Work on raising quality before spreading gospel
However, I think his focus is all wrong.
Before he talks about growing the game in Tyrone and Armagh, he needs to take a look at what is there. He should be looking at places like Wexford, Clare, Limerick, Offaly, even Cork, places where hurling is strong but success is weak.
We need to look at the standard of hurling. Only for the All-Ireland finals over the last number of years, hurling has been generally very poor. The finals covered up a lot but hurling does need looking at, and club hurling especially.
Having been involved with club and county I know where I’m coming from when I say this: club hurling and club hurlers are being treated poorly. In some counties they don’t get a single meaningful game across the summer and this then lowers the standard of hurling at club level, which has an impact at the top level. All players, but young players especially, need good quality club games if they’re to improve. I can’t understand why the club championships can’t go ahead across the summer months, with the county players released to train and to play with their clubs.
I have a few suggestions:
1. Bring the All-Ireland finals forward to the beginning of August.
2. Have an open draw for the All-Ireland club championships and finish them in the same calendar year.
3. Get rid of the winter training ban — it’s a pure joke. What’s wrong with young lads training across the winter? Isn’t it better than having them going off to the pub? If the GAA is really worried about burnout they should look at what’s happening at college level, and I’m not talking about just third-level, I mean the secondary schools as well — the amount of games and training the top lads at minor and U21 are getting now is unknown.
4. Can we stop talking about what managers are getting, either under or over the table? Managers are as entitled to their expenses as anyone else in the GAA. They work as hard as anyone. We need to stop banging that drum, and look at the real problem in the GAA — the entertainment value.
To the games this weekend.
I like the six-team format of the league and I’ll give credit to the GAA for that. Every game now means something if teams want to keep their status. You’re either fighting for the league title/promotion, or fighting relegation. Now we’ll see whether the small crowds last year was down to the recession or simply no interest. I think people generally are looking forward to these games. I certainly am. What’s not to look forward to? You have Clare and Limerick on Saturday night and no matter how either team is going that’s always a humdinger. I’m not a fan of hurling under lights but I think there’ll be a good crowd there.
We have two new managers in Davy Fitzgerald and John Allen, a lot of new young players on both sides — this is a great game to start the league in that division.
In Cork you’re going to have Cork and Waterford, another two teams that have given us great entertainment every time they met over the last 10 years. Again we have two new managers, Jimmy Barry-Murphy and Michael Ryan.
The Cork players have got a lift from JBM, the Cork public have a lift so watch out for them this year. Then you look at Michael Ryan, the first local man to manage Waterford for a long time. I think he’ll do an honest job with them. Hopefully the players respond to him. A win in Cork and who knows what Waterford can achieve?
Tomorrow you have Kilkenny-Tipperary and Galway-Dublin in Division 1A, while Antrim face Wexford and Offaly meet Laois in Division 1B. Big games all.
It may be only the league but it’s a great start to the season.
Now, let’s get on with the hurling...
