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Hurling Championship 2026 - 4 Like(s)

Replying To bloodandbandage:  "Although the 3 teams to qualify are already known, there will definitely be nothing 'underwhelming' about our match in PUC. A place in the Munster final is at stake, and both teams will fight tooth and nail to be in it. Should be cracker.

Expect both Galway and Offaly to get the business done, but the game of the weekend will be in Parnell Park, and I believe the Dubs will get the job done."
Yeah, while there's less at stake in the final round of Munster than in other years, I still wouldn't describe it as "underwhelming".

Cork v Clare is a de facto semi-final and could be a cracker. Similarly, anything less than a win for Limerick, and they might not make the final either.

But you know what would make it really interesting??? A relegation battle.

Imagine if Tipperary were in a situation where losing to Limerick by five or more would mean they'd finish bottom and be relegated, rather than Waterford making the drop. That would bring a lot of added spice to the match in the Gaelic Grounds!

Am just stirring..... :D

Pikeman96 (National) - 21/05/2026 13:01:08

Football Format Changes Discussion - 3 Like(s)

Replying To Tadhg2020:  "No it doesnt collapse. It counts now because everyone is at full strength or close to full strength because the provincial championship is currently the second most important trophy you can win. If you break the link and the big teams are qualified anyway they is every liklihood that those teams will rest players as the league will happen after the provincial championship. Yes it will before you say it wont. There is no way teams will sit around for 6 weeks when the league is qualifying them for the championship proper. The provincials move to February and March and become a preseason/ early season competition. Media lose interest and so do fans. Then when a westmeath beat a Dublin B team in the leinster final it means much less. You know this but we are back to this strawman argument again. Its like groundhog day."
I'm not breaking the link.

The big teams are qualified already in the current system.

Whammo86 (National) - 21/05/2026 17:19:53

Leitrim GAA thread - 2 Like(s)

Replying To ohwow:  "Didn't know Leitrim football was popular in Tusla, Oklahoma"
It's Tulsa Oklahoma not Tusla!! This page is gone to the dogs lads.

Thanks for ruining the best day page on hoganstand.

I was talking to some very shrewd Leitrim men and they all agree. They believe it needs to get back to being what it was after the non-existent qualifiers.

Back to normality- good luck to Steven and the lads on Saturday. Potentially the last game of the season but I hope and expect it is not

leitrim4sam (National) - 21/05/2026 15:34:29

Football Format Changes Discussion - 2 Like(s)
Even I can't compete with this :)

No more mismatches? Uefa revamps qualifying for men's major tournaments | Uefa | The Guardian https://share.google/3tSGJyCS1E2UBE8cw

omahant (National) - 21/05/2026 14:21:23

Football Format Changes Discussion - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Tadhg2020:  "No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done."
Your argument collapses when you use Westmeath, Antrim etc as examples

Those counties win provincial so infrequently, they couldn't give a monkeys about what that then means for their All Ireland ambitions.

The fact that they won, they actually gained no advantage over the teams they beat.

The draw we have now allows Galway (3rd on all time list), Cork (4th on all time list), and Dublin (2nd on all time list) a leg up for doing nothing of note except lose a provincial final, where only Dublin beat a div 2 team to get there.

tirawleybaron (National) - 21/05/2026 13:15:34

Westmeath Hurling thread - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Loughlenegale:  "Not Personal. Just a long time passion. In 1998 our CB at the time refused to take promotion earned on the field of play. Between restructuring and close games & playoffs over the years it was 2019 before we actually got a chance to win promotion again on the field of play. That discission in 98 set us back 5 Years with the initial blow with lost players management etc. So this rebuild project is concerning for me. I wont point it out again but it was a total clear out form kit men to S&C and so on. I agree not all in KOB control. This level of rebuild can backfire and leave us with a lost generation who never get a chance to meet their potential."
In 1998, the Westmeath senior hurlers were cutting thristles down in what would essentially have been division 3 of the national hurling league today. We were down with the likes of Louth, Tyrone, Roscommon etc. Restructuring of the hurling league, getting promoted or the county board offering 50 Hail Mary's wouldn't have mattered a fig to our chances of playing the top stuff back then.

We were simply no good back then. We couldn't even get out of the Leinster B group back in those days as it was called, the forerunner of the Joe Mc where they would hide Westmeath, Meath, Carlow, Laois etc away from the big guns to decide who would go out to get slaughtered by Offaly, Kilkenny, Wexford etc.

When I think back on that era, hurling standards in the so-called weaker counties have come on a sight. The Joe Mc winners are no longer absolute cannon fodder when they go up and teams like Kildare, Westmeath, Carlow can mix it on a good day with the big guns and usually at least keep the score respectable these days. I think Meath won the Leinster B group in 98 and their reward was getting battered by the eventual All Ireland winners Offaly by 30+ points in the Leinster championship proper.

That says a lot about where Westmeath was compared to the top teams when we couldn't even get out of the Leinster B group back then to face them.Westmeath were a million miles off division 1A and 1B teams back then. Strength, conditioning, JP McManus investing a million quid in us, a few prayers from Mother Theresa, nothing earthly or heavenly would have made Westmeath competitive in that era.

Things only started getting a little better since the Christy Ring competition came along around 2005 (Christy Ring was equivalent to the Joe Mc level today back then). That divying up of the hurling championship has reduced those massacres and allowed the weaker teams to build up to a higher standard. We unexpectedly won the first Christy Ring in 2005. Down were raging hot favourites that day too. Westmeath just barely won that game. Then Westmeath produced a miracle in a monsoon below in O'Moore park the following year in Leinster and we bet Dublin. Then we got to see Shefflin and that great Kilkenny team play in Cusack park that summer. That was never a contest though really. But, things in general are much better now.

Anyway, now it's a rebuild job that's it. Westmeath have retained Joe Mc status. Barring the Laois game, most of the games we stayed competitive with a young team. Still a chance too to go up to Down and finish the year on a high too. Look at the footballers example too. You have to taste bitterness and hard defeats before you can grow. Last year the footballers kept losing tight games. This year they can't stop winning. Long may it continue too. Hopefully, their example and the general good feeling around the county now can spur on our hurlers too in the future.

RadioactiveTan (National) - 21/05/2026 18:38:02

Monaghan GAA thread - 1 Like(s)

Replying To TheGreatRambo:  "Nobody ridicules players around here, not should they, its saved for managers/coaches that don't suit peoples agendas."
I see monaghan Facebook advertising it as a paul mcgurr cup game and not tier 3 game.

farneygael3 (National) - 21/05/2026 17:23:36

Galway Football thread - 1 Like(s)
The main reason Roscommon won majority of there own kickouts is Galway basically gave them up short I'd say Galway have being doing this consistently under Joyce it cost them all Ireland v Armagh Galway not push up on kickouts until 66 min and won everything from there on but 2 late same v Meath last year pushed up and scored 2-04 in few mins then back to normal , I think both Mcdonnagh and o connaghile need start v Kildare they way better at putting pressure on kickouts ,, I mske a prediction Ross not win 81% v Tyrone as Tyrone will push up on them big time I expect Ross win by 5 ,,

Kickitout (National) - 21/05/2026 16:01:25

Football Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)

Replying To JimB1991:  "His point seems to be because Kerry don't win the All Ireland every single year its not an issue, or at least that's what I got from the waffle."
You mean that being ablet to gear your training to be ready for the last weekend in May, when everyone has to be ready to go 5-6 weeks earlier, is not an advantage! Poppycock I tell you.

tirawleybaron (National) - 21/05/2026 15:12:02

Hurling Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)

Replying To munsterchamps:  "limerick havnt had a home game first in the round robin since 2019."
Well, there you go then :)

If Limerick were inclined to make the same sort of complaints as Waterford are inclined to do, they could very easily say:
"A home game for the first match gives you the best chance of getting off to a good start, but we haven't had one since 2019! But Waterford get one almost every year. It's not fair. We can't get a break. The fixtures are always set in Waterford's favour."

Pikeman96 (National) - 21/05/2026 15:10:18

Dublin GAA thread - 1 Like(s)

Replying To tirawleybaron:  "They still get 20% of the population out to a championship game - Dubs cant event get 1% to a leinster final"
Ehhh...there were only 15k in attendance at the Connacht semi-final in MacHale Park. Around 6-7 k of whom were Roscommon fans. 8k as a percentage of 138 thousand is more like 5 percent. Just sayin'.

avonali (National) - 21/05/2026 07:36:11

Galway Football thread - 1 Like(s)

Replying To jobber:  "Will the viewing figures in Galway be bigger for the Kildare match or Love Island?"
Now that John Heslin has returned for Westmeath, will viewership figures there be bigger for their matches or for Ear To The Ground??!!

Triffic (National) - 21/05/2026 11:40:18

Wexford Hurling Thread - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Doylerwex:  "Let's just say they make things difficult"
Bit ironic that coming from a Harriers man

btwex90 (National) - 21/05/2026 11:14:14

Football Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Gaaforlife2023:  "Jaysus kerry may have advantage munster but doesnt mean it is always used or good thing only when win the donegal crowd must getting to be biggest moaners about kerry and forget to mention ye had advantage itself in preparing for kerry some what anyway,

Maybe their coaching and quality players has also something to do with their success no many bitter supporters or begrudgers just say it is just because of an advantage not that i really care either way but just an observation.

If donegal don't get it done will that be the excuse again kerry this or whatever it is the travel too long.

Donegal a great gaa county with great supporters but some supporters just in my opinion have a chip on their shoulder"
Your first 6 words say it all. Why should they have a seeded route to a home draw? The rest is all waffle, and more than Donegal posters pointing this out, including myself.

Expertinall (National) - 21/05/2026 11:09:53

Football Format Changes Discussion - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Tadhg2020:  "No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done."
You never address the core issue of provincial imbalance? You just accuse everyone of wanting to diminish them, and continually highlight celebrations of winning counties.
Simple question to you.... Should the reward be equal in the race for Sam, to the winners and the runners up, of all provinces?
Yes or No answer please?

Expertinall (National) - 21/05/2026 11:03:35

Championship Attendances - 1 Like(s)

Replying To DublinBrian:  "Absolutely shocking Dublin turn out on Sunday for a lenister final. Westmeath out numbered them by 4 to 1 . Even the hill was 40 percent full with the Westmeath supporters taking up half of that. Embarrassing to see the Dublin support. They have really turned their back on this team."
Probably just got bored of winning, now the team isn't doing as well as it was, so a lot of fans just don't really care. Doesn't help the hurling team are doing well either.

Dublin need to probably go through a bit of a baron spell to get fans back onside.

Cabbagepatch1667 (National) - 21/05/2026 10:52:51

Football Format Changes Discussion - 1 Like(s)

Replying To Whammo86:  "The Provincials standing in the game is already diminished.

I want a GAA championship and overall season that makes sense and is exciting and the best teams play one another in games that matter.

For what it's worth I don't think the status quo is great for the Provincials as is.

The finals don't count towards the All Ireland.

The scheduling isn't great, you clearly really have a lot of time for the provincials. I don't think the are held in the same esteem by everyone else and going from the national league and the sort of fixtures there to the Provincials and the mismatches, I don't think it's great.

There'd be a better flow to the season starting with them and I honestly think they'd benefit from that.

They are still linked to the All Ireland.

I've nothing against them other than the fact that they are imbalanced within them and between them, so it makes it difficult from a fairness point of view to have them be the foundation of the National championship.

To have a better National championship, you have to have more time dedicated to it than is currently possible with the scheduling of the Provincials."
With the current format I still think the best schedule would have the League and Provincial championships played in tandem.

With the current calendar the league stared on Jan 24th and the provincial finals were played up to May 15th - so something like this:

Jan 24/25 Preliminary Provincial round in Ulster / Leinster
Jan 31/Feb1 League round 1
Feb7/8 (OFF) Off
Feb 14/15 Provincial Quarter Finals
Feb 21/22 League round 2
Feb 28/Mar1 League round 3
Mar7/8 Off
Mar14/15 League round 4
Mar21/22 Provincial Semi Finals
Mar28/29 League round 5
April 4/5 Off
April 11/12 League round 6
April 18/19 Off
April 25/26 League round 7
May 2/3 League Finals
May 9/10 Provincial Finals
May 16/17 Provincial Finals

The top 16 placings would be known after the provincial semi finals meaning all teams would know what they were playing for in the last 3 rounds of the league.

I'd still much prefer championship based promotion & relegation with winning a province a way of being promoted as I outlined in a previous posts here.

brianb (National) - 21/05/2026 10:35:16

Provincial Final Replays - Good Idea Or Bad Idea? - 1 Like(s)
It mightn't be for everyone but result on the day. How often does the underdog win the replay? Extra time and penalties evens the match up a bit coming into the last few minutes. If Monaghan held on last Sunday for a replay Armagh would have beat them by 20 in the replay.

Saynothing (National) - 21/05/2026 10:27:19