Crystal makes the perfect stepping stone, says Sheedy

THE Waterford Crystal senior hurling tournament continues this weekend with the four quarter-finals down for decision.

Today, Clare play LIT in Sixmilebridge (1pm), while the Gaelic Grounds sees an all-college clash under lights with the meeting of UL and WIT (7.30pm), who were worthy winners last weekend over All-Ireland champions Tipperary.

Tomorrow, Waterford play CIT in Walsh Park, while Páirc Uí Rinn will host a derby game with Cork facing UCC (both 2pm).

The question is how valuable are such games? Certainly they serve a purpose for the colleges, who begin their Fitzgibbon Cup campaigns next week, but what use are such games to the county management teams as they begin their preparations for a new season?

Plenty, say former All-Ireland-winning managers Liam Sheedy (Tipperary 2010) and John Allen (Cork 2005).

Sheedy reasoned: “You’ll probably be playing matches anyway so they may as well be competitive.

“A lot depends on how far you’ve progressed in the championship the previous year. For us, in our first year (2008), it worked out well and the Waterford Crystal gave us a few good games (Tipperary won the competition).

“We hadn’t been hurling since the previous July when Tipperary had been knocked out of the championship at the quarter-final stage.

“For Tipperary this year, however, they had just come off the plane from their team holiday, only a few days back, and to go straight into a match wasn’t ideal, especially against a team that has a lot of work done. In those circumstances it’s not as beneficial.

“The major focus is obviously on the league coming up, and the championship after that, but these games are early stepping stones to all that.”

Those sentiments are shared by Allen.

He said: “It depends on the team, and in that respect I don’t think it was of much value to Tipperary this year. For the managers of the other county teams involved, however, I’d say it’s a benefit, yes; you’re getting an early look at fellas you might want to test in the league later on.

“Tipp are in a different situation, they already have a very good idea of who their best players are, given the success of the senior team and of the Under 21s last year, plus they already have loads of fellas who would bust a gut to get on the panel this year, never mind the team, given that they’re the All-Ireland champions.

“But it’s important to Cork, to Waterford, to Clare, all those teams that are team building.

“Cork are playing UCC tomorrow, and the college will have a good number of Cork players – it’s important for the Cork management to see as many players as possible.

“You’d have been looking for challenge games anyway at this time of year, so why not make them competitive?

“No-one wants to lose a competitive game, at any level.

“You’re not trying to get fellas fit, even at this time of the year, or at least you shouldn’t be anyway – if they’re serious about their inter-county careers, fellas should already be in decent condition. You want to see them hurling.”