Top hurlers add weight to calls for league rethink

THREE of the country’s leading hurlers are strongly opposed to the new Allianz Hurling league format.

As eight counties attempt to reverse the decision made by Central Council, Limerick captain Gavin O’Mahony, Dublin defender Niall Corcoran and Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh all raised questions about the structure, which reduces the top-flight to six teams.

As a result, Limerick, who earned promotion to Division 2 in May, and Wexford, who avoided the drop from Division 2, have been reassigned to Division 1B.

O’Mahony described the action taken by Central Council as “madness”.

“If you were in the Premiership and three were relegated and then the week after they decided on four or five there’d be uproar and that’s not the way business should be done.

“I’ve no problem with the structure of the league but the way it was implemented. It would have been a better system if they said at the end of this year’s league that wherever you finished would be your place next year.”

Despite Donal O’Grady denying Limerick’s redundant promotion had an impact on his departure as manager, O’Mahony believes it did.

“I think it definitely would have had an influence on Donal O’Grady’s decision and that says a lot on what we think of it and I think it is crazy.”

Dublin’s Corcoran believes the development of teams will stagnate under the new system. “You’re looking at less games. From a player point of view, any player wants games and I think we have two or three less games next year and obviously it’s going to be very competitive with the top six teams.

“From a manager’s point of view, the league this year for us, we got so many chances to try new players.

“We’re getting less of an opportunity next year to do that. It’ll be more rigid in team selection.

“If the league was structured in a way that you could play more club championship games, fair enough, but it’s not, you’re still playing your last league game on the same day as we played last year which is ridiculous.

“You’re looking at Limerick and Wexford and what they’ve done and I think it’s very unfair on them to have to go to what is a Division 2 set-up.”

Walsh admitted he hadn’t given a lot of consideration to the changes but believes a 12 or eight-team Division 1 would be preferable to the incoming structure.

“It is different for us because we are in Division 1A but any of the teams that are in the second tier they are probably not happy about it,” said Walsh about a format his manager Brian Cody has termed “strange”.

“We are all about promoting hurling and ensuring everyone is the best they can be. So if it is to improve them that everyone was in the same division I’d be all for it.”

Led by Limerick, the eight counties who would have played in the old Division 1 next year are to put forward a motion to Central Council this weekend to repel the previous decision.

They require a two-thirds majority but O’Mahony, backed by Corcoran, believes there is a chance it could gain the required support.

“I think they’ll go back to what they did have. The top counties backing the change carries weight, the Limericks and Wexfords can feel hard done by but when you see bigger teams kicking there is obviously something wrong.”