For the €25 or whatever Fergie is asking, you could learn about leadership this week from a man who has done it all and may never stop cashing in. Or you could have saved a few bob and pulled into a field in Ardcroney, six miles outside Nenagh.

Thousands of hurling fans queued for hours in Thurles last evening for the removal of Tipperary hurling great Jimmy Doyle, who passed away suddenly on Monday, aged 76.

Fr Tommy Maher, who died on Tuesday evening, has been described as a "legendary figure in Kilkenny and in hurling generally" by Kilkenny County Board chairman Ned Quinn.

As the 64,246 paying spectators made their way to Croke Park that blustery day nearly half a century ago, there was not one burning question of the day but two.

It is one of the great inconveniences hindering daily newspapers; the inability to postpone our All-Ireland final verdicts until Up For The Match is over.

Fifty years ago Tipperary and Kilkenny clashed in the All-Ireland final with the Cats warmly fancied to retain their title.

For much of the time, he served as a Clare delegate to the Munster Council before being elected chairman, Noel Walsh was a strong advocate of the inter-provincial competitions and in the vanguard of the movement to open up Croke Park to rugby and soccer.

Eamonn Cregan recently expressed concern with the growth of “hurling scrums”, claiming that players are determined to get the ball into their hand instead of pulling first-time. Is this true? Is ground hurling gone forever? Or is today’s game much more precise and controlled than the game of old?

‘The buck always stops with the manager’

A CRUCIAL game for Cork tomorrow in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a rehearsal of the opening round of the championship on May 29 against Tipperary but, of far more significance for the moment, a must-win game if they’re to get their challenge for a top-two finish back on track.

I AM looking at a photograph in the programme for the Tipperary-Kilkenny All-Ireland final of 1967 (priced, incidentally at an old shilling).

He speaks softly but carried a big stick. Michael Maher was one of the greatest full-backs to ever play hurling. The Tipperary legend spoke to Michael Moynihan.

CORK may be massive underdogs going into Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling semi-final with Kilkenny, but Donie Nealon says he is expecting “a rip-roaring game” because the Rebels will never fear the Cats and might have had a better preparation.

Tipperary ace Eoin Kelly will grace the Annaverna Mountain for the first time since 2006 this Saturday, as the 2010 M Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada competition plays out at the Louth venue.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese were represented by their respective aides-de-camp at the funeral yesterday of former GAA president Pat Fanning in Waterford.

Long-time Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins will aim for his fifth M Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada title and fourth in succession when he takes to the Annaverna Mountain in Dundalk this Saturday.

MICHAEL ‘Babs’ Keating has predicted his native Tipperary will suffer another hammering at the hands of Kilkenny in the NHL final.

THERE are those who say we’re in enjoying a golden age in hurling now, but it’s not the first.

The All-Ireland Poc Fada hurling event will take place on Saturday, August 4, at 12.30pm, it was announced today.

The 2006 selections for the Waterford Crystal-sponsored Munster Hurling and Football All-Stars have predictably been dominated by Cork, the reigning provincial champions in both codes.

ALMOST 20 years after beginning the task of putting Tipperary hurling back on the map, Babs Keating is back at the helm again.

A DOCUMENTARY on Tyrone's Cormac McAnallen will launch the fifth series of TG4's Laochra Gael on Christmas Day.

GAA President Sean Kelly last night admitted that “the sanctity of the referee and respect for his decisions is something the Association could borrow from sports such as rugby.”

Connacht 1-15 Munster 0-9

IT may not be Rome in October, but Munster’s hurlers are intent on making up for recent heartaches when they take on Connacht in the M Donnelly Inter-provincial final in Pearse Park tomorrow.

Cork corner forward Joe Deane scored the only goal of the game as Munster strode confidently to next month’s Martin Donnelly & Co. Inter-provincial Hurling final with a 1-21 to 0-13 win at Croke Park this afternoon.

A depleted Munster take on Leinster today in the M. Donnelly Inter-Provincial hurling championship semi-final at Croke Park.

All-Ireland champions Cork have just two representatives on the Munster team for Sunday's M Donnelly Inter-Provincial hurling championship semi-final gainst Leinster at Croke Park (12.15pm).

CORK are restricted to just two representatives - Ronan Curran and Joe Deane - on the Munster team to face Leinster in the M. Donnelly Interprovincial hurling semi-final in Croke Park on Sunday (12.15pm).

Three Kerry natives will take charge of the Munster football team for the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial series at the end of October.

THREE Kerry men will manage the Munster senior football side for the Martin Donnelly-sponsored interprovincial series at the end of the month.

THE 30 hurlers and footballers to be chosen on the inaugural Munster GAA Allstars award scheme will be automatically included in the respective squads for the Railway Cup.

RETIRED Munster Council secretary Donie Nealon believes the level of alcohol abuse must be tackled as a matter of urgency at all levels of society.

THE development of GAA in schools and at under age level is the ambitious priority of Sean Fogarty, the new chairman of the Munster Council.

THE GAA needs to do much more to promote their games, according to the Munster Council PRO Fr Séamus Gardiner last night.

TIPPERARY’S Sean Fogarty has been installed as the new chairman of the Munster GAA Council, succeeding Cork’s Christy Cooney, who has completed his three-year term.

THE threat of “dire financial difficulties” being experienced by other sporting organisations should serve as a stern warning to the GAA on the dangers of professionalism.