No sense to semis in Croker
The former Cork star and manager also believes the decider should be played in Kerry or Cork if both teams win their respective last four games against Mayo and Down.
Tompkins is more concerned about the impact an extra weekend of inter-county fixtures will have on the club scene, particularly in Cork where it’s set to go into overdrive in the coming weeks.
He felt the previous system which ran between 2008 and 2011 was a better one.
“Is it necessary to have semi-finals at all?” said Tompkins. “I much preferred the top two going through to the final.
“That seemed to be an okay system but for some mystifying reason they decided to change it.
“We’re coming into the club championships now with a lot of players involved. It’s a busy time of year.
“You have the GAA giving out that there’s not enough time given to the club scene but it’s being knocked again.
“Clubs have to keep things going financially and then they have players moving away and emigration is a real source of controversy at the moment.
“A lot of clubs don’t have any of their inter-county players training with them and that’s an unnecessary situation with these semi-finals.
“I preferred when all the four finals were played on the same weekend in Croke Park and there were no semi-finals. You’d see a lot of games that way and ones that mattered for this time of year. I don’t see any reason for these semis. It’s a bit of a joke, for example, that Kerry are facing Mayo one week after they played each other.”
For that reason among others, Tompkins can’t see many Kerry and Cork supporters making the trip to Dublin for this weekend’s games.
“The players obviously would like to play in Croke Park and that’s understandable.
“Dublin don’t seem to be the same type of team as they are out of there and other teams want to play there as much as they can.
“But who’s going to go up there? It’s not going to be easy for supporters but the GAA aren’t looking at that aspect. Kerry and Cork have proven to be brilliant supporters of the GAA but now they’re looking at a semi-final and wondering is it worth their while to go.”
An adult stand ticket for Sunday’s double-header is €20 but Tompkins thinks the GAA must drop prices for single league games to make them more attractive.
“The price of going to a league game still needs to be looked at. You paid €13 into a league game this year but why not €10? Why can’t they make it more appealing and try and fill the stadium?”
Should Kerry and Cork win through to the final, the counties might look to have the game played in Killarney as per their home-away agreement for league play-offs.
However, the Division 1 and 2 finals have been played in Croke Park as a double-header for the past three years. Tyrone and Kildare are set to be on the undercard this year.
Tompkins believes it’s only logical that the game be fixed closer to the contesting counties.
“You’d imagine they would agree to that. It would make sense for that to happen.”
Meanwhile, defending champions Cork’s chances of reaching a third consecutive Division 1 final have been boosted by the absence of Down duo Danny Hughes and Dan Gordon for Sunday’s game. Hughes, a 2010 All Star, is still recovering from a torn hamstring which ruled him out of the win over Laois last weekend and is likely to be sidelined for six weeks.
The versatile Gordon went off in the game in Portlaoise with a broken bone in his foot.
Sligo’s Michael Duffy will referee the game while Eddie Kinsella of Laois takes charge of the opening game between Kerry and Mayo.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
