Moran pleas for more of the action
“I don’t know of any other team sport where the ratio of training sessions to matches is higher than in hurling and football,” claims the Ahane club man.
“In terms of preparation, our preseason started in November with individual programmes, so we had three months, November/December/January, where we hardly get to puck a ball.
“Then you have the league starting in February, where the intensity is way behind what you get in championship, then you have a break and more training before the championship in June.
“Add it all up, include any club championship games, and you’ll probably have played only about 12 matches by June and few of those are of the highest intensity. In that time how many training sessions would we have — 60 or more?
“That’s a ratio of about six training sessions to every match, but how many training sessions to every really meaningful match? It’s far too much.
“And the situation at club level isn’t any better. Every guy, at every level, wants to play big games, wants to win big games — the GAA has to address that need, it’s critical to the survival and the well-being of hurling.”
As a teacher in Árd Scoil Rís, the alma mater of Lions captain Paul O’Connell, and as one of those behind the rise of that school as a hurling power in Munster, Moran is in good position to assess what’s happening at local level in Limerick. While progress is being made in some areas, there is a definite problem.
“Árd Scoil Rís was traditionally rugby but because of the work and dedication of the staff there we’re now making a mark in hurling. We’re constantly trying to drive the thing on, but it’s an uphill battle. The kids look to Munster. All the big games in Thomond Park every year, the hype, the merchandise — all that is very appealing for a young fella.
“If I was a kid in the morning in Limerick I’d be more tempted towards rugby — the GAA is not offering that lustre. I know it’s different in places like Kilkenny, but the GAA needs to address this challenge, for its own sake.
“I read a very good article lately by Canon Willie Fitzmaurice (former Limerick star) where he said that several Christy Ring counties should amalgamate, the likes of Westmeath/Carlow/Kildare, and play in the McCarthy Cup.
“We should learn from rugby. Take the Welsh regions and the Irish provinces, who can now take on the best.
“The GAA should look beyond the current boundaries, and if that means putting regional teams together to ensure the survival of hurling, it should be tried.
“At the moment the GAA is in a precarious position, being strongly challenged by other sports. We have to make the championship sexier. We all love the Munster championship, but that only gives you a shot in the arm as opposed to a constant flow, it’s not sustained through the entire championship.
“Maybe they could look at a Champions League-type format in the Munster championship, as a starter, early in the season, and then you’re still retaining the lustre of the provincial championships and giving the public big games, before getting into the All-Ireland series.”
Well, that first shot in the arm for both Limerick and Waterford takes place tomorrow, and without question Niall Moran has a point. Why do the players and supporters of both those counties have to wait until mid-June before they get to see action? Where is the build-up? Where is all the hype? Limerick (2007) and Waterford (2008) were finalists in the last two All-Ireland championships, yet their meeting this weekend is treated almost as though it were incidental to the greater scheme of things — why? Both were well beaten by Kilkenny in those two finals, admittedly, but then neither really performed up to their own standards on the day — why is this clash in Thurles so low key?
For those involved, for Niall Moran certainly, this is a new championship season, a season in which — as in 2007 and 2008 — anything can happen.
“Things can be going very badly for you — and results haven’t been great for Limerick lately — but this is championship, and the truth is that there is very little separating the Munster counties. It comes down to the day, it comes down even to the various stages in matches when you’re tested — do you want it enough?
“If you do, your chances of winning go up. Waterford will be like us, they’re not worried what anyone thinks; the first game is the big one, win that and you have momentum, you’re a harder team to stop.
“And whoever wins this is in the final, a huge incentive in itself — once you get to the Munster final you’re automatically in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
“But silverware, that’s what it’s all about, and that’s what you must admire about Kilkenny — they’re greedy, everything that’s going, they want to win it. The big teams can try to win everything, but for us, for Justin, everything this year was geared towards championship.
“Hopefully we can translate all that training into a win; you’re judged on championship, that’s the major challenge — we’re up for it.
“We have a lot to prove to ourselves, those at the end of their career want to win something; you’re judged on what you’ve achieved and at this point of our careers we’ve achieved nothing. You look at Ollie (Niall’s older brother, stalwart with Limerick since the mid-90s), he treasures every season likes it’s his last. He has no Munster medal, it would be great for him to end his career with something. Look at Eamonn O’Hara in Sligo, he got his (Connacht provincial) medal eventually — it’s never too late. If you don’t have hope, you have nothing.”
Niall Moran was speaking at a Limerick Hurling Supporters Night organised by Guinness.
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