FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION of the four provincial football finals, we now know the identity of half the counties that will take part in the inaugural Super 8s which begin in three weeks.
There are 16 teams left in the race for the Sam Maguire, but only Kerry, Galway, Dublin and Donegal have safely secured their passage to the last eight.
Group 1 will consist of Munster winners Kerry and Connacht champions Galway. They’ll be joined by Fermanagh and Laois or the sides that beat them in Round 4 of the qualifiers.
Leinster kingpins Dublin and Ulster champions Donegal have booked their place in Group 2, with Cork and Roscommon – or their Round 4 qualifier conquerers – joining them.
In the hat for tomorrow morning’s Round 3 qualifier draw (8.30am on RTE Radio 1) are Mayo, Monaghan, Cavan, Tyrone, Kildare, Armagh, Leitrim and Clare. (See the link below for an explainer)
The four Round 3 winners will advance to play the four beaten provincial finalists in Round 4 of the qualifiers on the weekend of 7/8 July for a place in the Super 8s.
On the weekend of 14/15 July, the Super 8s will kick-off with Group 1 sides Dublin and Donegal clashing at Croke Park, while Kerry and Galway will meet in headquarters in Group 2 on the same weekend.
Super 8s
Group 1
Kerry
Galway
Fermanagh/Round 4 winner
Laois/Round 4 winner
Group 2
Dublin
Donegal
Cork/Round 4 winner
Roscommon/Round 4 winner
Each county will play three games in the round-robin phase: one at home, one in Croke Park and one away. Dublin, however, will play two games at Croke Park as it counts as their home venue.
The All-Ireland semi-finals line-up will see Group 1 winners play Group 2 runners-up and vice-versa. If teams in the groups finish level on points, scoring difference will apply before their head-to-head record comes into play.
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Who do you think will join the provincial champions in the Super 8s?
He stayed too long, not his fault, the love of the game and all that, but he kept out a lot of good young lads from getting experience, and now they are paying for it, they have a problem in that sector now. He should have been eased out a few years ago.
So you put the best keeper in the country on the bench for others to gain experience???
U don’t seriously believe he was even the best keeper in tipp for the last three or four years.
I think Tipperary hurling would be in a bad state if it wasnt for the likes of Brendan Cummins , he oppitimises everything that is good about the gaa and has been a rock in the Tipperary defence over the past two decades . I always felt that whatever forward was running at our defence and having broke through the backline they would look up and think i ve done the easy part …..now how do i get the ball past Brendan. I wish him every success in his future endeavours and am thankful that I got to see a true legend of the game playing at his best over such a long period .
One of the greats but give Darren Gleeson a chance. He’s a good player and hasn’t let Tipp down. You can’t replace the likes of cummins, you just have to move on. Darragh Egan experiment not a success though.