Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

THE OLDEST RIVALRY - 2001



When people speak of a “traditional” Munster Final, it is generally taken to mean a Tipperary-Cork final, and certainly not only is that the most common pairing, it is also the encounter to which attaches most folklore.

However, it would be fair to say that the match that will take place next Sunday in Cork, is just the latest chapter in the oldest “rivalry” in the Munster Championship. While the exploits of the Thurles Blues and Tubberadora, when taking on the likes of Dungourney and Blackrock of Cork are an integral part of the early story of the Munster championship, it was really Tipp and Limerick that established the competition as something close to what we know today.

Early clashes in 1895, and 1906 were won handily by Tipperary, but in 1911 they fell to first defeat in a Munster Final, to what was to become, as Charlie Haughey was to the AIB, a “troublesome adversary”. This Limerick team was defending the Munster championship, and was led by the legendary “Tyler” Mackey, whose sons Mick and John were to play such a monumental role in Tipp-Limerick games decades later.

This “new” tradition was cemented by further final clashes in 1917, and 1922, both of which went to replays, with victory going to the Premier County in each, with the honours from the next two finals in 1923 and ’24, shared by the counties. At this stage, it was undoubtedly the main rivalry in the province, and the Tipp-Cork pairing was not really to establish its own place in the scheme of things until two wonderful sides shared 6 Munster Championships, and 6 All-Irelands between 1949 and 1954.

Limerick’s greatest decade, without question, was the 1930s, when they produced a team that has very rarely been matched. This team was to have three major confrontations with Tipp in Munster Finals, three years in a row, 1935-37. Limerick won the first two, the second one after having received a bye to the final, in deference to the American tour on which the Limerick team had embarked that spring.

In this 1936 final, the 24 year-old Mick Mackey really stepped into hurling legend, but scoring 5-3 against Tipp, which is a record for a Munster Final. But this team was far more than a shop-window for Mick Mackey, it had a large number of players who were to became household

names. Timmy Ryan is routinely considered as one of the greatest mid-fielders ever to play the game, and probably the leading exponent of the now obsolete art of overhead striking. Along with Ryan and Mick Mackey, there was Jackie Power - father of Kerry’s Ger, Paddy Scanlon – one of the great goalkeepers, and John Mackey who were all part of the magnificent Ahane team of the era which powered this Limerick side.

Other leading members of this team were Ned Cregan of Newcastle West – Eamon’s father, Paddy Clohessy of Fedamore at centre half back, with Garrett Howard (father of Liz, the Tipp PRO) - then hurling with Portroe, and Mickey Cross of Claughaun on either side of him, in one of the great half back lines. Incidentally, Mick Kennedy, the left full back on this team, was a native of the Drom/Inch parish.



It was considered a massive upset when this team surrendered its All-Ireland title in Cork against Tipperary in July 1937. In the All-Ireland final, Tipp demolished Kilkenny, a team that had given Limerick much trouble in the previous two years.

Tipp and Limerick’s paths were to cross only twice more in Munster Finals before the 1970s, in 1945 and ’49, with Tipp winning on both occasions and adding the All-Ireland both times as well. This was to be Tipp’s greatest era, with a three in a row - 1949-51, followed up by 5 more All-Ireland titles in 8 years between 1958 and ’65, and the levels of success enjoyed by a multitude of great players during this time, are unsurpassed in the history of the game. Limerick, after the decline of Ahane, fell into deep trough during this time, winning only one Munster Championship (1955) in the 33 years following 1940, with a team dubbed "Mackey's Greyhounds", and trained by Mick Mackey.

Primarily because of Limerick’s decline, they didn’t meet Tipp in another Munster Final until 1971, a final famous or perhaps infamous for the “dry ball” incident, and a last gasp Tipp victory with a John Flanagan point, on top of 3-4 from the magnificent Babs Keating,who was on his way to the Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Given the modern-day rantings of Ger Loughnane, it seems appropriate that Frank Murphy was refereeing and Donie Nealon the Tipp coach, when in the shadow of subterfuge and conspiracy , Babs Keating sent gallons of water dancing off the Killarney rigging with a fresh new ball !!! Of course, for this particular conspiracy theory to hold water (no pun intended !) you must ignore the fact that every time. - and it was regular back then -, the crowd held onto a sliothar, a new and dry ball was put into use !! So we can take it that there was more than one dry ball that day ! Tipp won that one by 4-16 to 3-18, having trailed by 6 points at half-time.

1973 was a sore defeat for Tipperary on their home patch, especially when scoring 20 times to Limerick 13. Ned Rea’s physical presence at No.14, was a major factor in ensuring that 6 of Limerick’s scores were goals !! Two came from Frankie Nolan and two from a certain Eamon Cregan ! Even Francis Loughnane scoring 2-10, couldn’t prevent Limerick winning by 6-7 to 2-18 on the way to a famous All-Ireland. This was probably the last of the "dust rising in the square" Munster Finals, as photos of the time will testify !! This game is also remembered, of course, for Babs Keating leaning towards Richie Bennis to suggest odds on Richie's scoring prospects with his vital last minute '70 !!

The next Munster Final, that of 1996, between these counties is fresher in the memory, with Tipp losing a wind-backed 10 point lead at the Gaelic Grounds, before hitting wide after wide, - while enjoying a monopoly of possession - in the first half of the replay at Cork, and then conceding 4 goals, finally going down to a 3 point defeat.

What of next Sunday ?

The big question that jumps out is how good were the respective opposition teams in the earlier rounds ? Tipp probably haven’t got due credit for beating Clare, as many experts such as Brian Cody and Eamon Cregan had gone for a Banner victory prior to the game, with Eamon suggesting before the League Final on Today FM, that Clare would win everything this year. The worth of Clare seems to have been revised downwards since that game, and while this is not unreasonable, it's difficult not to think that there is more in this Tipp team than has been acknowledged. It was a hard won game, and probably should have been won by more, but given the physical recklessness of some of the Clare tactics, due credit should not be denied young players such as Kelly, Corbett, and O’Leary, who will have gained a lot from the experience. It also should be said that the whinges of Clare concerning the referee, conveniently ignored a few blatant frees denied to Declan Ryan and Eddie Enright, and the fact that Colin Lynch took 9 steps with the ball in hand, rather than the 4 which pretty much every journalist and commentator saw.

Declan Ryan’s contribution that day is very much under-rated, as many commentators seem to lack appreciation of the artisan element of forward play. I have said before that Declan is Tipperary’s most important player. Not necessarily the best player, but the one who does a job that no other player in the county can do as well, and the additional options that his inclusion gives Tipperary is probably unmatched by any other single player. It would be fair to say that if Declan Ryan wasn’t playing, Tipp couldn’t afford to play both Corbett and Kelly. His clash with TJ Ryan on Sunday will be fundamental to the outcome.



Limerick were very much underdogs against Cork, but having seen Cork play Tipp in the league, minus Corcoran and O’Halpin, I was of the opinion that Cork had slipped and were not producing the new players that they needed after last year’s abysmal showing against Offaly, and the presence of the aforementioned pair was vital. When this two thirds of the half-back line was not available to start in the championship, a "surprise" result suddenly became a strong possibility. One thing we all have learned from Limerick over the years, is that they have a fighting spirit second to none, and any Cork vulnerability would be exploited.

This they duly did, although not without a struggle, and indeed their early form in the Waterford game does cast questions over them also. As well as this it seems to me that Ollie Moran’s goal in the semi-final was of the soft variety, and Brian Begley’s goals were helped by terrible positioning by Sean Cullinane for the first, and an alarming inability to close Begley down for the second one. The James Butler goals so far in this campaign have been complete opposites, with the his goal against Cork demonstrating razor sharp reactions and finishing, while the Waterford goal was the stuff of nightmares from a defensive perspective.

Limerick are very strong in the central forward positions, and it will be vital for Philip Maher to get tight on Brian Begley. As we saw even against Diarmuid O’Sullivan, it is virtually impossible to prevent him getting possession a lot of the time, but he cannot be afforded the time and space that he enjoyed against Waterford.

The inclusion of Sean O'Conner of Ahane may well be a ploy to exploit John Carroll’s perceived lack of pace, but previous experience suggests that Carroll can be depended upon. David Kennedy will be up against a player not physically unlike Joe Rabbitte – albeit a far superior hurler – in the form of Ollie Moran. A repeat of the aerial problems that Rabbitte caused certainly cannot be afforded from a Tipp viewpoint. A huge game from Kennedy and Tipp will be half-way there as Moran is so important to Limerick.

Given the style of play of Eddie Enright, I am concerned as to the influence that Ciaran Carey might exert, in “loose” encounter, that’s if Carey can get back to something approaching his best.

It will be interesting to see how Steve MacDonagh copes with the pace of Lar Corbett, if the Thurles man gets decent ball. It’s hard to see a player of MacDonagh’s experience and talent being cleaned out, but the running style, and electric pace of Corbett could test him.

The inclusion of Paul Kelly at midfield should yield a few long range scores for Tipp and ensure a rather defensive day for the Limerick pairing of O’Brien and Jack Foley. Indeed Foley’s brother Mark will pose a huge challenge for Mark O’Leary, and his forceful style makes it hard to see Tipp gaining an advantage here. Brian O’Meara’s physical advantage over Clem Smith, will be expected to yield dividends for Tipp on the other flank, but Brian will need to have benefited from the extra hurling he’ll have done since the Clare game, when he had only barely recovered from injury. He will also need to recover the finishing ability he showed last year, and not fall into his old ways of running up cul-de-sacs.



So what is the prediction ?

Well, naturally this involves a lot of assumption, but on the basis that I believe Tipp to be a superior force to the Cork and Waterford teams that the Shannonsiders played, I think Tipp may shade it. But it will require a huge performance from all the central players. I believe that if Tipp have any aspirations of winning this year’s All-Ireland, then winning on Sunday is mandatory. They will not win an All-Ireland via the significantly more difficult “back-door” route.

Tipp reached a Munster Final last year, and performed poorly, and frankly were dreadful against a mediocre Galway team, but for what they are worth, mitigating arguments could be put up for last year, given the relative inexperience of the team, and the progress made since the previous year. But now is the time to move on to another level, if they're good enough. It will be a huge task, but my feeling, (and it's not beyond being influenced by wishful thinking !), is that Tipp will be celebrating on Sunday evening.
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Coreahln's Munster Final Report


So the oft-quoted “famine” since 1993 is no more as a result of Tipperary’s skin-of-the-teeth victory on Sunday last, in a Munster Final which was full of endeavour and enthusiasm, if not quite the ultimate shining example of hurling in all its glory. It has been a long wait for Tipperary, and in some ways all the more frustrating, for as Peter Finnerty pointed out in last Sunday’s Independent, Tipperary have been the most consistent team in the province over the past decade.

From a Tipperary perspective, it was far from being a performance without flaws, but Munster Finals, - even with the safety net of the so-called “back-door” – are all about winning, and there was much satisfaction to be gleaned from the ability to grind out the couple of late scores which won the match, even though Limerick had the momentum at that stage.

Declan Ryan, once again, contributed more than his fair share, and his hallmark must have been stamped on about half of Tipperary’s total. His cuteness and vision is in stark contrast to some of the hurling which we saw at times on Sunday. Ger Loughnane is sometimes “credited” with introducing the running game, and incorrectly so, as Cyril Farrell’s Galway patented this during the 1980s. It has become to hurling what the short-passing game is to football, a mechanism for players and coaches to try to tactically control a sport which is essentially one for free spirits. It is probably fair to say at this stage though, that it has become such an endemic part of the game, that coaches hardly need to champion this style of play.

We saw numerous examples of this in the Munster Final last Sunday, with Ciaran Carey and Brian O’Meara being the two main “culprits”. In fairness to O’Meara, he had a direct bearing on both goals, although his part in the second one was hardly the result of a training-ground routine !

From a forward’s perspective, it can be recommended to a degree as if it is done well, it is extremely difficult to defend against – legtimately anyway. However, Brian seems to use it as the first, last and only option. Having said this, he has been Tipperary’s most hard-working and consistent forward over the past two seasons, and probably contributed more than any other player to Sunday’s victory. His use of the ball at the end of his mazey runs has improved immeasurably, due to sound coaching no doubt, and as a big, strong, athletic guy, he is better equipped for this type of game than most.



I will be surprised if as shrewd a judge as Eamon Cregan will not question Ciaran Carey’s solo-running late in the game, especially in such searing heat as last Sunday. Surely, a 70-yard clearance would have been more beneficial on a few occasions, especially with a huge target man such as Begley up front ? Solo-running from defence is a practice which is best used sparingly and when necessary, although Mark Foley did pick-up a couple of memorable scores on forward runs. Another example of poor judgement in this respect was from John Carroll, who was pulled for over-carrying, after an ill-advised barge into the immense Ollie Moran. A simple clearance would have brought dividends, rather than the Paul O’Grady point which resulted.

The former Dublin football player and manager, Kevin Heffernan, was once asked who his best forward was, and he suggested that it was David Hickey, as he was their best player when he didn’t have the ball. Perhaps “A Decade of the Dubs” should be required viewing for Eddie Enright and Mark O’Leary who need to realise that a defender is a player whose team is not in possession, rather than a player with a number lower than eight on his back. Only for the toil of Brian O’Meara the Tipp half-forward-line was struggling in general play – albeit after forcing Limerick to reshuffle their pack early on- although both O’Leary and Enright have a few points in them every day out. John O’Brien’s recent under-21 form, and his important point on Sunday is good news for Tipp and they seem to have numerous options up front. In fairness to Eoin Kelly, while it wasn’t his happiest day, his effort was unrelenting, and he will have many days when the rewards come more easily.

In relation to Tipp’s midfield, I am convinced that there may be a post-injury role for the much-maligned Conor Gleeson. Tommy Dunne and Paul Kelly are both stylists but a player with a more abrasive, and solid game, would complement either of these players very well. It would also provide Tipperary with an extra option in attack, by freeing up one of them. Another possibility for midfield could be John Carroll, who has more physical tendencies than Gleeson. The Roscrea man has had a torrid enough time at right-half-back in the last two games, and could be directly replaced by Paul Kelly. Of course, Noel Morris is another who may have a say at midfield or at wing-back before the year is over.



What of Limerick ?

I have to say I was very impressed, and I would not be surprised to see them reach the All-Ireland Final. What a replacement Sean O’Connor proved to be, and Brian Begley - even though well-marshalled by the ever improving Philip Maher – will cause problems for any full-back. Similarly Ollie Moran will hardly meet another centre-back who is as well acquainted with the fundamentals of the job as David Kennedy.

Limerick will be disappointed with some relatively straight-forward chances which were missed, but will be pleased that they were at least creating the opportunities. The fact that they scored 1-17, and only three points of this total came directly from the full-forward line suggests a wide range of scoring options. Conversely though, Tipperary will feel that too many players had uncontested pucks at goal from far out.

The highly impressive Damien Reale, who replaced the apparently exhausted Steve McDonagh, give them further options in defence. The one concern I would have for Limerick down the road is that were they to face Kilkenny, DJ Carey’s pace might cause problems for TJ Ryan, although the sheer closeness and aggression of Limerick’s defending would be something to which Carey is not accustomed in the relative comfort-zone of the Leinster championship. Pace is often an over-rated quality, but it is one challenge that you cannot coach a defender to play against to any huge effect.

Limerick will go into an open draw with the Ulster Champions, Galway, and the Leinster runners-up which will take place on July 15th. Galway will need to have improved a lot on last year to live with Limerick, and the Ulster Champions will not trouble the Shannonsiders . An interesting tussle would be Limerick against the Leinster runners-up, as it might provide a tangible measure of the comparative standards between the Munster and Leinster.

By all accounts, the team in question will be Wexford, as notwithstanding the injury concerns of Kilkenny – John Power, Peter Barry and DJ Carey – the feebleness of the Wexford challenge to Offaly last year, and their conquerors subsequent collapse doesn’t augur well for a competitive Leinster Final. In fairness to Wexford they tend not to wave DJ Carey on unchallenged, and may put up a decent struggle. Paradoxically, the best result for the other All-Ireland contenders on Sunday next would be a 20 point victory for Kilkenny, and for the band-wagon to continue to attract increasing numbers of a pandering media. Kilkenny haven’t had a seriously competitive match since the 1999 All-Ireland Final, when they lacked the “bottle” to take the match as Cork struggled to stay in touch. This was a day when DJ Carey was completely subdued – 12 months before his coronation – and John Power was substituted after Brian Corcoran’s man-of-the-match performance. So, my friends, they are far from being the irresistible force that they would have you believe, and it is mildly amusing to hear them tell us that they are as hungry as ever. You don’t judge your hunger levels against a county (Offaly) which is trying to wring one last hurrah from a group of players whose day has passed. When your lungs are burning, your limbs aching, you’re three points down, and you have Mark Foley tearing into you for the umpteenth time, it is then appropriate to gauge your hunger levels. It could be an interesting Summer yet………..

A few points that I might mention in finishing ;



It would be inconsistent of me not to acknowledge that Lar Corbett’s point on Sunday should have been a free-out as he threw the ball up and caught it in his hand directly.

The most bizarre headline I’ve seen in a long time was overhead the Sunday Times preview of the Connacht Football Final last Sunday. It read “Maughan’s men have more questions to answer”. For those of you who don’t follow the big ball game, John Maughan ceased to be manager of Mayo 23 months ago, and is currently manager of Fermanagh !!

What about the Munster Championship 2001 – FOUR games decided by a total of SEVEN points !! Contrast this with its Leinster counterpart, which needs a Wexford win urgently before everyone dies of boredom..

Fair play to Tommy Dunne, after the many near misses this wonderful ambassador for the game has had, he still had the decorum and dignity that one looks for - but doesn’t always get – in a winning captain on last Sunday. No histrionics, no O’Connellesque orations, just understated style and class like everything Tommy does. The fourth Toome man to lead Tipp to this honour, after Michael O’Meara, Matt Hassett, and the fabled “Wedger” Meagher.



Tipperary, now Munster Senior Champions, won their fourth Munster minor title in six years last Sunday – not bad for a county that’s under-achieving !!!
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OPEN DRAW’S TIME HAS COME !



Another abysmal Leinster Hurling Championship has ended in a manner which could have been predicted twelve months ago, not to mind at the start of this year's championship. It is Kilkenny's fourth successive Leinster Title, and the ease with which it was achieved must raise eyebrows concerning the current state of the Leinster Championship, even among the most myopic of Leinster hurling followers. It is only the second time in history that four titles have been put back-to-back in this province, the other occasion being when the great Kilkenny team of 1971-75 achieved five titles in a row, an honour that the current Kilkenny team will be short odds to emulate, and indeed surpass.

Normally, an achievement of this magnitude would cement a place among hurling's elite for the successful team, especially if it was mirrored at national level. However, it seems that the success of this team owes a great deal to the alarming drop in standards with the province. The dominance of Kilkenny at minor level over the past decade is well documented - 11 titles in the last 12 years - and inevitably the fruits of this are now being borne at senior level. It is accepted that minor success is no guarantee of future senior achievement, but it can be safely said that the inverse holds true i.e. that - as in the case of Offaly and Wexford - if a county is uncompetitive at minor level over the span of a decade, then undoubtedly this will be reflected at senior level in the future. The other alarming aspect of this is that Kilkenny themselves have not been at the races at national level since their last All-Ireland minor title in 1993. They have only reached 2 national finals, after their last 6 Leinster victories, and received a sound thrashing in both of these finals. This statistic is perhaps the most shocking indictment of the standards of hurling in Leinster, and given the current age profile (19 to 26) of the minors of the era in question, it suggests a very bleak picture even in the short to medium term.

There are those "defenders of the faith" in Leinster who would have you believe that everything in the garden is rosy, at least publicly anyway. Charlie Carter said in the "Sunday Game" after the Leinster Final that he thought Leinster Hurling was fine - "haven't Leinster teams won 2 of the last 3 All-Irelands"? In fairness to Charlie, there is a knock-on effect if he criticises Leinster standards, as he is then implicitly "knocking" his own team, plus of course he would have Wexford and Offaly men quoting him while breaking hurleys off tables before games against Kilkenny for the next 3 years as a result. This, of course, is part and parcel of the artificiality of interviews with players after matches, and we can only hope that Carter would express different views privately. If not, it is to be hoped that he never ends up on any hurling development committee of the future.

Where does this leave Kilkenny ? Well, they are now in the situation that used to pertain to Galway, in that under current conditions they have an effective "bye" into the All-Ireland Semi-Final every year, so farcical has the Leinster championship become. However, their achievements outside of Leinster have been much more modest. Since the 1998 All-Ireland Final, they have played 10 championship games, won 9 of them and lost 1. Of these 9 victories, 4 have been against Offaly (total margin – 46 points), 1 against Laois (22 points), 1 against Dublin (15 points), 1 against Wexford (13 points), and outside of Leinster they have All-Ireland Semi-Final victories over Clare (4 points), and Galway (8 points). Their defeat was, of course, against Cork in the 1999 All-Ireland Final. The fact that since 1998 no Leinster team has got within 10 points of them, while both Munster teams proved very problematic (as did Waterford in ’98), suggests still further that it is a case of the other Leinster teams being poor rather than Kilkenny being exceptional. Attempts to explain away these statistics by suggesting these margins are primarily due to Kilkenny’s standards is an argument that holds no water. Surely we must be able to engage our critical faculties sufficiently to realise when a team is hurling in a comfort-zone and when it’s not ? In fact, even Liam Griffin, as blinkered a Leinster man as one is likely to meet, said in yesterday's Tribune that Kilkenny haven't even the possibility of being regarded as a very good team, never mind a great team. To my mind, in terms of aspirations to greatness, this team was damaged goods after failing so abjectly from a winning position against Cork in 1999.



If any one player reflects this “comfort-zone” in which Kilkenny have been operating for much of the time over the last few years it has to be Charlie Carter. You may recall that back in 1996, Charlie was 25 years old and still but a fringe player on a Kilkenny team which was second best, if not third best in Leinster. At 30 years of age he is now a vital part of the "greatest full-forward line in the history of hurling" - according to Liam Griffin. Liam, of course, is very much a man of extreme emotions. You are either "a genius" or the "greatest of all-time" (if you're from Kilkenny), or the world's worst and devoid of any opinion on anything (if you're on the Wexford county board).

Anyway, back to Charlie!! It is startling to note the difference in his performances against Leinster opposition compared to non-Leinster teams. In 5 championship games against non-Leinster opposition he has scored a total of 7 points. This is the equivalent of what he scored against Wexford on last Sunday – with less than 10 pucks of the ball ! If this fellow were an Olympic athlete, showing this much improvement at this age, it would arouse quite a lot of suspicious comment !

The "experts" seem loath to point out the poverty of the marking he enjoys in Leinster. Take last Sunday as an example, can you imagine Frank Lohan allowing Carter out in front of him for every ball ? And then being completely unable to close him down ? If I were in charge of any team where a corner-back was allowing a forward to dictate like this, I would have him on the side-line after 20 minutes. Perhaps this reflects the poorness of Wexford's options ?

Carter also benefited from a piece of juvenile play from Larry O'Gorman. O'Gorman, who had a reasonable game otherwise, failed to anticipate a hook coming in and conceded a point when the ball should have been at the other end of the pitch. It’s hard to imagine Mark Foley or Eamon Corcoran being exposed in similar fashion. In fact some of the marking was so slack, that on one occasion when Charlie let a ball pop from his hand he had time to retrieve it, and a tackle still hadn't been made! To give the Kilkenny man his due he is very sharp and shoots on sight with unerring accuracy, rather than carrying unnecessarily, and has improved as a player. But the suspicion remains that his scoring rate drops dramatically outside Leinster when he is not afforded the same latitude.

Wexford huffed and puffed in the early stages on Sunday, but missed a number of easy chances, and the game was over once Kilkenny scored a goal, even at that early stage. James McGarry advanced well to deny Paul Codd a goal, but it is pathetic for a forward to miss an opportunity like that. The good work from Larry Murphy could hardly have given a simpler chance to Codd.

Denis Byrne kept up the anonymity of the All-Ireland club final, and John Hoyne spent the match trying to get sent-off which he finally managed. Before the media pundits droolingly sneered at the supposed irony of Brian Cody referring to his forwards as “not bad” they should have seriously considered how many top county teams would pick Denis Byrne in his current form ? Or indeed John Hoyne ?

On mentioning Hoyne, I should make a point in relation to the sending-off. Peter Finnerty said on the Sunday Game, that maybe Pat O'Connor felt it was too early to send off anyone (after Hoyne's second transgression). If this is the case, perhaps the GAA should issue a public directive which imposes a moratorium on sendings-off in the first 20 minutes of a game, and at least make the "softening-up" period official and consistent, so that everyone knows where they stand. Otherwise, Finnerty should desist from making these sort of remarks which fly in the face of the rulebook. It's trying to ensure refereeing consistency we should be rather than justifying inconsistency.

How many county teams would swap a wing-back for Philip Larkin ? How many teams would harbour wild desires of having Canice Brennan in the middle of the park ? How his stock has risen since he was jeered and booed off Nowlan Park by the Kilkenny “supporters” ? Based on last Sunday, would you seriously want JJ Delaney at number 4, if the full-forward line was getting decent ball ? A team not without its potential weaknesses I would suggest.

The quarter-final draw will take place next Sunday night after the Ulster final is over. The first question that must be asked with regard to this draw, is that since the Ulster runners-up don’t have the “back-door” option, what is to be gained by delaying the draw ? Surely Galway are entitled to 3 weeks notice of their opposition ? Every other county has 6 or 7 months notice, something with which I have to admit I don’t agree, as it leads to too much “focusing” (to use that appalling cliché) on single opposition teams. But surely when that early-draw system persists, then delaying the quarter-final draw unnecessarily is unjustifiable and unfair ?

Certainly, despite the Model County apparently impressing Brian Cody no end, a draw against Wexford will not be greeted with trepidation by any team, including the Ulster Champions, at the quarter-final stage. We must assume that Wexford will improve, although a huge improvement will be necessary to even be reasonably competitive in the next round. Further comment on the quarter-finals is for another day.

I think that the lessons of last Sunday in Croke Park need to be taken on board by the GAA authorities. Of course, the only long-lasting solution for counties who want to have any aspirations of seriously competing in the championship, is to put in the necessary work at schools and under-age level. It is to Offaly’s eternal shame that even after winning four All-Irelands we are still hearing about the handful of clubs who play hurling, as if this is something of which to be proud. Is the aftermath of success not the optimum time to try to spread the game throughout the county ? We are forever hearing that it’s a small county, and surely this should make it easier if anything. The old argument of a small population doesn’t really wash anymore. Surely once the population is over 50,000 the law of diminishing returns applies. Surely it doesn’t matter very much whether you have 250,000 or 50,000 if hurling isn’t played and promoted in every parish.

We can sit and wait for other counties in Leinster to get their act together, but that will be a long-term solution, in terms of ensuring a decent championship. In the short-term, the open draw has to be brought in, before hurling’s reputation takes a further battering. This is something that the Munster counties in particular should push for, as Kilkenny won’t push for it, for obvious reasons. The image of a turkey voting for Christmas comes to mind ! And the Leinster counties tend to publicly adopt a siege mentality whenever their competition is questioned. Clearly the provincial championships are on borrowed time anyway, and were from the moment that second-chance was introduced, so why not bite the bullet and have an open All-Ireland championship right now ?

Galway enjoyed a special status for many years, with the 1950s being particularly absurd, when the received a bye to the All-Ireland final on two occasions ! We all remember the days in the late 1980s when Gerry McInerney of Galway had played only 6 championship games, and 3 of them were All-Ireland Finals ! Do we want to perpetuate this type of unbalanced championship ? The reality is that Kilkenny have to win only 4 competitive games to win 3 All-Irelands in-a-row, normally an achievement that would give a team an undeniable claim to greatness, but one that could conceivably be attained by this run-of-the-mill team with the help of the current structures. We are duplicating the advantage that Galway have had, when the essence of the championship must surely be a fair chance for all.

I’m not naïve enough to believe that a truly open championship will arrive without much weeping and gnashing of teeth, but in the meantime one can only hope that any evaluation of the quality of this Kilkenny team - irrespective of their success – will be a lot more considered and cognisant of opposition quality, that it has been in some recent newspaper articles and in the RTE commentary. Ger Loughnane in the Star, and Justin McCarthy in the Examiner, should be acknowledged as two of the contributors whose comments concerning Kilkenny have not been those of love-struck fans watching their first championship, and the shame is that these comments haven’t reached a wider audience.
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