We have to stop the madness
The ratio of match preparation to time on the pitch is all wrong and completely unsustainable
THIS weekend will decide the hurling play-offs but if a county doesn’t qualify for an Allianz League quarterfinal place, that will be it from now until the Championship – bar involvement in a relegation play-off.
It put me thinking about how much time and energy is being invested in training compared to game time. At present an inter-county player is training four or five times a week, between collective pitch sessions and individual gym programmes. Let’s say it averages out at four times a week over the year – that’s roughly 200 training sessions.
In that time, a player is guaranteed five League matches and a play-off – either a quarter-final or relegation tie. The new round-robin format in the provinces means the same player will get four guaranteed matches. So that’s 10 games a year.
Now going all the way to a League decider or All-Ireland final changes that picture but, for a lot of players, you’re looking at 10 or 12 matches for 200 training sessions. That leaves the possibility of 20 training sessions per match.
I believe it is nonsensical to do that amount of training – the ratio is still all wrong. That’s before you get into the fact that a lot of matches are stop-start. Or the fact that the ball is out of play for another portion. Never mind if you are a substitute or train and don’t make the match-day panel.
By close of business this afternoon then – remember it’s March 11 – many players will have a good bit of their hurling for the year accounted for. Gone out of the Championship by mid-June, if you don’t progress. How long can you keep that cycle going for? How much is it costing all the while?
What it does mean though is that every match becomes important. If I was doing that amount of training, every match would be like an AllIreland final. There’s no doubting the quality of the fare that we’ve seen this year – in the worst of the weather, in the worst of conditions. It’s easy to pick a high-class highlight from every round: Cork and Kilkenny serving up a thriller on the opening night; the fireworks between Clare and Kilkenny at Nowlan Park in round two; Wexford coming back from the dead under lights against Tipperary in round three; Tipperary and Kilkenny shooting a combined 4-43 – without a string of top players ruled out due to the Fitzgibbon Cup – in the last round.
It’s a phenomenal standard of matches for this time of year.
Players who are going to get a restricted number games are testing themselves to the limit.
When I was playing for Offaly, you had a similar number of games but you were training accordingly. While the straight knock-out element of Championship is gone, the ratio of training to games is, in fact, much worse.
It does mean that there is plenty at stake when you look at the permutations.
Everyone bar Wexford and Clare has relegation concerns. Then there is the county board telling the manager that dropping down to Division 1B could cost hundreds of thousands of euro in terms of gates or in attracting/retaining sponsorship ..
The quality is good because of the pressure on players to perform. I’m not saying we didn’t want it going back the years, but you weren’t training like a pro all year around. You were allowed a dip in form and to put on a few extra pounds over Christmas.
Kilkenny-Wexford is the stand-out tie because it is Davy Fitzgerald versus Brian Cody. I certainly think Kilkenny will want to beat them. They don’t like getting beaten in any circumstances, never mind for a fourth time in a row. The huge upper hand they had on Wexford for years has now been wrestled away. It’s in the Kilkenny psyche to be dictating terms.
With a quarter-final place secure, it makes no sense for Wexford to show their full hand. Especially with a Championship rematch on the cards.
You could be talking about a 20,000 sell-out then. It’s great to see Wexford coming back with a team capable of challenging for top honours.
History and tradition always adds an extra layer to any TipperaryCork encounter. Cork have been missing a few players over the spring – if they don’t plug a few holes here, then it’s a relegation match and a big gap to Championship.
Galway-Limerick is the other stand-out tie, one which will decide Division 1B. The All-Ireland champions have had a very relaxed run to this point. The team’s age profile means there are no major changes from last year and are likely to start a similar Championship team.
This is their first major test. Limerick have been building in confidence, even without the Na Piarsiagh lads. A half-back line of Diarmuid Byrnes, Declan Hannon and Dan Morrissey is very strong, very physical.
Galway have had a nice break but it has to be in the back of their head that the record of teams coming back and defending an All-Ireland
is not good. As is often the case, the hunger goes because it has been satisfied.
What’s going for them is having the most solid full-back line in the country. Daithí Burke was such an important player last year. They have a mature panel who now need to prove they have the big drive to win it again.
It’s a little bit of a dangerous game not taking the League that seriously.
They’ve been playing with moderate form, that’s all. This is a much bigger game. I’m expecting Galway’s season to start in earnest from here. Whether they win or not, I’m expecting to see a big GAME ON: WexfordKilkenny is a stand-out game improvement in the Galway performance. The fact is if you lose one match in the Leinster round robin, you can be under pressure. That’s certainly the case in Munster with the home and away element adding extra spice.
While Limerick are desperate to get out of Division 1B, Galway have been content there, giving them a chance to experiment a little bit and finalise their team.
It’s hard to believe now that a number of years ago they were landing straight into an All-Ireland semi-final. It was a ridiculous system and it wasn’t Galway’s fault that they were the only competitive team in Connacht.
Playing Championship matches at home is the next logical step after joining Leinster. There is a huge hurling heartland in Galway and this will help them greatly.
It’s not that long ago that we refused to look beyond Kilkenny or Tipperary when silverware was being handed out.
This weekend is another example of how many teams are ready to contend for the big prizes.