Our league finale was butchered by the impending championship - with those facing tougher games in early rounds, pulling back to avoid league finals.

To solve the problem why not use the league to properly seed the championship.
As it is this year - Connacht have 3 teams in the top 8, but only 2 will get home draws in the All Ireland. Leinster will have 2 counties with home draws but only 1 team in Div 1. - As long as the All Ireland seeding rewards weaker provinces, it will always be a flawed competition

Keep the current 4 leagues - (i would advocated changing that to 4 groups of 6 + a group of 8, but thats for another day)

Remove league finals - top of league wins.

Round of 16 in All ireland
Seed 1 = Provincial winner
Seed 2 = Provincial winner
Seed 3 = Provincial winner
Seed 4 = Provincial winner
Seed 5 = Div 1 winner
Seed 6 = All Ireland Champions
Seed 7 = Div 1 Rup

if there is a double up above (i.e Kerry would be seeded 3 times). The teams below them move up in the seeding.

The remaining seeds are decided by play off.
Div 1 play offs
3rd place play off = 3rd v 6th,
4th place play off = 4th v 5th.

Seed 8 = Winner of Div 1 3rd place play off
Seed 9 = Winner of Div 1 4th place play off
Seed 10 = Loser of 4th place play off
Seed 11 = Loser of 3rd place play off
Seed 12 = Div 2 winner
Seed 13 = Div 2 R up

Div 1/2 play offs

Play off 1 - 3rd Div 2 v 8th Div 1
Play off 2 - 4th Div 2 v 7th Div 1

Seed 14 = Play off 1 winner
Seed 15 = Play off 2 winner
Seed 16 = Play off 2 loser
Seed 17 = Play off 1 loser
Seed 18 = Tailteann Cup winner

Bottom seeds
5th Div 2, 6th Div 2, Winner of Div 3, Rup Div 3


Add reality to that and instead of a league final (which always has either Kerry, Dublin or Mayo in it)

So for 2026 we would have got

Round of 16 in All ireland
Seed 1 = Provincial winner -
Seed 2 = Provincial winner -
Seed 3 = Provincial winner -
Seed 4 = Provincial winner -
Seed 5 = Div 1 winner - Donegal
Seed 6 = All Ireland Champions - Kerry
Seed 7 = Div 1 Rup - Kerry (but already qualified as All Ireland Champions)

if there is a double up above (i.e Kerry seeded 2 times). The teams below them move up in the seeding.

The remaining seeds would have been decided by play off.
Div 1 play offs
3rd place play off = 3rd v 6th, (Mayo v Armagh)
4th place play off = 4th v 5th. (Roscommon v Galway)

Seed 7 = Winner of Div 1 3rd place play off (Armagh)
Seed 8 = Winner of Div 1 4th place play off (Galway)
Seed 9 = Loser of 4th place play off (Roscommon)
Seed 10 = Loser of 3rd place play off (Mayo)
Seed 11 = Div 2 winner (Cork)
Seed 12 = Div 2 R up (Meath)

Div 1/2 play offs

Play off 1 - 3rd Div 2 v 8th Div 1 (Louth v Monaghan)
Play off 2 - 4th Div 2 v 7th Div 1 (Derry v Dublin)

Seed 13 = Play off 1 winner (Louth)
Seed 14 = Play off 2 winner (Dublin)
Seed 16 = Play off 2 loser (Derry)
Seed 17 = Play off 1 loser (Monaghan)
Seed 18 = Tailteann Cup winner (Kildare)

Bottom seeds
5th Div 2, 6th Div 2, Winner of Div 3, Rup Div 3

Tyrone (19), Cavan (20), Down (21), Wexford (22)

So using the bookies odds to forecast provincial winners - the final seeding would be (seed 1-4 out of a hat)

Seed 1 - Galway
Seed 2 - Dublin
Seed 3 - Donegal
Seed 4 - Kerry
Seed 5 - Armagh
Seed 6 - Roscommon
Seed 7 - Mayo
Seed 8 - Cork
Seed 9 - Meath
Seed 10 - Derry
Seed 11 - Monaghan
Seed 12 - Kildare

Bottom 4 out of a hat
Seed 13 - Down
Seed 14 - Wexford
Seed 15 - Tyrone
Seed 16 - Cavan

1st round of All Ireland championship
Galway v Cavan
Dublin v Tyrone
Donegal v Wexford
Kerry v Down
Armagh v Kildare
Roscommon v Monaghan
Mayo V Derry
Cork v Meath

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1719 - 25/03/2026 11:43:58    2663052

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18897 - 25/03/2026 12:17:34    2663060