Merit in round-robin proposal
As the championship approached, it was interesting to observe that there was so much talk about its format, with such notable names as Damien Cassidy, Danny Murphy, James McCartan and GAA President Christy Cooney expressing views on the subject.
The Ard-Sturthóir, Páraic Duffy, has written extensively about the championship format in his report to Congress. He gave a comprehensive analysis of the situation but, strangely, no one commented on it at Congress. Ironically, this absence of discussion on the subject seemed to bear out his observation that “criticism of the provincial championship typically emanates from outside the Association.”
No one from outside the GAA could be a delegate to Congress – no discussion, point proven.
But the comments of the past week came very much from within the Association. Derry manager Cassidy fired the first shot when he bemoaned a system that was very unfair to counties such as his own. As the championship is based on a provincial system of four provinces of unequal numerical strength, it’s impossible to have a system that is fair in terms of the number of games played and the relative strength of counties in each sector.
Cassidy’s observation that it is harder to win a provincial title in Ulster than in the other provinces is correct. And, as a consequence of this, the counties in the other provinces had an advantage, especially in reserves of energy, when it came to the All-Ireland series.
Cassidy’s frustration was well founded. The winners of the Derry and Armagh game now qualify for a quarter-final against Monaghan and if they survive that they have two more games to play against the best in Ulster to become provincial champions.
And then the All-Ireland series awaits. Cassidy noted that only one county (Armagh 2005) in 65 years had come out the preliminary round to win an Ulster title.
His call for change seemed to draw a quick response from Ulster secretary, Danny Murphy, who fiercely and logically defended the status quo. Then wee James McCartan entered the fray by suggesting a round robin type provincial championship across the country with the top two teams in each group going forward to the provincial semi-finals. McCartan’s thesis has two great merits as it preserves the provincial system and gives the same number of games to all teams within a province.
It might well turn out to be the preferred solution down the line but like things in the GAA, changes of that kind take time to get widespread support.
One point Duffy, Cooney and Murphy are adamant on is that the open draw is not a runner. Duffy stated: “It is a fact that the games in the provincial championship continue to attract significantly larger attendances than those in the four rounds of the qualifiers, even when the exact same counties are involved.”
To prove his point, Duffy referred to independent research on the subject which confirmed that local rivalry is a highly significant factor in attendance of GAA games.
Christy Cooney was equally adamant stating that he couldn’t see an open draw working for the championship. He said: “People talk about home and away. You saw how many Cork fans travelled up for a National League final. How many will go to Donegal if they draw Donegal in an away game?” Point proven, no open draw then.
The provincial system is here to stay yet the issue of ‘fairness’ won’t go away.
In hurling it has been addressed effectively by the inclusion of Galway and Antrim in the Leinster championship bringing some semblance of parity with the great annual test that is its Munster equivalent. Maybe one day we will see McCartan’s round-robin proposal introduced at provincial level and if that happens there would be no need for qualifiers.
It’s a nice idea and would embellish rather than diminish the provincial championships.
