Replying To cavanman47:  "I'm always interested in new championship proposals but have been reluctant to propose anything as it's not easy to maintain the provincials (which last Sunday showed is a must), while being fair to all counties and giving the weaker counties meaningful games. I think hurling has shown us the way, to a degree, and I've also come to the conclusion that you can't give weaker counties meaningful games unless you add a 2nd tier - which some simply will never go for. So I think the below is about as good as I can manage: Provinces remain split, but London enter Ulster Championship. NY don't play the same province each year (I'll come to them later). Ulster: 10 teams, 2 groups of 5, top team in each group make the Ulster final. Runner up in each group enters <b>Q2</b> Leinster: Same as Ulster but with 6 teams in one group. So again 2 teams enter <b>Q2</b> leaving 4 seeded teams there Connaught: 1 group of 5 teams, top 2 play Connaught Final Munster: 1 group of 6 teams, top 2 play Munster Final <i>We've now played 6 league groups and established Provincial finalists</i> 4 provincial winners enter the All Ireland Quarter Finals 4 Provincial runners-up enter <b>Q3</b> The 3rd place team in each of the 6 groups enters and open draw in <b>Q1</b> Anyone who finished lower than 3rd is now eliminated from the championship (having played a minimum of 4 games). <b>Q1:</b> 6 teams, 3 winners advance to Q2. New York now enter the championship. <b>Q2:</b> NY and 3 Q1 winners drawn against the 4 teams who have qualified for Q2 via their groups, 4 winners advance <b>Q3:</b> 4 Q2 winners play the provincial runners-up, 4 winners advance to All Ireland quarter finals. The All-Ireland series reverts to the old system of straight knockout. I think the above satisfies a lot of the criteria that causes an imbalance under current structures; - all teams get a guaranteed 4 games, some are guaranteed 5 - provincials are maintained - if the appetite is there for a 2nd tier, there are 14 teams who finish below 3rd in their groups who could now enter this - New York aren't confined to just the one province - the Super 8s are gone, and the intensity of matches increases as the summer goes on, no safety net from 1/4 final on"</div>I really think this is the way to go. It keeps the prov champs for traditionalists and gives every team a number of games. It has done wonders for the hurling champs so far"