The All-Ireland and its accompanying provincial championships are far from perfect.
The GAA recognise that and the ‘Super 8’ model is coming in from next year in an attempt to level the playing field.
In some provinces, there is an easier passage to the fourth round of the qualifiers and beyond but more notably in Ulster, it can prove very tricky.
Darren Hughes of Monaghan was speaking on the GAA Hour about Monaghan’s run in championship football this year and couldn’t help but be frustrated.
“Getting to your provincial final is a big thing because it guarantees you last 12, I know it’s hard sometimes when you lose and to regroup but if you’re targeting serious championship football that’s where you want to be,” he said.
“We know in Ulster there is no simple game, you know the path is laid out for you early on in the year.
“There’s nothing you can do about it, you have to set yourself up for as best possible for it but as I said we have three wins under our belt already and we’re as far back as any of the teams that have won one or two games.”
When this week’s host Conan Doherty asked Hughes what changes he’d like to be seen, the Monaghan man suggested a restructuring of the GAA calendar as a whole and a Champions League style format could be the solution.
“The calendar has to be scrapped completely and started from scratch, you have to take minors, under 21’s, Sigerson into account and the club is suffering at the minute.
“You look at, say, Roscommon, for example, played their last league game 11 weeks ago and all they had was Leitrim in between to get to a provincial final. It’s no fault of theirs but it’s just the system is an unfair system for the All-Ireland series so it means that you have to use your provincial to get into it.
“I think the Champions League format is as good as any to level the playing field. There is that imbalance for Ulster teams trying to prolong their season.”
You can listen to the full interview below from 55:15
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