National Forum

Looking Forward To 2026

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Pádraic Joyce is staying on with Galway for another 3 years. Always a dangerous opponent. It was a surprise for many that they fell at the quarter final stage, along with Armagh and Dublin.
Donegal of course were the only favourites to get through the quarter finals weekend. The 4 quarter final favourites will probably be the leading favourites again going into 2026.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9236 - 03/09/2025 02:48:20    2634696

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Replying To legendzxix:  "Pádraic Joyce is staying on with Galway for another 3 years. Always a dangerous opponent. It was a surprise for many that they fell at the quarter final stage, along with Armagh and Dublin.
Donegal of course were the only favourites to get through the quarter finals weekend. The 4 quarter final favourites will probably be the leading favourites again going into 2026."
A surprise to many that they lost to Meath ? . Eh not really Galway are overated . I wouldn't bank on the 4 quarter final favourites to be the same in 2026 either . Same as I wouldn't bank on Kerry to win sam again in 2026 .

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 422 - 03/09/2025 15:53:42    2634775

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Replying To S1234:  "A surprise to many that they lost to Meath ? . Eh not really Galway are overated . I wouldn't bank on the 4 quarter final favourites to be the same in 2026 either . Same as I wouldn't bank on Kerry to win sam again in 2026 ."
you did nt think they would win either this year.I d say the bookies like you.I d say Meath much stronger than Mayo.

brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 369 - 07/09/2025 18:11:47    2635198

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No surprise Kieran McGeeney is staying on with Armagh.
Supposedly the provincial championship draws will be later this year. They were always way too early anyway and all focus is on the club championships.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9236 - 23/09/2025 21:09:31    2637235

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Replying To legendzxix:  "No surprise Kieran McGeeney is staying on with Armagh.
Supposedly the provincial championship draws will be later this year. They were always way too early anyway and all focus is on the club championships."
Any date promised?
Night of All Star presentations perhaps?

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 202 - 24/09/2025 11:36:58    2637284

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Replying To Seanfan:  "Any date promised?
Night of All Star presentations perhaps?"
Haven't heard. Whether the league seeding controversy will have any influence as well, we'll see. The All Ireland group stage draw is by the GAA own tv platform. Made available on YouTube. Maybe they'll opt for same.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9236 - 25/09/2025 18:20:11    2637471

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The controversial preseason competitions that are making a return could be played like the inter provincial series last year. Four 15 minute quarters. Match day squad of 30. Rolling subs or something. Anything to reflect preseason, possibly allowing the return to training date to remain in December.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9236 - 30/09/2025 07:50:45    2637896

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Replying To brayballer:  "you did nt think they would win either this year.I d say the bookies like you.I d say Meath much stronger than Mayo."
Meath stronger then Mayo? Hilarious. Meath who got a 20 point bearing in a semi by Donegal . We only lost to Donegal by a point in Donegals previous match to that . So your comment literally doesn't make any sense just bitterness.

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 422 - 30/09/2025 14:12:31    2637967

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The draws for 2026 provincial senior football championships are to be made on November 27th. A sensible decision to push them back until later. In the middle of county championships was too early.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9236 - 20/10/2025 09:48:26    2640742

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Interesting looking at the odds for the All-Ireland next year. Kerry obviously hot favourites followed by Donegal and Tyrone. Bunch of teams after that including Armagh, Dublin, Galway Mayo and Derry
Interesting to see Cork and Down ahead of Monaghan and Meath and then Louth even further down the list.
Sounds like bookies think Monaghan and Meath overachieved last year and Mayo and Derry will be much more competitive.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 830 - 22/10/2025 16:45:30    2641133

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Interesting looking at the odds for the All-Ireland next year. Kerry obviously hot favourites followed by Donegal and Tyrone. Bunch of teams after that including Armagh, Dublin, Galway Mayo and Derry
Interesting to see Cork and Down ahead of Monaghan and Meath and then Louth even further down the list.
Sounds like bookies think Monaghan and Meath overachieved last year and Mayo and Derry will be much more competitive."
Bookies don't think that way. Their aim is to maximise profits. They obviously feel more punters will back Cork and Down than Meath or Monaghan or Louth.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17347 - 22/10/2025 18:03:44    2641140

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Replying To S1234:  "Meath stronger then Mayo? Hilarious. Meath who got a 20 point bearing in a semi by Donegal . We only lost to Donegal by a point in Donegals previous match to that . So your comment literally doesn't make any sense just bitterness."
Ha ha thats typical you picking results that suit you.Meath beat Kerry who hammered Cavan and guess what? Yes Cavan beat Mayo. Yip Meath are bettter than Mayo.

brayballer (Wicklow) - Posts: 369 - 22/10/2025 18:26:51    2641144

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Replying To brayballer:  "Ha ha thats typical you picking results that suit you.Meath beat Kerry who hammered Cavan and guess what? Yes Cavan beat Mayo. Yip Meath are bettter than Mayo."
Meath also beat Galway who beat Mayo. A beat B who beat C isn't always a good way to compare teams.
Both teams underperformed on different days in last year's championship.
If they were to play tomorrow with full strength teams, I'd find it hard to pick a winner at the moment. Could go either way.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2611 - 22/10/2025 18:57:13    2641147

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Replying To brayballer:  "Ha ha thats typical you picking results that suit you.Meath beat Kerry who hammered Cavan and guess what? Yes Cavan beat Mayo. Yip Meath are bettter than Mayo."
Think that line of thinking only applies in the case of knockout games. If even those.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17347 - 22/10/2025 19:00:00    2641148

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "Meath also beat Galway who beat Mayo. A beat B who beat C isn't always a good way to compare teams.
Both teams underperformed on different days in last year's championship.
If they were to play tomorrow with full strength teams, I'd find it hard to pick a winner at the moment. Could go either way."
The big thing with Mayo this year was their failure to play to the strengths of the new rules. Not sure if it was the playing personnel not suited or management didn't coach it too well. Expect them to be better but how far they can go is up for debate. Winning Connaught and a quarter final place would be a positive year for them next year.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 830 - 22/10/2025 21:15:49    2641171

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Interesting looking at the odds for the All-Ireland next year. Kerry obviously hot favourites followed by Donegal and Tyrone. Bunch of teams after that including Armagh, Dublin, Galway Mayo and Derry
Interesting to see Cork and Down ahead of Monaghan and Meath and then Louth even further down the list.
Sounds like bookies think Monaghan and Meath overachieved last year and Mayo and Derry will be much more competitive."
Bookies make odds according to what is being backed. If I fancy Dublin at 14/1 and get €1,000 on (I don't and they wouldn't take it) then they would be cut to 10/1 or less. If few back Kerry at 6/4 then they will push the price out to 2/1.

Same with horses or anything else. That's how it works.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3786 - 23/10/2025 09:46:44    2641203

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Positives for 2026 include:

The race to be next President of the GAA will begin in earnest
A Canadian singer will play in Croke Park more times than most counties
The gap between top and lower tier counties in both codes will continue to widen
Dublin probably won't be near an All Ireland win
Hurling fans will increase the output of the phrase 'greatest sport in the world' by 57%
leinster rugby will play in Croke Park more times than most counties even though they have 2 grounds of their own
rte's gaa coverage will continue to degrade
Football will continue to borrow new basketball phrases e.g. garbage time, dropping dimes and buzzer beater

alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 55 - 23/10/2025 10:13:13    2641205

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Bookies make odds according to what is being backed. If I fancy Dublin at 14/1 and get €1,000 on (I don't and they wouldn't take it) then they would be cut to 10/1 or less. If few back Kerry at 6/4 then they will push the price out to 2/1.

Same with horses or anything else. That's how it works."
Ah look Barney is an expert on the bookies also. Bookies make odds before any big money is staked Barney, so the odds pre season indicate the likely outcome without any team being heavily backed. I see you scurried away from the split season thread. What a shock.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8612 - 23/10/2025 10:18:12    2641206

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Ah look Barney is an expert on the bookies also. Bookies make odds before any big money is staked Barney, so the odds pre season indicate the likely outcome without any team being heavily backed. I see you scurried away from the split season thread. What a shock."
You still don't get it. Pre season odds reflect what bookies think punter behaviour will be. Not neccessarily results. Believe it or not bookies can't be experts in every field they accept a bet on.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17347 - 23/10/2025 11:34:46    2641219

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Replying To Viking66:  "You still don't get it. Pre season odds reflect what bookies think punter behaviour will be. Not neccessarily results. Believe it or not bookies can't be experts in every field they accept a bet on."
Eh i do get it. Pre season odds reflect who the likely winner will be before any money is laid. Are you arguing against that? Of course money dictates the market but my point is bookies start a market based on who looks strongest on paper. I was responding to Barney as he is an expert on everything and was assuming the poster didn't know how odds work.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8612 - 23/10/2025 12:15:38    2641236

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