Replying To Viking66:  "If Ballyhale were superior in 2013 then why didnt they win Leinster in 2013? MLR were the best club side in Leinster the year they won it insofar as they won it. They also beat Portaferry fairly convincingly in the AISF.

But what's any of that got to do with the disconnect between club and county success? Which was my original point Pope?

An irrelevant fact for you, 2 of the clubs who competed in the 2013 Leinster Championship are in the semi finals this year. One will definitely be in this years final. And they aren't from Kilkenny, Wexford or Dublin."

Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "They couldn't win it, because they weren't in it. Clara were KK champions in 2013 and 2015."

Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "They couldn't win it, because they weren't in it. Clara were KK champions in 2013 and 2015."

Replying To Viking66:  "St Mullins were Carlow Champions in 2014 and 2015. MLR weren't in Leinster in 2015 either."

Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "The bottom line is that Ballyhale were a much stiffer test for Portumna in 2010 than MLR were in 2014. Portumna were actually verging on 'washed up' territory by 2014, having emerged in 2003 with their first senior county title."

Replying To Viking66:  "Is that because Ballyhale are from Kilkenny and MLR are from Carlow? Or is it because you are comparing different years?
That year MLR beat a team appearing in their 4th consecutive Leinster Final who beat several Kilkenny teams in that period including Ballyhale and eventually won Leinster 2 years later, then beat a team appearing in their 4th consecutive AI semifinal who only got knocked out the previous year by that years winners St Thomas AET and a replay, and who won the 2012 AI title. Just because they didn't go well in the final against Portumna doesn't make them a poor team. If they were they wouldn't have beaten the teams they beat, who were among the strongest club sides in the country at that time. They might have gone one step further in the years after that, but didn't manage to get out of Carlow.
All of which is still irrelevant to my original point. That it doesn't matter what county a club is from. The 2012 champions were from Antrim, another county who have never won a SenIor AI. Offaly sides have reached 5 AI finals winning 2 this millennium, despite their county side playing in the Christy Ring at one point. Antrim sides have also reached 5 deciders winning 1. Tipp sides have only reached one, which they lost. Tipp won 4 AI titles in the same period. Cork clubs only have 1 win this millennium. Limerick sides have only won 1 ever, as have Waterford and Wexford sides. On the flip side Galway clubs have won 9 club AIs this millennium, but only 1 intercounty AI.
I'm not sure how many more stats there are to prove to you that club AIs and Intercounty AIs are completely unrelated."

Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "Not COMPLETELY UNRELATED, no. 20 counties of Ireland haven't won the senior hurling all-ireland, and 19 of those haven't won the senior club all-ireland either. Very related in that aspect, obviously."