Will cut and thrust of hurling be lost?
Round robin has good and bad points
DURING THE exhilarating action at Innovate Wexford Park when Wexford clashed with Kilkenny, I couldn’t help but worry about the proposals to restructure the hurling championship.
A new round robin system looks likely to be introduced, fixing the Galway home games issue, while offering the carrot of two home matches to the top tier counties.
No doubt County Boards will be in favour, particularly from a financial viewpoint, because they will receive 10% of the gate. Long term the cut and thrust of the championship will be diluted though, particularly at provincial level.
At Innovate Wexford Park there was a tremendous atmosphere, while one can look forward to an even greater occasion at Croke Park next Sunday when in a unique tie, Wexford and Galway will meet for the very first time in a provincial final, with more than 40,000 supporters expected at headquarters.
The proposed new system has now gone out from Central Council to counties for discussion. Wexford County Board discussed the matter last week but have sent the proposals back to the clubs for their views, before arriving at a decision as to where their support will lie at the next monthly meeting.
Should the round-robin system receive the support of counties, will it dilute the cut and thrust of provincial championship games, particularly with the demands of such a sequence of games ahead of the players?
Given their amateur status, and despite the commitment to training, it may not be possible for players to deliver high quality, intense action, taking the congested nature of the fixtures into consideration.
And given that counties would enjoy home fixtures, the majority of the grounds will be hosting all-ticket games, which in itself will create huge problems given the demand for the Wexford versus Kilkenny game as an example.
Walsh Park in Waterford has a capacity of just over 11,000 while Cusack Park can house 14,000 approximately, with Innovate Wexford Park limited to 20,000.
What impact all of this will have on the club scene is still to be debated, but one can expect little domestic championship activity through the summer months, particularly with plans to move the All-Ireland finals to August.
Wexford clubs now have an opportunity to have their say. While clubs are not always the best option to get a reasoned response, on this occasion they have an opportunity, so it will be interesting to see how many club meetings will be held to offer their thoughts on the new championship proposals.
This week we look forward to Croke Park and a long-awaited provincial final. The meeting of Wexford and Galway is certainly not alone whetting the appetite of the competing counties but all hurling enthusiasts, as it is their first meeting in a provincial final.
The hurling championship has taken on a whole new story of its own this year. Reigning All-Ireland champions, Tipperary, were sent packing to the qualifiers, where they are joined by once kingpins Kilkenny, also many people’s favourites, plus Waterford and Limerick.
Few would have predicted the provincial final pairings of Wexford-Galway in Leinster, and Cork-Clare in Munster. But the change in the old order has energised hurling followers as they anticipate two mouth-watering finals, to go alongside the qualifiers of which Kilkenny’s home clash with Limerick is the stand-out game.
For Wexford followers the journey to Croker is about to resume. One is really looking forward to the traffic jams on the M11 from early Sunday morning as Wexford followers once again journey to take over Croker. It should make for a wonderful occasion with a magnificent atmosphere.
While on the subject of inter-county fare, one has to congratulate Seamus McEnaney, his backroom and the county’s footballers on their qualifier victory over Limerick. It’s no easy task to achieve a victory down on Shannonside.
The win ensures a phase two qualifier game for Wexford. McEnaney must have thrown his eyes to heaven when his home county, Monaghan, came out of the draw as their opposition. It will all make for a great occasion for the footballers on Saturday week in Innovate Wexford Park.