National Forum

Croke Park expansion

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Replying To Onion_Sack:  "Well the good news is from next season it will be a competition proper with a cup presented to the winners. It will consist of the summer internationals where the 6 nations teams head down below. Then it'll be finished with the Autumn internationals where the teams from down under come here. It'll be a type of annual world cup and will be good that teams will play home and away.

If you think the games have been big and getting a lot of attention till now well it's going to bigger and better from next year and I, for one, am really looking forward to it!

Look it up, "The Nations Championship""
It will be a competition proper and plenty of rugby fans dont like it and how its been set up.

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3887 - 02/12/2025 19:23:15    2646827

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "The only extension we need is an extension to this redicioulously short gaa season. The gaa are cutting off their own own oxygen supply and we are innocent victims of a blinded alley. Please nobody try to make sense of the whole lot because that's impossible when greed is to the forefront. Money from concerts etc directed to grassroots does not have the same power as money from 164,000 fans in croker in September with the possibility of a replay in October..Exposure of our players is what will sustain our game not easy monet from concerts etc. A very prominent intercounty manager recently publicly said that the club season was too long and who could argue with him pointing out the obvious."
The GAA wanted a shorter inter county season to help the 90+% of players whos games were held up by inter county games because they and there county boards refused to staand up to inter county managers and have club games through the summer when inter county season was on. Money from concerts has exact same power as money from all ireland finals and all ireland finals make the same in July as they do in September.
Stadiums are 365 days a year venues and need concerts and events beyond the normal matches hosted by them

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3887 - 02/12/2025 19:27:47    2646828

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Replying To Claretandblue:  "It's 3 out of 15, he said team not squad. Still a very high percentage especially as Gibson is their best player and without him they'd struggle to beat Wales"
its not really that high or at least high enough that its a concern and by what metric is gibson park our best player?

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3887 - 02/12/2025 19:31:46    2646829

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "Gibson Park, Bundee Aki, James Lowe finlay bealham
.i presumd you wanted me to slip up with Mack hansen"
Finlay Bealham is irish from birth as he has irish grandparents.

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3887 - 02/12/2025 19:33:31    2646830

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Replying To Viking66:  "How is the club season too long? Clubs are the lifeblood of the GAA, not the intercounty scene and its largely bandwagon supporters. Don't get me wrong, I bring the kids to near enough every Wexford Football and Hurling game every year, including some challenge games. But I think the balance is about right. And most of the lads you see at the bigger intercounty games are pure bandwagoners, like the lads people on this forum criticise for going to Ireland rugby internationals. Where are they in January and February? Most of them arent supporting their county heroes anyway."
you regularly have club competitions with finals on stephens day etc and you have u21 county championships regularly only starting well into autumn because clubs wont start them until after most counties are out of many of their adult competitions
there is far too many players especially in their late teens/early 20s playing 12 months of the year year on year because the season is all over the sjop
most counties will play more games in jsn feb march than the rest of the year which is mad.
defining most fans of inter county teams as the bullshit term bandwagoners is unfair on every jnter county team and every inter county fan,

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3887 - 02/12/2025 19:38:49    2646831

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "In football you had 4 quarter finals, 2 semi finals and a final thats 7 games. In hurling you had 2 semi finals and a final thats 3 games. So you had a total of 10 games, occasions where Croke park was full 8 times as quarters in football were usually double headers. We sometimes saw replays in October. The schools both national & secondary had a great buzz in them not to mention schools in those counties involved and that was 4 counties in football and 2 in hurling (semis in hurling & quarters in football played before schools opened). There was always the banter of who would win and who would get the 2 school tickets. The kids always asked for the game to be shown again on the Monday!! The GAA have really let those young people down and you know what the season the way it was was great for older viewers also. It was great for the game and it really is a shame. Gaa people forked out for that stadium.. Its long paid for. Im not against concerts or the money they bring in but cutting out 2 months of the season is wrong. The tv schedules cannot keep up with the condensed season and while Im on it the problem was never the long season it is the amount of traing players were/are doing which is of course money driven and players are been wrung out. Counties are still plodding in muck in Late Oct & early Nov in county finals and the same players starting training in Jan!!. Thats a fine split season!! Mickey Harte let club games go ahead and it didnt affect them too bad over the years. Managers dictated to co boards over fixtures ....Money money money!! Itll come home to roost mark my words."
So little or no exposure then?

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8381 - 02/12/2025 22:43:56    2646844

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Replying To GreenandRed:  "So little or no exposure then?"
Theres only so much explaining a man can do but i forgot to mention the tv exposure when all games were free to air until recent years.

Dothesimplethingswell (Sligo) - Posts: 35 - 03/12/2025 11:28:26    2646869

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "Theres only so much explaining a man can do but i forgot to mention the tv exposure when all games were free to air until recent years."
All games free to air?
Do you mean on terrestrial TV?
All games were NEVER on free to air TV, just a select few.

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 262 - 03/12/2025 13:56:57    2646891

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "Theres only so much explaining a man can do but i forgot to mention the tv exposure when all games were free to air until recent years."
There are more free to air games these days than there ever were.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17677 - 03/12/2025 15:05:39    2646907

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Replying To KillingFields:  "you regularly have club competitions with finals on stephens day etc and you have u21 county championships regularly only starting well into autumn because clubs wont start them until after most counties are out of many of their adult competitions
there is far too many players especially in their late teens/early 20s playing 12 months of the year year on year because the season is all over the sjop
most counties will play more games in jsn feb march than the rest of the year which is mad.
defining most fans of inter county teams as the bullshit term bandwagoners is unfair on every jnter county team and every inter county fan,"
If its unfair where are they for most of the intercounty games every year? Do they hibernate til April? Work 7 days a week? Own condos in Spain that they live in for the winter?
And where do they go when their team's not going great?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17677 - 03/12/2025 15:08:16    2646909

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "Theres only so much explaining a man can do but i forgot to mention the tv exposure when all games were free to air until recent years."
Explain? You didn't answer my question.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8381 - 03/12/2025 15:10:12    2646910

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Replying To Seanfan:  "All games free to air?
Do you mean on terrestrial TV?
All games were NEVER on free to air TV, just a select few."
They were until Gaago Sky and setanta came along and thats not that long ago.

Dothesimplethingswell (Sligo) - Posts: 35 - 03/12/2025 23:50:11    2646972

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Replying To KillingFields:  "its not really that high or at least high enough that its a concern and by what metric is gibson park our best player?"
You claim to be knowledgeable about rugby and yet don't see that Gibson Park is by a distance our best player. Every other player we have is replaceable, the gap between him and Casey or Blade or Gunne is enormous, what would Farrell say?

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2488 - 04/12/2025 08:44:39    2646976

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Replying To Claretandblue:  "You claim to be knowledgeable about rugby and yet don't see that Gibson Park is by a distance our best player. Every other player we have is replaceable, the gap between him and Casey or Blade or Gunne is enormous, what would Farrell say?"
He'd agree with you. Park is different gravy.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8381 - 04/12/2025 12:38:17    2647013

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Replying To Viking66:  "There are more free to air games these days than there ever were."
Ahem! €160 per annum.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8381 - 04/12/2025 12:40:29    2647014

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Replying To Dothesimplethingswell:  "They were until Gaago Sky and setanta came along and thats not that long ago."
They weren't. Most weren't televised at all. The only way you saw them was by going to them.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17677 - 04/12/2025 13:24:09    2647027

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Replying To Claretandblue:  "You claim to be knowledgeable about rugby and yet don't see that Gibson Park is by a distance our best player. Every other player we have is replaceable, the gap between him and Casey or Blade or Gunne is enormous, what would Farrell say?"
Absolutely agree with you there. By that metric he's definitely our best player.
But equally he wasn't when he arrived here. It took many hours of coaching and playing here in Ireland til he got that good. He never even made the bench until around a year after he was eligible to play for Ireland.
While he wasn't born here, in terms of being an international rugby player he was definitely developed here.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17677 - 04/12/2025 13:27:07    2647029

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Doesn't matter what players Ireland have, they'll still be beaten the next rugby world cup quarter final, as is tradition

alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 127 - 04/12/2025 14:28:24    2647036

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