National Forum

Sunday Game

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Its been obvious for a long time that the Sunday Game is no longer fit for purpose.

The original format was fine when there were 2-4 games per weekend.

With the shortened season, the number of games needs a more match of the day type show - nothing but highlights and a short discussion on anything controversial.

What they need then is a Monday/Tuesday analysis show where there is a proper detailed analysis of any game that had some unusual tactical ploy that would educate the audience.

At the moment we have a bit of everything with nothing worth listening to.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1759 - 22/04/2026 13:03:02    2667883

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Replying To ExiledInWex:  "No game they showed earlier that day needs to be re-shown or analysed. It can be watched back on RTE player.
Or else they need to show short highlights and put extended highlights on YouTube or RTE player.
Analysis of the games, well its often done by people who didn't watch the game so what is the point?"
I would agree that there is no need to show extended highlights of matches that were shown live earlier in the day, plus I would like to see greater focus on Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4 matches.

As for analysis, that is supposedly the whole point of having pundits, for their expert analysis. maybe pointing out stuff the fans might not ordinarily notice about tactics or setups. I think SKY had the best match analysis during the live games compared to RTE etc, it was fascinating and educating.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1776 - 22/04/2026 13:35:14    2667892

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The quality of the Sunday Game is declining for a number of years. The main problem seems to be that whoever is producing the programme doesn't think it needs changing which is a problem in itself. As other people have alluded to over a number of years on this forum; there is no need to re show and do analysis a second time for games that were covered live earlier in the day. It might be a better model if hurling was played on a Saturday one week and football on the Sunday and alternate each code the following week. The current format is convoluted and has too many games which means it is impossible to cover and analyse each one. Some teams play so many times in a season, managers don't want to give away tactics so what is the point of these games? In recent years RTE have added camogie and ladies football to their coverage; these games are included in the two programmes per week! Will it change? Very unlikely. In the longer term GAA+ will become the main source of coverage whereby a viewer will pay and they can pick a game to watch as other media outlets do with soccer matches.

Which brings me to the main problem - the pundits. I'd struggle to name one pundit who is impartial and know what he/she is talking about. In terms of the weaker counties, it has been proven that a lot of the top pundits pay little or not attention to teams outside divisions 1 and 2 in football and the same in hurling so how can a pundit analyse games and players they know very little about? RTE market the Munster hurling champions and the Ulster football championship plus the All Ireland series and fit the other provincial championship in when they can.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2206 - 22/04/2026 14:11:23    2667900

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Replying To Commodore:  "I would agree that there is no need to show extended highlights of matches that were shown live earlier in the day, plus I would like to see greater focus on Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4 matches.

As for analysis, that is supposedly the whole point of having pundits, for their expert analysis. maybe pointing out stuff the fans might not ordinarily notice about tactics or setups. I think SKY had the best match analysis during the live games compared to RTE etc, it was fascinating and educating."
Sky were very good for both Football and Hurling in fairness

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19280 - 22/04/2026 14:41:29    2667908

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "Its been obvious for a long time that the Sunday Game is no longer fit for purpose.

The original format was fine when there were 2-4 games per weekend.

With the shortened season, the number of games needs a more match of the day type show - nothing but highlights and a short discussion on anything controversial.

What they need then is a Monday/Tuesday analysis show where there is a proper detailed analysis of any game that had some unusual tactical ploy that would educate the audience.

At the moment we have a bit of everything with nothing worth listening to."
The TG4 1hour show is a good program imo, but it's all action and zero studio. You can watch what you want, and *30 anything you've seen previously. You won't miss any 'analysis', because there isn't any, which is why the program content is usually quite worthwhile.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4670 - 22/04/2026 15:37:07    2667915

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