Kerry motion to join Munster hurling championship makes 'a lot of sense'

Kerry secretary Peter Twiss says their joint motion with Munster GAA to provide the carrot of a berth in the Munster championship should they win the Joe McDonagh makes 'a lot of sense'

MOTION: The Kerry hurlers before their National Hurling League clash against Carlow in Tralee on Sunday. Pic: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus Ltd

Kerry secretary Peter Twiss says their joint motion with Munster GAA to provide the carrot of a berth in the Munster senior hurling championship should they win the Joe McDonagh Cup makes “a lot of sense”.

The county and province have tabled a proposal to Congress in Croke Park this weekend, which would see them qualify for the Munster SHC should they win hurling’s second tier championship in May.

The motion explains that if the McDonagh Cup winners are from Munster they will play in that province’s championship the following year. Victors from any other province will play in the Leinster championship.

Comprising 11 teams, six in one province and five in the other, the team relegated from the Liam MacCarthy Cup will be the last team in the provincial six-team group.

Up until now, Kerry faced the prospect of a play-off against the worst-placed team in Munster in a promotion/relegation play-off where the prize on offer was a place in the following year’s Leinster SHC.

McDonagh Cup finalists the last three years, Kerry have been knocking on the door and now the reward for winning one is clear.

“We are in no man’s land with the way it is situated,” says Twiss. “We were going nowhere so it kind of brings clarity to the whole thing and everybody knows now that if we win the Joe McDonagh the reward is the Munster championship and everybody is happy with that.” 

Twiss is loath to get ahead of himself but knows the advances hurling has made in the county in recent years. 

“In a way, the motion is indicative of where we are with hurling in Kerry. It’s come a long way thanks to a lot of people including Stephen (Molumphy, senior manager).

“It shows the amount of work that has been done and if the team is fortunate enough to win the Joe McDonagh it’s appropriate that it gets its shot in Munster. After all, Munster is our province and if we are to play hurling at the top level it should be there. Yes, the standard is high but our allegiance is to the province so it makes a lot of sense.

“Obviously, the Joe McDonagh is key to the whole thing and there is no point talking about playing in Munster until the Joe McDonagh is won, which is right. It’s good to be there but the priority is to win our championship. This is a good bunch of players. They have gone close and it’s a big target for them now.”