Despite a poor opening week to the Super 8s, week 2 more than made up for it. The games between Galway and Kildare, and Kerry and Monaghan were great spectacles. However, this weekend's match with Dublin and Roscommon is a 'dead rubber'. Both sides know their fate whether they win, lose or draw as the Dubs have already topped the group and the Rossies know they cannot qualify for the semi finals after losing to Donegal and Tyrone. Should this be a topic of concern for the GAA?

johnstown99 (Meath) - Posts: 33 - 01/08/2018 14:23:26    2128247

Dr.Watson (Kildare) - Posts: 208 - 01/08/2018 14:33:43    2128253

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 01/08/2018 14:42:41    2128262

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 01/08/2018 14:48:34    2128264

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 01/08/2018 14:52:41    2128265

Dead rubbers in the last round of games were always likely. Dublin Roscommon could have been a quarter final in old system and no one would expect Roscommon anyways. Super 8's are still better than than old system, the other group is still exciting so out of 4 games theres only one thats no importance so try focusing on the other 3 games..

tommy132 (Mayo) - Posts: 600 - 01/08/2018 14:56:46    2128266

I thought we saw the GAA attitude to dead rubbers earlier in the year when division 4 sides had games just wiped off the fixture list.
Must be different rules here.

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 522 - 01/08/2018 15:02:21    2128272

Going to be strange this weekend for Kildare in that for the first time we will play a championship game with nothing riding on it from our point of view, obviously Kerry have to win to keep their hopes alive. Not many from Kildare will travel, understandable considering the U20's are playing in Croker in the All-Ireland final. How will the players approach it? I know everyone wants to win every game they play but it just won't feel the same, championship football should be do or die. There is nothing more exciting than a championship game with both teams knowing they have to win in order to stay alive. I know there is often dead rubbers in the World cup and the championship, but this is GAA football. It's not something we as fans are accustomed to. It might feel anti-climatic from a Kildare point of view, ultimately our summer ended V Galway 2 Sundays ago.

ShortGrass_1 (Kildare) - Posts: 223 - 01/08/2018 15:02:32    2128273

There will always be some dead rubbers. Live with it. No system is perfect. Stop moaning.

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 01/08/2018 15:07:27    2128274

Its a joke .
No county team should play a match in August with nothing to play for .

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 01/08/2018 15:44:58    2128285

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1732 - 01/08/2018 15:52:26    2128290

Just go back to the old quarter finals, were they really that bad?

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 01/08/2018 17:33:59    2128320

I would still be expecting our lads to be going for the win. What better test than Kerry at full tilt needing a win. Kildare have turned their season around showing what they're really capable of. We need to continue that on saturday and start the league next season in the same form. They have plenty to play for.

St.Conleth (Kildare) - Posts: 1700 - 01/08/2018 18:16:49    2128334

ispeakwisdom (Roscommon) - Posts: 2487 - 01/08/2018 18:22:46    2128337

I see durex are having problems with dead rubbers at the minute too, recall out for some dodgy ones.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 2739 - 01/08/2018 19:07:23    2128346

Take a stroll on Dollymount beach any morning and you'll see plenty of them

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8585 - 01/08/2018 19:09:48    2128347

People here have opined that we only have 1 dead rubber out of the 4 matches in the 3rd round robin rd - and that somehow, this is NOT bad. IT IS - that's not good enough, we have to do better !

We just got lucky to be honest - an injury time Kerry goal preventing a dead rubber count increase to 3. While dead rubbers are bad - as both teams fate is already decided - worse still, a team needing a result may more likely get it against the sole dead team (e.g. Kerry v Kildare) - a fairness impact here based on fixture sequence !

Why do we have to cross our fingers hoping that things turn out ok - when 'dead rubber risk elimination' options are available and could be implemented instead ?

For all the arguments against the Back Door Qualifiers, they are all straight KO matches. A modified version of the 2001-17 format addresses much of the arguments in this thread -

-Extend the Front Door steam and curtail the Back Door, each by ONE RD.
-Each current 1st Rd Qualifier PAIRING draws a Prov SF loser as well (1st group match loser plays again in the 3rd to ELIMINATE dead rubber risk).
-Top 2 from the 8 groups join 4 Prov Final losers in 20-team KO Rd 2 (8 2nds & 2 worst 1sts unseeded)
-10 Rd 2 winners join 2 'Prov Champs Playoff Rd' losers in 12-team KO Rd 3 (Prov Finalists, followed by any needed group best 1sts are the six seeds).
-6 Rd 3 winners join 2 unbeaten Prov Champs in the 'Open Draw AI QFs' (revert to KO).

If implemented, you would no longer cite 'dead rubber' issues within this fairer AI structure !

omahant (USA) - Posts: 2570 - 01/08/2018 19:57:42    2128359

There is no point in judging after one season. We will need 3 to find out if it works or not.

It does need to be tweaked though.

I think that next year, Leinster, Connaught and 2 back door teams, and the following year, Leinster, Munster and 2 back door teams, we will see if it is a workable system.

This would have to be the tweak.

If Dublin played Galway in Thurles and then played their away game with their Croke park game on the last day, there is some chance that they would have dropped a point rather than slim chance having played already in Croke park.

Better again, if they played Kerry in Thurles or Cork, and then played an away fixture, there last game may not be a formality.

Aside from the Dublin fixture v Ross, there is much to play for in the other 3 matches.

Whether the GAA have either the ability or the appetite to change this will remain to be seen. Destiny is no longer totally in their own hands when it comes to decision making at the corporate level.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 01/08/2018 21:49:25    2128373

at the very outset i was against the super 8s and indeed the round robin in the hurling championship but i have come around to the idea.the very idea of the super 8s is it is the best 8 teams in the country who have 3 games to get through to the semi final of the all ireland. these teams should be evenly matched and be capable of taking a positive result certainly in 2 out of the 3 games( neutral and home games) for example lets look at the 2010 football championship (picked by myself because i have very fond biased memory of this championship

the 2 groups may have been as follows

Meath Leinster champions
Tyrone Ulster champions
Cork qualifier
kildare qualifier

Kerry munster champions
Roscommon Connaught champions
Down qualifier
Dublin Qualifier

Again these groups look very very evenly matched according to the time we were in then and surely would have thrown up exciting 3rd round games or indeed dead rubbers all depending, fact of the matter is each team have 3 chances to get a positive result in atleast 1 game

when we look at last years joke quarter final games no disrespect to monaghan,armagh and to a lesser extent galway and the rossies in the first game v mayo..all the games were over at half time

Dublin this year had a 5 point win over donegal and a solid well earned victory vs tyrone in omagh.but they got 2 decent games. my point is say back in 2010 no team was as dominant as dublin are now as this dublin team are special, it benefits a team this format altho unfortunatly at times like roscommons and kildares cases this year they are just not upto the required standard.But you cant tell me they havent benifitted from having 3 championship games against quality opposition with ambitions of making a final rather than turning upto to croke park on august bank holiday weekend and getting trounced or perhaps running a team close but never really knowing if that was your true ability as a team or was the other team just on an "off day"...roscommon and kildare will go back through winter and return all the better for their experience in this group stage along with whoever joins them i have no doubt

the super 8s will have teething problems but id be happy for this format to continue regardless of dead rubbers or not

pidge (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 01/08/2018 21:51:51    2128375

gunman (Donegal) - Posts: 1056 - 01/08/2018 21:52:31    2128376