McShea's Say: 'Wooden' Sunday Game format in real need of shake-up ahead of championship

This weekend sees championship matches in London, Tullamore and Armagh. 

The game in Tullamore sees Offaly host Laois and the eagerly awaited Ulster championship opener in the Athletic Grounds sees Armagh host Tyrone in a game of significant interest here in Donegal as we await the winners of this match for what will be a mouth watering Ulster semi-final. 

Armagh despite winning the All-Ireland two years ago have not won an Ulster title under manager Kieran McGeeney stewardship, and if they beat Tyrone on Sunday they will set up what will be an intriguing Ulster semi-final in Clones against our league champions.

Armagh are the bookies favourites to beat Tyrone, they are quoted at odds of 2/5 while Tyrone are available at 13/5. No doubt we will see the return of the Sunday Game to our screens on Sunday night. 

Dara Ó Cinnéide the former excellent Kerry forward was a pundit on the Sunday Game for three years, his comments on moving on were very insightful and I quote "I quit the Sunday Game after three years or so as I felt "I didn't really believe in this anymore.

“I thought there would be more of a reverence for the game itself, that it was bigger than lads dressing in nice suits and chattering about their golf handicap or the Galway Races. I felt outside the loop when I was on the Sunday Game."

This season, I believe that this programme needs a serious shake-up. The panellists need to be told that they are allowed to laugh as the programme is crying out for even a little bit of humour. 

Some of the panel are pretty wooden - serious in the extreme which does not make for very interesting viewing. 

Spillane, Brolly, Colm O'Rourke and Martin Carney were professional in the extreme, very entertaining and all four spoke from the heart and while the other show which is aired on the eve of both hurling and football is some months away, it too needs to be freshened up. 

‘Up For The Match’ is simply lacking in entertainment. It is past time for an audience to be seen waving their county flags and smiling like kids at their first day in school. 

Jackie Hurley is excellent as a presenter. She has an outstanding ability to ask the pertinent question and give her panel member a real chance to answer without speaking over him or her. 

Whether she is doing a GAA game or a Rugby international her input is top class and she deserves more time on our screens because of her outstanding ability. 

I was delighted to see that there was no homecoming for Donegal after their wonderful display in hammering Kerry in the league final. 

This was a most prudent call, not in any way demeaning their final performance, but clearly focusing on the championship campaign that is only a matter of weeks away. 

To those who believed that the football or hurling leagues don't matter, looking at the intensity of the Limerick-Cork final last Sunday would have put paid to that notion. 

This game was physical, the tackling was intense and I do not believe we will see a tougher encounter in this year's championship. 

Donegal's display in the football final was also a wonderful performance. The figures for 2024 football league was €4.628m while the 2025 figures were €4.784 m and it is expected that the revenue for this year's football league will show another increase. 

The GAA's total national revenue was €141.9m while it was €132.9m in 2024. Next week we will look at where most of this money was distributed, but for an amateur organisation it is quite a performance.