'Hands off the Munster senior hurling championship': Clear message from chief executive Kieran Leddy

HANDS OFF: “Hands off the Munster senior hurling championship” is the clear message from the province’s chief executive Kieran Leddy. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

“Hands off the Munster senior hurling championship” is the clear message from the province’s chief executive Kieran Leddy.

As Munster GAA revealed gate receipts for last year’s competition reached a record €8.381m, Leddy believes it would be diminished if the fourth-placed team qualified for the knock-out stages of the All-Ireland SHC.

The likes of Waterford manager Peter Queally and Wexford captain Lee Chin last year called for the number of teams progressing from the provinces to be expanded from three to four.

Waterford have not emerged from Munster SHC in the six iterations of the round-robin format, while in Leinster Wexford finished fourth last season, the second occasion in three years.

Galway chairman Paul Bellew has also spoken in favour of doubling the amount of quarter-finals. Speaking to this newspaper in August, he argued hurling at national level only has five big days at present when it needs at least seven.

Next month, Congress is expected to remove All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals from this summer meaning there will be only five senior hurling championship games after the provincial finals.

Not since 2007 has there been four quarter-finals and Leddy has warned of the knock-on effect that would have on the provincial championships.

“This suggestion (four teams qualifying for the All-Ireland knock-out stages) will do far more harm than good to the profile of hurling,” writes Leddy.

“While the championship would gain two quarter-finals with this format, the round-robins would become meaningless, with 10 games being played to eliminate one team.

“Therefore, we would lose far more big occasions than the two additional quarter-finals that we would gain. The provincial senior hurling championship would become more like a warm-up league than a championship.

“We must stop thinking that our senior championships are there to develop teams. They are there to pit the best teams against each other and to decide who the best team in the country is.”

Leddy says the round-robin structure has been “great for hurling” and insists the particular format in Munster is fair and the erstwhile All-Ireland SFC group format should be a warning of what might happen if there are changes to the current SHC system.

“It is the jeopardy of the current format that gives the competition the excitement and anticipation it has, coupled with the success of Munster counties in the All-Ireland championship.

“We saw in the senior football championship what happened when three teams progressed from a group of four. Too many games become meaningless and supporters lose interest.

“Does a team deserve to remain in senior championship if they win one of four games? I don’t think so and this is the scenario we face if four teams progress from a group of five.”