Ulster hurling must suffer radical reform or risk drifting further away from relevance

THIS afternoon, while events in Cusack Park divert the attention of the hurling world, the lacklustre League campaign of Antrim hurlers will splutter to an end in Ruislip. The game is a dead rubber. Both the visitors and London are lodged in midtable of Division 2A. They are going nowhere for the foreseeable future.

PJ McMullan’s Saffron side were favourites to, at least, reach the promotion play-off and rectify the wrong of relegation last year. However, last week’s shock defeat to Carlow in Ballycastle means they will spend another year away from the big boys and another season when the development of Antrim hurlers will be stunted.

Antrim have nobody but themselves to blame. They lost two players to red cards in Ballycastle. But in a week when the likes of Neil McManus and Arron Graffin finally got to strut their stuff on the big stage of Croke Park (even if Cushendall didn’t quite do themselves justice), it begs the question: what is going wrong with Antrim hurling?

When Cushendall’s Shane McNaughton was in Dublin promoting the All-Ireland club final, he was asked that very question. McNaughton (below) called time on his own intercounty career but offered no firm answers as to why Antrim are struggling.

‘Do you know, that’s a tricky one because you do have all these good club teams and all these good individual players but bringing them together seems to be a problem for Antrim,’ McNaughton said.

‘I am sure some won’t agree but there are some of the best hurlers in Ireland in Ulster.

‘Nobody is going to tell me that Neil McManus isn’t going to get on any team in Ireland. Or Arron Graffin, for that matter, It’s about bringing them together. I’m not going to say the club rivalry in Antrim is too fierce because it’s the same all over the country.’

So, nobody knows why Antrim are underperforming so badly at county level.

Given the depth of talent in the county, the Ulster outfit should be comfortably occupying a spot in midtable in Division 1B, not Division 2A. But they are drifting further and further from the national consciousness and hurling up north is suffering as a result.

When Dónal Óg Cusack suggested on RTÉ television last year that it was time to start fielding an Ulster team in the Championship to develop the game in the province, he was met with a barrage of criticism. Since that particular kite was flown, numerous people have come out against the concept – and not just in Antrim. But if the idea of having a team from the entire province competing in the Liam McCarthy is unpalatable, they should be looking at the under-age ranks to raise the standards.

When the GAA’s Higher Education Authority decided to end the participation of all combined colleges at All-Ireland championship level, they did so because the Dungarvan and Waterford combined schools had become so successful – the fruits of that success is now visible in Derek McGrath’s team flying high in Division 1A.

However, it also hit the development of hurling in Ulster. The year before the decision was made, a combined Ulster team lost by a point to Galway’s Mercy College.

It was pointed out at the time that Ulster schools had been competing at All-Ireland level for 69 years and were beaten by an average of 15 points. In one year, through the combined colleges team, they went from 15 points down to a one-point defeat.

Some of those players were on the Antrim Under-21 side that shocked Wexford a couple of years ago in an All-Ireland U21 semi-final.

They had shed themselves of their inferiority complex and it came out in beating the Leinster champions.

But results like that are outliers. There seems to be no sustainable plan to truly develop hurling in the province. The fact that Antrim are now out of sight, and out of mind, in Division 2A and the Christy Ring Cup, only adds to the feeling that Ulster hurling is the neglected child of the GAA. If self-interest will ensure that the Team Ulster concept won’t work at senior level, at least in the near future, should it not be attempted at underage level? A combined Ulster minor team (or under 17 as it will be) can give players in the province a chance to be competitive. It is worth exploring to show that the rest of the GAA world cares about what is happening to the game up north. Because, at the moment, as Antrim end their League campaign in Ruislip to no fanfare, the feeling is that if Antrim hurlers aren’t making an impact, then they will be forgotten. And that sort of attitude means those following in the footsteps of Neil McManus and Arron Graffin will be lost to

the game.