IT’S TIME TO CUT THE CLUB PLAYERS A PROPER DEAL
Read Teddy McCarthy PLUS the verdict on Tipp/Limerick
I’M NOT going to join the growing chorus claiming hurling has never been in a better place, and that the thrilling finish to Cork versus Waterford is a sign of another great summer ahead, because there are cracks underneath the surface of the game which need to be highlighted.
Last Sunday provided a great finish, with Waterford just running out of steam after holding the whip hand for so long. But for all the excitement that came with Cork’s comeback, there were only 16,000 present to witness it.
I hope people don’t get carried away, because the bottom line is that the Championship doesn’t truly start until the All-Ireland quarter-final stage. Irrespective of what the Munster Council think, the Munster Championship has lost its appeal because of the back door.
You can talk about the economic crisis having an effect but if that match was a straight knockout there would have been 30-to40,000 at it. As it was, there was no atmosphere.
The provincial championships are losing their appeal. I’ve never known the decision-makers in Croke Park to move backwards, so I don’t see a return to a straight knockout format, but there’s no point pretending everything is perfectly fine. I just wonder if it actually cost money to open Thurles last Sunday to such a sparse crowd?
I’m desperately disappointed in the Munster Council and with the refixture date they have set. It shows scant regard for the club player in Ireland. The Cork club championship was scheduled for that weekend and is already postponed. Why not play it this weekend? Or why not play extra-time the first day and finish it out? Extratime should always be played when there is a back door. Money seems to rule the roost.
Meanwhile, the club player is getting a raw deal. I see a revolution coming.
MY OWN club, Sarsfields, have seen their first fixture moved back to June 23 – a Monday night – which is belittling the county championship. Players who are expected to tog out might be travelling long distances up the country from work.
We will also have three players, who all booked holidays early in order to give a commitment to the club, missing. Will the Cork County Board compensate them if they stay at home? Plenty of other players are, I’m sure, in the same boat.
The Gaelic Players Association looks after inter-county players. I think there should also be a Club Players Association. I’d love to see the club hurlers of Ireland rise up; the GAA is only paying lip service to the grassroots.
The GAA could demand that all counties play their championships on certain dates. This would take control off county boards when they are doing their fixtures master-plan and set aside windows for all the hurling championships in the country. The first rounds could be played, universally, on the first weekend of May, the second round in June and so on.
Club players should demand that the GAA not treat them as second- class citizens any more.
If the players are happy with the way things are, that’s fair enough. But I really don’t think that’s the case. In fact, I’m sure it isn’t. It’s time for club players to mobilise, whether they start on Facebook with players swapping ideas or in whatever other way they see fit. After all, what’s happening in Cork is happening all over the country.
Maybe, to give a more radical suggestion, it’s time to cut the cord between club and county. The day might have come where the panel of 30 inter-county players need not have any association with their clubs. Just let them play away. It would be better than the current scenario.
For all the excitement of the finish, last Sunday wasn’t a classic by any means. To me, it was like watch- ing an exhibition game. The style of hurling on display during that clash does not appeal to me any more.
PRECIOUS few lines or positions being held. No manmarking. No hits. I was talking to a friend who played alongside me for Cork and he said he hadn’t gone to Thurles. When I asked him why, he said that he doesn’t ‘ get any enjoyment watching it. The honesty is gone.’
Yes, the skill level is high, but the pure instinct is gone from the game. It’s overly tactical and borrows too heavily from football; just look at the way Waterford flooded their defence by bringing their whole half-forward line back for Anthony Nash’s puck-outs.
Is this cynicism and negativity convincing crowds to stay away?
We already have the Gaelic Players Association so perhaps it’s time club players had one, too