Dublin's John Costello asks ‘naysayers’ to give Super 8s a chance

Any chance the GAA ‘naysayers’ could give next season’s Super 8s a chance before declaring it an unmitigated disaster for everyone?

That’s the wish of Dublin GAA secretary John Costello who wants the new championship structure to be given a chance to sink or swim over the next three years.

“What has been clear, for some time, is that a format that had remained largely unchanged since the introduction of the qualifiers in 2001 badly needed a shake-up. You might well argue that there is no such thing as a ‘Super 8’, more likely, based on the outcomes during recent summers, a ‘Top 4’ comprising Dublin, Mayo, Kerry and one other (currently Tyrone) ... but if that really is the case, retaining the status quo was not a viable solution either, given the quarter-final beatings endured by the next four pretenders last summer.”