Expect extra bite in league’s middle ground

Had Cork and Tipperary known there was more than relegation to Division 3 at stake this past spring, would they have acted differently? Would Ronan McCarthy have been as experimental with some of his line-ups?

Might Liam Kearns have risked some of his not fully-fit front-line Tipperary players earlier in the campaign? Of course they would.

Neither team knew there would be more consequences to their actions. A mite unfair, but the GAA has previous form in pulling the rug from under counties when it comes to league reformats.

In 2011, Limerick’s hurlers were promoted from Division 2, but then discovered that they would wind up in the new Division 1B the following year. At least hurling teams were given notice that their finishing places this year would determine their rankings in the new 2020 structure, but the same warning was not afforded to football counties about the second-tier championship.

Tipperary, at least, have succeeded in having another option placed on the Clár, in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday afternoon. In the event that the version of the Tier 2 competition they oppose is passed, they propose that the cut-line dividing the teams from the Sam Maguire Cup and the to-be-named ‘B’ championship, after the provinces, be based on the 2020 Allianz League, when teams are cognisant of exactly what is on the line.

We know GAA president, John Horan, feels this is the way to go. He gave his opinion to print and online media back in July: “It looks like your status will be decided by where you actually started in the league, but, in fairness, and I’ve been talking to a few people, it might actually be fairer to consider where you finish. If you get promoted into Division 2 might be a better option than if you get relegated out of it.

If you think about it, if you’re a relegated team, as against a team with the momentum of getting promoted out of Division 3, who should get the benefit? Or do you have to wait 12 months? In 12 months’ time, you could be relegated again.

And yet, the option to go with the 2019 League standings remains a live possibility, which is puzzling. That it isn’t just Tipperary’s proposal on the table shows a distinct lack of forethought.

Few, if any, people should take issue with the league having a determination on the championship, when the secondary competition is the most accurate barometer of a team’s standing. Twelve years on from the return to the four-division format, Antrim, Carlow, London, Waterford, and Wicklow will again be in Division 4 in 2020.

In the four divisions’ previous incarnation, for the 1993-94 National League, all but Antrim, of that quintet, were in the lowest group. Limerick and Sligo, just as they were back then, will also commence 2020 in Division 4.

That’s not to say there is widespread inertia: Limerick were three consecutive seasons in Division 3, having been promoted in 2013; and Sligo were in Division 3 for seven straight years, before relegation earlier this year. However, often, teams that go up come straight back down: Carlow 2019, Wexford ’18, Antrim ’17, Offaly ’14, Wicklow ’13, and Limerick and Waterford ‘12.

But, then, there are counties who are the anomalies, who just don’t belong in Division 4 and are out of there as quick as they arrive: Westmeath 2017, Laois ’18, and Derry ’19. Laois began last season in Division 4 and, in 14 months, earned promotion to Division 2. Roscommon were Division 4 in 2011, Division 1 in ’16.

Tipperary know a thing or two about quick ascensions, jumping from Division 4, in 2014, to gaining promotion to Division 2 in ’17. Last week, county chairman, John Devane, made the point that there is little difference between those counties in the middle of the pack, and he’s right: the differences between Division 2 and 3 are miniscule. Second in Division 3 last year, Fermanagh were third in Division 2 this time around. Second in Division 3 in 2017, Tipperary were fourth in the higher division a year later. Division 3 champions in 2016, Kildare were celebrating promotion to Division 1 the following March.

Should T2 get the go-ahead on Saturday — and we have mentioned the drawbacks of that proposed version — Division 2 and 3 are going to have that extra bit of bite, regardless of what option is preferred, because there will be more ramifications, either relative to the 2020 or ’21 Championship.

But in the interests of fairness and transparency, and when the demarcation line the GAA is attempting to draw to split the All-Ireland SFC is paper thin, Division 3 counties deserve the opportunity to earn their way into the Sam Maguire Cup in the same year, instead of hoping for a favourable provincial draw.

Shanahan and Connors deserve better

Full disclosure — over the course of his 10-year senior career, we’ve gotten to know Noel Connors well. Most Gaelic games correspondents have — genial as he is articulate, O’Connor has been an outstanding representative for Waterford.

It’s because of his talents that he has been thrust into such a spotlight. A three-time All-Star, he would have been part of Waterford’s leadership group before Páraic Fanning appointed him as his captain at the start of the 2019 season. To now be considered surplus to requirements is a strange development.

The myopic suggestions that the seventh defender tactic provided him with a safety net fails to consider the sterling marking jobs he has done on the likes of Patrick Horgan, Conor Whelan, John Conlon, Kieran Murphy, Damien Hayes, and Seánie Tobin.

It’s clear that Liam Cahill is not afraid to make unpopular decisions. Going back to 2016 when he told his Tipperary minor team that it was either hurling or football, through to the U21 team selection calls he had to make last year on the back of a poor Munster final, he has backed himself.

And it has paid off. He is a manager to admire and his no-nonsense approach is refreshing. But surely two servants like Connors and Maurice Shanahan deserved more than a phone call, given the nature of the news.

Due diligence might have highlighted that Derek McGrath regretted such an approach when he axed players in 2014. What is just as short-sighted as some of the commentary around Connors is the belief in Waterford, as conveyed by chairman Paddy Joe Ryan in this newspaper on Saturday, that they perform better under outside managers. Ryan’s words showed a disregard for McGrath who guided them to only their second All-Ireland final in 56 years.

Galway hurlers may need to speak out to find a resolution

News that Galway great Noel Lane has been tasked with trying to resolve the differences between managerial candidates Francis Forde and Noel Larkin with county chairman Pat Kearney was expected.

It’s believed it’s not the first time Lane has been requested to mediate between the parties and it is hoped that he will be able to thaw relations between the parties enough for either — or both — Forde and Larkin to take the reins for the 2020 season.

A committee of Steve Callahan, Michael Darcy, and Malachy Hanley failed to broker an agreement last week as Forde and Larkin removed themselves from the race to succeed Micheal O Donoghue.

Lane may have more success but the red line issues for both parties are not compatible — Kearney intends staying in his role and the pair can’t see themselves returning to Galway senior management so long as that remains the case.

The more pertinent question now is who exactly would take up the Galway role right now when there is so much turbulence? The players, who have kept their counsel in public are wary of being seen as possible power-brokers again four years after they ousted Anthony Cunningham.

But if no resolution can be found they might be required to assist in ending the impasse.

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