Kelly’s hurling revolution
Will they, won’t they, should they? And yet, down the sports pages this week was an utterance far more radical, potentially more far-reaching for the GAA, than the Croke Park issue.
“Kelly to explore hurlers’ move to weaker counties”, the headline went. A proposal from GAA president Sean Kelly which, if adopted, would revolutionise hurling.
“Kelly said the prospect of players no longer involved with their own county lining out for an emerging side should be seriously examined,” said the story in the Irish Examiner.
It’s gratifying when occasionally, someone in a position of authority takes up an idea that’s been expounded in this column for years.
Despite the growth in media coverage in the last decade and the subsequent growth in interest, hurling is not in a healthy state.
Far from expanding, hurling is actually being squeezed, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. And it all comes down to numbers.
For years, we’ve had the nonsensical argument about whether hurlers are born or made.
Hurling is no different to any other sport; anyone with good hand/eye co-ordination, with decent athleticism, and given the proper coaching, can make it as a hurler. It doesn’t matter where they’re born - Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Derry, Kerry, Donegal, Katmandu or Timbuktu - if the above requirements are in place, they can hurl.
Enough of those individuals, and you’ve got a hurling team; enough of the cream of those individuals, and you’ve got yourself All-Ireland contenders.
People can do all the studies they like, but in a nutshell, the real problem for hurling is that the three most successful hurling counties - Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary - have the three largest hurling bases from which to choose. And it is that simple, the numbers game dictates.
If Kelly’s proposal ever becomes reality, the whole All-Ireland scene would suddenly open up.
Let’s take a look at a few possibilities, and for the purpose of this exercise, Limerick, Waterford, Laois, Dublin, Down, Antrim, Offaly, Wexford and Clare are going to be considered as ‘emerging’.
Let’s first take those who are closest to breaking the recent renewed dominance of the big three; let’s also assume the number of possible transfers would be more realistic than the one or two suggested in the article, that it could be three, or even, depending on the need of the county, rise to a maximum of five.
Wexford: Brian McEvoy (Kilkenny) in midfield, Eoin Larkin (Kilkenny) at centre-forward, Denis Byrne (Kilkenny) full-forward.
Offaly: Philly Larkin (Kilkenny) centre-back, Charlie Carter (Kilkenny) corner-forward, Dermot Grogan (Kilkenny).
Limerick: Terry Dunne (Tipperary) midfield, Kenny Dunne (Tipperary) wing-forward, Neil Ronan (Cork) full-forward.
And so it goes on. Given the fact that they’ve won two of the last three Munster titles, an argument could be made against Waterford getting any outside assistance, but the All-Ireland title is what it’s all about, and Waterford haven’t had a sniff of one in over 40 years.
How much stronger would they have been if they could have chosen a few lads deemed surplus to requirements across the border in east Cork?
Former Cork captain Mark Landers is one who springs immediately to mind, still playing superb hurling for Killeagh, but there are others, while their Tipperary and Kilkenny borders should also supply some very rich pickings.
Clare could look to Galway to pick up a few badly-needed flying forwards of the kind the Tribesmen have been producing for years, while Dublin might manage to persuade some of their residents to declare for the capital.
Looking down the rankings, how much more competitive would the likes of Laois, Kerry, Westmeath, Down or Antrim be if they could have up to five outsiders?
Remember this; along with winning the All-Ireland senior title this year, Cork also won the intermediate crown (beating Kilkenny, incidentally, in the final), with a completely new side from that which won the intermediate title in 2003 (beating, yes, Kilkenny in the final).
Either one of those Cork intermediate sides would beat the Kerry senior side, would also probably beat any other side in tier two of the new championship. That’s the kind of strength in depth in Cork, in Kilkenny, in Tipperary.
The Sean Kelly proposal would address that imbalance and spread the riches a little.
In all the counties outside the big three, hurling needs a push; a leg-up. Allowing controlled movement from the stronger to the weaker counties (and strictly one-way traffic), would provide that impetus.
