Hurling merits special Congress

Claims that hurling has only woken up to the idea of change in the wake of football landing its ‘Super 8’ are mischievous as they are disingenuous from some quarters.

In 2015, a number of the game’s leading counties looked for the composition of the league to be altered, only to be knocked back largely because they will always be outnumbered by football counties at Central Council, who in such circumstances will row in behind what Croke Park wants.

Something similar happened in 2012 when the Tommy Lanigan-chaired Hurling Development Committee’s (HDC) proposal to establish the Munster and Leinster championships as five-team competitions played on a round-robin, home and away basis was rejected by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).