With the increased number of fixtures in both codes each weekend due to a condensed schedule, the way GAA highlights are being shown on RTÉ has come under increasing scrutiny in recent times.
The Sunday Game has been an integral part of championship coverage each summer for decades, although many feel that the product currently on offer is selling GAA fans short.
Each week, there seems to be extended highlights shown of games that were already broadcast live that weekend. As well as that, some games are only been handed short highlights packages followed by little or no analysis.
To top it all off, many feel that too much air time is used up discussing fairly irrelevant issues in the GAA as opposed to showing more of the weekend's action.
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Carlow star calls out 'The Sunday Game' over hurling coverage
One particularly concerning aspect of The Sunday Game as currently constructed is the lack of coverage given to counties outside the elite in both codes.
Even provincial championship fixtures are often condensed down to 30 seconds or less, unless it involves some of the more popular counties, of course. This dynamic is something that many are fed up of.
Carlow hurler Paul Coady took to social media today to express his concern over the way many counties are covered on The Sunday Game, giving his own team and Antrim (who beat Wexford in the Leinster Hurling Championship yesterday) as prime examples.
The @TheSundayGame - i’ll tell ye now, a 20 minute analysis of a match already shown live is not needed tonight-followed by a 30 second voiceover of the Carlow/Antrim matches. Don’t have usual analysts preach the Gaa need to grow the game and then not reward the counties efforts
— Paul Coady (@Paul_Coady10) April 28, 2024
The battle of growing the game does not lie with the Sunday game, that is a GAA issue and something they are failing internally & externally, but from the Sunday game the counties fighting and scraping to get here just ask their efforts to be respected like their peer counties.
— Paul Coady (@Paul_Coady10) April 28, 2024
— Paul Coady (@Paul_Coady10) April 28, 2024
The Sunday Game - I’ll tell ye now, a 20 minute analysis of a match already shown live is not needed tonight - followed by a 30 second voiceover of the Carlow/Antrim matches.
Don’t have usual analysts preach the GAA need to grow the game and then not reward the counties efforts who have worked up to the top table.
Show respect. Let the efforts of being here be rewarded, give critique analysis-like each other county at this level. Good and bad. Let kids of Antrim/CW see their own hero’s on TV and not neighbouring counties wondering why are they better.
The battle of growing the game does not lie with The Sunday Game, that is a GAA issue and something they are failing internally & externally, but from The Sunday Game the counties fighting and scraping to get here just ask their efforts to be respected like their peer counties.
It would be a nice start in helping these these counties to continue trying to inspire the next generation to not have a ceiling on their ambitions and beliefs just because of where they are born.
This is brilliantly put by Coady, who has been a wonderful servant to hurling in Carlow for well over a decade. Having represented the county at various levels of the pyramid down through the years, he is within his rights to feel that his team and others of a similar level should be given the respect of being properly promoted by the national broadcaster.
The Sunday Game as currently constructed is certainly not good enough and it will be interesting to see how they cover Carlow close loss to Dublin yesterday.
Judging by their recent track record, we wouldn't have high expectations.
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