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Tailteann Cup 2026 - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Pikeman96: "It's a fair point, but it replicates the corresponding change in the Sam Maguire Cup. The feeling was that the issue with the old group system was too many teams advancing despite winning only one match out of three. Perhaps a move to just the top two teams going through from each group would have been better.
But interesting to look at home/away split in results & predictions:
In Round 1, there was an even split of four home winners and four away winners.
In the upcoming Round 2A & 2B, the away team is the bookie's favourite in five of the eight matches.
Obviously still luck of the draw as regards who you have to go away to play against, but many would actually argue that luck of the draw should indeed be an element of cup competitions." Ok but this isnt a " Cup " competition in the traditional sense. This is the core competition of our intercounty season. I know Sam is the no1 but if this is the competition you are in then its the main one for you to win. The FA Cup , for example, has always been the secondary competition to win in English football so luck of the draw applies/is tolerated.playing away every round would never be tolerated in the PL or the EFL championship. While its not exactly a like for like comparison I hope you get what I mean.
The other point to make is this. Treating both competitions the same is counter productive to the aim and goal of the Tailteann Cup. It is a 2nd tier competition designed to give competitive championship games to tier 2 counties through the summer and give them a shot at CP glory and a title. It doesnt have to deal with tv schedules etc and media scrutiny like the Sam competition. Therefore it doesnt have to mirror the Sam format. It could have stayed as it was and guarenteed 3 games with one at home. The reasons for the change just dont apply or contradict the premise of the tailteann Cup imo.
Tadhg2020 (National) - 20/05/2026 00:54:55
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Westmeath Football thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Laker1500: "The dust has settled... a little! What a few days of WH football.
Agree with the poster above. We were all young, but Derry seemed there for the taking after the last Leinster win. The difference then was that WH team was almost finished and everyone seemed happy they got a Leinster... and of course it was our first Leinster.
This time, our team are mostly very young and just getting started!
I hope they enjoyed the few days well earned celebrations and continue to enjoy being Leinster champs... but lets be greedy and push on. Cavan are decent, must be a bit worried... but are currently doing their homework to do a job on us! WH are absolutely flying ...with scoring ability everywhere and a rock solid one on one defenders and in a packed home game.
Its going to take a massive massive prep and effort over the next 7 or 8 days by players and management to get to Championship pace again for that one.
... lets go!" "The difference then was that WH team was almost finished" - 100% untrue. Damian Healy, Rory and Paul Conway were the older players on that team. None over 30. Heals was on our Div 2 winning team in 2008 The core of that team was the U21 team of 99...Murray, Ennis, Shaugho, Dessie, Willo, Buddah, Derek Heavin ... all mid 20s at most...Denis Glennon was 19...Donal D was 22...John Keane was 24 won his second all star in 2008. Connaughton also won an All star in 2008.
Very unfair comment about that group of players
Dessie15 (National) - 20/05/2026 10:55:43
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Leitrim GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
If the Tusla folk are alerted to the content being approved here there'll be murder.
Boxtyeater (National) - 20/05/2026 10:56:32
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Westmeath Football thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To mickcunningham: "No change in venue" It was never going to be moved. Imagine a full house in Cusack park. Now think about all the money local businesses gave to county board the last few months supporting draws and the sponsorship of prizes. Then a big game comes to town the money that brings back to those businesses. If you took it away you would take away the good will from those businesses. They depend on days like that. There has been enough doom and gloom with family businesses closing in town, they deserve it.
Chops (National) - 20/05/2026 13:57:37
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Monaghan GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To moodoo: "All the plaudits around the effort and determination our lads showed on Sunday is well deserved. If you had said at the end of the league that we would take the Ulster Final to ET, not many would have thought it possible.
Questions do have to be asked about the S&C side of it though. We looked miles off it in terms of fitness at times in the league. By ET on Sunday we had players who could barely walk. I know the Derry game went to ET, but that was 2 weeks ago, can't be used as a reason. Armagh have an extra game played, but they had loads left in ET.
The goal that Armagh got in normal time - Dylan Byrne played a ball up the line towards McGorman, he had no chance of getting it, he had been signalling to the bench for a couple of minutes that he needed to come off. O Hanlon couldn't move for most of ET, McCarville not much better. I assumed we had used all our subs, and that was why he was still on - and then Gary appears with 5 minutes left, and the game gone." Physically armagh brought alot more energy than the Derry game. The 70 minutes were fairly intense on Sunday especially the last 15 minutes, monaghan ran themselves into the ground. Armagh are so well conditioned though and most of their players have alot of work in the bodies going back nearly 5 years. On paper there panel would be more advanced on S and C purely due to time and work put in. Our panel is not like that, injuries newcomers probably took its toll on us in ET. I wouldn't be to hard on the S and C coach for Sunday.
222 (National) - 20/05/2026 18:07:32
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Wexford Hurling Thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To tearintom: "Why are these the only clubs that matter?
One of the biggest issues with Wexford is that thinking that this club is more important than that club.
And you see the same sentiment on here all the time, oh do we really want good hurlers from a certain ckub making county teams blah blah blah.
And then we wonder why a lot of clubs really aren't bothered putting their shoulder to the wheel when they do thyere questioned over whether we really want them do, we really prefer players from the other clubs, we wonder why ckubs dont bother going to coaching seminars or send reps in meetings to try and improve things.
Its the same old mentality, things will never change." To me, another big issue is how many people have chips on their shoulders.
One of them is if you rightly acknowledge good work being done in what would be regarded as "traditional hurling clubs", some think you're putting them on a pedestal and looking down on everybody else.
There's nothing to stop a "non-traditional hurling club" from showing the same resolve and effort. As has already been acknowledged here several times, Ballyhogue are already doing it at younger age groups, and it may well pay off for them in years to come.
And in fact, rather than cocking a snoop at coaching workshops and seminars and meetings and the like, they're probably the clubs that should be availing of them most. A Rathure or an Oulart or an St. Martin's already has lots of people with extensive hurling knowledge. People from other clubs who don't already have that knowledge would stand to gain more from the various events held.
Pikeman96 (National) - 19/05/2026 21:54:38
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Hurling Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
An example today on the news page of this site of "don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant". It's Waterford selector Dan Shanahan saying: "Tipp had the three-week break. We're just getting no luck in terms of two or three weeks of a break."
This year, Waterford had a two-week break between their second and third match.
2025, they also had a two-week break between their second and third match.
2024, a two-week break between their first and second match, followed by another two-week break before their third.
2023, a two-week break between their second and third match, followed by another between their third and fourth match.
2022, a three-week break between their second and third match.
And specifically on the three-week break:
The way Munster works (an odd number of counties meaning that one gets a bye in each round, and the Round 3 fixtures being staggered over two weekends) means that every year, one county gets a three-week break.
In the five years since the group format resumed after Covid, the five counties have had one three-week break each. Waterford were first to get it, back in '22. Would expect it to be their turn again next year.
If they'd been given it this year, then Tipperary still wouldn't have had one, and they'd have a rant far more justifiable than Shanahan's.
Pikeman96 (National) - 20/05/2026 09:09:56
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Football Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To yew_tree: "The provincial seeding should be outlawed. It's ridiculous in my opinion." Provincial seeding is absolutely essential in my opinion, otherwise you end up undermining the tailteann cup, with the likes of Sligo maybe beating Leitrim to get to a final or Limerick beating Tipp to get to a final and that in turn sends more div 2 teams into the Tailteann and that then means the same 3/4 teams winning it constantly. Ridiculous not to seed them.
cuttothebone (National) - 20/05/2026 09:30:04
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Wexford Hurling Thread - 1 Like(s)
Reality is Saturday doesn't matter. Our feeble performances to date did the damage.
I just can't get how you could train since last Winter, as hard as they have, and exit the championship with such a whimper.
How could you not be smarting v Dublin after the Kilkenny thumping? I don't get how you wouldn't take to the field absolutely bull thick and no man is going to out-fight me at the very least. Is this not where Bernard Dunne should have come in? If he is to do with culture and mindset?
Whether or not they believe in Rossi is known only to them, but any player who only plays for a manager is in the wrong game. Be it a junior D match or an All-Ireland, you have to go out and play for yourself and what you have in you.
Injuries are an excuse. Every team has them, Offaly didn't have Screeney v Kilkenny and it did not hold them back.
Maybe as a county we are just weak when it comes to belief. When the chips are down and the top teams up the ante, we fold. I thought the minors did it v Kilkenny but then didn't do it v Galway but they get one last chance at redemption.
It will be a brave man who will take this job next because our main stays are aging.
I still think our schools are where the biggest opportunity is to drive things forward. Be it after school, be it lunch time leagues, mini-leagues, hurling walls in schools. I don't know.
Even small things we should look at for next year's campaign. How many schools have a purple and gold flag flying outside? Do we instill a love of Wexford at school level? Does an 8 year old in Screen NS know when Wexford are playing? Why doesn't he? Why don't we promote our games better?
There is no point going all Liam Griffin or Gizzy and telling 7-8 year olds about Father Murphy or pikemen because I think most would say "so what".
But an Instagram video from Lee Chin or Damien Reck in full fight or a "go home and ask your parents to bring you to the match" and the Leinster Council match it with "buy an adult ticket, get 2 free child tickets" offers, etc. Even a visit to every school in the county by some player and a puck-around for 30 minutes, give them a few quid for their time. So what.
We need to raise the profile of the game in Wexford and drive it ourselves, because there is no room for sentiment or sympathy if we don't up our game.
Its up to Wexford and our own people to do it, no report from anybody is going to do it for us or is going to tell us anything we don't already know ourselves.
StoreysTash (National) - 20/05/2026 09:47:28
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International Rules - 1 Like(s)
The Irish team has been limited to players who have made their debut in the AFLW, ruling out the most recent wave of recruits.
It's an unsurprisingly quick team, but concerns over a lack of height are unfounded, given the presence of Aishling Moloney, Aine McDonagh and Vikki Wall (who is a little shorter, but is yet to meet a defender she couldn't bury into the turf) in attack, and three key backs in Jen Dunne, Clara Fitzpatrick and Kayleigh Cronin.
The versatility of Orlagh Lally and Rachel Kearns will help the Irish team management, there's plenty who can rotate between half-back, wing and half-forward, while Tanya Kennedy also capable of playing as a smaller lockdown defender if needed.
Two-time North Melbourne premiership coach Darren Crocker is hot favourite to lead the Aussies, with a tailor-made Irish answer in new Sydney counterpart Colin O'Riordan.
B: Jen Dunne, Kayleigh Cronin
HB: Dayna Finn, Clara Fitzpatrick, Sinead Goldrick
C: Grace Kelly, Aisling McCarthy, Niamh Kelly
HF: Orla O'Dwyer, Aine McDonagh, Sarah Rowe
F: Vikki Wall, Aishling Moloney
Foll: Eilish O'Dowd, Erone Fitzpatrick, Niamh McLaughlin (captain)
I/C: Orlagh Lally, Blaithin Bogue, Rachel Kearns, Erika O'Shea, Neasa Dooley, Tanya Kennedy, Niamh Martin
Kew (National) - 20/05/2026 10:56:10
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Wexford Hurling Thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Do we know which schools do Hurling 365? I'm fairly sure the main school in my parish do it, was just wondering how widespread it is" Both schools in our parish do it. One has been organised the last 3 years by our clubs coaching officer, helped by 2 teachers who play and played intercounty LGFA. The other is doing alot of hurling the last year and a half thanks to Willie Cleary and 2 of the teachers, one who was involved in underage intercounty coaching and the other a current player and executive member of our club.
The school our coaching officer is organising the 365 at also bought rebounders for the pupils to use in breaktime. Our club bought both of the schools hurls, helmets and sliotars.
Only a few years ago none of that was happening, so a big thank you to those people for getting it all going in our parish.
Viking66 (National) - 20/05/2026 12:44:26
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Louth GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To francie81: "I won't be holding my breath tbh their will be even more pressure on us now to beat them for the 2nd time of asking plus giving the reshuffling within the first 15 of late, I hope am wrong but like I was saying on the first outing am staying quiet, Devlin will really need to do his homework on them from the first game and has ample time to do so." Will have to improve massively on the Portlaoise performance.
Shearer (National) - 20/05/2026 13:59:43
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Hurling Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To ColmFlaherty: "What way do we see the results going this week.
I think:
Kildare vs Offaly - Offaly by 11
Wexford vs Galway - Galway by 8
Dublin vs Kilkenny - Dublin by 4
Cork vs Clare - Cork by 1
Limerick vs Tipperary - Limerick by 15" Offaly ought to win comfortably. Unless Wexford can tap into some wounded ancestral pride and the possibility that some of their better known players might not tog again, hard to see Galway not having a bit to spare.
Cork, if the injuries impact and Clare produce something special, might be beaten and miss out on the final on head-to-head,
That and Dublin v Kilkenny are the two must see games of the weekend.
Bookies had priced up our game as evens the two but Kilkenny have been backed in to 4/5 and probably shorter on the day.
Which is understandable given the history but it is definitely a chance for Dublin to gain a rare scalp. I reckon this is more important for the team than a rematch against Galway or even a tilt at one of the Munster big guns. Hopefully they see it the same way and treat it like a final. I think it will be close and full of all sorts! Can't wait.
BarneyGrant (National) - 20/05/2026 16:52:50
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Hurling Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To ColmFlaherty: "What way do we see the results going this week.
I think:
Kildare vs Offaly - Offaly by 11
Wexford vs Galway - Galway by 8
Dublin vs Kilkenny - Dublin by 4
Cork vs Clare - Cork by 1
Limerick vs Tipperary - Limerick by 15" Fairly straight forward in Leinster....Offaly,Galway and Kilkenny
Munster Clare to win
katser (National) - 20/05/2026 17:04:36
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