BREHENY BEAT
Hurling’s elite rising as weak counties sink
EVERYONE loves hurling now. It’s the big summer hit, drawing in people who previously couldn’t tell the difference between a hurl and a cricket bat. Now, they are discussing the merits or otherwise of short puckouts, playing a sweeper and putting a runner on the big full-back.
Should two referees be deployed in such a fast game? And why is the commentator telling us that throwing the ball is illegal when clearly it’s not? It’s party-time for new hurling fans.
Committed devotees are still breathless with excitement too at what they have witnessed since last May, deeming the new championship format to have been a splendid success, subject to a few tweaks,
They are also pleased that such a memorable championship ended with Limerick taking the All-Ireland title for the first time in 45 years. Nothing against Galway, but neutrals prefer new champions – especially after such a long wait – to two-in-a-row winners.
They would like the action to continue but it’s over until next year after the GAA decided for some strange reason that it was in their interests to cut two weeks off the championship season.
Still, it has been an excellent hurling year, doing more to promote the sport than anything for a long time.
In the circumstances, it would be easy for the GAA to overdo the self-congratulations. I was reminded of that on Sunday when the Hurling Team of the 1990s were being introduced to the crowd as part of the All-Ireland day programme.
PROMINENCE
Being on the selection committee for that team involved revisiting the decade in detail and one thing that struck me was the prominence of Antrim and Down during the 1980s-’90s.
Six of them, Ciarán Barr, Dessie Donnelly, Olcan McFetridge, ‘Sambo’ McNaughton, Paul McKillen (Antrim) and Gerard McGrattan (Down) won All-Star awards between 1988 and 1993, while the two counties had 16 nominations in the 1990s alone.
Down’s Noel Sands was nominated five times, testimony to his remarkable consistency. Antrim reached the 1989 All-Ireland final and ran Kilkenny to two points in the 1991 semi-final.
And in 1993, Down beat Kilkenny, then All-Ireland champions, in the final round of the league, a result which ensured they stayed in Division 1 while the Cats were relegated.
Offaly dropped down too while Antrim stayed in the top f light. Down and Antrim also finished ahead of Limerick, Kilkenny and Offaly on the 1A table. Next year, Offaly and Antrim won’t even be eligible to compete in the All-Ireland tier unless they win the Joe McDonagh Cup, while Down are in Tier 3.
Derry had some good years too around the turn of the Millennium; this year they lost all five games in 2B, leaving them ranked 24th in the league.
The Ulster landscape has dried up to such a degree that it’s difficult to see a return to growth any time soon. So while hurling may be thriving in Munster, parts of Leinster and Galway, the northern fields have lost their greenness. Yet, that’s never discussed at Congress or – to the best of my knowledge – at Central Council. Does anybody north of a line from Dublin to Galway give a damn what happens to hurling in Ulster? Apathy stretches further too. I regularly receive emails from hurling people in football-dominated counties, complaining about how their sport is treated.
They allege that county board interest is of the token variety only and that many of those in power would gladly burn every hurley if they thought nobody was looking.
Of course, the reverse applies too with football afforded second-class status in some strong hurling counties. But since football has a broader base across the country, the problem is not as acute.
So while hurling basks in the delightful glow of a wonderful championship, it would be wrong to think that all is well with the promotion of the game.
I recall interviewing Liam Griffin in 2000 when he came up with a memorable analogy on the failure to improve hurling standards nationally.
“If someone can market coloured gripe water, call it Coca-Cola and clean up worldwide, we should be able to sell hurling in Longford.”
He was merely using Longford as
an example, rather than aiming a specific criticism at them, but it made his point. Eighteen years on, is it any different? Sadly no.
Standards at the top end are probably higher than ever before, but the gap is widening elsewhere.
Now, Offaly and Laois have been dragged into the downward spiral, with neither deemed good enough to compete in their own provincial championship. Laois were fortunate not to drop into Division 2 this year before winning only two of five games in the Tier 2 Joe McDonagh Cup.
This might seem like an odd week to adopt a questioning approach to the state of hurling but, in fact, it’s perfect timing.
The garden at the front of the house looks fantastic, but it’s very different around the back. The legacy from a rich hurling summer should be spent on improving it.