzz

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 5187 - 19/06/2026 08:07:32    2680533

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Replying To Fionn:  "For all their faults, they were entertaining to say the least.

The majority of the new batch….. zzzzzzzz"
Nah. They were gone way beyond entertaining. They had become self indulgent in the extreme and had reduced what should have been a great programme to an embarrassing mess that did nothing more than repeat what they had said in their newspaper columns that weekend. It had become all about them rather than about the matches and the players. It was way past time to seriously shake up that programme.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6212 - 19/06/2026 10:44:59    2680561

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Replying To mooncat:  "I agree,I dont watch analysis either,I turn down the sound too on the hurling,Brendan Cummins shouting is annoying and its time Ger Canning retired."
I agree with you about Brendan Cummins, but at least he's not inflicted on us as often as Donal Og Cusack. Hardly a weekend goes by that RTE doesn't have him on radio and television. Why do RTE give him such special treatment? This weeked we had him on radio twice on Friday morning, he was a panellist for the Galway-Cork game on Saturday and then we had him again on Sunday night. There's nothing special about his hurling knowledge and his bias comes across repeatedly whenever Cork are playing. A few months ago he tried to attach a huge significance to Eoin Downey'e red card in last year's All-Ireland, pointing out that Cork were just three points down when that happened. He seemed unaware of the fact that Tipp had been awarded a penalty at that stage which would put them six points clear regardless of whether Downey was on the field or not. He also conveniently ignored the fact that Tipp had by then outscored Cork by 2-7 to 0-1 since half time and not even Eoin Downey was going to stall that momentum. Lo and behold, Cusack again raised this spurious argument again last night, which would suggest that he really believes that Cork were still in with a chance but for Downey's red card. I don't believe anyone associated with the Cork team would back up that claim, but maybe Cusck is still determined to undervalue Tipperary's 15 point win.

midlands (Westmeath) - Posts: 641 - 06/07/2026 15:50:36    2684522

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What's the betting that Ciarán Whelan will utter the immortal phrase: "Mayo brought chaos" today?

1/5 shot in my book :-)

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4491 - 12/07/2026 11:03:46    2685364

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Replying To Greengrass:  "You most certainly would not. That panel was way, way past its sell by date and had become a very sad parody of what a panel should be."
I certainly miss them. Most of the current panelists are total 'yes men'! But I think that if they're not like that, they won't last. Everything on the Sunday Game is too scripted, too sterilized, and too PC. McGinley is the best of the modern lit.

Brolly, Spillane, and O'Rourke told us what they really thought about a game, not what RTE wanted them to say!

foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 2607 - 12/07/2026 22:50:58    2685492

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Replying To foreveryoung:  "I certainly miss them. Most of the current panelists are total 'yes men'! But I think that if they're not like that, they won't last. Everything on the Sunday Game is too scripted, too sterilized, and too PC. McGinley is the best of the modern lit.

Brolly, Spillane, and O'Rourke told us what they really thought about a game, not what RTE wanted them to say!"
Does it matter 2 hoots what those "pundits" come out with?

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 766 - 13/07/2026 11:05:59    2685552

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The post match whinge is now reaching World Cup levels.

Mayfair (Galway) - Posts: 74 - 13/07/2026 12:09:23    2685573

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I don't think they do their homework.

Brolly made the same point in every game. It was around the sport of gaelic football rather than the game itself and it became boring.

They look at the major decisions but rarely will they look at the overall free count etc. It is always looked at in rugby. A team may suffer a death by a thousand cuts!

It is all about the narrative and following it. They are rarely making the narrative.

Mayonman (Galway) - Posts: 1974 - 13/07/2026 12:46:41    2685578

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RTE are wrong to assume a top class player makes a top class pundit. This is an assumption that many modern day sports make when choosing a pundit; most times there are players playing for less fashionable teams who would make a top pundit but I don't think they're given consideration. The analysis is superficial; there isn't much in depth analysis done. In fairness, the current championship format doesn't help as there are so many games played in such a short period of time that it is impossible to dedicate time to any particular game. Of course, RTE don't help themselves by re-showing the same matches first on the Sunday Game; a game they've televised and analysed earlier in the day - how does this make sense on any level?

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2260 - 14/07/2026 15:08:23    2685737

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Up for the Match seems very much like top gear. I wonder why they changed it up? What do people think of it?

Kew (Galway) - Posts: 348 - 18/07/2026 20:25:38    2686202

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Shane Dowling very giddy for tomorrow. Galway might as well stay home

TommyBermingham (Kildare) - Posts: 43 - 18/07/2026 22:00:21    2686214

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Replying To Kew:  "Up for the Match seems very much like top gear. I wonder why they changed it up? What do people think of it?"
One word..Embarrassing

Dothesimplethingswell (Sligo) - Posts: 110 - 19/07/2026 01:56:17    2686222

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Was different for sure . Moved from RTE studio to Croke Park to add a big of freshness. Audience standing up , bit overcrowded but some aspects worked.

Curlew66 (Roscommon) - Posts: 660 - 19/07/2026 12:15:34    2686234

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Replying To Curlew66:  "Was different for sure . Moved from RTE studio to Croke Park to add a big of freshness. Audience standing up , bit overcrowded but some aspects worked."
I suppose it used to be in September but July doesn't seem to work as well

Kew (Galway) - Posts: 348 - 19/07/2026 17:16:55    2686254

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