REBEL RISE IS ON HOLD
Cork have to wait for green shoots to bloom
AFTER a week in which GAA’S annual reports were presented and the Hurling League took centre stage, we go through a few of the main talking points.
THERE was much to admire about how Cork battled back against Kilkenny on Saturday night but ultimately the outcome was all too familiar in a game that was there to be won in the closing stages – a one-point defeat.
They suffered two of them in last year’s Championship as well as drawing with Tipperary, resulting in their early elimination. Galway had a point to spare over them in the previous year’s All-ireland quarter-final.
Former Tipp boss Liam Sheedy
(right) questioned the leadership and consistency within the team whether they had the ability to
“really drive to get over the line”.
With their recent underage success, Cork are seen by many as the most likely to take over from Limerick in the coming years, but the winning habit at senior level remains elusive for now.
Stirrings in Offaly?
THERE have been any amount of false dawns in Offaly hurling over the past 20 years or so, so we tread carefully here.
But the signs are encouraging in this League so far. Ultimately they were beaten by 12 points by an admittedly understrength Waterford in round one, but they were competitive before being reduced to 14 men.
There was much to admire about their showing against Wexford, who they drew with on Saturday, and while their fate in this League is as good as decided already, it will bode well if they can remain competitive in their upcoming fixtures against
Kilkenny, Cork and Clare.
Can Tipperary maintain early season form this time?
STARTING the League with two wins from as many outings may be fuelling optimism in Tipperary, but it’s no different to their fortunes this time last year, when they actually won all five Division 1B games before bowing out at the semi-final stage after another encouraging display against Limerick.
They carried that momentum into the Championship, beating Clare and drawing with Cork and Limerick, but flatlined after that, losing to Waterford and Galway without firing a shot.
Liam Cahill hasn’t shied away from the prospect of winning a League title, but he’ll be mindful of Tipperary having something left in the tank when it’s most needed too.
Waterford may be inadvertently timing their injury crisis better this year
BY the time Waterford rounded out their Championship campaign with a win over Tipperary last year, they were without Conor Prunty, Jamie Barron, Austin Gleeson, Tadhg de Búrca, Michael Kiely and Shane Mcnulty through injury.
Going into Sunday’s defeat to Clare, their absentee list had doubled to 12 and increased to 13 with Stephen Bennett (left) picking up a hamstring injury, while Gleeson has taken the year out on top of all that.
The good news is that all bar Gleeson should be back in a few weeks, which may put paid to their hopes of playing in the top flight for the 2025 League, but if manager Davy Fitzgerald gets a clear run at the Championship he won’t quibble too much about that.
How tenable is the GAA’S position on Casement Park?
GAA director general Tom Ryan said last week “the scope is not there” for the Association to stump up more than the £15m (€17.6m) pledged towards the Casement Park rebuild.
But given that the estimated cost of the project has roughly doubled, and maybe even more than that, from the £77.5m that was originally quoted, it seems very likely that pressure will come on the GAA to increase their contribution.
If it does and they refuse, rightly or wrongly, then the criticism will be fierce from predictable quarters.
Jarlath Burns will become the GAA’S first president from Ulster in 21 years later this month – it could be the first significant item to land on his desk.