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Published 13:01 5 Jan 2018 GMT
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The provincial structure is the problem.Well? Any guesses? We're going to hit this every single year because the complaints that everyone has about the football championship can be solved by changing one thing the GAA are going to refuse to change for as long as they possibly can.
In 2016, Kerry beat Clare, they beat Tipperary and then they beat Clare again and they were in the All-Ireland semi-final. Three games against two teams - both of whom were Division Three sides at the time. In 2017, Monaghan played six matches and won five of them and that took them the whole way to the last eight.
That setup didn't exactly help Kerry either and they'll be glad of the Super 8s to get more miles on the road before thinking about beating Dublin or Mayo in knockout football but it's actually laughable that certain counties have to still do more - in some cases, win more 150 per cent more games than others just to reach the same stage. No-one in the GAA could ever logically, legitimately, or popularly argue against those staggering bare facts.
A World Cup-style format wouldn't just reinvigorate every single county in the football championship, but it would make it fair, it would give everyone a fighting chance, have more games at the height of the summer and cater for weaker counties who also want a shot of success.
And it's very damn simple.
By the end of February, Waterford will have played almost 55 per cent of their entire competitive fixtures for 2018. By the end of of March, Waterford could have played almost 82 per cent of their entire competitive fixtures for 2018.Because of where they're from on the map and because of how lopsided the GAA fixtures plan is with most football being played by March, Waterford will probably play two competitive games for the last nine months of the calendar year. From April onwards, they'll likely be in action just twice.
After the league, Tyrone then have to win three provincial matches to win Ulster and qualify for a guaranteed extra three games. Those guaranteed games should be reserved for the weaker counties and they should be used to address the imbalance in the system but the rich really do get richer here and the poor get cut off.
But there's still the unfairness that Tyrone have to play more games than the like of Kerry do to reach the quarter-final in the first place.
There's still the question of who each county has to play and how and why it's decided like it is.
Then there's Waterford who might have two games from April onwards. They'll play nine of their probable 11 matches by March 25 and the club footballers won't be able to really get stuck into action anyway because they'll have to wait on the hurlers.
Meanwhile, Tyrone could potentially (and very likely) have 18 or 19 matches before the All-Ireland semi-final.
It's a slog for them, it's unfair for them. It's worse for Waterford who are just being allowed to drift in the current climate.Live sport on TV in Ireland this weekend – Football, GAA, Rugby – April 24th to 26th
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