"I don't think you should just play in the big competition for the sake of it"
June 06, 2017
The Dublin players warm up ahead of their Leinster SFC quarter-final clash against Carlow at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise.
©INPHO/James Crombie.
Terence McNaughton says the football championship should be tiered the same as the hurling.
There are currently four tiers in hurling and McNaughton's Antrim can seal a place in the Qualifiers if they defeat Carlow in Saturday's Christy Ring Cup final at Croke Park. Having witnessed the Barrowsiders' big-ball merchants tackling Dublin in an unwinnable Leinster SFC quarter-final on Saturday night, 'Sambo' believes it's time to remove the also-rans from the Sam Maguire Cup race:
"There are only two provinces that work - Ulster football and Munster hurling. The rest don't work. That's the bottom line," he told The Irish News.
"I think the footballers could learn from the hurling structures. They need tiered competitions. There is no team in the Christy Ring that is capable of competing in the latter stages of the Liam MacCarthy, and that's a fact.
"From a hurler looking in at Saturday night's match between Dublin and Carlow, the result was never in doubt. I don't think you should just play in the big competition for the sake of it."
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