The poll that’s been running here on the site about how far we’re likely to go in this year’s championship has produced a clear result: 52% of you have said we’ll make it as far as the semis, with 16% going for each of the three remaining options of the quarters, the final and Heaven on Earth itself.
A crucial piece of information missing in attempting to predict this if, of course, who we’ll be facing in the quarter-finals and we’re going to have to kick our heels for a few days yet to get the answer to that one. Contrary to rumours, the draw isn’t going to be held in the Sportlann tonight; instead what’s happening there then is the formal launch of the All-Ireland Series (aka The Real Championship). The draw won’t be held until after the Round 4 qualifier matches have taken place this coming weekend and even then it appears that it’s not going to be done with any alacrity.
It could even be as late as next Monday before the pairings are finally made though in previous years the draw has tended to happen after the hurling quarter-finals have been played on the Sunday so maybe it’s then they’ll do it. What’s clear now is that we have a few more days to kick our heels before finding out who we’ll be lining out against at Croke Park over the Bank Holiday weekend.
If the bookies are correct, then the choice facing us in Pot B will be Down, Kerry, Kildare or Meath. If Sligo – despite their 7/2 odds with Paddy Power – send the Fourth Best Team in the Country packing then it’ll be one of Down, Kerry or Meath. We’ve never met the Mournemen in the championship but we have, of course, plenty of previous with the other two. Adding the Lillies back into consideration you have to go as far back as 1935 for our sole championship meeting. They beat us in that year’s semi-final: they must have been even better than fourth that year, I reckon.
If we disregard the odds on next weekend’s matches and widen the field out to everyone that’s still in it, we could then also face one of Clare, Laois or Tipperary. We’ve never met the Banner lads in the championship before and, as seeing as they’re facing those pumped-up Kerrymen this weekend, there’s little or no chance that this will change this year. Laois have, of course, a fond place in our hearts as it was the O’Moore County that we walloped in winning our first All-Ireland in 1936. We also met them and, in a replay, beat them in the 2006 quarters. Our only meeting with the Stone Throwers, meanwhile, took place in Round 4 of the qualifiers in 2002 when we eased past them by four points in Ennis.
All of this means that, prior to the Round 4 matches this weekend, we have seven possible opponents in the draw for the quarters: Clare, Down, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Meath and Tipperary. Which one of these would you like us to be drawn against? Time to vote.
Who would you like us to draw in the quarters?
- Kildare (22%, 28 Votes)
- Meath (19%, 25 Votes)
- Kerry (17%, 22 Votes)
- Clare (12%, 15 Votes)
- Down (12%, 15 Votes)
- Tipperary (12%, 15 Votes)
- Laois (7%, 9 Votes)
Total Voters: 129
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Fair enough.good poll.down did well to beat clare last yr so theyre my choice
I think a meeting with Kerry would be just the test required for Mayo at the quarter final stage. Kerry (I expect) will be fresh from a hammering of Clare and may just be a little complacent. The win in the league semi should give Mayo a sense of confidence and who knows what could happen (although we are without a corner forward who scorced well that day, particularily in the first half). Should we beat them, it would put Mayo in a good place going into the sermi’s and would be ideal preparation given that it would be a tough test.
I think anoyone we meet from here on in will give us a test. However we should also be beating anyone we meet from here on in really. Even Kerry. I don’t think Kerry will be complacant but they must be tired.
If the beat Clare they will be playing their fourth championship game on the trot. Kerry are not playing Clare in their own backyard so will not have the benefit of the crowd advantage.
So I see Clare putting up a much tougher test than people anticipate. Plus they have had 3 weeks to prepare for this match. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain in going hammer and tongs into Kerry.
And if they do Kerry will surely feel it especially for the following weekend….
It appears that the quarter-final draw won’t be held until next Monday morning, at 8.35am live on RTE’s Morning Ireland programme to be precise, if this report is correct. I’d say it probably is, seeing as all the draws to date this year have happened on Morning Ireland. This is a complete bullshit arrangement in my view, as the draw is quite obviously being delayed to fit into RTE’s lazy-as-shit schedule with no thought given to the counties involved and their supporters. If the draw were held instead on Saturday night then everyone would have a week to sort out arrangements, including travel, but instead some will have no more than five days notice to do this. It’s all fine and good for the top brass to be turning up with Sam in Castlebar today for an utterly meaningless launch but their time would be far better spent getting their act together in sorting out the quarter-final draw.
I want the easiest possible quarter final draw – none of this ‘might as well meet them now’ stuff. After the quarters it would likely be Dublin followed by Donegal or Cork in the final if we got there, so we’d have enough trouble peaking twice for these games without a stinker of a quarter final to deal with as well. So anyone but Kerry for me. I have a sneaking suspicion Laois will take out (an overrated) Meath this weekend, so I have gone for them as my preferred opponents.
WJ i cannot agree on that bit of analysis there , to my mind the draw must be done the earliest moment possible after all the ties have been settled but not beforehand, we cannot meet sligo and therefore if kildare were to beat them but the draw had been done before the result then that would rule us out of meeting kildare, likewise with dublin and laois etc etc , thus increasing our chances of meeting kerry or meath . i think its better that the ties are settled and then the draw done , that way we all have the same chance of meeting everyone apart from our provincial foe.
i am not afraid of meeting kerry or meath but cannot abide the thought of a draw which skews in favour of us meeting them.
personally i am massively effected by this as it is not a bank holiday in the UK and the date picked for our game will decide whether i can get back to dublin for it and of course the flight would have been a hell of a lot cheaper if booked weeks ago but thems the breaks.
i am happy that the draw is monday , we can spend the weekend checking out our eventual foes and then i can stand like an eejit outside clapham tube waiting for them to pull our ball from the hat and then hit the northern line dreaming of All Ireland Series (c) TM all rights reserved.. glory!
My ideal scenaio would be the following.
Draw Laois and beat them – meet (and beat Dublin) in the semis.
cDonegal draw Kerry and get beaten by the kingdom.
Kerry go on to beat Cork in the Semis.
In the final Kerry beating us comfortably with a 3 point margin, with 3 minutes to go. Then they blow it again for a econd year in a row by conceding a goal and a point.
That would be sweet.
agree fully declan , easiest candidate possible for the quarter please. there will be plenty tests if we can get past that , we got a tough one last year so hopefully it might even out.
That’s what I meant when I said the draw should be on Saturday, Roger – I should have clarified that this could only happen once the four qualifier matches are completed, which would be at around 9pm or so that evening.
ah feckin hell , a big rant wasted all down to misunderstanding 🙂 yes saturday would indeed be preferable for all travelling fans.
Its a big happy family at RTE, Genial Des will bring in coffee and buns for the hard working bad news breakers at 8:20am. The draw will be made, a few limp jokes from the lady presenter. A shot at an intelligent question from the male news man along the lines of “I liked the waist coat Kerrys Paul Galvin wears, did he design it himself??
Des who’s everbody’s best pal will pass an equally watery joke back and then a bit of analysis finishing with “of course the match of the quarter finals will be the showdown between the Dubs and Irelands fourth best team….standing room only….shluuuuurpppp” as the coffee is drained.
Yes, not enough time between Monday morning and the following Saturday/Sunday. Draw should be done late on Saturday night. This schedule is all too tight. Would serve them right if one or more of the games this Saturday ended level (after extra time). That would put the cat among the pigeons for the draw and the fixtures following on from it. What would they do then? There could be teams involved in replays who are not allowed to meet each other if they win etc.
For us. Anybody except Kerry. Best if Donegal meet Kerry. As somebody else pointed out that would keep Donegal Kerry and Cork in the other half of the draw and we could not meet any of them until the final. Laois would be okay for us in the quarters.
Totally agree with regards the draw should be made asap after the last qualifier sat night but sure logic doesn’t seem to apply a lot of the time in the GAA on matters like this.
Who would i like us to draw, wouldn’t mind a crack at Meath tbh, maybe thats down to wanting a bit of payback but that could also apply to Kerry.
On another note, Pat harte is out for the championship (i think, Conor Mort is gone and is Evan Regan out injured too? Kirby has been dropped………….i was just wondering surely we have to add a couple of forwards to the panel
Dont agree with alot of ye in going for the easy draw in the quaters,for me i,d like kerry as we owe them big time in championship since 1997 onwards an how sweet woud it be to put an end to this great kerry team an if tha mayo lads cant get up for that …well…. [woud be a massive confidence booster for tha mayo team also] .If not ky. then how about the royals we owe them too an the sooner we meet and beat these countys in championship football in croker on the big days the sooner we,ll reach the holy grail…not ask,n for much then..lol..up maigheo n bring em on…
Its lashing rain outside so am wandering around Twitter. I stumbled on a lady thanking guys for launching the Championship today. Is this not 24th July, I thought it started back in May. Are they effing serious or do they take us for for idiots or do they want to market the Championship on the cheap like spout on about it when Armagh, Galway, Limerick, Wexford, Louth, Tyrone and 14 other teams are gone out of it, or am I missing something here. And dont tell me that they themselves buy in to the ” real” Championship starting at the QFs
i hope we do get them as well revenge for last year but will be thrilled if they dont
John Cuffe and Willie Joe:
Normally I agree with you guys but I feel launching the All Ireland series in An Sportlann is a good thing and just a bit of publicity. Ye are being a bit harsh here. The All Ireland Series begins after the Provincial championships and are competing with Olympics etc.
I agree draw should be Saturday night or even Sunday (Why not on Sunday Game) but I can wait until Monday.
Interesting thoughts on opponents.
Jason Gibbons I think will have a big part tp play before year is out!
First Meath, then Kerry in the semis and Cork in the final, exorcise all the ghosts in one run!
None of the qualifier teams would frighten me. Kerry will be more vulnerable in the quarters than later. For an easy game Down/Tipp or Laois/Meath are preferable.
I think we would as well to meet Kerry, did’nt do us any harm to meet Cork at the same stage last year. It would be Kerry’s fourth game in as many weeks, and their playing for places there too. I would’nt be taken by Jack O Conner antics, Darren O Sullivan looked alright to me, I think there only minding him & not nursing him back gently as they would have you believe in the kindom. A word of warning tough, Kerry especially under Jack O Conner have alyways been able to learn from previously played match’s. So personally I try & mix it up again. Kerry would have plans laid out for the match ups that went in our favor last August, eg Donie Vaughan v Declan O Sullivan & Andy Moran v Marc O Se. So I think I try different match ups this time if we were to meet. Also dont think Donaghy will be staying on the edge of the square. We need to do something with our full foward line, all of whats now avaible would need to start well in the first 15 mins if any of them get going & get a bit of confidence, they could do damage but a good start in my opinion is vital for them, otherwise I think we will need to make early changes in that department. But this certainly is as good a time as we will ever get to banish alot of painfull memories.
PS, Sorry meant to say Donaghy WILL be staying on the edge of the square from now on, cant see him giving any more superd passes to Alan Dillon, but thanks all the same Donaghy.
I don’t have any preference on who we meet at this stage, for any of the remaining teams/matchups will be difficult tests. Having said that, regardless of our opposition, if we play well, we can beat any of them.
A little concerned though about the situation with the forwards, I thought we had that licked. The remaining teams will be looking to exploit that weakness.
Mister Mayor
It wasn’t the Championship that was launched John, it was the All-Ireland Series, which begins after the provincial championships have finished.
On the draw, I don’t particularly mind who we get, we have to get on with it and beat whoever they are.
Yes, I voted that we get Kerry. Bring them on and less of the pussy footing around.
It’s time we established ourselves as a team who are capable of mixing it with the best of them.
If not Kerry, I want Meath!!
Lobitin, I would argue that drawing Cork did us a huge amount of damage last year – it meant we were well exposed by the time we played Kerry. If we had played the likes of Limerick in the quarters we would have been better placed to catch Kerry on the hop in the semis and then maybe could have got a crack at Dublin in the final.
Too much ‘bring it on’ bravado on here. We have benefitted from getting quietly to this stage, l hope we play Down, Tipp, Laois or Meath and maximise our chances of quietly making the next round also. If Kerry are there for the taking, let someone else do our dirty work for us and burn themselves out in the process. We shouldn’t have any axes to grind with anyone, any issues we’ve had in the past were of our own making. Lets just focus on getting where we want to go and forget about settling old perceived scores.