General GAA thread

[blockhead]

UP THE DUBS!
6 in a row, now for the Magnificent Seven.

[JB1973]

right so the fixtures are starting to get announced

time to place my bets is it as straight forward as Limerick for the hurling and Dublin for the football?

[berliner]

Thought Dublin were flattered by the scoreline and the draw today, the impact of the weakened panel was there to see, Tough to think of McCaffrey and Mannion watching it at home while they're still in their prime (not that they owe anything to anyone). No Cluxton or Rock either, and Brian Howard only brought on for a closing cameo. Clifford is a constant threat, but Kerry's weakness at the back may trip them up. This year's Championship will be competitive and will, I suspect, mark the end of Dublin's incredible run.

[Laighin Break]

I was also thinking about McCaffrey while watching the game - he really is a game changer, and I think Dublin will feel his absence more this year.
Mannion is a strange one - All Stars in '17, '18 and '19 - yet spent most of last season on the bench. Dessie mustn't rate him as highly as Jim (and most of the country) do.

[JB1973]

so looking at the season so far would be it safe to say as long as the draw keeps them apart it's looking like a Dublin vs Kerry football final?

[cormac]

so looking at the season so far would be it safe to say as long as the draw keeps them apart it's looking like a Dublin vs Kerry football final?

They can't meet until the final this year.

[Laighin Break]

Mayo and Donegal/Tyrone in with a shout, but hard to see anything other than a Kerry - Dublin final

[JB1973]

Mayo and Donegal/Tyrone in with a shout, but hard to see anything other than a Kerry - Dublin final

I saw Kerry had a big win this weekend, what is the situation with getting fans back into the stadiums? what sort of crowd will be allowed in for the semis/finals

[berliner]

Mayo and Donegal/Tyrone in with a shout, but hard to see anything other than a Kerry - Dublin final

I saw Kerry had a big win this weekend, what is the situation with getting fans back into the stadiums? what sort of crowd will be allowed in for the semis/finals

Currently a maximum of 18,000 are allowed into Croke Park (capacity of 82,300), there were 16,000 at the Connacht final last weekend. There is discussion about increasing the numbers for the semis, no decision yet.

Provided Dublin don't slip up against Kildare on Sunday, they will play a semi-final against Mayo. Lots of history there, Dublin feel vulnerable and the squad appears disjointed for the first time in a decade as the uncertainty over Cluxton lingers. In my view he has been the totemic figure of this team, so it matters way beyond the question of who is keeping goal (his successor, Evan Comerford, is very able).

Kerry gave Cork a whacking, some vengeance there for Cork's unexpected elimination of them with a last minute goal last year.

[JB1973]

So the Kerry game is postponed, I'm guessing Dublin will be too good for mayo?

[Dave Cahill]

I would suggest that this is Mayo's best ever chance to beat Dublin. It's also probably their last, coz if they don't this squad is donezo

[Ruckedtobits]

Mayo's defeat of Dublin yesterday reminded me of the end of the Matt O'Connor era with us. The first year he just wound up the machine and it kept working and brought us a Pro 14 title. The second year, too many parts were missing and although capable of reproducing some of the same shapes and scores, there was no innovation or leadership apparent when the pressure came on.

Who will be the next one to take on the mantle of Dublin Manager? I am nothing but an interested outsider but the performance of Offaly Under 20's against Dublin did not suggest that an underage Dublin Manager is waiting in the wings to don the mantle of Jim Gavin.

Six years was a long reign and Mayo are worthy opponents and good victors but Kerry, despite the absence of proper preparation look a better team by 6/7 points at least. Unfortunate to see the Dubs era end as a damp squip but yesterday was a rudderless performance with nothing attempted to change the course of the game from the third quarter onwards.

[berliner]

In the 2019 meeting between these teams, Dublin played arguably their most explosive offensive phase of the decade in the twelve minutes after half-time, scoring 2-6. Of that CO'C took two goals and Paul Mannion kicked three unbelievable points from distance. We missed him on Saturday.

This time around Dublin went twenty minutes without a score from the end of normal time in the first half until the fifty second minute. Poor finishing saw James McCarthy and Dean Rock (twice) shoot wides and Con hit the post. The malaise seemed to spread backwards, degenerating into an aimless possession game which saw Dublin unable to launch an attack or even leave their own half. Astonishingly they didn't manage a shot of any type on goal in the last twelve minutes of normal time.

This felt like a self-inflicted defeat against a Mayo whose motivation and courage compensated for their own imperfections. I will cheer for them against Kerry (hard to imagine Tyrone overturning that presumption) but they will require a new level of accuracy. It is a bitter irony that Cillian O'Connor will have to sit this one out. Hopefully Oisin Mullin will be back for the final.

John Small's shoulder on Eoghan McLaughlin shows that the GAA need to emulate the changes in Rugby as regards player safety. There was no malign intent on John Small's part, and his vilification is unfair, but the hit was high and dangerous. These challenges are now regularly punished with red cards on the rugby field and we all understand why. Football needs to follow this example before there is a tragedy or an insurance supernova.

Lastly, Dublin needed this beating to catalyse renewal. This may take a couple of years. And it will involve further defeats. But fans will recover their hunger for victory, sated of late by endless success. My greatest experience as a sports fan was the final ten minutes against Kerry in 2011, and it was euphoric because we had been wandering the desert for the previous sixteen years. I feel honoured to have followed this squad of players. And to have witnessed greatness.

[cormac]

At the game on Saturday it was very noticeable how few runs into space the Dublin forwards were making, particularly as the game wore on. Their hallmark in previous years along with players making runs off shoulders were noticeable mostly by their absence. They appeared more obsessed with holding on to possession than actually figuring out how to create space and scores.

At least it should put a halt to all the split Dublin talk. People may start to finally realise how exceptional the playing group and management were and that it wasn't some kind of new normal.

[fourthirtythree]

At least it should put a halt to all the split Dublin talk. People may start to finally realise how exceptional the playing group and management were and that it wasn't some kind of new normal.

I love your refreshing optimism.

I don't share it mind, but I love that someone has it.

[JB1973]

Time and the law of averages catches up with every one great run by Dublin but everything comes to an end

The other semi final will be interesting Kerry must be getting rusty but will Tyrone be physically fit enough after the covid outbreak to last a full game

Will the mayo curse finally be lifted, I take it there will be some serious celebrating down west if they win ?

[Ruckedtobits]

Watching Meath Women give a superb display of competitive running and intelligent passing I was struck by the potential rugby ability of Vicki Wall and Emma Duggan in particular, but not exclusively, as players who have the innate football ability to gave the Irish Women's rugby team a serious uplift.

Duggan has the vision, speed and confidence to guide Ireland from out-half for the next decade whilst Wall could replace our aging but graceful centre Naopu with her size, mobility and speed.

[blockhead]

I'd have loved to see Mayo win the All Ireland today.
Then again its hilarious that they lost yet again, 11th time since 1989 or whatever.
I'm not an expert on curse's and enchantments but this one's a doozey.
If Mayo were a rugby team they'd be Munster.

[JB1973]

the curse lives on !

[hugonaut]

Really good win for the Dubs on Sunday, even a great win.

It was an intense match rather than a barn-burner. Loads of good/frustrating turnovers from both defences kept the momentum swings quite short, and there were a good few wides, 17 in total [8 from the Dubs, 9 from Kerry]. From my superficial knowledge of the game, I wouldn't say a classic. But I think that it meant a hell of a lot to the players.

I don't know if I've ever seen Cluxton smiling as much as he was in the aftermath. He looked so happy! To come back out of what was essentially intercounty retirement after two years to get a job done, and then carry out that job essentially to perfection, must be a great, great feeling. Real 'king asleep in the mountain' stuff ... he steps back after the six in a row, we basically go into decline for two years, then he comes back at a great age and turns in a huge performance to help put us back on top of the pile.

I would say that there will be a raft of retirements after that. There's no more mountains left to climb for a lot of these lads. They are in the position where they have already tasted what it feels like when you're losing and past your best. They were able to reach out and claw one more handful of success with that taste of failure still in their mouths. If it was me, I would much rather go into retirement with that feeling of success rather than play on for the inevitable decline.

For the very oldest of them – Cluxton, McCarthy, Fitzsimons – they got that first All Ireland in 2011 after a wait of 16 years. Cluxton had already played a decade of intercounty before winning an All Ireland. Then they lost it and had to win it back. Then it was a case of going back-to-back, which marks you out as a special team. Then the three-in-a row, the hat-trick, which has its own sort of magic - a genuinely great team. Then you get into competition with the greatest team of the twentieth century, trying to equal Kerry's record of four in a row. Then breaking that record with the five-in-a-row, the greatest achievement.

The six in a row was a damp squib – played out in empty stadiums during Covid, not really jousting at anything anymore, just extending your own record to the point where there was no acclaim at all. People in Dublin taking it for granted, people outside Dublin just sick of it and complaining about every aspect of it.

Then to go into real decline [getting relegated in the league, ffs] and see that the next tranche of players, the lads who have been waiting in the wings, simply aren't as good as the players they are trying to replace. To see that the infrastructure and the system wasn't quite as big a part of the success as it was made out to be. And then to get one more big effort from players who had stepped away or retired or were thinking of retiring in order to get back on top? Absolute magic. That's a very special win for them.