GAA 2022 Season – Irish Football and Hurling Preview

GAA 2022 SEASON PREVIEW

With some big changes to the schedule it’s time for the GAA 2022 season. Once again free live streaming of GAA will be available on RTE Sport for Irish internet users.

It’s that time of the when the two most important sporting competitions in the world begin. The All Ireland Hurling Championship, and the All Ireland Football Championship. Ireland’s premiere competitions begin this weekend and will run though the middle of July. If you’re thinking that it’s early for the Championships to be starting, you’d be correct.

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Traditionally the Championships begin in May and run through to September. The decision to end the seasons competitions two months early has been controversial, as has the decision to further complicate the competitions, with the introduction of the Tailteann Cup as a second tier competition on the football side to go in line with the Joe McDonagh Cup on the Hurling side. This is basically a dry run for next season’s Championship.

Forgetting the unnecessary desire of crusty old men to make the competitions more complicated than they need to be, the real issue is the change of the calendar. Since 1926, the finals have been played in September with two exceptions. The 2020 Covid season, and the 1956 season. Other than those years, the showcases of the Irish sporting year have taken place in September as the closing act to a Summer of great action.

Moving the finals to July is senseless and ruins a great tradition. BUT it is still shaping up to be a great year of Gaelic Games.

Champions Begin Defence

This weekend, there are five games in the Hurling Championship and three in the Football Championship so let’s take a look at what’s on offer this weekend.

On Saturday, the first match of the Football Championship we head to Ulster. Defending All Ireland Champions Tyrone take on Fermanagh at Brewster Park in Enniskillen. After breaking the hearts of Mayo fans in September, Tyrone begin their defense of the crown against a Fermanagh team who went out at the first hurdle last season. While they flew under the radar last season, Tyrone will have much higher expectations placed upon them this season so it will be interesting to see how they handle those.

The Hurling begins on Saturday as well and there are three games in the Leinster Hurling Championship which promise to be of a decent quality. First up is the game of the weekend, with Wexford taking on Galway at the Chadwicks Wexford Park. Both sides lost in the Leinster semi-final last season and will be aiming to improve on that this season.

Kilkenny Look To Bounce Back

After that it’s off to Cusack Park in Mullingar for Westmeath vs Kilkenny. Westmeath return to the All Ireland stage after winning the Joe McDonagh Cup last year and will be hoping to cause a massive shock by knocking off the Cats. Kilkenny won the Leinster crown last season but were beaten in the All Ireland semi-finals by Cork in what was seen as a shock defeat. Kilkenny will be desperate to get back to the mountain top this year and bring Liam McCarthy home for the first time since 2015. For most counties, a six year wait for a Championship wouldn’t be a big deal. In Kilkenny it’s cause for mourning.

Finally then Parnell Park in Dublin will be the venue as the men from the capital play host to Laois. The Dubs will be aiming to go one better than last season, when they lost to Kilkenny in the Leinster final. There’s been a lot of money put into Dublin hurling, and the results need to start reflecting that. Laois have fallen at the first hurdle in each of the last two years since rejoining the Championship from the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Limerick To Dominate Hurling

Moving on to Sunday where the Munster Hurling Championship roars into life with two massive contests. First up is a repeat of an All Ireland quarter final matchup from last year as Waterford welcome Tipperary to Walsh Park. Having initially been knocked out at the first hurdle by Clare last season, Waterford came through the back-door playoffs and made their way to the All Ireland semi-final where they lost to eventual Champions Limerick. Tipperary were the beaten Munster finalists, also losing to Limerick, before falling to Waterford in that quarter-final.

After that it’s a repeat of last year’s All Ireland final. Limerick begin their search for a third successive Championship, and a fourth in five years, with a trip to Pairc Ui Chaoimh to take on the Rebels. Cork surprised everyone by reaching the All Ireland final, and will still be feeling the pain of that defeat in Croke Park. This promises to be the game of the weekend, and every opportunity to watch this Limerick team play should be taken because they are a truly special group.

On the football front, there’s action from the Connacht Championship with a foreign flavour. McGovern Park in Ruislip will see London taking on Leitrim. London didn’t take part in the last two Championships due to Covid restrictions, but they are back. As are New York who will take on Sligo at the Gaelic Park in New York. Sligo are the envy of the rest as they get an all expenses paid trip to New York for what should be little more than a training session.

All in all, it should be an excellent weekend. The Ulster football match should be good, and all of the Hurling matches, in particular those in Munster, promise to be very entertaining.

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Gaelic Football and Hurling are two of the most exciting and entertaining sports in the world. The GAA has largely done a good job at staging them. They’ve made them a spectacle. But they’ve also priced out the fans at times, and made controversial decisions with regards to broadcasting rights. If you’re outside of the Republic of Ireland and want to watch the matches on RTE player, the GAA don’t want you to be able to, unless you invest in the very expensive GAA GO subscription service. Obviously those with an Irish internet service (in Ireland), will be able to access the RTE Player and have uninterrupted access from anywhere.

How to watch every GAA 2022 games from anywhere…