One-sided games show importance of tiered All-Ireland system - Peter Canavan

Peter Canavan is a big fan of the recently introduced tiered system for the All-Ireland competition, however, the former Tyrone star forward is not yet willing to sacrifice the provincial championships, which he believes still have an important role to play.

Canavan highlighted one-sided games from the weekend's action as a prime example of why the tiered system, and the introduction of the Tailteann Cup in football, has proved beneficial and aspirational for teams who have completed their National League campaign.

Canavan maintains a special pride for his five Anglo Celt medals for winning the Ulster championship and believes that the provincial pride remains, as was evident in recent games in his home province as well as the Connacht clash between Galway and Roscommon at the weekend.

And the RTÉ GAA pundit firmly believes that the provincial competition will remain relevant until such a time that teams start to take their focus off such fixtures.

"Regarding the debate on the merits of the provincial championships, I totally get it that people think we should go straight from the league to the tiered system," said Canavan, speaking on 2FM’s Game On.

"But we have a proud history in the GAA and I’ve spoken before about the importance I have in my provincial medals, and you treasure those games.

"So at this stage, I think it would be a risk just to throw everything out.

"I know we are trying to get the best out of both worlds at the moment and I think we should give it time to see if it works.

"There may be a case in a couple of years where teams disregard the provincial competition and put out a second team, and if that is the case then it has to go.

"But look at Tyrone and Monaghan last week, were those teams thinking of the