National Forum

Has The Hurling Championship Got Too Many Tiers?

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1. Provincial Championships
2. Joe McDonagh Cup
3. Christy Ring Cup
4. Nicky Rackard Cup
5. Lory Meagher Cup

In my humble opinion there should be a merger of tiers 2 & 3. There should also be a merger of tiers 4 & 5.
The names of the lower tier championships doesn't give them any razzmatazz at all.
2.3 National Championship:
2 groups of 6.
Group winners contest All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals versus Provincial 3rd Place teams.
2nd and 3rd in both groups to contest National Championship Quarter-finals.
Group winners versus Quarter-final winners in the semi-finals.
4th and 5th should contest National Championship B quarter-finals. The B Quarter-final winners should be drawn against the A Quarter-finals losers in B semi-finals.
The National Championship A and B finals can be curtain raiser to both All-Ireland semi-finals.
4.5 National Conference:
2 groups of 6.
Group winners versus Group runners-up in the A semi-finals.
3rd versus 4th in the B semi-finals.
The A and B finals could be curtain raiser to both All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Debatable points:
Some might scoff at the proposed National Championship and National Conference having B finals. I would argue it gives more teams an opportunity to showcase their talent in Croke Park. The B finals can be the Saturday curtain raiser with the A finals being the Sunday curtain raiser.
A merger of Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring can bring in the excitement of a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals before the final.
Group winners can have their home All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-final and a home National Championship semi-final. That's a great platform on which to promote the game and their talents within their respective counties.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7876 - 20/03/2022 11:07:13    2405891

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Replying To legendzxix:  "1. Provincial Championships
2. Joe McDonagh Cup
3. Christy Ring Cup
4. Nicky Rackard Cup
5. Lory Meagher Cup

In my humble opinion there should be a merger of tiers 2 & 3. There should also be a merger of tiers 4 & 5.
The names of the lower tier championships doesn't give them any razzmatazz at all.
2.3 National Championship:
2 groups of 6.
Group winners contest All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals versus Provincial 3rd Place teams.
2nd and 3rd in both groups to contest National Championship Quarter-finals.
Group winners versus Quarter-final winners in the semi-finals.
4th and 5th should contest National Championship B quarter-finals. The B Quarter-final winners should be drawn against the A Quarter-finals losers in B semi-finals.
The National Championship A and B finals can be curtain raiser to both All-Ireland semi-finals.
4.5 National Conference:
2 groups of 6.
Group winners versus Group runners-up in the A semi-finals.
3rd versus 4th in the B semi-finals.
The A and B finals could be curtain raiser to both All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Debatable points:
Some might scoff at the proposed National Championship and National Conference having B finals. I would argue it gives more teams an opportunity to showcase their talent in Croke Park. The B finals can be the Saturday curtain raiser with the A finals being the Sunday curtain raiser.
A merger of Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring can bring in the excitement of a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals before the final.
Group winners can have their home All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-final and a home National Championship semi-final. That's a great platform on which to promote the game and their talents within their respective counties."
Amazing, you have spent the last few week campaigning to add another tier to the football C'ship & now you want to get rid of tiers in the Hurling C'ship. Your post looks very much like a proposal from an internal GAA Committee.

As for "the names of the lower tier championships doesn't give them any razzmataz at all", well the Tailteann Cup doesn't exactly set the world alight either.

The GAA are great at complicating everything & it seems they all want to be seen to make changes every year, leaving their stamp or legacy. The constant tinkering with rules & formats every year is destroying games. The best games & excitement we have had in years is when C'ship reverted back to knockout because of Covid, spectators loved it & it added a real edge to games. Clubs actually had season as well.
The GAA constantly complaining about burnout but yet added 65% more Inter County games this year to the schedule. Things need to be simplified, less games & let players have lives. Put sport before money & TV Rights. The GAA is fast becoming a business which is less & less about participation & volunteerism & more about certain people building profiles for themselves at every level & what they can get out of it.

Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 20/03/2022 13:26:39    2405909

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"Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7876 - 20/03/2022 13:54:42    2405915

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Replying To legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
Wicklow, Mayo, and London do not belong in Joe McDonagh. Donegal have beaten all of them this year. I think Joe McDonagh should be increased to 8 and then reassess every 3 years to see whether other counties have improved.

Rolo2010 (Donegal) - Posts: 739 - 21/03/2022 16:06:17    2406275

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Replying To legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
No leave it as is, the current system is working well, if it's not broke don't fix it.

Cuhullain (Kildare) - Posts: 271 - 21/03/2022 19:33:06    2406325

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Replying To Rolo2010:  "
Replying To legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
Wicklow, Mayo, and London do not belong in Joe McDonagh. Donegal have beaten all of them this year. I think Joe McDonagh should be increased to 8 and then reassess every 3 years to see whether other counties have improved."
Fully agree about Wicklow, Mayo and London.

Nowhere near that level.

I remember seeing a result from an under 21 hurling b quarter final 3 or 4 years ago Kerry 7-22 Donegal 1-4 and it would be the same if they met at senior level.

The standard in hurling and the gap is just too big between some tiers.

Past hurler (None) - Posts: 741 - 21/03/2022 21:41:07    2406345

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Replying To Past hurler:  "
Replying To Rolo2010:  "[quote=legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
Wicklow, Mayo, and London do not belong in Joe McDonagh. Donegal have beaten all of them this year. I think Joe McDonagh should be increased to 8 and then reassess every 3 years to see whether other counties have improved."
Fully agree about Wicklow, Mayo and London.

Nowhere near that level.

I remember seeing a result from an under 21 hurling b quarter final 3 or 4 years ago Kerry 7-22 Donegal 1-4 and it would be the same if they met at senior level.

The standard in hurling and the gap is just too big between some tiers."]The only thing that reduces the gap is investment in hurling. Donegal have 10 clubs. Both Letterkenny clubs offer hurling. So do clubs in Ballyshannon, Donegal Town, Dungloe, Ballybofey, and Inishowen. Donegal are in 2B but I'm sure they would improve a lot more if each club has access to high quality coaching from a young age. We have 10 adult clubs total which is more than Derry and just behind Down.

Rolo2010 (Donegal) - Posts: 739 - 22/03/2022 09:45:03    2406368

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Replying To legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
If you look down at the Lory Meagher & Nicky Rackard level I don't think there is much between the teams at that level and there probably is no need for the Lory Meagher anymore. Sligo were in the Lory Meagher about 4 years ago, got promoted to the Rackard, got promoted from that to the Christy Ring and were competitive in that last year other than against Offaly. Removing one of the competitions would increase the number of games teams get, and the number of different teams they play against, which would benefit everyone.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 22/03/2022 10:05:04    2406377

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Replying To Past hurler:  "
Replying To Rolo2010:  "[quote=legendzxix:  ""Not sure what the purpose of your reducing the number of hurling tiers is about but if you want to improve the standards of hurling in the weaker counties, then invest heavily in club hurling in those counties rather than the usual lip service paid to them by Croke Park & all its Committees.
moc.dna (Galway)"
My argument is that more teams should be in Tier 2. With 2 groups of 6, there can be a run of quarter-finals and semi-finals to lead into the Joe McDonagh final. The counties can have a platform to get to the final on a wave of more publicity.
Derry, Wicklow, Mayo, London and Kildare are teams that wouldn't be out of place in this year's McDonagh Cup.
12 Tier 2 teams chasing 2 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-finals is a big reward. I hope to see Kerry host a preliminary quarter-final this year. If Kerry can retain our McDonagh status, I will have sympathy for any of our rivals who have to drop to Tier 3. A narrow pool of 6 teams in Tier 2 is not gaining enough traction for the promotion of the game. An expansion to 12 can give more decent standard counties the status of Tier 2."
Wicklow, Mayo, and London do not belong in Joe McDonagh. Donegal have beaten all of them this year. I think Joe McDonagh should be increased to 8 and then reassess every 3 years to see whether other counties have improved."
Fully agree about Wicklow, Mayo and London.

Nowhere near that level.

I remember seeing a result from an under 21 hurling b quarter final 3 or 4 years ago Kerry 7-22 Donegal 1-4 and it would be the same if they met at senior level.

The standard in hurling and the gap is just too big between some tiers."]Imo the now former Intermediate and Junior grades should have been used as a way to try and bridge the gap now.

At Intermediate level Kerry could have played in Munster. Kildare, Wicklow Meath and depending on what grade they were at Westmeath or Carlow in Leinster. Roscommon and Mayo in Connacht. Armagh, Derry and Down in Ulster. It would have given teams more games during the summer and a t another level up.

The Junior championship would have been made up of the others like Donegal, Tyrone, Sligo etc

The issue with this is of course county boards don't want to spend the money on it. It's just an idea.

oneoff (UK) - Posts: 1380 - 22/03/2022 10:12:31    2406381

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No, it has the right number of tiers. The absolute most you could remove is 1 of them because beyond that the gap between teams is too big.
It is the blueprint for what football should be, if you ask me.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1737 - 22/03/2022 16:35:33    2406545

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "No, it has the right number of tiers. The absolute most you could remove is 1 of them because beyond that the gap between teams is too big.
It is the blueprint for what football should be, if you ask me."
3 Tiers would enough for football.

Seanfanbocht (Roscommon) - Posts: 1441 - 22/03/2022 17:18:27    2406559

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "No, it has the right number of tiers. The absolute most you could remove is 1 of them because beyond that the gap between teams is too big.
It is the blueprint for what football should be, if you ask me."
100% correct.

We need to be getting the Div 2 teams in the MacDonagh cup up to Div 1 levels. Not dragging them down with easier games.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 22/03/2022 18:21:06    2406572

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Top level hurling has become more and more of a closed shop and there doesn't seem to be any apatite to change this. All hurling changes have been to get more games between the top teams and ignoring the smaller counties. There is a glass ceiling that is very difficult to break through - no new county has made a break through since Offlay in the 70's.

Anything being tried is very restrictive in terms of promotion / relegation between tiers - and the solution is always to add another team rather than risk relegating a "big" team.

Its starting to become clear that the National League in hurling has lost meaning as a competition since the advent of the provincial round robins. I think the league should be the place to give teams a game against next tier teams. Division 1 has 12 teams; divisions 2,3, and 4 have six with 5 teams in division 5 (though they're called 2A, 2B, 3A & 3B for some reason).

Why not go back to a 8 teams in the divisions with 2 teams up and down each year. That would give the better division 2 teams some exposure to the top tier counties. Based of this years league Clare, Offaly, Laois and Antrim would be in division 2 with Down, Westmeath, Kerry and Carlow. There might be one or 2 blow outs in that division but most of the games would be close - and even Clare might find a trip up to Down a little bit trickier than they'd imagine.

As for the championship - the lines could be redrawn somewhat to remove a tier. The gulf below the top is not as wide as people seem to think. The games are tight and entertaining. I'll take last year's game between Westmeath and Kildare as an example. Westmeath beat Kildare by a point - This year Westmeath will be playing Liam McCarthy while Kildare will be playing Christy Ring.

brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 292 - 23/03/2022 14:40:38    2406693

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Replying To brianb:  "Top level hurling has become more and more of a closed shop and there doesn't seem to be any apatite to change this. All hurling changes have been to get more games between the top teams and ignoring the smaller counties. There is a glass ceiling that is very difficult to break through - no new county has made a break through since Offlay in the 70's.

Anything being tried is very restrictive in terms of promotion / relegation between tiers - and the solution is always to add another team rather than risk relegating a "big" team.

Its starting to become clear that the National League in hurling has lost meaning as a competition since the advent of the provincial round robins. I think the league should be the place to give teams a game against next tier teams. Division 1 has 12 teams; divisions 2,3, and 4 have six with 5 teams in division 5 (though they're called 2A, 2B, 3A & 3B for some reason).

Why not go back to a 8 teams in the divisions with 2 teams up and down each year. That would give the better division 2 teams some exposure to the top tier counties. Based of this years league Clare, Offaly, Laois and Antrim would be in division 2 with Down, Westmeath, Kerry and Carlow. There might be one or 2 blow outs in that division but most of the games would be close - and even Clare might find a trip up to Down a little bit trickier than they'd imagine.

As for the championship - the lines could be redrawn somewhat to remove a tier. The gulf below the top is not as wide as people seem to think. The games are tight and entertaining. I'll take last year's game between Westmeath and Kildare as an example. Westmeath beat Kildare by a point - This year Westmeath will be playing Liam McCarthy while Kildare will be playing Christy Ring."
The problem is many "hurling people" don't want any sort of change. You see how they react when the colour of the ball was changed.

Everything is done to keep the top teams happy. A number of years ago Antrim and I think it was Wexford were to play in a relagation play off and they just refused to play it. While others have to play countless play offs to be promoted.

In the early 2010s Clare were in Div 2 and their manager of the time complained about how it wasn't going to be any help to them and said they considered not even playing in it. It was probably after that anytime one of the "top" looked like dropping down the format would be changed to suit them.

It's actually not even the likes likes of Kilkenny, Tipp etc who get things their own way. Let's not forget Antrim never actually won the Christy Ring Cup and were just put into the Joe McDonagh Cup in it's first season.

oneoff (UK) - Posts: 1380 - 24/03/2022 08:05:01    2406774

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Replying To oneoff:  "The problem is many "hurling people" don't want any sort of change. You see how they react when the colour of the ball was changed.

Everything is done to keep the top teams happy. A number of years ago Antrim and I think it was Wexford were to play in a relagation play off and they just refused to play it. While others have to play countless play offs to be promoted.

In the early 2010s Clare were in Div 2 and their manager of the time complained about how it wasn't going to be any help to them and said they considered not even playing in it. It was probably after that anytime one of the "top" looked like dropping down the format would be changed to suit them.

It's actually not even the likes likes of Kilkenny, Tipp etc who get things their own way. Let's not forget Antrim never actually won the Christy Ring Cup and were just put into the Joe McDonagh Cup in it's first season."
I agree. An 8 team Division 1 would not suit the bigger teams as they might need to treat a couple of league games seriously to stay in Division 1. So hard to see this change.

Looking back at the records from the early 2010's when there was a Division 1/2/3/4 structure Clare were stuck in Division 2. That was probably a bit unfair on them. 2 up and 2 down each year would prevent the decent team from getting stuck in a lower division like that and give all teams a bit more exposure to a slightly higher level.

brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 292 - 24/03/2022 10:15:53    2406786

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Replying To oneoff:  "The problem is many "hurling people" don't want any sort of change. You see how they react when the colour of the ball was changed.

Everything is done to keep the top teams happy. A number of years ago Antrim and I think it was Wexford were to play in a relagation play off and they just refused to play it. While others have to play countless play offs to be promoted.

In the early 2010s Clare were in Div 2 and their manager of the time complained about how it wasn't going to be any help to them and said they considered not even playing in it. It was probably after that anytime one of the "top" looked like dropping down the format would be changed to suit them.

It's actually not even the likes likes of Kilkenny, Tipp etc who get things their own way. Let's not forget Antrim never actually won the Christy Ring Cup and were just put into the Joe McDonagh Cup in it's first season."
You're right but I also do think it's fine to just facilitate them staying up.

12 feels to me like a good number for the top tier.

You have those 9 top counties plus then 3 developing counties with a chance to stay up for a few years.

Below that you are left with 23 teams then. It does feel like 3 more tiers is fine for that.

The 5 tiers overall just kind of happened to accommodate the second level of counties having an All Ireland pathway.

Really should just be 12 in the top championship and no need for preliminary quarterfinals for McDonagh teams.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 24/03/2022 10:34:11    2406790

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Replying To Whammo86:  "You're right but I also do think it's fine to just facilitate them staying up.

12 feels to me like a good number for the top tier.

You have those 9 top counties plus then 3 developing counties with a chance to stay up for a few years.

Below that you are left with 23 teams then. It does feel like 3 more tiers is fine for that.

The 5 tiers overall just kind of happened to accommodate the second level of counties having an All Ireland pathway.

Really should just be 12 in the top championship and no need for preliminary quarterfinals for McDonagh teams."
I think that makes a lot of sense. In the Championship a 1 up and 1 down process works very well. It should be automatic.

I'd get rid of the McDonagh cup promote an extra team to to the Munster championship (12 team tier 1); combine the remaining McDonagh teams with the top 3 Christy Ring teams (8) for tier 2. Put the remaining Christy Ring teams into the Nicky Rackard cup (8 team tier 3) relegating 1 team to the 4th tier. That has us almost back at the original design of the competitions.

I'd add that the league should be used to get teams exposure to teams in the tier above / below them - it should have more fluid promotion / relegation and would go a long way to opening up the competition.

brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 292 - 24/03/2022 12:30:34    2406827

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Replying To Whammo86:  "You're right but I also do think it's fine to just facilitate them staying up.

12 feels to me like a good number for the top tier.

You have those 9 top counties plus then 3 developing counties with a chance to stay up for a few years.

Below that you are left with 23 teams then. It does feel like 3 more tiers is fine for that.

The 5 tiers overall just kind of happened to accommodate the second level of counties having an All Ireland pathway.

Really should just be 12 in the top championship and no need for preliminary quarterfinals for McDonagh teams."
A Division 2 of 8 teams ranked 9-16 was unfair on teams 9 and 10. Those 2 teams were not getting sufficient quality games before the championship.
A Division 1B of 6 teams ranked 7-12 did meet the criteria of providing teams 9 and 10, and teams 7 and 8, with quality games before the championship.
The onus was on 1A managers to find the right balance between being competitive while not fearing Division 1B. It made no sense to be scared of 1B when it had proven to be a competitive level.
2A to the current Division 1 is too steep. A return of Divisions 1A and 1B is a must.
The bottom team of 1A should be relegated. The winner of the 1B final should be promoted. Division 1A should have a straight final for the top 2.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7876 - 24/03/2022 12:54:50    2406836

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No.

foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 1931 - 24/03/2022 12:55:57    2406837

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Replying To legendzxix:  "A Division 2 of 8 teams ranked 9-16 was unfair on teams 9 and 10. Those 2 teams were not getting sufficient quality games before the championship.
A Division 1B of 6 teams ranked 7-12 did meet the criteria of providing teams 9 and 10, and teams 7 and 8, with quality games before the championship.
The onus was on 1A managers to find the right balance between being competitive while not fearing Division 1B. It made no sense to be scared of 1B when it had proven to be a competitive level.
2A to the current Division 1 is too steep. A return of Divisions 1A and 1B is a must.
The bottom team of 1A should be relegated. The winner of the 1B final should be promoted. Division 1A should have a straight final for the top 2."
A Division 2 of 8 teams ranked 9-16 was unfair on teams 9 and 10.

Indeed - relegation in hurling is always unfair on the team relegated.

brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 292 - 24/03/2022 15:24:17    2406870

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