Fresh from another episode of The Football Pod, Paddy Andrews joined Off The Ball to discuss the provincial GAA structures.

After another weekend of high-margin wins, Andrews believes that matches are currently being greeted with apathy.

"It is getting to the stage where people are essentially just fed up with how matches are panning out. It was so, so flat.

"As players, you look forward to the league because you're playing seven or eight games, in Division 1 the games were competitive, and that is what appeals.

"You flip onto the provincial championships and, as bad as it was, it is probably going to be like that for the next couple of weeks.

"People are looking for more than that, for the players as well. If you're a Clare player who's had a successful season, you draw Kerry in the first round and there's no back door... these teams don't have another match for seven or eight months.

"For the GAA player and supporters, and as a product for the media, the provincial championships is not suiting anyone."

GAA structures

Andrews believes that interest comes when teams are competing with similar standard teams.

"The most exciting games are teams that are competitive against each other. Louth v Offaly was a brilliant game. It might not have been as high-quality as a Dublin-Kerry match but those teams are evenly-matched.

"That has to be the base. I've played GAA my whole life but I'd rather watch a European Championship game than Mayo v Sligo because you know there's no peril or jeopardy and you know the result before it happens.

"We have got a three-month window where we're playing the competition against other sports, particularly a young kid in Dublin where soccer, rugby and now hurling are big.

"When is Dublin's biggest game going to be? Potentially an All Ireland semi-final against Galway or Mayo?"

Andrews believes that the GAA will act.

"It is so obvious that it does demand action. To the players, the supporters and to the media, the National Leagues are the most interesting.

"It is week on week, it's Dublin travelling down to Tralee, it just captures the imagination. Teams are playing against teams that you couldn't call who is going to win."

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