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Can Anyone Name A More Forgone Conclusion Of A Competition Than The Leinster Football Championship?

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Replying To yew_tree:  "The gulf was not as big as you think. On paper yes and Dublin have a much bigger quality squad but first 15 to first 15 I fully believed we should have won at least one final against them but for bad luck and shooting ourselves in the foot be it own goals and sending offs.

Nearly every team Dublin face are beaten before they take the field. Mayo for whatever reason have never feared Dublin....go back to 1985 (drawn game), 2006 and up to the recent epic games.

Now when Kerry tore us to shreds in those 2004 and 2006 finals which were over after 15 mins...that was a real gulf in class but also belief. The Mayo team and even fans (which annoyed the hell out of me) were in awe of Kerry.

Mayo used to regularly get hammered in big games in Croke Park years ago but that does not happen anymore....we compete because we believe we can win.

I may be over simplifying it but I think a little self belief in the likes of Meath and Kildare would go a long way. If you think you're beaten before you take the field you may as well stay in the dressing room.

Someone mentioned population....Mayo is the most sparsely populated county in Ireland (3rd largest county with only 130,000 pop) but every single kid wants to play for Mayo and football is a 24/7 obsession."
Mayo are very impressive considering their population and I always admired the way the whole county gets behind them in huge numbers. Just on the population thing though although Meath and Kildare do have big populations one of our biggest problems is there is a good fraction of kids in the border towns that would probably dream of playing for Dublin rather than Meath/Kildare as our population boom has mostly been emigration of young families from Dublin so the numbers don't tell the full picture

Meath10 (Meath) - Posts: 183 - 05/05/2021 10:08:30    2340058

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I have made allegations here about Meath especially. They lack spirit and so on. The reason I am saying it is because some of their posters and others, are complaining about the one sided Leinster football championship. There is more to Dublin's success than just spirit, tactics, finance, Croke park and so on. I would urge Meath and Kildare to develope say 3 year plans. Year one, Keep Dubs to 5-10 point win, year 2 to keep it to a couple of points and finally year 3 to actually win. And start planning and lobbying the GAA for the money and resources to achieve this goal. Galway play Westmeath in hurling next weekend. Hope they can win.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 05/05/2021 10:12:26    2340060

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Replying To royaldunne:  "
Replying To AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government.

AfricanGael (UK) - Posts: 1947 - 05/05/2021 10:25:54    2340063

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Replying To galwayford:  "I have made allegations here about Meath especially. They lack spirit and so on. The reason I am saying it is because some of their posters and others, are complaining about the one sided Leinster football championship. There is more to Dublin's success than just spirit, tactics, finance, Croke park and so on. I would urge Meath and Kildare to develope say 3 year plans. Year one, Keep Dubs to 5-10 point win, year 2 to keep it to a couple of points and finally year 3 to actually win. And start planning and lobbying the GAA for the money and resources to achieve this goal. Galway play Westmeath in hurling next weekend. Hope they can win."
As Tyson famously said "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". The facts are the Leinster Championship has been murdered and this notion of attributing blame to other Leinster counties is akin to blaming the victim while letting the perpetrator and their backers off the hook. It shows how farcical the situation is when someone is advising Meath to make a plan on getting beaten by 5 to 10 points ! Wake up people and smell the coffee.

AfricanGael (UK) - Posts: 1947 - 05/05/2021 10:48:23    2340067

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Replying To AfricanGael:  "
Replying To royaldunne:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government. "]How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11841 - 05/05/2021 11:52:41    2340085

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Replying To Meath10:  "Mayo are very impressive considering their population and I always admired the way the whole county gets behind them in huge numbers. Just on the population thing though although Meath and Kildare do have big populations one of our biggest problems is there is a good fraction of kids in the border towns that would probably dream of playing for Dublin rather than Meath/Kildare as our population boom has mostly been emigration of young families from Dublin so the numbers don't tell the full picture"
I have siblings living in Meath , one in Ashbourne and the other in Dunshaughlin , there kids are going to school in these towns and play for local clubs , they despise Dublin Gaa and would only ever play for Meath , have heard the same from several Dublin families who have moved to Meath also , once the kids go to school in the local area , all they want to do is support/play for the local club and County.

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2837 - 05/05/2021 12:10:01    2340091

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Replying To Viking66:  "
Replying To AfricanGael:  "[quote=royaldunne:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government. "]How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!"]How do you mean "into the squad" ? Sure the squad is the one of the end products of the investment.

AfricanGael (UK) - Posts: 1947 - 05/05/2021 13:17:36    2340099

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Replying To AfricanGael:  "As Tyson famously said "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". The facts are the Leinster Championship has been murdered and this notion of attributing blame to other Leinster counties is akin to blaming the victim while letting the perpetrator and their backers off the hook. It shows how farcical the situation is when someone is advising Meath to make a plan on getting beaten by 5 to 10 points ! Wake up people and smell the coffee."
It is other Leinster counties fault. They allowed this imbalance to happen, they've let Dublin have home advantage in Croke Park for years, Dublin rarely have to travel. That is down to the other county boards big time. They've said nothing while Dublin get all the funding.

the_creeler (Leitrim) - Posts: 119 - 05/05/2021 13:57:46    2340106

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Replying To superbluedub:  "I have siblings living in Meath , one in Ashbourne and the other in Dunshaughlin , there kids are going to school in these towns and play for local clubs , they despise Dublin Gaa and would only ever play for Meath , have heard the same from several Dublin families who have moved to Meath also , once the kids go to school in the local area , all they want to do is support/play for the local club and County."
That's fair enough but I know in my local town in county Meath you would nearly see more Dublin gear being worn than Meath gear

Meath10 (Meath) - Posts: 183 - 05/05/2021 14:34:29    2340109

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Replying To Meath10:  "That's fair enough but I know in my local town in county Meath you would nearly see more Dublin gear being worn than Meath gear"
Plenty of Dubs where I live in Meath too. Fellaacclross the road puts out a mighty Dublin grotto for the All Ireland, fair play. Our 11 year eldest girl started playing football last year and loves it. Now the 5 year old wants to start. They both have Mayo jersies but I think inevitably they'll want Meath jersies. If they're healthy and involved in any sport sure let them off but their auld fella will always be a Mayo man.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7344 - 05/05/2021 14:42:57    2340111

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Replying To Meath10:  "That's fair enough but I know in my local town in county Meath you would nearly see more Dublin gear being worn than Meath gear"
For sure the Dublin parents will continue to support Dublin , but i think you will find as the kids go through the school system and continue on with there clubs they will be supporting Meath 100%.

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2837 - 05/05/2021 14:49:51    2340112

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Replying To AfricanGael:  "As Tyson famously said "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". The facts are the Leinster Championship has been murdered and this notion of attributing blame to other Leinster counties is akin to blaming the victim while letting the perpetrator and their backers off the hook. It shows how farcical the situation is when someone is advising Meath to make a plan on getting beaten by 5 to 10 points ! Wake up people and smell the coffee."
Mic drop !!!

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 05/05/2021 14:57:21    2340116

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Replying To superbluedub:  "For sure the Dublin parents will continue to support Dublin , but i think you will find as the kids go through the school system and continue on with there clubs they will be supporting Meath 100%."
Didn't happen with deegan etc. Not saying some won't but as a fella once said before the Leinster final about 6/7 years ago who was walking through ashbourne with his tayto park top on, all he heard was where was he going wearing that and he IN DUBLIN.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 05/05/2021 15:00:43    2340117

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Didn't happen with deegan etc. Not saying some won't but as a fella once said before the Leinster final about 6/7 years ago who was walking through ashbourne with his tayto park top on, all he heard was where was he going wearing that and he IN DUBLIN."
Once ya send a Dub past Lucan the poor craturs don't know where they are.

the_creeler (Leitrim) - Posts: 119 - 05/05/2021 15:48:42    2340122

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Replying To the_creeler:  "Once ya send a Dub past Lucan the poor craturs don't know where they are."
So true

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 05/05/2021 17:01:49    2340141

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Replying To the_creeler:  "
Replying To AfricanGael:  "As Tyson famously said "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". The facts are the Leinster Championship has been murdered and this notion of attributing blame to other Leinster counties is akin to blaming the victim while letting the perpetrator and their backers off the hook. It shows how farcical the situation is when someone is advising Meath to make a plan on getting beaten by 5 to 10 points ! Wake up people and smell the coffee."
It is other Leinster counties fault. They allowed this imbalance to happen, they've let Dublin have home advantage in Croke Park for years, Dublin rarely have to travel. That is down to the other county boards big time. They've said nothing while Dublin get all the funding."
Unfortunately you can insist on home advantage but don't ever expect any assistance or funding for several years after.. Leinster football is all about Dublin, the rest of us exist to raise funds for them, and any suggestions of a fair or level playing field in Leinster and you'll be outside feeling very, very cold in no time.
Kildare are unbeaten at home to Dublin in league and championship in nigh on 50 years now.. Not many counties can claim that.

cuttothebone (Kildare) - Posts: 163 - 05/05/2021 18:49:41    2340153

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Replying To AfricanGael:  "
Replying To Viking66:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "[quote=royaldunne:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government. "]How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!"]How do you mean "into the squad" ? Sure the squad is the one of the end products of the investment."]You are still missing the point. If this current team is the product of the government's/GAA's investment in underage Dublin football/social projects then why arent they winning All Ireland Minor titles every year?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 11841 - 05/05/2021 18:57:01    2340156

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Replying To Viking66:  "
Replying To AfricanGael:  "[quote=Viking66:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "[quote=royaldunne:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government. "]How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!"]How do you mean "into the squad" ? Sure the squad is the one of the end products of the investment."]You are still missing the point. If this current team is the product of the government's/GAA's investment in underage Dublin football/social projects then why arent they winning All Ireland Minor titles every year?"]I did reply to you earlier so hopefully it has not been blocked, if so I will need to reword it and the contents will be self explanatory, for anyone that can process facts at least.

AfricanGael (UK) - Posts: 1947 - 05/05/2021 21:06:50    2340172

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Replying To AfricanGael:  "
Replying To Viking66:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "[quote=Viking66:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "[quote=royaldunne:  "[quote=AfricanGael:  "Even though the GAA didn't set out to create a "Super Team" in Dublin, they ought to have known that their unfair actions would have done just that. You see, there was a time in Dublin not so long ago when Gaelic games were looked at by many in Dublin as something only "country people" played, "bog ball" it was known as. Clearly they still had lads playing the game, many of them introduced to it by Guards from the country and so on.

There came a point when the GAA became terrified at the reality of other sports getting a foothold in the capital and in the most basic of terms this is what lead to massive investments in Dublin GAA, helped along by Bertie Ahern, who "happened" to be a man steeped in Dublin GAA.

There is an inherent fear of "foreign games" within the GAA dating back to its formation, and it still exists today. All you need to do is read some of the posts here to get a sample of that, it's like going back in time and it's this fear which has lead us to the farcical situation we are in today, especially when it comes to the Leinster Championship, which isn't dying, it's already dead.

Had the "the free market choices" of sport prevailed and not been interfered with by the GAA and the government at the time, then I have no doubt that we would have a more competitive Leinster and All-Ireland championship now and I have no doubt that Dublin would not have won six in a row either. Nobody questions that Dublin wouldn't still have produced good players and that they wouldn't win the odd All-Ireland, of course they would, but they definitely wouldn't have the dominance they have today.

Throw in the use of Croke Park as your home ground, to know every blade of grass like the back of your hand and know your range, sure how could you not win. I just wonder is there anything else the GAA could do to help them.

If it hadn't been for the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Donegal over the last few years, the farce would have been exposed even more.

If you look at a player like Andy Moran of Mayo as an example, who probably played on the best team Mayo ever produced and indeed one of the best teams that ever played, great on the eye, to think that in all likelihood he and that team were denied because of the unfairness of the GAA, is scandalous and simply wrong. That was a classic generational team, not a team helped by millions to create robots, the money even turned Jim Gavin into a robot in the end, if he had stayed in the game much longer he would have been electrocuted with all the wires hanging out of his ears. Will David Clifford of Kerry suffer the same fate as Moran or will time save him, who knows. How many more generational teams will be denied by the money men ? It's wrong.

So no matter what way you look at it, the paper trail leads you back to the unfair investment, but don't blame Dublin, it's the GAA who have created the monster but unless things are radically changed, in time the monster will end up costing the GAA big time."
Agreed. I don't think many actually blame Dublin, it was a massive mess up by the gaa. Dublin benefited but it was not their doing."
Well Dublin attract criticism as well because they go on the defensive and try to convince themselves and others that their success has nothing to do with unfair investment and other perks. Nobody wants their playing career tainted by constant reminders of unfairness, so it's understandable. I heard Pat Gilroy say that "nobody was giving out when Kerry and Kilkenny were winning everything", he's right, people weren't giving out because people understood their successes had nothing to do with unfair investment by the GAA and Government. "]How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!"]How do you mean "into the squad" ? Sure the squad is the one of the end products of the investment."]You are still missing the point. If this current team is the product of the government's/GAA's investment in underage Dublin football/social projects then why arent they winning All Ireland Minor titles every year?"]I did reply to you earlier so hopefully it has not been blocked, if so I will need to reword it and the contents will be self explanatory, for anyone that can process facts at least. "]And just to pull you up for a second, don't tell me I'm missing the point when you posed the question "How much money from either the government or GAA goes into their squad? None I'd be guessing!" and then you answered it by guessing. I don't fall for that sort of headline grabbing stuff, I'll answer anyone's question fairly. You can be certain AG never misses the point, ever! I suppose you don't know that Dublin have won more U-20's since 2012 than they ever won before, just letting you know. I never heard any county brag about Minors or U-20's. There's only one show in town, and I'm sure you know that as well.

AfricanGael (UK) - Posts: 1947 - 05/05/2021 21:29:45    2340177

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Replying To galwayford:  "I have made allegations here about Meath especially. They lack spirit and so on. The reason I am saying it is because some of their posters and others, are complaining about the one sided Leinster football championship. There is more to Dublin's success than just spirit, tactics, finance, Croke park and so on. I would urge Meath and Kildare to develope say 3 year plans. Year one, Keep Dubs to 5-10 point win, year 2 to keep it to a couple of points and finally year 3 to actually win. And start planning and lobbying the GAA for the money and resources to achieve this goal. Galway play Westmeath in hurling next weekend. Hope they can win."
What I find annoying about this thread is seeing people from other Provinces, who's teams, such as Galway, have no chance of beating Dublin in the championship jumping in to criticise Meath for not being competitive against Dublin in Leinster. We then read that Meath could not win any provincial championship despite division 3 teams being current Munster and Ulster champions. This current Dublin team are the most dominant team in GAA inter county history. They have been involved in one match in the last 3 championships that they had any realistic danger of losing, a game they played mostly with 14 men.
Playing modern inter county Gaelic football is a huge commitment. Playing with Dublin in the same provincial championship does impact the attractiveness of inter county football and make it harder to get players to commit to inter county panels which then again weakens the team. This is an issue for Meath, transplant any county who currently are contenders in their provence into Leinster and it would be an issue for them also as you would drastically reduce chance if winning a provincial championship so make the commitment required less attractive. I am not saying this because I like whinging, a Meath man didn't start this topic and in responding to some posts it is only a logical response.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1347 - 06/05/2021 00:08:41    2340195

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