COLM O’ROURKE LABELLED THE Leinster senior football championship “a shambles” after Meath’s 16-point hammering to Dublin this evening.
The 13 in-a-row provincial champions ran out 3-19 to 0-12 winners as just 21,445 fans watched on at Croke Park.
It was Dublin’s 40th consecutive victory in the competition.
“The Leinster championship is a shambles but that’s not Dublin’s fault,” Meath boss O’Rourke told reporters after the game.
“I suppose it’s the fault of teams like Meath who haven’t been competitive for a long, long time.
“To me, anyway, the obvious thing is the Leinster championship should be played before the league. It’s absolutely ridiculous that teams in the league are waiting, waiting, waiting and don’t know what competition they are going to be playing in or when they will be playing.
“If the provincial championships were over, everyone would know exactly before they start the league, particularly those teams in the second and third division, what they had to do to ensure they play in the Sam Maguire.
“It’s very unsatisfactory, the present system.”
“I admire Dublin, I admire the way they play,” O’Rourke later added as he remained upbeat about his Royal charges.
“I think they have helped save Gaelic football from the negativity of other teams so I have nothing but the highest admiration for them… I just wish we could beat them occasionally.”
Dublin manager Dessie Farrell has been a long-time critic of the provincial championships, and again called for a review of competition structures.
“Look, at the risk of repeating myself, I just think the trajectory of the season is wrong.
“We should be building. We’ve come from a decent enough league campaign which seems to capture the imagination of GAA people. Then we move into the championship and apart from the obvious outlier, I think the others are sort of mundane enough at this stage. I don’t think they’re helping.
“The crowd today and everything else, I just think it’s probably time for a proper root-and-branch review of the competition structures. I’ve been saying that for a few years now.”
Farrell agreed that running the provincial championships first is “definitely an option”.
“I’m blue in the face to be honest having this conversation. Nothing has changed and probably won’t in the immediate future. I think we’re missing an opportunity, that’s all.”
“It’s different,” he added. “The atmosphere was strange. It’s a shame. I know that can stem from not necessarily the competition structure.”
