WEXFORD DO NEED TO WIN THIS LEAGUE
SUCH has been the bizarre nature of this Allianz Hurling League, it is even getting managers in trouble with their parents. Davy Fitzgerald said his mother had a word in his ear after he turned the air blue following Wexford’s win over Kilkenny last weekend.
Fitzgerald’s liberal use of expletives sprang from former Offaly hurler Brian Carroll’s observation on RTÉ radio that Wexford were mad to win the League and needed to more than any other team.
‘I heard this rubbish on the f ***** radio last night, saying I’m mad to win the League,’ Fitzgerald said, albeit with a smile on his face. ‘I couldn’t give a f***, right. I just want to win every game I can win. If we happen to win stuff, fine. But if you ask me personally, I’d prefer to win the All-Ireland — that’s what I’d love to win.’
If Wexford, who haven’t won a National League title since 1973, aren’t bothered about winning the competition, does anyone really want to win it? The lack of intensity is a result of Croke Park restructuring the League for 2020.
It meant there was no drop from the top tier this year although the powers-that-be, in their infinite wisdom, still insisted on Kilkenny and Cork contesting a relegation play-off in Nowlan Park this afternoon. Those that bother to attend will be treated to one of the most meaningless inter-county matches ever. It even emerged during the week that neither Conor Delaney or Seamus Harnedy will even be able to serve suspensions in this game. Baffling.
If Brian Cody and John Meyler wanted to find some meaning for their players, they should remind them of recent history in the play-off.
The last time Kilkenny found themselves in a relegation playoff, their win over Clare in 2015 was the launchpad to capture the Liam MacCarthy later that year. It was the second time in three years that the winner of the play-off went on to win the All-Ireland.
Meyler’s Cork team beat Waterford in the same play-off last year and it propelled them to a Munster title and an unlucky defeat in an All-Ireland semi-final.
So, there can be meaning in these games if you search hard enough for it.
Of the seven teams left standing in the League, they all have their own reasons for wanting to progress. It is one of only three chances every season that a team has to capture silverware and in a sport with such a confined pool of elite sides, it is noticeable when a team doesn’t have any medals.
Even though Derek McGrath fell agonisingly short in leading Waterford to the top prize, he still had a League title to show for all the progress he made with the county. And though Fitzgerald’s Clare mostly flattered to deceive after claiming Liam MacCarthy in 2013, there were still some celebrations when they won their first League title in almost 40 years.
It’s why Fitzgerald can’t afford to turn his nose up at the possibility of national silverware with this bunch of Wexford players. His comments last Sunday may have served to take the pressure off before his team travel to Salthill today. But if Galway do a number on them, they may come back to haunt him in a county desperate for some tangible sign of success.
Every team have their own reasons for capturing the League. John Kiely will want his Limerick side to maintain their winning habit. Micheál Donoghue will know that his Galway side have been in cruise control in Division 1B and will want to see how they fair against their main rivals.
Liam Sheedy will see it as a means of bolstering the fragile confidence of the Tipperary players. They play Dublin in Thurles today and while repeating the League-winning heroics of 2011 is probably beyond them, Mattie Kenny will be keen to see how they handle meeting Tipp in Semple Stadium.
Dublin’s 2011 win was the catalyst for their Leinster title two years later, something that should be heeded by the Clare management of Donal Maloney and Gerry O’Connor seeing as the Banner have picked up a reputation for failing at the final hurdle.
But even if they all have their own reasons for collecting some silverware, it is hard to escape the conclusion that it is Wexford, above all others, just as Brian Carroll said, who need to win this League title more than anyone else.