The GAA confirmed today that the draws for the group stages of both the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cups will be held next Tuesday, 2nd May.
The draws will be streamed live on the GAA’s web channel GAA NOW at 1pm on Tuesday. That time and that medium are, to be honest, both a bit of an odd choice but there you go.
The GAA also provided details (first link above) about Tuesday’s draws, which should help answer some of the questions people have been posing here and elsewhere in recent days. There’s also a good explanatory piece by Gordon Manning in today’s Irish Times (here), which is also helpful in the same respect.
Fixture details for all the group games will be confirmed by the CCCC on Friday week.
Ideally Dublin in Croker first up, i dont fancy going to Killarney and getting absolutely pummelled .
We might give Dublin a game, might.
Galway in Pearse stadium for me
Id take Armagh in the Athletic Grounds Great game against them there in the league. Would also prefer to avoid Kerry for the moment
JR, remember we’ll be out again the following week, will 7 days give traffic enough time to get out of Salthill ?
@Paddyjoejohntom
I’d be hoping for the Dubs Dubs Croker to think we could beat them while I said kerry are average without the Clifford’s it would be hard beating them in killarney when they are at championship full mode pace ha!
Not sure why you’re using Cliffords in the plural Clare, Paudie is a fine player, but his loss wouldn’t be felt that heavily, Sean O’Shea, Gavin Whyte, Tom O’Sullivan and (given their roles) arguably Tadhg Morley and Jason Foley are more important to the Kerry cause. While both him and David combined would obviously be big losses, we’re talking freakish stuff here – the odds of both being out injured for the campaign at once are just miniscule
I still think if David was injured it would galvanise them hugely and would bring on guys like Brosnan and Moynihan no end. The net effect on the team would be far less of a decline than you think. It would be better to happen early in the season though, rather than mid match in a semi or whatever. Everyone said Kerry were doomed without the Gooch in 2014
Don’t let their league form fool you, they know as well as anyone their provincial championship is a waste of time and there’s no real ball to played until later in the campaign. I suspect we would be (justifiably) raving here if we won a provincial game by scoring 25 points and only conceding 5, while at half pelt
@ciaran its just my opinion on kerry ?! Your entitled to think what you like also the league form is not fooling me at all !
Last year was a strange year Tyrone beat the same kerry side in 21 and last year they got an easy all Ireland as the Dubs were off form a bit.
I’m not the only one who says kerry are on average side bar the Clifford’s!!
As I said its my opinion!!
All teams have players who are the X factor.be it con o Callaghan for Dublin ,Shane Walsh Damien comer for Galway or the Clifford’s for Kerry.if mayo managed to win an all Ireland would we be called a bang average team without diarmaid o Connor and Ryan o Donaghue.Kerry will still be winning all Irelands long after the Clifford’s are gone
@1985 not saying kerry won’t be winning all irelands after the Clifford’s are gone!
They fell apart against Tyrone in semi 21 when Clifford wasn’t 100% and lost to Tyrone we’ve seen in other games when they are not playing they are not the same kind of team as the Dubs 6 in a row by a long shot.
Yes they are an ok side but I wouldn’t fear them. I’d actually fear Galway or an ulster team like Derry or Tyrone more tbh .
Yes every team has star players that makes them stand out but still sticking to my own opinion that they are an average team without them and I know plenty who think the same not just from mayo either !
If we lose our next match are we out of championships… stupid question I know but can’t get my head around new format.
Well personally I wouldn’t mind having Tom o Sullivan gavin white ,Morley, sean o Shea .tony Brosnan ,killian Spillane,dara Moynihan and Stephen o brien on my team and I would imagine they would make most county teams.I would be concerned about who will play full back for us if mcbrien isn’t fit .who will win possession for us in the middle of the field and how do we stop giving away sloppy goals
@my ball no we don’t think the round Robin is based on how many points you score I think in the games the top 3 teams end out of the 4 go through to preliminary quarters and the top team go straight through to quarters I’m not sure I think its all very confusing!
@My Ball no we wouldn’t be out of championship we lose our next game. We go into a group of 4 and play the other 3 teams in the group in a round robin. The top 3 teams in the group progress to the next round, with group winner going straight to All Ireland quarter final and the 2nd & 3rd placed teams moving onto a preliminary quarter final (winners of those ties meet a group winner in quarter final)
Thanks Clare and Mayo Focus .
Interesting times ahead . Hopefully we will have a strong panel to pick from . The break should do us good in that regard.
My ball, we can lose our next two games and still be in it.
Should have strong panel, fringe players not being released to play club leagues again it seems.
If we cant get out of the group stage in at least second place, then we have a big problem with this panel.
@culmore totally agree I would be really surprised if we didn’t though !
From a competitive perspective, I believe getting Dublin means drawing the Ulster finalists. Have not been to a match in Derry so they would be my preference….
I would think Dublin would be a very difficult Game for Mayo and ye would be better off up in Salthill or playing Armagh if they win Ulster. Derry were very badly exposed by Dublin in league final so hard to see them figuring when it matters. I would think you would surely come in top 3 out of 4 no matter what group ye are in. The Dub fans I speak to are confident as long as Con is 100% they will be hard bet this year.
Whatever group we get drawn in the goal would be to top that group and get straight into the quarter’s. The least number of game possible in getting there is always best and it would also be better for my season ticket
@chesneychet the Dubs are always confident in themselves some would nearly call it arrogance haha but I guess you can see why they are . I would still say we could beat the Dubs we beat them the last 2 meetings we played them.
We are better off playing the tough teams in the group stage and if we can’t beat them at that point well not much point in going through is there but I have full confidence we will bounce back from the Rossies.
If we don’t come top 3 out of 4 we need to ask questions for sure we should be topping even the groups.
Well done to Galway under 17s tonight hard luck to our guys was a really close match
sligo in the hyde for me
Yes Clare the U17 match was good, Galway probably deserved the win but both sides will be happy with the performance levels. Tuesday will be very interesting to see the draw but enjoy the Bank Holiday and we have KK in Nowlan Prk to worry about before any draw.
Need to finish 1st in the group IMO.
an away game to a provincial winner which is not going to be easy. If you lose that first game, you’re probably looking at 2nd/3rd place in the group which means you play 3 games on the trot – last group game, prelim QF and QF which is going to take a toll on the team
It depends on the group though
Kerry or Dublin away and we’re probably playing for 2nd at best. Draw an Armagh or Derry as well and 3rd isn’t at all out of the question, and couldn’t be considered a total catastrophe
However not even getting 2nd would be a disaster in a group containing the ulster winners, Sligo and a 4th seed. It all depends on the groups.
Funnily enough, despite the grumbling with the format, we’re on course for last year’s 4 semi finalists to be the top seeds. Any apathy from teams towards the provincials is not being shown on a widescale level this year anyway
And a bit of bank holiday weekend trivia, when is the last time all 4 provincial champions defended their titles?
Great interview from Lee keegan on off the ball about how the break will have done mayo good and that he met Eoghan mcghloulin in the gym and that he’s already feeling better after the break abd looking forward to going back to the big stuff and 1 bad game doesn’t make a team bad overnight they were just flat out!
@chesneychet it was a really close match so either team would have deserved it plenty of talent coming up from under 17 mayo but well done.
Here’s the link to Lee keegan interview if anyone wants to see it !
https://www.facebook.com/offtheball/videos/171524142506076/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
@Mikey: No, it’s an open draw for the group stages. Drawing Leinster champions (likely Dublin) just means you wouldn’t be drawing any of the other Provincial winners.
You’d still be 1/4 among all the second seeds/provincial losers (including Leinster losers in a group with Leinster winners) and 1/4 on all of the 4th seeds. Restrictions to avoid repeats of Provincial Final pairings (or Round One pairings) only kick in at pQF and QF stage and the old set Leinster/Ulster pairings are out the window rather than included at the group stage. Open draws for group stages and semi finals.
https://www.gaa.ie/football/news/2023-sam-maguire-cup-and-tailteann-cup-structures-explained/
Hi TsuDhoNim, there are many different interpretations, according to the Sunday Times today, they suggest that teams who meet in provincial final cannot be in the same group but repeat pairings from an earlier round are allowed. I would still take the Derry / Armagh option. All will be revealed on Tuesday.
Trying to work out best draw.. reckon ulster winner ( I reckon Derry) as seed 1, means we have a weaker seed 2 and seed 4s are pretty even.. Dublin would be next choice.. hope to avoid Galway!
Don’t want Kerry away in Killarney, in my view that’d be the worst draw for us. (I think that’s who we’ll get, just a feeling). Dublin in Croke Park or Derry / Armagh would be better draws.
Gonna hedge my bets and say we’ll get Galway, Clare and Donegal. The Wild Atlantic Way will be the official sponsor
Away to Kerry is definitely the one to avoid.
Drawing the ulster or connacht winner gives us the best chance of topping the group.
Another trip to the athletic grounds in Armagh would be nice
Depends do we want to win Sam or just progress far?
If we want to win Sam I think the best draw is to derail Dublin into the preliminary quarter final potentially knocking them out due to the tighter schedule.
Derry, I think are in too strong a form for us right now and similar Kerry.
Our best suited draw would be to
Seed 1 : Avoid Kerry and Dublin away
Seed 2: Avoid the Ulster losers
Seed 4: Westmeath
Knowing our luck it will be
Seed 1 : Kerry
Seed 2: Derry / Armagh
Seed 4: Kildare
JP – that’s a good point. If we could draw Dublin and top that group, it may lead to Kerry and Dublin meeting in a quarter final. Therefore knocking one of them out early.
Dublin were poor against Kildare, Mayo were as poor against Roscommon, Kerry were poor in the league… in reality its way too early to be drawing conclusions on these sides, who all know there is much bigger fish to try this season.
A lot will probably be made about our first fixture, and it will no doubt be given “marquee status” in the scheduling, but I think managers will be doing lots of thinking this week, and it wouldn’t shock me if we went into it with a bit of Kerry 2019 like attitude. I think teams will be choosing their battles in this group carefully, as the bigger picture is still the knock-outs
One nuance to this regarding Dublin is they are much more beatable the earlier we would get them. You have to face these calibre of teams at some point anyways.
Avoiding the preliminary and sending a contender to the preliminary are to your advantage.
With our recent luck in draws, you can bet your house we’ll be playing Kerry in round 1. By far the toughest provincial champion.
Galway in Pearse would be tough on paper, but to be honest the pressure would be all on them. The great GAA term “momentum” would all be with Galway. We’ve a decent record there. I think deep down Galway would hope to avoid us in the group stage.
Dublin in Croker sounds hard, but in reality its not. They’d love to draw us to inject a bit of life into the squad and the fans…help them get the fire burning.
Derry away would be tough, but I always like trips up North. Wouldn’t see us beating them in a provincial ground. But like last year, Croke Park will highlight their limitations when they meet a top team.
Best draw would be Dublin, Sligo, ourselves and Westmeath.
Knowing our luck it will be Kerry, Armagh, ourselves and Kildare.
Watch here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnfqwgSAYpM
Kerry away up first unfortunately
So, it’s Kerry, Cork, and probably Louth, though as Larry McCarthy says could be Dublin.
Louth in MacHale park then Cork in Croke Park
hard to know – could have been worse but not much worse – no ulster team… If we can’t get 2nd or 3rd in this group – then we are going nowhere
actually – this is good draw – we get a free shot at Kerry before they are up to full speed…
Yes, good draw. Draw from Hell (for me) would have been Derry in Celtic Park.
We’ll be the first division one team Kerry will face (assuming it is Kerry), so let them worry a little bit. We should fear nobody.