“From an early stage, we looked to be off it that little fraction and (we) are very very fortunate to still be in the championship.” Liam Cahill.
Its a sentiment that has echoed in every Tipperary followers mind following a lacklustre display last Sunday. From second one when Neil Montgomery won the throw in, went the wrong direction and could still set up Waterford’s opening score it was clear that Tipperary were that little fraction off.
Second to every ball, beaten in almost every position both on and off the pitch, this goes into the days to forget as a Tipperary supporter collection. After a positive league and equally heartening Munster championship, it is difficult to comprehend what went wrong.
What do the numbers say?
“Get your facts first and then you can distort them as you please.”Mark Twain.
Anyone who follows this scribe will know that the HOTD has formulised a very simple method to analyse the Puckout-Pass-Shoot nature of inter-county hurling. Scores either come from a Tipperary puckout, the opponents or a turnover forced in open play. Underneath those 3 columns on the back of the HOTD fag box is a space left for the throw in. It is for a score that comes directly from the start of either half.
Such is the frenetic nature of hurling; this row is often left blank as the first few seconds are simply all out war for the ball with a series of turnovers. On Sunday last, Neil Montgomery won both throw-ins and Waterford scored 0-2 directly from the start. This was a snapshot of the day all Tipperary followers had to endure in Waterford’s 1-24 to 0-21 win over Tipperary.
Overall scoring stats
Tipperary were beaten for every ball on Sunday and outsmarted on the sideline. Liam Cahill admitted as much in his post-match interview with his decision to let Waterford have their puckout backfiring spectacularly as shown in the table above.
Waterford’s puckout formation has not been given the analysis it deserves, whether it works or not is secondary, Davy Fitzgerald is changing many of the fundamentals that every hurling team has employed since hurling began which is to keep your back line set. Love him or loath him, Davy has never been afraid to show ingenuity. It may seem a tad ironic that the same HOTD who despises the plague of throwing, steps and illegal use of the spare hand would find this so interesting but it is all been done within the rules of the game.
Of course, it must come with a warning label with Davy when the likes of Dessie Hutchinson or Conor McGrath are playing as midfield workhorses instead of inside snipers. Who would have thought that playing Hutchinson inside the 45 would actually mean the Ballygunner man score 1-3 with young prodigy Patrick Fitzgeralf also adding 0-3 to a more orthodox looking full forward line.
Waterford puckout
The Waterford set up for their puckout has to be seen to be believed. Their goalkeeper, Shaun O’Brien allows time for the whole team to exit up to at least the 45.
In many peoples opinions, this scribe included, Tipperary played into Waterford’s hands by not pushing up on the puckout. Seamus Callanan and Patrick Maher were chasing shadows with this approach, they could arguably have been better just standing inside on the 21 and let Waterford have the overlap rather than wasting energy trying to cause a turnover that was never coming.
At the other end, they attempted to leave the 11 channel empty. Tipperary attempted to counteract this by placing Ronan Maher in this pocket as a 7th defender or plus one as the modern coaches prefer to christen it.
“We had spoken about it, we were happy to leave Ronan free at the back to make that we weren’t giving away any green flags…. But, we probably didn’t abandon it early enough which is a disappointment from us as a management team that we didn’t throw caution to the wind earlier.” Liam Cahill on Tipperary’s puckout set up.
In the first half, Waterford went short on 8 occasions, retaining all 8 of these up until midfield. They went long twice, winning both. In total they managed to get 7 shots off these uncontested restarts scoring 0-4.
This provided Waterford with an instant foothold in the game as Tipp retreated into a deep defensive structure. For a team that places so much emphasis on turnovers from open play and opponents puckout, this was an unexpected tactic and clearly backfired.
Go to any hurling game of a decent standard and the general rule of thumb is to leave the corner back have it and pressurise him after a few steps in the hope of an error. The Tipperary tactic allowed Waterford to walk out to the middle of the field unopposed and launch attack after attack.
1st Half scoring sources
It was not until the 61st minute that this appeared to be fully abandon this policy when Ronan Maher left the sacred D area. Waterford did actually end up scoring a point from the space left free in the 68th minute when Stephen Bennet scored a point.
From our own puckout, it was a complete calamity. Tipp rightly received praise for working the ball long, short and through the lines in previous rounds but in the first half we only managed to retain 7/26 of our long restarts in the first half. Of these, we only ran the ball or went short on 2 of the 15 short puckouts.
Tipperary went short 19 times out of 26 as seen above.
Failing to navigate Nolan
From the long deliveries out of defence, we were unable to get over Billy Nolan with the Roanmore sweeper having 16 possessions in the first half including 3 direct interceptions. The HOTD was baffled by the Sunday game’s dismissal of Nolan on Sunday night, it smacked of laziness towards the viewer and disrespect to many that Canning and Cusack along with Jacqui Hurley approached this selection.
Although Nolan was not as influential in the second half, he still had another 7 possessions including 4 interceptions as Tipperary looked for that coveted goal. What seemed like a baffling decision by some less knowledgeable commentators made perfect sense when Jack Fagan or Callum Lyons are not suited to playing in the sweeping position. Its disappointing but hardly surprising The Sunday Game don’t know of Nolan’s outfield pedigree with his club and college.
The first half scoreboard below tells its own story when summarising the previous points. Tipperary have prided themselves on recovering the ball yet only managed 13 turnovers in the whole half. Waterford managed 17 from open play as well as total dominance of our own restarts.
The puckout stats make for grim reading from a Tipperary perspective. There are many people who rubbish any numbers in hurling but 29% retention compared to the Deise’s 80% is startling to say the least.
Second Half
Although Neil Montgomery begun the second half with a point from a throw-in, it was Tipperary who got the next 5 points of the half. Aided by the breeze, our puckouts were further and we managed to win some breaking ball to win frees which were converted by Noel McGrath. Conor Bowe’s shot in the 37th forced a 65 but the Moyne-Templetuohy clubman will be regret his placement.
In the 44th minute we got our first point off the Waterford puckout after eventually forcing a turnover in the middle third. Things were looking up and in the 48th minute, it looked as if Mark Kehoe had created a goal scoring opportunity only to be penalised for steps. On replay, Kehoe had taken 5 or 6 steps, which is more than the 4 allowed but what is frustrating is the lack of consistency in the application of the rule. There are many other scores in the championship in which the attacker can take 8+ steps.
The HOTD would actually like to see the steps rule be strictly enforced as it would once again reduced possession based hurling. Like the throw, it is generally ignored, except for the odd occasion which unfortunately seems to come against Tipperary once again.
Waterford scored from the resultant free as Tipperary let Shaun O’Brien find the impressive Mark Fitzgerald who delivered inside. Michael Breen give away a free that baffled everyone except John Keenan and Waterford had extended their lead to 6 in a series of play that could have shrunk the gap to 2. A four point swing.
Two minutes later, the game was over when Waterford scored a goal after errors by Rhys Shelly and Bryan O’Mara. From a Tipperary perspective, there were so many aspects of this play that smacked of learning the hard way on the job. Waterford wise, the joy of seeing sharpshooter Hutchinson near the goal.
2nd Half scores.
Final minutesmayhem
Although the game and entry to the Munster final was out of sight, Tipperary had to continue to play. 5 points was the target yet Tipperary seemed intent to force goals in the final five minutes which was absurd. Noel McGrath did have one shot which was a genuine goal chance but there must have four of five occasions where Tipperary played dinky balls into the full forward that lacked any purpose and an easy tap over point was on. Had Tipperary lost by six and Cork-Limerick finished in a draw then this would have been the only talking point in Tipperary this week.
The Breaking Ball
The numbers can never be strong if your not on the second ball or the breaks. Although we did have more turnovers than Waterford in the second half, it was too little too late as Waterford managed the game well. As Tipperary attempted to speed up the game, Waterford won a free which followed a 30-60 second stoppage as the injured player was attended to.
It was just one of those days with the huge consolation being we still remain in the championship.
In the short term, its about getting as many bodies back on the playing fields as possible with our panel reserves being tested to its limit. With so many injuries, is it time to draft in some of the more promising u20s like Sean Kenneally or Darragh Stakelum. Is there a chance some of the men of yesteryear return? Usually, such statements would be scoffed at but with so many wounded soldiers it will definitely be have to considered, if only to make up the numbers for internal games.
For Tipperary, there are so many lessons they can take with them going forward and should this year be a success it will be compared favourably to the 2010 Munster SHC defeat to Cork or 2019 Munster final mauling v Limerick.
Win against Offaly and we are back on the high horse once again. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves this time, it has not served us well on this occasion.
The Munster Championship is the gift that keeps on giving. The 2023 edition is due to eclipse 2019 for attendances and excitement with one round still to play.
From a Tipperary perspective, it will take a series of unfortunate events to not reach their primary goal of getting out of the province.
Four points from a possible six, it could easily have been two or six such is the narrow margins in these titanic contests. With one game left to play in the Munster Marathon, silverware is a realistic target should we triumph against the Davys downbeat Deise this Sunday.
Coming third is a disadvantage in the three years of the round robin format. Limerick did win the All-Ireland championship in 2018 from this position but Cork failed to progress past the quarter final in the other 2 years of the round robin when losing to beaten Leinster finalists Kilkenny on both occasions. If Tipperary beat Waterford, then they will likely have Dublin in a quarter-final or a semi-final. Lose and a quarter-final to either Galway or Kilkenny awaits.
Cahill and Bevans improvement
When Colm Bonnar was relieved of his duties, the Tipperary County board faced intense critique from several quarters. Elite sport is an uncompromising environment and tough decisions have got to be made on and off the pitch. The Tipperary County board took the bull by the horns and made the difficult decisions that are now reaping benefits.
Tipperary are fitter, stronger, and more organised than last year. Their hurling skills was never in doubt, but only when the fundamentals are in place can they prosper.
The supporters are back on board and the bandwagon are already planning for weekends in Dublin in mid-summer, not that Cahill will allow that to filter through to this group.
After the draw in Cork, most observers concluded it was a point lost rather than gained. On this occasion, it felt somewhat similar, but on second viewing a draw was the fair result with Tipperary dominating the first period and Limerick the latter.
A point gained.
One stat peddled in the media was Tipperary generally outscored Limerick in John Kiely’s tenure during the first half (+0-22) but were obliterated during the second half (-0-69). What is most pleasing was that Tipperary didn’t succumb to the green tidal wave launched at us in the third quarter. Tipperary continued to work like dogs, force turnovers and punish Limerick.
We were also assisted by uncharacteristic Limerick inaccuracy, often from poor shot selection and execution. It must also be noted that the intense pressure by Tipperary defenders who managed a huge 8 hooks and blocks across the 70 minutes, a massive total in modern hurling.
First Half
It was a familiar position for Tipperary at half time, leading by 0-15 to 0-12, a half where the premier domination should have meant a greater gap. Like Waterford and Clare, Tipperary targeted Gaeroid Hegarty and Cian Lynch with some tight man marking. More importantly, Dan McCormack won the contests with Hegarty from the dropping ball.
Tipp played most the half either 3 inside or 2 with the third being allowed to join the battle ground that is the middle third. Barry Nash was once again stifled from the majority of the puckout barring the few occasions he stepped into the number 3 slot.
Tipperary managed to recover the ball from Limerick on 20 occasions with 9 such turnovers around the middle. This has been and once again was the template for most of Tipperary’s scores. Tipperary scored 0-9 off such scenarios in the first half. Cathal Barrett’s perfectly timed shoulder to win a sideline ball being a signal to Tipperary supporters of what was to come.
Limerick, who pride themselves on recovering the ball only achieved 14, 8 around the middle third. Limerick and Paul Kinnerk have revolutionised the way in which teams look at these opportunities to transition from defence to offence and score points from distance in space.
The optics of Tipperary’s turnovers are much more appealing with some gorgeous striking and less throwball that has become synonymous with Limerick.
Key Moment of first half
Tipperary’s dominance should have been more had it have not been for one Sean Stack penalising Bonnar Maher’s legal handpass. What is ironic about this is that it came after Limerick had not shown a clear and obvious separation of the ball on 20 occasions prior to this.
Tipperary led 0-10 to 0-7 when Jake Morris pointed, the next 3 minutes produced some of the worst refereeing seen in Championship 2023.
21:17 Jake Morris points for Tipperary to lead 0-10 to 0-7
21:20: Nicky Quaid immediately hits the ground. This is the oldest trick in the book, often known as the Quaid eye contact lens stoppage. On this occasion, Quaid was reminiscing on the good old Covid days and waited for a drink of water.
22:51 Puckout is taken after stoppage of 1 minute and 30 seconds.
22:57 Tipperary win the long puckout and Conor Stakelum launches an attack.
23:03 Bonner Maher wins the ball and Sean Stack amazingly calls for a throw with Jake Morris and Noel McGrath bearing in on goal.
23:45 To add insult to injury, Cian Lynch wins the resultant free and gives the clearest throw known to man which Aaron Gillane points.
Refereeing is a thankless job, but other than the Barry Nash red card, it felt like Tipperary were struggling to get the 50-50 calls, something that seems to be a constant theme in our duals with the Treaty.
The throwing of the ball is totally farcical at this point. Stack allowed Limerick to throw the ball willingly all day yet ended up penalising Tipperary on 3 vital occasions. Will O’Donoghue had a great game on Sunday but had Stack enforced the handpass rule then the Na Piarsaigh man could have been called for throws in double figures. The current rule is unenforceable but the complete lack of consistency in the interpretation of it is even more frustrating.
The news that Conor O’Donovan’s rule change will be trialled in next years Freshers hurling league is welcome, but why not trial it straight away in a some of the County leagues currently taking place across the country.
The HOTD would not agree with the other proposal that each puckout must travel outside the 45. Short puckouts can be a brilliant part of the game when the full back line legally strikes or moves the ball forward. Barry Nash’s striking has been a catalyst to so many Limerick scores and Tipperary are attempting to do something similar by placing Ronan Maher in the 3 pocket. The only negative of short puckouts is inside backs taking 6-12 steps to break a tackle or throwing off the ball in similar scenarios. Hopefully this is not another case of the GAA solving one problem only to conjure up another rule that no one asked for.
Impressive start for Shelly
Rhys Shelly has been on the name on the lips of this scribe for many years. The reason has been his back-handed swing which like Nickie Quaid is suited to the modern game with an ability to disguise short, medium, and long puckouts. Secondly, his ball trajectory is flat and fast but critically has great control when cutting across the ball and generating backspin. This is a catchable ball.
The puckout was always a weakness of Brian Hogan in recent years and limited Tipperary restarts to either loopy short puckouts to the full back line or long hanging strikes to the opposition half back line.
In fairness to Barry Hogan, his short and medium puckouts have also been imperious. In Hogan and Shelly, we have two goalies with puckout technique to match the likes of Nickie Quaid.
Shelly’s long range free taking has been on shown for his club in recent years, so it was no surprise he converted his first effort, surprisingly, he only attempted one more.
Puckouts in numbers
As noted, Tipperary have focused on turnovers. Despite Shelly showing off his accuracy there is still room for improvement on puckout retention and generating shots directly from our own phases. In total we only retained 16/39 restarts (41%) compared to Limerick’s 17/29 (58%). Tipperary only scored 0-4 off their own puckout whilst Limerick got 0-9. Throughout a 70-minute game of top-level hurling, these points can often be score’s that are less punishing than the pressure to consistently recover possession. It must also be remembered, that Limerick still have one of the best presses in the game despite the struggles of some of their key players individually.
Morrissey masterclass
Limerick outscored Tipperary in both halves off their own puckout with Tom Morrissey given another performance for the ages. The Ahane man is a phenomenal player. In the first half of the game whilst Limerick struggled, Morrissey won 3 puckouts when his team needed him most. He finished with 0-4 from play and a couple of assists.
The HOTD has been very quick to point out some of Limericks “incidents” in recent years, but Morrissey never gets involved, his only fault being his inability to give a legal handpass. The Man of the match always draws debate, this scribe would have gone for Morrissey or Tipperary’s Bryan O’Mara.
Second Half
As expected, the Limerick green wave emerged for the second half. Within 3 minutes, the Tipperary lead had been evaporated. “Here we go again” many Tipperary supporters muttered.
The phrase “Make sure it goes dead” is one echoed in every top-level GAA team. On 39 minutes, there was an unusual 4 phase play where Tipperary (twice) and Limerick (once) did not manage this fundamental. It ended in a Limerick shot and score by Seamus Flanagan on the fourth phase.
Game management
On 40:18, Tipperary attempted to manage to game as Bryan O’Mara tried his best Quaid impression and managed to waste 30 seconds of time before Shelly got the ball in play again. This was at the point when Limerick had taken the lead. The next score would be vital.
Many would have wondered if Patrick “Bonnar” Maher would return in 2023 after a mixed couple of years with the blue & gold. Lorrha/Dorrha’s county intermediate championship win must have been a huge boost where he played a central role. Cahill has definitely adopted a horses for courses strategy with Maher being deployed to curtail Barry Nash and the Limerick transition. His most vital play being his turnover on Dan Morrissey in the 42nd minute and resultant free converted by Gaeroid O’Connor who was faultless on dead balls (9/9). It was another example of the warrior Bonnar is.
Tipperary took the lead when Mark Kehoe squared to Noel McGrath who was much more involved in the second half. The Tipperary scores were nearly all coming from turnovers unlike Limerick who had a greater variety of sources.
An example of Limericks aerial dominance was their taking apart of the Tipperary puckout. It was not until the 55th minute before Tipperary won a long restart whilst Kyle Hayes and Declan Hannon began to dominate long Tipperary clearances from short puckouts and open play.
Bryan O’Mara and to a lesser extent Ronan Maher’s brilliant stick passing was critical as Tipperary eventually begun to play it through the line’s bypassing Limerick’s half back line. O’Mara had 8 possessions in the second half with 6 retentions of the ball around the congested middle third being essential to Tipperary turning the Limerick tide. Rhys Shelly’s ability to find O’Mara and Maher under intense pressure on display for the whole world to see.
Even when this was happening, Tipperary struggled to retain the ball in the full forward line (4/14) but critically the forward unit pressurised the Limerick clearances who had similar struggles retaining the ball inside (3/10). The modern game is all about keeping the ball when you have it but more significantly punishing the opponent when they give it away.
Accuracy
The team with the most shots generally win but on this occasion, Limerick spurned several chances to win this game. The pressure Tipperary put on the shots must also be commended.
Tipperary are renowned for their wrist work and a conversion rate of 73% is not unusual but Limerick’s 58% is below their average. Its another sign that all is not right in this Limerick machine. Cian Lynch and Gaeroid Hegarty are having their struggles, both missed routine opportunities to get their name on the scoresheet and ease some pressure they may be placing on themselves such is their high standards.
Pic below: GAA Statsman twitter @gaa_statsman
The big decision for John Kiely will be to stick or twist in the Cork game. Cathal O’Neill took his opportunity with five excellent points from six shots. O’Neill is the type of player who doesn’t seem as suited to Limericks system-based hurling but his skills are needed now more than ever.
Despite having some excellent underage teams in recent years there has been little change to the Limerick first 15. This is unlike the Kilkenny team of 2005-2015 that had constant rotation with young players filtering through yearly. For John Kiely, he is damned he is does and damned if doesn’t in a similar fashion to Liam Sheedy in 2019/20.
Bench boost
The final minutes were typically frantic with the ageless Graeme Mulcahy playing a pivotal role for Limerick. He scored 0-2 and assisted another 0-2. He should have had another point with the only other error being he could have slipped Peter Casey in for the winning goal but instead tipped over his second point.
Tipperary had a vital contribution by Conor Bowe in the second half. Kyle Hayes had a huge number of possessions in that period as Tipperary’s number 10 played deep and allowed Hayes to go forward. His short passing was accurate but didn’t penetrate the Tipperary backline as much as usual. When Tipperary did turnover the ball, Conor Bowe got 0-3 (0-2 from distance) off Hayes on that side of the field.
As Dan McCormack alluded to on the Sunday game, it was Bowe and John McGraths input that will have most pleased the Tipperary panel. McGrath scored the leveller, once again cold from the bench. Had he missed, Cahill would once again have been questioned about this policy when Noel McGrath and Seamus Callanan were on the pitch and well up to pace with the game.
Liam Cahill ban
Whilst concluding this piece, word has filtered through that Liam Cahill will receive a 4 week ban after his red card in the dying moments of last Sunday’s game. James Owens is also awarded the Limerick v Cork game, the mind boggles.
The final ten minutes saw several debatable decisions go against Tipperary in front of Cahill. The only outlier was Barry Nash’s second yellow which was on the harsh side. Stack was always going to give the final free to Tipperary, but the Premier were due one after:
Third handpass against Tipperary in the 63rd minute.
A clear sideline against Tipperary prior to that.
A soft free awarded to Graeme Mulcahy in the 69th which Byrnes converted.
A clear sideline against Tipperary in the 74th minute right in front of James Owens which was the final straw for the Ballingarry native.
The sideline official has very few duties, too few in this scribe’s opinion, but the main one is to give sideline’s to the correct team. Had Limerick managed to clear the ball long from their 75th minute sideline cut then they may have escaped with the win.
The Tipperary County board have got to appeal this ban. This is high stakes sport, and the top referees need to be able to judge correctly what direction sidelines are going. The frustration Liam Cahill must have felt after the Bonnar handpass must have been palpable without all the above being added into the equation.
Waterford await.
The task is straight forward. Win and a Munster final, lose by 5 or more and run the risk of a draw in the Gaelic Grounds between Limerick & Cork. That double could be got at massive odds but stranger scenarios have occurred across the sporting landscape.
What Waterford show up is likely to be the big question. Do they believe in Davy? Do they believe in his Moneyball like strategies to change the game as we know it? Do they just cut loose? Do they want an end to what many observers adjudge to be organised madness?
There is one matter that not up for question and that is Davy “would love it if we beat them.” His record is not good against the Premier but what better time to take a scalp than when his own inter county hurling is up in the air.
Davy is good for hurling, he provides hours upon hours of talking points for the boys on OTB AM to salivate over but that won’t cut the mustard for ambitious Counties looking to climb the already competitive hurling ladder.
Away from the Waterford-Davy sub-plot, the message to Tipperary is simple, keep it up.
A point lost rather than gained was the general mood amongst Tipperary supporters following the dramatic draw with Cork last Saturday night.
Five points up with minutes remaining, Tipperary managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory on two occasions.
Photo Credit: John Coleman
Taking a step back, 3 points from a possible 4 is a return that Liam Cahill would have grabbed prior to this years Munster championship. Swings and roundabouts is a term that could definitely be used when describing the game of hurling. Tipperary received their fair share of lady luck in Ennis with goals gifted from Clare turnovers and errors, although Tipperary and Jake Morris deserved more credit for the efficiency of the finishing. This luck was with Cork on Saturday.
If one was to watch last Saturday’s game with no scoreboard in the corner, then it would not be unwise to assume Tipperary were 6-10 points better than their great rivals. If the game was broken into 10-minute sections, then Tipperary dominated the middle 60 whilst Cork won the 10-minute sectors at the beginning and end of the game by 3-7 to 1-5.
Before expanding more on the nature of this result, it is important to remember that the modern game is now a possession-based sport played in 15-30 second bursts. Scores and shots come for 3 distinct areas, Tipperary puckouts, Cork puckouts and turnovers from general play.
Key Stats
Tipperary
Cork
Score
2-25
4-19
Shots
42
35
Shot efficiency
64%
66%
Long Puckouts won
19/26 (73%)
14/24 (58%)
Short Puckouts retained
7/12 (58%)
8/14 (57%)
Turnovers forced
27
29
Throw’s
20
19
The big stat in modern day hurling is that the team that shoots the most generally wins the game. Limerick aim to get 50 shots off in a game for two main reasons. They want to score, and they want to defend the opponents puckout where they can turn over the ball and get the next shot off.
The Treaty’s opponents also know these key metrics and are following suit. Tipperary had 20% more shots than Cork on Saturday night which should lead to 5–6-point win with good shooting and avoidance of soft goals against the run of play. A 64% return on shots is below what Tipperary would expect with 3 placed balls hit wide after Jason Forde’s injury costing Tipperary dearly when their total score was added together.
The concession of goals is a real worry, 7 green flags have been waved in 2 games with the final quarter seeing Tipperary concede 2 more. There is the impression that teams are having success on the ground against us but what is more startling is goals from aerial duals that we generally pride ourselves on in this county.
Nature of Scores
Tipperary
Cork
Score type
1st Half
2nd Half
Total
1st Half
2nd Half
Total
Tipperary Puck out
0-1
2-3
2-4
1-1
0-4
1-5
Cork Puck out
0-2
0-3
0-5
0-3
2-6
2-9
Turnover
0-11
0-5
0-16
1-2
0-3
1-5
Overall
0-14
2-11
2-25
2-6
2-13
4-19
There are two main factors highlighted above which both teams prospered on. Tipperary have used the Limerick template of being at their most dangerous by turning over Cork and using their striking skills to put the ball over at the other end. Noel McGrath was the catalyst of this, but man of the match Alan Tynan and Seamus Kennedy also benefited from Tipperary breaking quickly and using the wide-open spaces of Pairc Ui Caoimh.
Tipperary outscored Cork 0-10 to 0-1 in the middle section of the 1st half with the majority of these coming from turnovers. 0-11 of Tipperary’s 0-16 total came from such sources. It was noticeable that after our initial concession of 1-3 and another 2 goal chances missed by Patrick Horgan and blocked by Johny Ryan, Tipperary changed their structure with Dan McCormack dropping deeper and Ronan Maher sitting at the top of the “D”.
Corks deliveries struggled to stick during this section of play. They successfully retained the first 3 balls into the full forward line, but the rest of the half was a disaster with only 2 out of 10 being retained.
Tipperary also seemed to win nearly all the “rucks” during this time and disposed Cork defenders coming out with the ball.
Cork 1st half Goals
Tipperary failed to get many scores directly off their own puckout during the first half. They won only 5/12 long restarts with the wind and off their short one’s were struggling to retain the ball. Again, going back to the Limerick template there was a focus on the second phase possessions and turnovers. Cork scored their first goal directly off a mis placed short puckout and our defence parted like the red sea as Declan Dalton finished with a tidy bat. This was before the afore mentioned changes to our formation.
The second goal was probably the most disappointing of the 4 conceded. Ronan Maher is a sideline specialist, but one would question is it wise to try a cross-field ball from inside our own 45. It backfired as Robbie O’Flynn latched onto the breaking and 12 steps later the ball was in the back of the net. There was some comment after that Johny Ryan should have cleaned the Erins Own player out but he definitely ran the risk of a black card, the Arravale rovers man was also thinking that O’Flynn would surely be blown for steps. Watching the goal back, Ronan Maher had a chance to pull O’Flynn down but couldn’t after receiving a yellow card.
The Rules of the Game (What Rules?)
Steps are another problem in the modern game as players are allowed to take as many as they like whilst in possession. This scribe counted 39 clear throws in last Saturday’s game after watching it back on replay with Tipperary out-throwing Cork by 20 to 19. Cork’s final goal produced one of the more obvious examples when Tim O’Mahoney found Shane Kingston with what Derek McGrath would term an “offload.”
Throwing and steps follow the same pattern every year whereby they are highlighted during the league but once the championship begins the majority of media want to stick their head in the sand on the issue.
On the plus side of the rule book, an issue that looks likely to be finally resolved is the dangerous head high tackles that have become ever present in our game. Ronan Maher should have been sent off when his flailing elbow made contact with Darragh Fitzgibbon. One would question did this effect Fitzgibbon for the remainder of the game. The reaction by Tipperary people to this incident is admirable compared to those from some (not all) pundits and supporters from across the border who claim that Gaeroid Hegarty and Seamus Flanagan’s dangerous head high challenges are part of championship hurling.
Donal Og Cusack correctly pointed out that defenders have a responsibility to protect the player on the ball, what he did not mention was that many of these tackles are because of throwball and steps that he has championed. The law of unintended consequences.
Noel McGrath
Alan Tynan gave an inspired display on Saturday but the Man of the Match award should have been given to Noel McGrath. In 22 possessions, he retained the ball on 18 occasions with 1-4 from direct assists and a gorgeous right sided point. McGrath is like the chess player thinking 5 or 6 moves ahead of his opponent. His appreciation of space, his faultless touch, his balance and striking were a joy to watch. He is worth the admission fee and more alone. His overall stats can be seen in the table below.
Noel McGrath stats v Cork
Total
Result
Total possessions
22
19 positive
Shots
2
0-1 (1 short)
Assists
5
1-4
Passes
20
18 retained
Stick pass
9
9 retained
Ball into Full forward line
4
3 retained
Hand passes
6
6 retained
Sideline
2
1 retained
McGrath was stationed at 13 for many of Tipperary’s puckouts which allowed him to wander out and work his magic. This could also work against Limerick as Barry Nash will have to be asked whether he should stick or twist and follow.
In the league semi-final, Limerick dealt with McGrath in the centre of the park by placing Will O’Donoghue on him. Alan Tynan was the beneficiary of this, scoring freely unopposed.
Clare and Waterford have shown that man marking Nash and Diarmuid Byrnes is a must as Nash can go through the middle third and Byrnes can go over the congested middle third.
Second Half
For much of the second half, it looked as if Tipperary would come away with the 2 points. Cork played with the wind and directed much of their puckouts long on top of the full forward position. Tipperary have excellent fielders of the ball in Ronan Maher and Bryan O’Mara so this tactic was generally unsuccessful until the final ten minutes of the game.
Comparatively, Tipperary did very well on their long puckout throughout the second half. Gaeroid O’Connor was a constant target and Tipperary retained an impressive 10 out of 14 scoring 2-3 and getting 3 more shots off from this. Gaeroid O’Connor also showed great composure to score the first goal after Noel McGraths exquisite right-handed pass. The second goal came from a throw by Dan McCormack onto the path of Mark Kehoe. Kehoe finished with 1-4 in a brilliant display. Hopefully this only the start for the Kilsheelan/Kilcash clubman.
Cork only won 5 out of 12 long puckouts but crucially 3 of those were in the final 10 minutes and 2-1 came directly off them. As often happens in big games, the final minutes were frantic and frenetic. The phrase “stick to the process” has been banded out time and again by many successful teams in recent years such as Dublin footballers but it can be difficult with 30,000 Rebels baying for blood in the Cork coliseum.
Tipperary managed to go 5 points up after Kehoe scored a point off a Collins puckout but 15 seconds later Seamus Harnedy caught a very quick puckout over Ronan Maher’s head and set up Conor Lehane who did well to beat Barry Hogan from a ground shot.
From a defensive perspective, the 5 Tipperary defenders in the vicinity all seemed drawn to the ball which allowed Lehane to be set free. Again, its easy to say retrospectively but was it wise for our goalkeeper to come off his line on this occasion? Cathal Barrett had recovered well to leave Lehane with only one option which was a pull going away from goals. There was a suspicion of a square ball as Fitzgibbon tapped the ball into an empty net despite it already on course.
The final Cork goal was well worked. Tipperary looked to have the situation under control with plenty of bodies goal side but Fitzgibbon gave a bounce pass to Tim O’Mahoney who did brilliantly to control and “offload” to Shane Kingston. Kingston gave an unselfish pass to the backpost where Brian Hayes tapped in. It is a facet of the game we are seeing more and more.
Tipperary could have got a similar goal from Seamus Callanan. One may wonder had the Drom/Inch man had more minutes in the legs this season if he would have doubled on the ball instead of controlling it. Callanan did exceptionally well to get a point from the play with a short quick swing in front of his body making it difficult to hook.
Injury time misses
The 5 minutes of injury time was nearer to 2 with both teams missing free’s. Declan Dalton struck to the left from almost 100 yards whilst John McGrath struck right from 65. McGrath was not on the field long and although he was the most capable freetaker on the pitch at that time, his brother Noel had given one of the great displays and was never going to miss in this scribe’s opinion.
There is a space for either John McGrath, Mark Kehoe, Conor Bowe or Sean Ryan to grasp in our forward line. Both Ryan and Bowe won their fair share of deliveries, but Ryan (1) and Bowe (2) struck wides from the sideline on the backfoot. Kehoe the obvious star on this occasion.
Playing on the inside forward line can be an unforgiving place. The maximum number of balls they contest is 6 or 7 a half, they are often outnumbered when receiving the ball and many of their efforts must be struck with the back facing the goal. It is why the form of Jake Morris is such a plus and why forwards like Aaron Gillane are worth their weight in gold.
The injury to Jason Forde does not appear to be as bad as feared. Tipperary will obviously need him from placed balls and frees going forward.
Where to next?
Limerick come to town Sunday week and from a Tipperary perspective it is a great position to be in. The pressure is on the champions with their form, discipline and now general health of their squad called into question. There should be a backlash but turning below par performances into good is easier said than done.
It looks like a full house in Semple Stadium is in store and it must be said we need Tipperary people to get behind this team. The drive to 5 points begins here.
GAAgo fiasco
The backlash from the GAAGO and general treatment of Hurling by RTE is not going away. The national broadcaster in partnership with the GAA has used the Munster Championship as a cash cow to increase subscriptions for this new venture.
The biggest issue is that to run GAAGO smoothly is not a simple process compared to the previous model of ringing Sky Sports and getting the games uninterrupted on the television. Up and down the country, older people are finding it impossible to subscribe as they don’t have a computer or Wifi. In many houses, the service is interrupted by poor Wifi and there are various stories going around of pubs where people congregate to watch the game also failing.
If the GAA are going pay per view, then it should be on channel 444 or some equivalent on the Sky Box. Secondly and probably more importantly, they shouldn’t have the right to play god with the Munster championship and monopolise the games to Pay per view.
Adding more fuel to the fire, there was no sign of the Saturday game highlights show on the last 2 Saturday nights with the Football leading on Sunday. It is as if RTE and the GAA are pushing the boundaries as to how much they can piss off the Hurling public.
Donal Og Cusack deserves huge credit for the way in which he tackled this subject and in time it may cost him financially as Declen McBennett reduces his appearances and eventually sets him free. Jackie Tyrell also pointed out that playing an All Ireland quarter final at 1pm on a Saturday due to the Tailteann cup final was another symptom of the big ball ruling the small.
Liam Sheedy rightly commented that it is time for the GAA top brass to admit a mistake had been made. But as with so many things in the GAA such as the underage grade fiasco, this scribe will not be holding out for any admission of error.
The general narrative peddled out by the media following Tipperary’s 1-28 to 0-25 loss to Limerick was a positive one, this was a good game, a GREAT game, a “RIP ROARING” contest was one quote attributed to by a high profile analyst. The truth is that it was the best of a very bad lot and our standards as hurling spectators have fell off a cliff.
Then again, some like this hybrid mish mash of Olympic handball and lacrosse.
Some people enjoy the following aspects of Modern Hurling:
• A game played with zero goal threat and a shot from the middle third every minute.
• A game where players take unlimited steps whilst breaking the tackle.
• A game where there is constant use of the illegal spare hand tackle.
• Where throwing the ball up the field is a skill, a foul that occurred clearly 50 times last Saturday.
• Where Aaron Gillane gets his first possession after 46 minutes as Limerick refuse to hit the ball in.
The HOTD will continue to watch the sport, but the reality is, like many supporters, its not worth travelling and spending money or time as regularly to watch a filtered version of what was once, without question, the greatest sport of them all.
There are some Limerick supporters who will say this scribe smacks of jealousy, but the truth is this Limerick team would win All-Irelands under any rules. They are an exceptional outfit with every asset needed to win akin to the Kilkenny vintage of yesteryear. The question is will we look back on their victories with the same nostalgia?
And yes, every other team is following the above checklist in the battle to reign supreme. The same boring template of stepping, pulling, throwing, and running. That makes it acceptable so?
Chaos
What made hurling brilliant was the chaos. The duels. The Battles. The Contests. The roar of the crowd. The Clash of the Ash.
Inter county hurling in 2023 is anything but that.
As coaching improved and stats team came on board it was only natural that the importance placed on possession and efficiency would arrive. The Cork team of the 00’s adopted the Newtownshandrum approach pioneered by Bernie O’Connor to run the ball up the field incorporating short passing and puckouts. Donal Og Cusack’s meticulous attention to detail further exasperated this.
Ironically, the great Kilkenny team closed this space akin to Limerick yet did it whilst adopting many of the most fundamentals of the game. Yes, there was Eoin Larkin dropping back during different stages of the game but their gameplan was centred around fielding of the dropping ball in the half back and forward line, another brilliant skill lost in the modern game.
They killed you with goals… exciting, fast, lightening goals. Shefflin, Larkin, Power, Brennan, Fogarty, Comerford, Hogan and Reid. Bang Bang, Game over.
It took Eamonn O’Shea’s use of space along with an exceptional Tipperary minor team to join up and eventually end their reign.
Like Limerick, Kilkenny also bent the rules, and their physicality and abrasiveness was also called into question. The difference being, their hurling was so thrilling to watch. The final of 2009 was the day hurling peaked.
What has gone wrong?
The problem is that the rule makers have allowed the modern coaches to define the game. The coaches have also been ably assisted by pundits who either champion throwball or else simply accept that this is the way of the modern world.
It always seems to be the way of the hurling world to smile, be happy and accept the status quo. Whether its All-Ireland quarterfinals being played at 1.30 on a Saturday or no live game on the final weekend of the league or more importantly not applying any realms of the rule-book, the Hurling man can say no bad about the game.
Compare that to Gaelic Football who are always looking to improve their sport, they have fought for better structures and God forbid they show Hurling first on the Sunday game.
In recent years, our Gaelic brothers have changed their kickout on 3 occasions, banned the Maor Foirne, introduced the mark for the kickout which has been welcomed, introduced the black card to attempt to combat cynicism and the forward mark which although receiving mixed reviews has increased the percentage of traditional balls delivered into the inside line. The current version of the game is a much better product than the mid 2010’s and some of this must be attributed by such efforts by the rule makers in Croke Park.
Puckout, pass, shot, How Limerick scored more than Tipp
The modern inter county game is very easy to break down, its actually amazing how few have successfully illustrated this online unlike our Football counterparts. The game is basically played in 15-30 second intervals.
It generally starts with a puckout (Team A) with 3 distinct results.
• Team A attempts to retain possession and get a shot off at the other end.
• Team B wins the opposition puckout and gets a shot off.
• On the other occasion a there may be one or more turnovers which lead to a shot for the opposing team.
Most of the play is centred in the middle third where roughly 20 players mush into one. It is here where the shots also occur. It leaves inside forwards like Aaron Gillane pulling wildly in frustration on 33 minutes as he has yet to feel the weight of the ball from play. Would you blame him?
First Half
Tipperary led by 0-16 to 0-12 at half time. What was scarcely mentioned was the strength of the wind which was worth approximately 6 points on the HOTD wind meter. A vital phase of the game in which Limerick held this lead to 4 was from minutes 21-36 in which they outscored Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 thus leaving only 4 between them at the break.
The importance of Cian Lynch was seen during this half as Limerick scored 0-7 off their own puckout. Lynch a constant foil for Nickie Quaid arrows. Cathal O’Neill scored 0-2 also from restarts.
0-4 came from Tipperary turning over the ball, mainly from poor retention of deliveries to our inside line. Tipperary only retained 3 of 9 such deliveries, with Jason Forde scoring 0-2 (0-1 from a free he also won). The only traditional Limerick score came from Donnacha Daly. They only struck the ball in on 5 occasions during that half. Gillane anonymous as the sprightly Daly used as the first receiver.
Tipperary had similar success on turning Limerick over scoring 0-6. The real success story was the brilliance of Barry Hogan who gave an exhibition of puckout precision during the first half. Tipperary managed to outscore Limerick 0-7 to 0-0 off their own puckout during that first half.
Nature of score
Tipperary
Limerick
Differential
Total
0-16
0-12
0-4 Tipperary
Turnovers
0-6
0-4
0-2 Tipperary
Limerick Puckout
0-2
0-7
0-5 Limerick
Tipperary puckout
0-7
0-0
0-7 Tipperary
Balls in (traditional inside play)
0-1
0-1
Draw
1st half
***Note: On occasion, a turnover may also be a ball in and overlap in two such categories.
Tipperary
Limerick
Shots
22
24
Scores
0-16
0-12
Wides
6
7
Throwballs
11
10
Throws penalised
1
1
Retention from balls in
3/9
3/5
Tipperary have also adopted the throwball tactics, on numerous occasions Tipperary decided to use the throw to offload that split second quicker. Gaeroid O’Connor who played very well on Saturday night gave two such assists that should have been penalised. On the Limerick side, Nickie Quaid’s underhand throw has been highlighted online but their star thrower is Will O’Donoghue who opens his fingers expertly before throwing to retain possession. Sean Finn and the Morrissey’s are others that practice this poison more regularly than most.
To give Cian Lynch credit, he appears to have made a huge effort in showing a clear striking action after being highlighted by James Skehill on “the Hurling pod” some weeks back. He has joined Ronan Maher and Declan Hannon in the star handpass award nominees.
Its hard not to write with some sarcasm such is the joke this rule has become. And no, a gap of 0.3mm does not suffice as a handpass. The solution is simple with three distinct options:
1. Allow the throw as Derek McGrath has murmured
2. Adopt the Conor O’Donovan ruling.
3. Enforcement of the rule to the strictest possible standard.
Option 3 could mean 10 throw balls in games being given which will lead to critique by hurling pundits “looking to let the game flow” therefore Derek McGraths throw will continue to be adopted. In reality, Hurling will have to either adopt the current throw full time or go nuclear for option 2.
The problem with throwing is that it allows teams to illegally keep possession and this reduces the contest for the ball, this turn hurling into lacrosse. If you stop throwing then we will see far more actual hurling. An irony lost among some Treaty fans is they have the best stick passers and flickers in the game so if the rule is enforced then they will likely increase their margin of victory.
Some of their players will also be forced to hit the ball, often to a contest, but Limerick are lucky to enough to have Gillane lurking at the edge of the square. Gaeroid Hegarty could be driving off the shoulder to unleash a rocket into the roof of the net, that is the hurling we should be seeing.
Tipperary led by 4 at the break but it was unlikely to be enough.
Second Half
To say Limerick took over in the next 25 minutes would be an understatement. It was complete and utter domination as our puckout which had served us so well faltered under the intense Green wave and Limerick killed us on turnovers. From minute 35 to 60 Limerick outscored the Premier 1-14 to 0-4.
Limerick withdrew their full forward line forcing Tipperary to go short to our full back line or else go long to a half forward line that were outnumbered under a ball held up in the wind. Barry Hogan could not get his mid-range puckouts off successfully.
When Tipperary attempted to go through Limerick they were forced down blind alleys and turned over the ball. In Total Limerick scored 1-13 off either turnovers (1-7) and Tipperary puckouts (0-6) in the second half. From a Tipperary perspective, it was eerily similar to previous leads surrendered to Limerick especially the Munster final of 2021 where we could not repel the Green wave.
Nature of score
Tipperary
Limerick
Differential
Total
0-9
1-16
1-7 Limerick
Turnovers
0-4
1-7
1-3 Limerick
Limerick Puckout
0-3
0-1
0-2 Tipperary
Tipperary puckout
0-2
0-6
0-4 Limerick
Balls in (traditional inside play)
0-2
0-1
0-1 Tipperary
Throw in
/
0-1
0-1 Limerick
2nd Half
**Note: On occasion, a turnover may also be a ball in and overlap in two such categories.
This dominance was also helped by faultless accuracy in front of the posts by Limerick, shots taken on the front foot or from placed balls. It would be remiss of this scribe not to question the nature of some of the modern frees, won by players who are running at full tilt taking 6+ steps before crashing into a helpless defender and the referee adjudging it to be a foul. Barry Nash and Colin Coughlan drew such frees during this period.
Steps seem to be ignored nowadays unless a player hesitates, in the other league semi final between Cork and Kilkenny, Eoin Downey gave away a free on Mossie Keoghan, only after the Kilkenny attacker had taken 10 steps. Kyle Hayes also scored a goal against Wexford in round 5 of the league after another 10 steps. They were two of the most obvious examples but like throws, there are plenty of examples of this rugby like version of carrying the ball. The solo not been practiced or celebrated.
These runs are generally preceded by an illegal handpass. Tipperary out-threw Limerick in the second half by 14 throws to 11, but what is frustrating about the Limerick “handpass” is like Tipperary Gaeroid O’Connor’s in the first half they have ample time to execute the pass with a clear striking action but refuse to do so in case of error.
Many (not all) of the Tipperary throws are often as a result of Limerick using the spare hand meaning a throw is then used. Every team is attempting this strategy, but none are as adept at it, the sheer natural size of Limerick also helps.
The impact of support (or lack of)
Another odd footnote on last Saturday night was the constant aggravation among the Limerick supporters towards the referee. It seemed to be fed from the stand which was copying the protests of the Limerick coaching staff and players.
At half time, they led the free count 9-7 yet many Limerick supporters around the HOTD spent the whole half complaining. On one occasion, Ronan Maher received not one, but two high tackles from Tom Morrissey and Barry Murphy yet both pleaded their innocence. The crowed somehow seemed incensed. A knowledgeable Limerick fan sitting beside this follower said he was baffled by these protests. Of course, successful teams are bound to draw the Munster rugby type bandwagon fan that may not know the difference between breaking ball and the break down.
In fairness to Limerick, the core Limerick supporters have always followed in numbers. The same cannot be said of Tipperary. It was another pitiful attendance in the Gaelic grounds. It is gone to the stage that when Tipperary supporters decide to go to games, they are afraid to shout as they feel like a piranha among our rivals’ fans. At €15 a game for the Munster round robin, its great value by the Munster council so the same excuse can’t really suffice. Then again, it’s hard to stomach many facets of the modern game.
Limerick restarts
There has been much rightly made of Nickie Quaid’s accuracy on puckouts but Tipperary continued to perform well in the second half on the Limerick restarts. It was turnovers on next phase ball plus our own puckout malfunctions described above that hurt.
An overused phrase in Football is “kick it dead” (wide or over but not short) and this could not be truer when describing Kinnerk’s Limerick. The ball into Quaid’s hands struck short is either transitioned through the lines or moved long like Tom Morrissey’s point after Noel McGrath’s point effort dropped short.
Tipperary
Limerick
Shots
13
17
Scores
0-9
1-16
Wides
2
0
Throwballs
14
11
Throws penalised
0
0
Retention from balls in
4/9
2/5
Keeping the ball in play is a definite no-no and teams like Tipperary need to devise ways of minimising the rush. Seamus Kennedy did the typical tactical injury but your only entitled to one of those before the brave and faithful support cop on. Getting the ball deep into the corners and either winning the ball or defending from there is a must.
When the rush comes on down the line, can we manage to go back or switch the play altogether? If one Tipperary player is being rushed by 4 Limerick men, then there must be an overlap elsewhere?
Are Davy Fitzgerald’s whacky formations and tactics all being practiced with Limerick in mind in the first round in 4 weeks’ time? The HOTD highlighted the complete lack of inside penetration by the Deise, but most teams Limerick are also only putting a handful of balls inside. Limerick only had 10 last week, 5 in each half. If you can’t beat them, join em?
Goals don’t win games anymore.
From a Tipperary perspective, we have placed an emphasis on green flags yet failed to work Nickie Quaid. We had a handful of half chances during the first half to take on the man but the point was taken by Seamus Kennedy and Jake Morris (albeit after a slip).
The cynical foul rule that had been introduced seems to have been abandoned by officials meaning that there is no reward for the likes of Kennedy or Morris attempting to beat the inside back (obviously using only 4 steps). In the dying moments of last weeks game, John McGrath was hauled down by Will O’Donoghue in what was the definition of a penalty and black card yet Liam Gordon ignored despite the pleas from Tipperary captain Noel McGrath.
The rule was unlikely to be taken seriously given that it has not been adapted at club level. Most club games, especially at the higher level have at least 2 of these fouls in the game, often in the final ten minutes as teams attempt to create a 3 pointer.
Leaving Barry Nash as a spare defender for much of the game makes it even more difficult to break that line and score goals. Kilkenny kept the Liberties man busy when placing TJ Reid on him in last years All-Ireland final, could Tipp use one of their own marksman inside in such a role?
The only goal chance in last Sunday’s game came off a mis struck shot by Colin Coughlan. Otherwise, both goalies could have had a mug of tea in between puckouts.
Some, like Liam Sheedy has suggested 4 points for a goal but with an average of 25+ points per game, this would still not be a reward heavy enough to change the current scoring trends. The problem lies around the basis that possession hurling means shooting from outside is the order of the day. Throwing and Steps facilitate this. The spare hand, another ugly by-product.
To some, this is fascinating, to many, this is simply boring.
Apply the rules and let’s see a contest again.
And Limerick will probably win, probably my more, this time though, they’ll do it in style.
Joe Public: “It’s the clubs, the players and all the general GAA public, can we get in?”
County board: “There’s a meeting going on in here, can you not leave us alone?”
Joe Public: “Please let us in, we want to discuss the motions for this Saturday’s convention, we have a few questions?”
County board: “There’s no need, we have got dispensation at last years special congress to sort it ourselves”
Joe Public: “That’s not fair is it, surely we should have an input into this?”
County board: “Go home now, we have the power.”
There was no answer at the virtual door of the county board meeting on Wednesday the 17th of February. I think anyone who follows the HOTD will have a clear outline of the anger that is around in the background in the club scene in there lack of input they received.
The future of the divisions is not fully decided yet which will be clarified in this piece. It was rightly pointed out that they are not a fully dead duck and there may be a number of alternatives to keep them relevant. The county board have landed a big dent in their ultimate goal of a “streamlined” county championship.
There is no doubt that the county board have had aspirations in ending the divisional link for some time. In comparison, the majority of clubs and club players want the link to remain. It has left both parties at logger heads. I don’t think anyone has a problem if the divisional link was attempted to be broken through the proper channels at the county convention, but this has not been the case.
A decision of such magnitude should involve all of the relevant parties discussing, debating and analysing the issue in depth. I get the sense that if the county board brought a motion to a convention at the end of the year they might garner support from a few more clubs than the previous attempt at the end of 2018.I’d still doubt it would get through. The question is how did we get here? Put the kettle on…
Phase one: The Fixtures task force
47 motions were proposed by the GAA for the 2021 GAA congress including Motion 13 which was designed by the Fixtures task force to limit the amount of teams in senior and intermediate championships to 16. The members of the fixtures task force are:
Eddie Sullivan (Chairman, Dublin) Michael Martin (Wexford) Kevin O’Donovan (Cork) Stephen Barker (Derry) John Costello (Dublin) John Prenty (Mayo) Ronan Sheehan (Down) Michael Hyland (Galway) Seamus Woods (Tyrone) Conor O Donoghue (Meath) Feargal Mc Gill (Secretary)
This was a ridiculous motion as each county differs in size, codes and sport. You cannot compare Leitrim with 24 clubs and no hurling to Cork which has over 250 clubs, many of which are dual clubs. The motion should have been focused on proper enforcement and fines if counties failed to meet provincial club deadlines.
It is slightly ironic that of the counties that spoke out against this motion (Galway, Tyrone, Dublin and Wicklow) had 3 members on the above fixtures task force. You would have to wonder was there any collaboration with the likes of Michael Hyland (Galway) and his own county board who were the most critical county of this motion in the weeks gone by. Dublin CEO John Costello is another name on the fixtures task force that stands out, yet his own county spoke against the motion.
The rebel county
The fact that Kevin O’Donovan was on the committee was very relevant. O’Donovan holds one of the most powerful positions in the organisation as the secretary of Cork GAA. With almost twice as many clubs as any other county, Cork hold huge clout at congress. The motions that the rebel county support and oppose can tip the balance at congress and this was once again the case last weekend.
Since O’Donovan took the reins, Cork don’t appear to “rebelling” any more. In the past, Frank Murphy would have been one of the most resistant to change and would have always put his own county first and foremost. Murphy also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the GAA rule book and often used it to his counties benefit down through the years in all GAA departments.
Cork spent the last half decade streamlining their own championships into 12 team championships for the top 5 grades. This has been one of O’Donovan’s main achievements since he took the reins. Despite this, I doubt whether Frank Murphy would allow any future changes to the Cork championship be limited because of some fixtures task force from Croke park. For a county the size of Cork, they should be aiming to have 20 senior teams at the top level. If that is achieved in the coming years when their much talked about development squads bear fruit then why should be pigeon holed from Croke park on the make up of their championships? The decisions on Cork GAA would have usually been made in Pairc Ui Caoimh via Frank Murphy’s living room. Is O’Donovan simply a yes man to the establishment compared to his predecessor? Where is the “Corkness” gone? Maybe the huge debts owed in the redevelopment of Pairc Ui Caoimh leaves O’Donovan caught behind the eight ball?
All 37 motions were passed through Congress with none of them being successfully opposed.You would wonder where the virtual platform was a handicap for those attempting to oppose motions. I have doubt if that would be the case if Mr.Murphy was at the helm, sometimes you don’t appreciate what you had until it was gone.
To be fair to our own county board, we have missed the Football deadline on a number of occasions which must have been a frustration to them at Munster and Central council. The question is are the clubs in Tipperary overly bothered that they may miss this deadline. I would say they are not if it means they get to play their divisional championships in its current manner. Obviously Clonmel Commercials would not hold that opinion as they aim for provincial Football glory.
Phase two: Our own counties decision
There was confusion is some parts when new county chairman Joe Kennedy was interviewed by Eoghan Cormican of the Irish examiner on Tuesday the 23rd of February. He noted that Tipperary would “support the motion”. This came as a surprise to many Tipperary people on the ground as they asked for clarity on how or why this decision was made.
After some panic, there was eventually some type of clarity received on Thursday night the 25th when an email was sent to the clubs detailing how the decisions were made.
Tuesday 16th of February:
Clubs were sent an email at 10:50pm with details of the motions to be discussed at the county board meeting the following night. In most level headed people’s opinion, it is hardly an acceptable time frame for clubs to discuss any motions never mind motion 13 which would greatly affect the Tipperary club championships. Most clubs meet on Monday or Tuesday nights, if that particular email had been sent at lunch time Monday for example it would have allowed clubs time to discuss the motions and give recommendations to their divisional chairman that Wednesday night.
Had the email been sent in time I would have suspected that a number of clubs would have asked for an open discussion on the matter via Microsoft teams or Zoom.
Wednesday 17th of February, County board meeting:
“The county board meeting took place via Teams with the following members present:Chairman Joe Kennedy presided and also present were Tim Floyd (Secretary), Ml Power (Treasurer),Jimmy Minogue (vice-chairman), Jonathan Cullen (PRO), Ml Tierney, Seamie Mullins, Joe O Sullivan, Ml Ryan (C) (divisional chairmen), Ml Bourke,Sean Nugent, John Doyle, Conor O Dwyer (Football chairman), Tommy Landers, Tom Dawson & Mark McLoughlin”
It is significant to note that all four divisional chairmen were present at the meeting. It is also significant that 3 out of the 4 divisional chairmen were attending their first county board meeting after only recently being elected at the end of 2020 at their divisional conventions. With no mandate from their clubs who had not received an email on the motions in time and attending their first meeting via virtual means it could be presumed that it was almost impossible to articulate an opinion on the motions.
“The Committee discussed the different candidates and eventually decided that the eight “would be” voters if it were a normal Congress, stay back after the meeting and make a decision. These were the five top-table plus the Football Chairman, Central Council Delegate and the Mid Chairman (whose division were due to attend in 2021 as per the rota system in).
Motions
With 47 motions on the original Clár, 10 of these have now been deferred to a Special Congress later int he year. Of the 37 remaining motions, committee briefly discussed each and directed delegates to vote as follows on the main ones affecting our county;
Motion 2: Change end of Financial Year to Sept 30 th -Agreed to support.
Motion 7: Joint captains not permitted to accept trophies -Agreed to support.
Motion 13: Maximum number of teams in adult county championship = 16 – Agreed to support.
Motion 20: Fouling goal scoring opportunities inside 20m = Penalty -Agreed not to support
Motion 23: No Maor Foirne or Team Official enter the field -Agreed not to support
Motion 25: Team starting both halves with 13 players.full game-time played officially -Agreed to support
Motion 39-40: Dealt with amendments to the club constitution which committee were supportive of.
Delegates confirmed they would follow the direction of the Management Committee when voting.”
It is well known that the majority of the county board executive has been very vocal in their hope to rid the divisional link, especially chairman Joe Kennedy and secretary Tim Floyd. The only divisional chairman represented was recently elected Joe O’Sullivan. I am not privy to O’Sullivan’s own opinion on the divisions but as Mid chairman I hope he would he would have provided some form of resistance.
Technically speaking, the County board have been granted dispensation through the GAA special congress of June 2020 to make such decisions with emergency powers granted from headquarters. The West and North divisions have been far more vocal in their support of the current structures.
Once again, the main reason I would have presumed that the county board would have opposed the motion was:
1: The county board, CCC and clubs know our club structure the best and should decide county championship structures.
2: Decisions of such magnitude should be discussed in an open forum with all relevant parties given an input, as happened in 2018 when players, clubs, divisions and county board were all given the floor in local media and most importantly at the county convention.
It is also disappointing to note in the minutes that the “committee briefly discussed” each motion. Although the majority of my secret circle would have similar views, there are some who would oppose the current divisional link. If 8 of us sat down to trash out such a motion, we would spend hours in deep and considerate discussion. In the end we would conclude that we should ask the whole population of Tipperary hurling.
Tuesday 23rd of February. Joe Kennedy interview with Eoghan Cormican.
There also seemed to be a severe lack of clarity. For all intensive purposes it appears that most club delegates found about Tipperary’s voting patterns via Cormican’s piece in the Irish Examiner. The minutes of the meeting were not circled to clubs until the 25th of February, 8 days after the meeting. This was after Cormican’s piece and a stinging article by the HOTD on the 24th of February.
Tipperary are sponsored by Teneo, supposed world leaders in PR and communications, yet there is major confusion that surrounded the whole process. It made the whole situation even more unjust to clubs and delayed any real chance of a possible emergency general meeting being granted. You would also have to wonder if it wasn’t for some investigative journalism by Cormican and further probing by the HOTD would Tipperary have went to Congress without any communication to the clubs on their voting protocols at Congress.
Phase three: Congress 2021 Saturday 27th February
The HOTD only logged onto the Microsoft teams congress for a few minutes when the above motion 13 was discussed but was keeping an eye on John Fogarty’s tweets and the GAA’s own updates, which were of a very high quality.
There were a number of counties who spoke up against the motion. Galway were always going to speak against the motion with their 24 team senior championship comprising of two separate layers of 12 still being the flavour of the month in the western county.
Frank Murphy pictured at GAA Congress.
Paul Bellew of the Galway hurling board is a young administrator that has come out of this really well. He noted that he would prefer to have less than 24 teams in their own championship but also outlined that after consultation with the clubs they would prefer to keep the status quo. Critically, he outlined that if they were going to make changes to their championship it should be decided in Pearse stadium.
The Galway football board are currently reducing their championship to 16 but they also noted that they opposed the motion. They would prefer to do it on their own terms.
Despite having 16 team championships, Tyrone and Dublin also spoke out against the motion. Tyrone are one of the few counties left that play knockout championship football all concluded over four pulsating rounds. Despite this, they recognise that they may wish to expand this in the future. A good few Tyrone clubs have won the intermediate before the senior championship which shows how even clubs football is in the county.
In response, John Prenty (secretary of Connacht GAA/Mayo) spoke for the motion and defended its merits. I wonder if the motion was to control how Connacht GAA runs its competitions from Croke Park would Prenty have been as keen for Croke park to take charge. From the outside looking in, it seems that streamlining of competitions has been a priority for the GAA for the last decade but in the midst of all of this the provincial championships remain a constant. As a normal club member wanting to run our own championship in our county the way we sit fit. It seems slightly unusual that we have provincial secretaries calling for centralised methods in club championships yet still wanting to keep provincial championships in check. If you want to reach the real top of the GAA pyramid, it’s a case of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours and don’t dare question the provinces.
The streamlining of competitions means an easier job for the fixture makers. One of the biggest disasters in the history of the GAA has been the change of underage grades from even ages and Under 21 to odd ages and Under 20. The new minor and under 20 championships are shadows of their former selves.
The complete separation of Under 20 inter county hurling and senior hurling was completed on Saturday. Its a fixture makers dream not to have to worry about some lad on twitter bemoaning player burnout of a very small minority of players. This is going to impact the smaller counties like Waterford, Clare, Laois and Offaly who cannot wait until a prodigy is 21 before getting him out on the inter county pitch.
In the past five years they have ruined underage competitions. I cannot fathom how if a 19 or 20 year old is good enough that he is not entitled to play both Under 20 and senior championship. Oisin McConville of Armagh made a very amusing yet relevant comment on this charade when he noted that young players these days are bombarded with S&C, recovery, diet plans, skills sessions and every other gimmick under the sun yet the amount of games they actually play seems to be reduced year on year. If you ask a young Eoin Cody or a Jake Morris or a David Clifford would they rather play an Under 20 Munster semi final or go training you know the answer you would get. Once again a product of some sports science nerds in DCU analysing players like racehorses rather than simply letting the players play the game they love to the highest standard they can as much as possible.
I must say that the split season which has fallen upon the GAA due to covid has been one of the best things to happen the organisation in recent times. Certainty for club and county players was needed. Although there is a perceived rush to have the year completed within the calender one change that would ease pressure on all counties is to play the All Ireland club semi finals in January. There are only 24 clubs involved in these competitions, none of which will complain to having to prepare for such a prestigious tournament. At the same time, thousands of clubs throughout the country would have another two weeks to play county championships thus supplying at least one more championship game for club players. Interprovincial club championships take up too much of the current 12 month calender for too few teams.
Media coverage
It was interesting to not that David Connors of the Tuam Herald gave ample coverage of the motion via his Twitter platform. Other than the HOTD, there was no member of the Tipperary GAA media that even mentioned the motion on Twitter until Saturday. The Nenagh Gaurdians Shane Brophy did mention it that he would have preferred to see counties with their own autonomy regarding championships but the focus of his piece was on the new sin bin rule. I would have loved to see him add to this on Twitter where with over 7,000 followers as his opinion carries serious weight.
Noel Dundon has no problem is spreading the word of the HOTD but once again a highly regarded journalist like himself might have been better to give his own opinion on the farcical Motion 13 before the vote was completed on Saturday.
Tipp fm’s Stephen Gleeson tweeted an old interview with Paddy Stapleton on the importance of the divisions after Borris-ileighs 2017 North championship win. This was posted after Motion 13 passed. This was a case of acting after the horse had bolted.
Shane Stapleton (Borrisileigh) and Damien Lawlor (Kilruane McDonaghs) have both witnessed the joy of divisional glory in their own clubs in recent years. I know they do most of their work on a more national scale but still it’s their job to make a story, they have it here yet it goes without mention. One of the biggest stories in GAA at the moment is in Clare and although the last two weekends Dermot Crowe and Michael Foley have done some excellent pieces it happened weeks and weeks after the local media in Clare and the HOTD had their say. Most people who read GAA pieces want news from all over the country, its not like Rugby or Soccer where you have the Munster and Livepool choir boys that wouldn’t watch a AIL or League of Ireland game if it was on in the back garden.
We have a host of other GAA pundits in the premier county who are brilliant at tweeting about Irelands fittest family, Irish rugby or generic GAA matters such as the split season but when push came to shove they were all very silent last week.
I get the sense that many in Tipperary GAA are more than happy for the HOTD to promote the game in the county when it’s positive but not as greeting when some questions are asked. I appreciate that they are volunteers and are in thankless positions but Tipperary GAA is bigger than any one individual or group of individuals and any decision on the future of GAA in our county should be weighed up appropriately.
In the end the vote passed quiet comfortably and it was always likely with the GAA executive supporting as well as the Cork and Tipperary county board’s behind it. Despite not opposing motions any more, the power of Cork’s numbers still told when Larry McCarthy (New York) and formerly of Cork won the race to be the next GAA president. Jarlath Burns seemed like the best candidate but was up against the might of Cork, who usually join up with Munster, who usually have lots of members on the GAA executive, who usually….. You see where this is going.
Phase four: The aftermath
Dejected and enraged with the result, the hurler on the ditch tweeted that this was the end of the link. Technically it’s not. It will all depend on what happens in the coming months as the clubs and divisions recuperate from this blow. There are a number of possible ways this can go down the line. No matter what the case, the 16 team structure is likely to remain for the short and medium term future. I think everyone is agreement that this was necessary to establish and maintain into the future.
Monday the 1st of March. Eoin Carroll (Tipp fm) interview with Joe Kennedy
There was fuel added to the fire of confusion yesterday when a interview was released by young North Tipperary journalist Eoin Carroll of Tipp fm with Joe Kennedy. The link for the interview is available on the Tipp fm sport channels with the first five minutes directly related to motion 13.
Kennedy tried to articulate to Carroll that the clubs had been given adequate time to seek council and give an opinion on all motions which were forwarded to their divisional chairman.
Carroll asked: “When was notice (of motions) sent out?”
Kennedy replied: “Sent out prior to the executive meeting, a couple of days to a week before the executive meeting.”
As mentioned previously, it appears that the only correspondence the clubs officially received was an email sent on Tuesday the 16th of February at 10:50pm. The meeting in question took place at evening of 17-2-21.
This leaves more questions for the county board as either he is not aware of when emails were sent to the club or is confused on the matter, there was not a fiercely convincing tone when asked for certainty on the matter, make of that what you will.
Kennedy did point out that the motions were freely available for all club delegates to view via media channels. The two counties who were affected by this motion most severely are Tipperary and Galway. The approaches from the respective county boards could not be more stark. In Galway, the board was given a clear mandate by the clubs through appropriate lines of communication that they wanted the status quo to remain. In Tipperary it was somehow presumed that clubs would speak up without appropriate communication lines on the matter.
Common practice for such motions would be clubs would be notified of the upcoming motions with a suitable timescale that would allow for proper debate within the clubs before recommendations are forwarded to the divisional chairman but also a chance for clubs to speak out in favour or against the motion at county level.
Given the parties involved own personal preference of a “streamlined” county championship it makes clubs all the more suspicious in the way in which this whole situation has been dealt. Question marks must also lie at the door of secretary Tim Floyds communication with the vested parties. When making such a decision the clubs and divisions should have been hounded to have their opinion known. Added to that, three of our new divisional chairman are new to their post adds to the sense that this was the perfect opportunity for the board to strike. Of the divisional chairman, I know that one of them in particular will have been kicking himself with the happenings of the last few weeks. Once again, it goes back to the point that the motion should have been opposed to allow proper deliberation at a later point. The next board meeting is not expected to be an easy night for the county board executive as all of the points mentioned in this piece will be laid at the door. Even if a club supported the motion, they cannot be best pleased with the method of enquiry.
Where do our championship structure go from here?
There are a number of possible options
End of the link:
This has already been muted by once again in an interview chairman Joe Kennedy did with Eoin Carroll of Tipp fm. He stated:
“We have to wait for clarification on whether Croke Park would define the Divisional Championships as a completely separate entity and can’t lead to the County Championship.”
He added “But if they did I think all the four Divisional Championships are strong enough to stand on their own. Over the years anyone who has won a county final has won it by coming through the county rounds and not by coming in the back door via a preliminary quarter final.”
From all of the happenings and statements over the last few years, it is difficult to see our board pleading with Croke park to use our divisions as annex’s to the county championship. It raises questions about our colleagues in Cork who are using their college/divisional section as part of their championship which means it will also exceed 16 clubs. If Cork can exceed 16 on a technicality then why can’t we?
I would disagree wholeheartedly with his prediction that Divisional championships are strong enough to stand on their own. The dogs on the street know that if the link is gone it will diminish the championship. Last year we had a case of players playing an internal training game rather than play knockout divisional hurling three weeks out from championship. Maybe I am old school but I would consider a knockout divisional club game as far better preparation for knockout championship hurling than a challenge game in training. As I have said, it’s totally against the ethos of our games but the inter county ship set sail long ago and will never be reined in hence the need for the split season.
If you look at the divisional football championships which have lost their link, the once coveted South senior football championship hasn’t been played off in a good few years. Out West, there have been problems while the mid has struggled to garner any interest in their championship since the link was removed. The sad reality is that unless senior inter county players are 100% guaranteed to be available for ALL divisional championship games then Joe Kennedys prediction is as useful as a man shoveling manure with a spoon. It may happen for a year or two but you can pretty much guarantee that at some point it will budge to the demands of the 12 month calendar or some inter county training camp.
Kerry are the only county that have managed to keep their divisional championships going to some degree. Their divisional finals are often played late in the year at a time when we attempt to conclude our under 21 championships. Hurling at that time of the year is not as compatible as the big ball. There was some problems with the coveted O’Donoghue cup (East Kerry Championship) when Dr.Crokes pulled out in recent years.
2. Senior A/Senior B Championship divisions:
This could be seen as a sort of a compromise with the current championship being played out with separate divisional championships played at Senior A and B. In the north for example it would mean 6 Senior A teams and 8 senior B teams competing for two separate championships. The imbalance is magnified in the West (2 senior A, 2 senior B) and South (1 senior A, 3 senior B).
It will reduce a full round of fixtures but I don’t think the county board want it and I cannot see a watered down version of the divisional championships washing with the clubs.
3. Something different
After spending the last decade coming to the point where we have 3 grades of 16 it is impossible to see divergence from this. Some have mentioned 12 senior teams along with the 4 divisional winners. That would likely mean 4 grades of 12. I don’t think anyone wants to see another grade added so quickly after the Seamus O’Riann (Senior B) begins to settle.
Others have said use the group games as a seeding for a knockout championship guaranteeing every club 5 championship games. I am personally against a team winning all their group games getting knocked out by a team who did the opposite in the knockout stages. I know it is the method used in Kilkenny but their league phase also has the opportunity to win the league and shield title while also grabbing immunity from a possible relegation. For a team to win all three league games and then have the possibility of getting relegated seems unfair in my book.
A spin off of that would see seed 1v2 and seed 3v4 in the championship first round but such a championship would actually take 8 rounds to complete which is what the county board currently are attempting to avoid.
4. Lets try and bend the rules, lets keep the status quo
The HOTD would be a strong supporter that the current championship is pretty much the best option albeit has obvious inadequacies in the divisional numbers. If the clubs want to keep it then it is time to fight for it.
The motion was to limit the senior and intermediate championships at 16 teams. Cork decided to support the motion despite the fact more than 17 teams can win the Cork senior Hurling and Football championships.
There are the 12 senior teams along with UCC, CIT and possibly a number of other participants from divisions like Duhallow, Avondhu, Imokilly, Beara, Carrighdoun and Carberry partaking most years. That exceeds the number of 16 but apparently Cork will be given dispensation as the Cork colleges/divisions section is apparently a qualifier for the real championship. I find it hard to get my head around that.
Kerry also have a similar conundrum as there are 8 senior clubs in the county and 9 divisions that take part in the Kerry SFC. If the cute hoor’s in Kerry and Cork can bend the rules what is there to stop Galway hurling using their league stages of their championship as a “qualifier”. In Tipperary, why could we not use our groups and divisions as “qualifiers” for a new 12 team county championship comprising of 8 group qualifiers and a maximum of 4 divisional champions.
If our county board are properly doing their job then the questioning of Cork and Kerry must be brought up for sharp focus to the Fixtures review task force and Croke park. Our clubs and divisions need to keep asking the county board the same questions. It’s doubtful how persistent our county board will be in fighting our case after basically voting off on the divisional links.
Phase five: The relationship between the board and the club people on the ground
The HOTD has noted in recent pieces how there has been cracks of discontent on the ground for a while now. In a county the size of Tipperary it is almost impossible to keep everyone happy but this has the potential to push it over the edge. The county board is the clubs.
There are two types of Tipperary supporter. Firstly, there is the casual lad will be seen with his new Teneo jersey, his hat and his 212-T-27 number plate coming out of the stadium the Monday after Tipp win an All-Ireland. He doesn’t really see too far past the county team and is the kind of fella who wouldn’t know if Paul Flynn is from Kiladangan or Killenaule. When it comes to club hurling, if Joe Kennedy told him that the best thing for Tipperary hurling was to play an 8 team senior hurling championship off in three weeks so the county team could start training, he wouldn’t bat too much of an eyelid because he doesn’t understand or follow the club game. At the same time, he is needed and is still a vital part of Tipperary GAA especially for the profits he brings in from buying his Tipperary merchandise and a number plate every few years.
Then there’s the club lad. County board draws, he has a ticket. Tipperary supporters club, he’s a member. Tipperary Football board, he’s a member. Tipperary club yearly ticket, he has one for the past 35 years. This is the type of fella that keeps the foundations of Tipperary GAA steady. He is a huge Tipperary supporter but he as a club man first and foremost. The happenings of the last week are another kick in the you know what for his bread and butter, club hurling and the club divisional championships. Imagine the amount of club members from Upperchurch, Ballina, Newport, JK Brackens, Templederry, Burgess, Lorrha, St.Marys, Sean Treacys and Cashel King Cormacs to name but a few who would only dream of a divisional senior crown. If you give these club volunteer the option of a senior divisional title or another five all Irelands for Tipperary in the next decade there will be only answer.
At a time when the Tipperary supporters club membership is dropping, it is the salt of the earth club people that will be asked to join up and pay for the 25 man backroom team assembled by our senior hurlers. When I saw the drop in numbers of the Supporters club I was startled but then I wondered, there is only so much giving people can take if they feel they are being bled in response. It can be difficult for a genuine club devotee to see any benefits to continue to support the inter county team, which is considered to be of greater importance than his beloved club.
Just like that. It’s done. The divisional link looks to be gone. There is still time but as I write this there has currently been no communication between the county board executive and the clubs. One of the most debated issues in the recent history of Tipperary GAA looks to have finally concluded on a whimper.
It was generally accepted in the early to mid 2000s that the Irish government would keep having repeated referendums until the Lisbon treaty was passed. The same method of forceful administration was expected to be used in Tipperary until some day the county board finally reached its Everest and broke the divisional link. What has transpired leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many.
It looks like there will be no meeting between the clubs and the county board in relation to the various motions going forward at Saturdays GAA congress.
Despite no directed mandate from the clubs, the Tipperary executive are voting in favour of motion 13 to limit county championship numbers to 16. This will end the current link that has existed for over 100 years between our divisional and county championships.
It is expected that this motion which has been designed by the central fixtures task force will get through rather easily. That does not mean proper procedures should not be followed in our own county.
The debacle has created a huge sense of anger and frustration among clubs all over the county. What is the current purpose of club delegates working in tandem with our board when they are so blatantly ignored.
How can they do this???
At last years special congress, there were emergency rules granted that gave the county executive special powers during covid. This was understandable during the summer of 2020 when decisions needed to be made.
It now seems the county board are now abusing this power and have not consulted the clubs at all. The only real transparency clubs recieved was the Irish examiner article with Joe Kennedy released on this Tuesday where he was quizzed by Eoghan Cormican.
The Hurler on the ditch questioned the motion initially last Saturday in an article which highlighted the reservations Galway had in relinquishing such power to central council. After all, each county had their own needs, desires, population and a variety of other factors which decide how they run their club championships.
Most would have expected that there would have been discussion between the clubs and county board regarding the motions, with motion 13 in particular being so relevant to club Hurling in the county. If anything was to be presumed it would be our county board should oppose the motion given they would have understood the love of divisional hurling in our county.
The place to abolish this link should be at the Tipperary GAA convention and no where else. As Tipperary men, we should have no input into how other counties run their ship and the same should be the case here.
A communications horror story.
If only the county board had a global PR and communications company as a sponsor. Then they might have dealt with this issue better.
It’s slightly ironic that Teneo sponsor the Tipperary team. One of the worlds leading PR companies and we are left with no interaction between the board and clubs.
In the last week, there was no information sent out by County board secretary Tim Floyd on how Tipperary would be voting. A question on many peoples minds about the Irish examiner article is that if Joe Kennedy had not given that interview then none of this would have came to light.
Although the county board has special powers given to them, the situation has played out much differently in other counties. In another piece penned by Eoghan Cormican in the Irish Examiner it was noted that Galway, Cork and Wexford had carried out votes with clubs on all motions. The question that is on the minds of many in Tipperary GAA is if other counties could seek a mandate from clubs, then why did our county refuse to do so?
It has long been noted that our secretary Tim Floyd, county chairman Joe Kennedy and the majority of the county board executive want to see the divisional link broken to “streamline the championships.” This goes against the majority of clubs who have opposed this motion on a number of occasions in the past.
It looks to be the case that the county board are abusing their new found power. There is no doubt that there should be significant questioning of the overall process going forward.
There has already been major agro in the county in the way the underage age groups were forced through. This is a much much bigger case of the board using their own new found autonomy without any consultation with the very people that elected them, the clubs.
As I pen this article at 8.21 on Thursday the 25th of February there is still an opportunity for our county to right some of the above wrongs.
The disconnect between the normal club people on the ground and our county board has been simmering in the background for a while. These undercurrents could all boil over this Saturday unless something drastically changes.
The GAA’s central congress takes place this week with a number of motions which could change different aspects of our games and organisation. In the run-up to this congress there were a number of talking points: namely the fact this will be the first time the congress will be held virtually like various club and county AGMs over the last few months.
From a hurling point of view the problem with cynical play is the main topic of debate with the motion proposing an automatic penalty for any fouls inside the “D” and a ten minute sin bin. The sin bin is totally unnecessary and I would have preferred if the cynical foul area was actually anywhere inside the 45 where a blatant foul happens. A lot of the fouls currently taken place inside the 45 are when a half forward breaks the tackle and is then taken down by an on rushing wing or centre back. One of the most blatant cynical fouls was when Danny Sutcliffe tripped Paddy Purcell of Laois about 35 yards from goal (well outside the D) in this years Leinster championship. This will continue to happen outside the D and prevent some goal scoring chances. It is a start to curb this blight on our game and can be altered in future years if needs be.
The Big Motion: The end of the divisional link in Tipperary
The most baffling motion surrounds the club game and the proposal that limits club championship to only 16 teams per championship. This motion comes from the Calendar review Task force report made up of 11 members from different counties and identities within the GAA.
If you landed off the plane from Mars and someone explained the GAA structures with 32 separate counties playing individual club championships then you may be mistaken to question why don’t all counties play the same format to assist in an overall fixtures calendar. What would have to be explained to that person is that every province, county and the clubs within the counties are different.
The HOTD is perplexed that such a motion would be brought forward by anyone with any knowledge of the GAA, secondly I am surprised that many county boards will support relinquishing their power and thus possibly limiting how they can organise competitions, finally the HOTD is outraged if the Tipperary county board are expected to sign the death warrant of our divisional link to the county championships as outlined by our county chairman Joe Kennedy. This is expected to be done without a proper time frame to hear the views of our clubs and divisions.
Portroe’s North championship win in 2012 was one of the greatest days in Tipperary GAA. Are the Tipperary county board signing a death warrant for the Tipperary divisions without any consultation?
The fixtures task force comes across as a very necessary committee in the GAA especially before the split season where fixtures were up in the air. With the split season now in play it seems very straight forward that each county be given a time frame to complete their championship before the interprovincial championships take place. In a normal year devoid of covid it was expected that this time frame would be a 3-4 month window. Simple, eh?
Horse for courses and Competitions for counties.
Each county has a very different set of circumstances ,thus competitions must be planned to suit their own needs. For example, Kilkenny will never be under any pressure to complete their championship as they have no Football to contend with. The same could be said for a fair shot of Football only counties in the North and West of the country. I could go through each county individually and there is a huge contrast in the formats used to suit the clubs and standard of play in the counties shown by the examples below. All of these formats below are during a normal year (non-pandemic year).
Wexford, Waterford and Cork have 12 team championships (2 groups of 6 with each team getting 5 games and knockout) which will take a total of 16 rounds to play for dual clubs that hope to be successful in both codes.
Limerick have a similar format at senior Hurling but has the top 6 (4 to qualify) and teams seeded 7-12 (2 to qualify) divided before the knockout stages begin. It also takes 16 rounds to complete the Limerick senior hurling and football championships in a normal year.
In Tyrone, they place a huge emphasis on their leagues but their championship is the highlight of their club Football with a 16 team knockout championship played off in 4 rounds.
Kerry have a totally unique set of circumstances as they incorporate divisional teams into the senior championship while playing Junior and intermediate championships also. It works for them in the same way the Tipperary divisional structure has served Tipperary well in the past.
Although unlikely, a county could potentially play a 64 team knockout championship and have it concluded after 6 rounds.
Galway’s opposition to the motion
Galway are one of the few counties who have openly said they will not be supporting this motion. Given that their senior Football championship contains 18 teams (3 groups of 6 and knockout) and their senior Hurling championship contains 24 (4 groups of 6 divided into senior A and B plus knockout) it would mean a dramatic shift to their current structure which seems to suit them well.
The Galway Football board are actively reducing their senior championship to 16 teams but have stated that they should be allowed to do this on their own terms. Their hurling championship differs to others as it does not have to meet provincial deadlines compared to other counties.
They have refuted the need for Croke park to intervene in the running of their competitions. Galway are satisfied with their championship and they can meet provincial deadlines comfortably so are argung what is the need for these regulations from Croke park? The Tribesmen stance has to be admired but it looks to be in the minority.
Tipperary
In a normal year in Tipperary our championships are comprised of 16 teams formats (4 groups of 4 and knockout phase). This is the case for Senior A, Senior B and intermediate championships in Hurling and Football. The one exception is the Senior Hurling championship as we also incorporate our divisional championships into the race for Dan Breen. It as a back door route for teams who fail to come in the top 2 of their Dan Breen group or senior B teams who manage to win a division.
In total, the Tipperary hurling and football championship take 16 rounds to complete which is the same as Wexford and Cork. Without the divisional link, we can complete our competitions in 12 which is 4 weekends less than our current structure. It is the reason our county board has pushed to relinquish the link. At the same time, dual counties like Wexford and Cork are running structures that take 16 weeks to complete. It’s hard to know why some championships are being worked around 16 round plans but ours is looking to be diluted with a similar time frame being used.
The HOTD would be a supporter of the divisional rink remaining as long as the time still allows in future years. I have stated on a number of occasions that they allow all clubs a realistic opportunity of some day winning a top grade competition in the county. This is something that cannot be replicated if they go down the route of continued segregation of levels.
The majority of clubs in the Seamus O’Riann know they have no chance of winning a Dan Breen cup but they would value a divisional championship as one of the biggest events in their history. If you take away the link you take way the chance to create that history. It is similar to the whole debate of the second tier in the inter county football championship, counties want to be in the hat each year. With the GAA being ran with more and more professionalism they seem to forget that the big counties and clubs have dominated and will continue to dominate, that does not mean smaller counties and clubs shouldn’t be allowed their shot at reaching Everest.
The HOTD is not alone with this opinion. All of the divisional boards are also in favour of the link remaining while in the last convention that this was brought up in back at the end of 2018 the current structure was supported by the vast majority of clubs.
The county board have been set on removing this link for a long time with former chairman John Devane and current secretary Tim Floyd regularly canvassing for the link to be broken in their annual addresses. It is an unusual situation for GAA people to try and devalue competitions that carry such honour for so many and still have such large attendances. I do not know the soundbites that the like of Floyd and Devane get sent from Croke park on our structures but I would imagine it is something similar to what the big boys in the capital decide. Am I shooting the messenger?
The HOTD is a realist and there is no doubt that divisional prestige has been weakened by the corona-virus. This is only natural with any event that has fallen by the way side over the last 12 months. Some dual clubs may have begun to question that if they want to win county titles, the extra 3 or 4 divisional games are currently acting as a crutch to that ambition.
The 2020 Divisonal championships.
Due to Covid, the 4 team West Tipperary senior hurling championship was the only division completed in 2020 and that was without inter county players being involved. It was pointed out to the divisions that would be the case and the West, Mid and South decided to play on. I find it sad that our organisation has moved to point where we have players training in Dr.Morris as their clubs fight it out for divisional honours. It is totally against the whole ethos of the organisation. The HOTD could write a book on that but the ship has unfortunately sailed with the split season being the only solution to the inter county management and pre season preparation juggernaut that is modern GAA.
The Mid and South championships did begin in 2020, the Mid will almost certainly not be concluded but the South final will probably be played at some stage presuming Kilenaule and Carrick Swans have the appetite. Maybe the county board could draw them in the same county championship group for 2021 and overlap the games. It could leave a similar situation to the first round of the Munster championship in which Limerick v Clare was also the League final. In the same way as rugby has the Calcutta cup between England and Scotland, Hurling could have the Birdseye cup being the Kilenaule Robins and the Carrick Swans.
Back on topic, the North board refused to run an official championship in 2020 as they did not want to play a North championship without all clubs having a full panel to pick from. They pointed out that anything else was the start of devaluation of the divisional competitions by our county board.
The HOTD does get the sense if the debate was brought up at an upcoming Tipperary convention that the whole issue would produce a much closer vote and the divisional link may eventually cease in the future. The HOTD(nor anyone else) has no problem whatsoever if this is done through the proper channels with all clubs, divisions, players and officers being allowed to give their viewpoint on whether it is possible to keep the link going into the future and the new split season calendar.
Joe Kennedy and County board on a solo run
The problem that now appears that our divisions may cease through this motion. Last week the HOTD tweeted that he hoped the county board would support Galway in keeping the status quo and that counties could decide their own club structures now and in the future. It looks like the opposite is the case.
Newly elected Tipperary GAA Chairman Joe Kennedy
Amazingly, it appears that our own county board are going on a solo run and will support this proposal. According to our newly elected Chairman Joe Kennedy, this will see the end of the divisional link.
In an interview with Eoghan Cormican of the Irish Examiner Chairman Joe Kennedy stated “I would be in favour of the motion,” as it would allow Tipperary “to streamline the county championship”. Cormican said in the article that Tipperary were “expected” to support the proposal.
After such a high profile and heated debate between parties not so long ago it seems highly irresponsible for our county board to vote through this motion without it going through a county wide vote or at least some degree of transparent discussion.
Plainly speaking from a county championship only point of view, the current structure in Tipperary of 16 teams per grade seems to be working well. That is not to say that in the future a 20 team structure may be wanted, maybe even a 24 team structure like Galway might be the flavor of the month or even a 32 team FA Cup type championship. To pigeon hole our county championships to a maximum of 16 teams is hardly advisable in Tipperary with a large amount of Hurling clubs. That is without mentioning the obvious implications for our regional competitions.
Secondly, the board know full well the importance of divisional competitions have within the county. There are some individuals who don’t value them and that is fair enough but recent votes suggest the majority of clubs, club players and officials still want them to remain as integral parts of our game.
Chairman Joe Kennedy did stress that he hoped our divisions would continue as a separate identity to our county championship like they do in Kerry, that seems a bit presumptuous for competitions with over a hundred years of history attached to our county championship to all of a sudden become stand alone successes. It has been seen in recent years how the secondary divisional competitions have fallen by the way side so the same is likely to happen here.
What can be done
In the interview, it was stated by Cormican that “Tipperary have not yet decided whether they will support this proposal at Congress, but it is expected they will do so.”
Before any vote is giving to support or oppose the motion, I think that the county board must do two things. The first is to seek out the opinion of the four divisional boards on whether they want to support the motion and sever the link. In the unlikely case that the divisional boards support the motion to end the link then there should be support of the motion.
If the divisional boards do not support the motion then we should vote against it. At a later date, all relevant parties would have no problem in debating structures again but not in such a haste, fast paced method.
What is going to happen
With most counties not affected by the motion and already have championships less than 16, it is expected that the motion will pass. Cork are surprisingly expected to support the motion despite having over 250 clubs. As mentioned previously, they have recently went to the 12 team adult grades. This has only happened in the last year so whether the 12 team structure will be a definitive success can only be properly noted in a few years. I was surprised that the” Peoples republic” will now bow down to men in suits in Croke park telling them how to run their championships. I am not sure Frank Murphy would approve of such a restrictive agenda in a county the size of Cork.
Would Frank Murphy would hardly support such a centralised motion.
Just because the motion is likely to pass is it simply ok that our county board stand idly by and support it?
County boards should be held responsible for running off their competitions in time, they should also be help responsible for providing quality competition for all players but they should be allowed to design them to suit their own needs.
After the pointless changes to the age groups, you would have to wonder how these motions end up at congress and then voted through negatively affecting our organisation.
I don’t think the hurler on the ditch will ever understand the strange workings of GAA administration.
To Chairman Joe Kennedy and co, let’s talk again in December, but for now, oppose this ridiculous motion.
I do NOT have a degree in immunology, infectious diseases or any other medical area.
I am not a “journalist” or “reporter” from one of your typical media platforms that feeds your current affairs news every day.
I am not a politician trying to gauge public mood as to who is shouting the loudest on Twitter. I am simply a normal Joe Soap who enjoys to follow and report on a bit of hurling.
I am a person and I am fed up.
Just before we begin, if you want to hear me talk Hurling then wait for the Hurler on the ditch’s next article. I know some of my followers have informed me that they enjoy my pieces as an escape from the constant dredges of negativity surrounding the “C” word and that is fair enough. To those I simply say exit this article and keep following the page for more Hurling in the future. This is the story of Covid-19 on the ground and in the real world.
Like many, the Hurler on the ditch would like to think he has remained relatively neutral throughout this pandemic. I remember when the virus first hit Ireland last March I was totally in agreement with the idea to lockdown to prevent forecasts that if we did not there would be hundreds of thousands of deaths. At the time, the hurler on the ditch was fearful of all in society especially close relatives in the over 65 bracket of which we all have many.
As the weeks and months passed by it was clear that this is a disease that can be highly contagious and can be serious for some people (mainly over 75 or those with other vulnerabilities), but for the majority of those who get Covid they are asymptomatic or survive with minimal complaints.
The first real resistance from the HOTD (and many others) came about during last summer, when the rest of Europe opened up with a much greater degree of flexibility. Like the vast majority of normal people on the ground, we simply wanted to enjoy the summer months where the risk of illness from respiratory diseases is obviously much less than the winter months. There was a clear vendetta from the outset against the hospitality trade with a particular focus on the “wet pubs”. This would have been acceptable had these public houses opened and led to a direct rise in cases, but this was never the case.
From a sporting point of view, the idea that only a couple of hundred people could fit into 50,000 capacity Semple stadium for county finals while shopping centres, restaurants and other sections of society were more or less at full capacity was another point of frustration. It is the first time that the HOTD began accustomed to how “optics” are a dominant theme of all policy in this debacle and in politics in general.
The various county final celebrations were treated with anger and fury in some quarters with people failing to recognise that human beings are not programmed to social distance and stay 2 metres apart when celebrating some of the greatest days of their lives. This lack of empathy and lack of understanding of basic human characteristics has continued throughout the last eleven months. Optics played a huge part in celebrations with sports celebrations last year being subjected to a “no-phones policy” for fear of public backlash. Optics have continued in all realms of society and are likely to continue for quite a while. Recently, we had the case of the Irish rugby team socially distancing for the horrendous “Ireland’s call” yet were beating thumps out of each other seconds later as the game began, the optics we known are everywhere.
Lockdown 3.0
It was clear in the polls that the majority of people favoured an opening at Christmas for what many were dubbing as a “meaningful” Christmas. It was the bargaining tool that was waved in front of the nation when some questioned if there was a need for Lockdown 2.0. As expected, the cases did rise and a third lockdown was introduced on us anyway. We partied too hard was the sentence thrown around to make people think going shopping, going to see a relative , going for a coffee or a pint was a deed they should be ashamed of.
It was clear that community transmission was high during that period as we all know people who tested “positive” for the virus. January is a pretty dull month at the best of times so this lockdown was accepted and seen as necessary, the HOTD agreed although it must also be noted that crowded hospitals and increased respiratory viruses is common place most Januarys in Irish hospitals.
Thankfully, the community transmission has plummeted since and now the problem lies primarily with people picking up the virus in hospitals and care settings. With so little people in the community now catching the virus due to the lockdown and the wide variety of vaccines coming on stream you would think there would be huge room for optimism.
It seems the vaccine rollout is not going to plan for a variety of reasons which was feared. But even with the vaccine a few weeks or months behind it now seems that restrictions will continue well into the summer and the year ahead.
The European Union are making a right mess of all of this. Another pothole in the road is that our CMO Tony Holohan (yes the same Tony Holohan of the cervical cancer debacle) has stopped vaccinations of the AstraZeneca for the over 65’s against advice of the European Medicines agency. Of course, this has received little recognition of our modern day media who have basically just turned into a PR company for the government and NPHET.
Journalism in Ireland
If this vaccine works and prevents serious infection for the vast majority of the population then the question that must surely be asked is when can we open up… not if we will open up.
The HOTD finds this whole aspect of the pandemic the most frustrating of all. It is as if those in power and those in the media want us to stay in lockdown forever and ever. The people that should be asking these questions are the paid journalists in the various media. When most journalists who reported on this pandemic look back on this in years to come many should have huge regrets that they did not do their job. I must make exception to a few from the mainstream who have remained balance throughout this such as Mark Paul of the Irish times.
I do pay my tv licence as I enjoy much of RTE’s sports publications while some of their TV documentaries on Christy Ring and the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday for example were worthy of some sort of fee in my opinion. When it comes to RTE’s current affairs department they have failed to offer any sense of balanced opinion or discussion throughout this pandemic. Every night George Lee produces a litany of negative figures which push the NPHET agenda. There is no room for optimism about the reduction of numbers in recent weeks or the oncoming vaccinations.
Virgin Media’s Gavan Reilly has become a sort of celebrity reporter and twitter personality but I have yet to hear him asking any probing questions. It is simply a case of sitting down, smiling and pandering to Tony Holohan and co. One interesting thing is that the RTE and Virgin Media teams keep bringing live guests onto their shows while at the same time displaying outrage that some people who could work from home are not. Personally, anyone I know working in a desktop job is working from home as advised, I am not sure what premise they are making this judgement while at the same time not setting an example in their own field as public service broadcasters.
The focus now seems to have stemmed to some serious investigative journalism in Dublin Airport shaming people coming and going out of the country. The HOTD would not hit Spain at the moment but surely the main news story at the moment must be the slow vaccination program currently ongoing.
In recent weeks there were glimmers of hope for some journalistic practice when Tony Holohan was eventually questioned on the cervical cancer scandal by Gabija Gataveckaitė, a young reporter with the Independent. Other than this recent intervention, the Indo have also followed the RTE led green jersey brigade. Journalists have sat back and allowed the NPHET negativity machine take over to the point where people have eventually question are they even doing their job never mind doing it in a near satisfactory manner.
Gataveckaitė’s questioning of Holohan and subsequent public approval and admiration has led to “journalists” like Zara King sit up and notice that people actually enjoy interrogation of our leaders. The NPEHT-journalist love story has thankfully showing some cracks recently when a recent NPHET press briefing begun with their press conference proclaiming only questions regarding the covid-19 pandemic may be asked, Gataveckaitė again broke this North Korean like practice to the public. The HOTD is hopeful that some of this anger may inspire our “journalists” to start doing their job. It must also be noted that many of the current political journalists see their current role as a stepping stone to a more lucrative role in Irish politics as a ministerial advisor.
The Twittersphere
Social media is very important in all of this because at the end of the day this pandemic will not end until Irish twitter decides. Those who shout loudest on twitter tend to lead public policy. The zero-covid policy did grow popularity with comparisons made to the success this policy has had in New Zealand. Thankfully there appears to be a realisation that Ireland shares a 500km land border with North Ireland which is still part of the United Kingdom.
The latest popular phase on twitter land is led by the likes of Sam McConkey who have declared we may face restrictions for 3-5 years. McConkey has been wildly off in all of his predictions so far. If you were backing on McConkey’s horse’s you would be after losing the life savings, the car, the house ,the wife and the kids. It is therefore unusual how he is still giving so much airtime from the likes of Matt Cooper who makes no attempt to question his current or previous predictions.
At the other end of the scale you have those who have called for a full re-opening of all services and life as normal without vaccination to the vulnerable. Those sceptics have been given little or no platform in mainstream media, and rightly so. There are some medical practitioners who have tried to come up with a more balanced view on the whole covid debate and argued that the benefits of lockdown are being outweighed when you consider all other factors that should be taken into account. Dr.Martin Feeley for example lost his job for his views and although he was given some floor time initially he now appears to have been locked outside the gates of Montrose as Sam McConkey and co continue to get the red carpet treatment.
The twittersphere gauges public mood. At the moment I get the sense that the majority of people are slowly but surely beginning to realise life must get back to normal. It is important people begin expressing their annoyance on the social media platform because it is a realm that politicians use to gauge the mood of a complete nation. Its one of the reasons the HOTD making his opinion more vocal in recent days as the government continues to impose more draconian policies and laws.
The Negatives of Lockdown
Throughout the pandemic, there has been a focus on people attempting to enjoy the remains of their lives. With no bars or clubs open and the majority of social activities shut down it is expected that our young people will stay at home and watch Netflix all day. These people are in the middle of some of the peak moments of their lives and it is generally co-insides with the ability to socially interact with their peers.
You look at any young child aged 4-16. They have now missed months of education which has will have a hugely negative impact on their lives in a number of departments. It is well known that the students who need formal education the most from socially and economic disadvantaged backgrounds are the ones that suffer the most in the virtual learning realm. From a social point of view ,the modern day phone use and screen time already limits our young persons social interactions but this is expanding the issue even more. From a physical point of view, children are not been given the opportunity to be physically active in sporting settings or any physical activity opportunities they may usually be exposed to. Childhood obesity is a huge problem which has life-long implications on overall health and causes many problems in clogging up the health departments of the future. Although I am not calling for underage training to return in the morning, I think that club training in “pods” should return at the same time as schools. It has been shown from last year’s Cul Camp’s and various other studies that risk of transmission in outdoor sporting settings is minimal. If on the off chance a covid case occurs in a club then shut down for two weeks like what happened in some clubs last October. The overall balance of kids not being in school or partaking in sport because of a disease which will not affect them makes little sense in my opinion.
You take an 18 year old who was due to sit the Leaving cert in June. Since the lockdown he/she has missed out on his graduation, his debs, his post-leaving cert holiday, his fresher’s week and a platitude of general memories and night outs. From a relationship point of view his ability to find a partner or just simply get an occasional shift is limited to say the least. The latest restrictions means that barring inter county senior GAA then there will be continued pressure on the fixtures calendar to complete this years minor and under 20 championships. The HOTD received three personal messages from prospective county minors and under 20’s wondering if and when this year’s championship will take place. Of course, no one can answer that at the moment but it was clear that these young men and women are really feeling the loss of sport in their life. As the old saying goes, you can’t repeat your last year minor. Many of our young sports men and women will not take much comfort in that old classic.
For young adults in the 20-30 age group all of the above are the same but probably are exasperated by the fact they know you cannot take back the years. They see their older siblings and cousins with children, mortgages and general responsibilities of being a grown adult. They know father time waits for no man and that eventually the time will come to settle down. For the majority of all those people they are basically running out of time to travel, to attend events without worry and to make memories that come in the final few years before adult-hood comes around. For all of the above age groups, one simple easing of restrictions which would help is the return of non-contact training in groups of 12-15. As noted, in the very odd case covid comes upon a club then it is simply shut down for two weeks.
I saw a number of pieces last week coming up to Valentines day mentioned on Matt Cooper and Prime time where they more or less laughed off the difficulties young people are having in building romantic relationships. It may seem humorous to some but for many the lack of any form of a romantic relationship is lick a ticking time bomb in this department. Once again, father time is moving very quickly for people in this category.
Economic implications
There are a number of industries that have been absolutely decimated such as the aeronautical and hospitality industry. It means there are now roughly a half a million people on the government PUP payment. For many working in these industries, the PUP is enough to leave them in comfort but there are plenty of others who are beginning to feel the pinch. Although there is a fraction of Irish people who are happy sitting on their hole all day, the vast majority of Irish people need to work to keep them sane.
The people pontificating to the public on the news every night know nothing of the difficulties of living on the PUP. doubt there would be much appetite for continued restrictions from all of these public health experts (the majority of which are state employed) if their own pay packet was negatively impacted. The salary of some our public health experts is outlandish and much higher than their colleagues in the UK. It must be noted that the pay of student nurses is not adequate or fair throughout all of this.
I am also not a economist but it seems to be that we can continue to borrow at 0% for as long as possible. Surely there will come a moment when this or even a part of it will have to be paid off in the future? It will be interesting once again if those shouting loudest for continued restrictions will be happy to pay the increased income taxes in the future.
Mental Health: A society hitting the wall
The World health organisation’s definition of health is:
‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Although the mental health of the youth has already been touched on, it must be noted the mental health of the whole nation is waning to levels nobody would have ever imagined was possible. There is a certain cohort of sedentary people who are satisfied with their current existence, those people don’t live in the real world of attending concerts, going to matches, spending the weekend in Carrick-on-Shannon at a stag or any events that generally involve enjoying the real fruits of life which is based upon social interaction. For everyone else, they are reaching breaking point.
The HOTD had a conversation with a middle aged woman the other day. She’s recently retired from a well paid job and has picked up another job to boost her coffers even more. She has older relatives that would be in the “at-risk” category so was wary not go too far especially during periods when numbers were high. The recent announcements of continued restrictions and vaccinations going at a snail’s pace have led to her admitting to me that she really is hitting a psychological wall as to whether this will end and whether she will ever be able to properly renew acquaintances with her overall group of friends. She misses all of the life’s normalities such as going to see her favourite bands every summer, a foreign holiday every few months and a meal out once a fortnight in a non-covid world. She is one story in millions. Once again, it is a case of survival, not living.
The way out
From the beginning of this pandemic there were a few main options on how we could get out of this mess. There are two main options, the first is to suppress the virus to a point where there is zero-covid on the Island. The other is to let herd immunity take over by a means of vaccination or community transmission (or a mix of both which seems to be the current plan).
The whole concept of zero-covid is not logical for a variety of reasons. Other Island states like Iceland and Malta have already shown this is not possible despite the fact they don’t share a land border with the United Kingdom. Even if “zero-covid” was pursued, the vaccination process would surely be a quicker and less economically crippling strategy.
The solution therefore is vaccination with the desire to reach 70% of the population using the wide range of vaccines. There seems to have already been a number of hurdles. The lack of use of antigen testing really is an unusual strategy for the last few months. The road to normality still appears to a very long and winding one with vaccinations and supply leading to a snails pace roll out.
So when will life return to normal?
The new “Living with covid” plan will be announced on the 22nd of February. You can be sure that the leaks of this plan will begin fairly soon but already it looks like Schools and construction in March with Non-essential retail and services towards April with restricted social settings for May or June. From a purely sporting point of view which is often a barometer which sport nuts like the HOTD base “normality” upon when will there will be a full house in Croke park or Semple Stadium looks very unlikely in this calendar year.
The “living with covid” plan should really be renamed as the “surviving with covid optics” plan. Once we are vaccinated there is simply nothing more that can be done in most people’s opinions. The question that never seems to be asked is for those who want to live like a hermit then it is possible to do so. No one is forcing anyone who may feel at risk to go outside the door. All shops will deliver to the door while working from home will continue to be accommodated by almost all employees of the lockdown crew who by and large are not financially impacted by this lockdown. There are plenty of people who are quiet happy to live a sedentary life based on Netflix, RTE news and an odd conversation with their small bubble of friends. It is an off-set of the modern comforts of living in this age. That does not mean they should enforce this on the rest of us.
For the other 85-90% of society we want our lives back. Our government is clearly going to follow other westernised countries, but at a slower pace. The initial results of Isreali vaccinations are churning out really positive results. They will need to be verified by our neighbours in the UK kingdom who are hammering the European Union in all departments of the process. Celebrity doctor Luke O’Neill is one of the few RTE choir boys insistent on spreading any form of good news. For the last few months he continues to share positive insights into how vaccination is working in Israel and is expected to work in the UK.
It is hard to see the general public standing idly by as our neighbours in Dungannon and Crossmaglen are dancing at the crossroads. It seems that many Irish look to Europe for leadership when the Brits are currently playing a blinder in the task of ending this whole crusade.
The recent announcement of the extension of restrictions struck even the most neutral and law-abiding citizens off gaurd. It seems every time we gain and inch in this fight, we are getting pushed back a yard with increased restrictions from government and even calls for more restrictions by zero-covidiots. I can feel it on the ground and although its not reflected on mainstream media, the tide is turning. You can see it in the shopping aisles where people are talking, I have seen plenty of tradesmen, barbers and hairdressers back doing their mixers again while people will be back in the social setting of house parties and shebeens very shortly. Human beings know no different, we are not robotic.
The talk of new variants is one that I struggle to comprehend. Are we going to wait until every country in the world has their own variant oppressed before life goes back to normal. The Two mile Borris variant was even doing the rounds recently in a video of Tony Holohan in the year 1950, where will it end ?
This has got to be the end of this form of lockdowns. I am not calling for 80,000 in Croke park in the morning but we need some respite in the coming weeks. Schools returning and sports training in clubs would be a start for young healthy people who are begging for normality to resume. We need something.
There is no bigger name in modern day Hurling than the current Wexford manager David Fitzgerald of Sixmilebridge. The man is box office and in era where so many players and managers have become robotic in their persona, a character like Davy really is necessary to keep bums on seats and help keep Hurling in the public eye of the arm chair sports fan. His exploits outside of hurling on RTE’s “Ireland’s fittest family” and “Davy’s toughest team” has expanded his appeal. It always seemed to be the way that Davy needed hurling but such is his current celebrity status it’s now simply the case that hurling needs Davy.
In the midst of all of this celebrity clamour it seems that the results of his Wexford team have been allowed to slip by with some but not enough proper critique. When Wexford were hammered in both of their championship games in 2020 it was a litany of excuses after both results. After being hammered by his native county Clare in a pathetic display of hurling, the focus was not on their performance but instead claims he was abused by a Clare official throughout the game. Its not the first time that he has turned a post match interview into a mirage of excuses rather than a focus on his team and most importantly his own management.
Davy Fitzgerald picture with Wexford and Sixmilebridge coach Saoirse Bulfin.
The “why always me” calls from Davy and his father Pat in recent months cry of men adamant on playing the pity card. Although I would be totally against anyone receiving abuse on a hurling field or a sideline, the power of the Fitzgerald empire was plain to see in a recent Late Late show appearance by Davy. The previous weeks GAA media was dominated with interviews on “bullying” and “online abuse” towards Davy and his father Pat (Clare county board secretary). The online abuse seems to have been a few throw away comments by a couple of Facebook users, hardly something that requires national media coverage. This was expanded on with a statement released by his club Sixmilebridge (who have benefitted from Pat Fitzgeralds tenure) bemoaning the tirades of abuse towards the two Sixmilebridge club men. Rather than focus on the actual problems at the heart of Clare hurling such as their lack of financial backing, the developments (or lack of) in Cusack Park and their underage structures, the focus has been turned into a host of articles highlighting how Pat Fitzgerald is trying his best and basically doesn’t warrant any constructive criticism. The whole media shindig concluded with an appearance on the Late Late show that Friday night, of course Tubridy knows about as much on inter county hurling as the HOTD knows about rocket science, so he and his research team gave Davy full control of the floor.
Davy Fitzgerald and his father Pat.
Of course, it is simply not good enough in an “amateur” game for any “volunteer” to receive abuse but like a lot of modern journalism not all of Davy’s previous actions were laid on the table. It must be remembered in all of this that Davy is magnifying how he has been targeted, yet some of his own actions on the sideline with teams has been disgraceful to say the least. Some of his “tactics” employed with LIT down through the years in the Fitzgibbon cup and his excursion with Jason Forde in a league quarter final spring to mind. It seems in mainstream media that Davy is currently untouchable.
The 2018 league final where Jason Forde met Fitzgerald’s full wrath.
One of the few people in modern GAA media is Colm Parkinson who will actually ask some of of the questions we want answered. I would encourage people to listen to the full GAA hour interview which is once again a collection of excuses from Davy despite Parkinson’s best efforts. I struggle to think of anyone else in mainstream media who would ask the difficult questions, RTE would just have a Davy appreciation interview for example.
He might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the GAA hour with Colm Parkinson is top class.
Parkinson is a brilliant interviewer and for the first time in a long time Davy was not allowed to sidestep questioning on his Wexford team but did dodge any constructive responses with a plethora of excuses, most of which were totally irrelevant to what happened on the field of play. I would love to see the Portlaois man on a mid week GAA show on the television to add to his podcasting efforts. Anyway onto the interview with the key points. Davy…
Didn’t want to talk about last year initially. Thankfully Parkinson got stuck in.
He had nothing to do with the club hurling championship being ran off in a few weeks, Paul Galvin (Wexford football manager at the time) didn’t seem to be best pleased when interviewed recently in the Irish examiner GAA podcast.
Claimed his players were training 6 days a week during football championship, then went back on it and claimed he didn’t have enough of his players to implement plans. After Galway hammered Wexford he claimed to trying four different formations. It was all a bit confusing.
Very disappointed with Henry Shefflins comments that they were over coached and said “Henry did not do his homework and did not have a clue what he was talking about”, this is Henry Shefflin we are talking about.
Davy commented on Wexford supporters that “You get a small bit of stick in Wexford but in general they are top class”, is he hinting that Wexford fans don’t demand victory as much as other counties?
Tactics: delighted his team gets 40 shots off in a game, fails to mention most of them are from outside the scoring zone.
Admitted to playing a sweeper with Sixmilebridge, failed to mention they basically play 13 behind the ball with wing backs on the overlap.
Compared Wexford to Laois as a county that is doing well to be competing.
I could expand on all of them points but maybe the truth is the best example of some of Davy’s current managerial flaws can be seen from his own club side, Sixmilebridge. In recent times he has led the club to more success with the one of the most even teams in club hurling, a squad with an abundance of hurlers that would make any club side in the country but no outstanding player to drive them to the Munster club they aim for.
Sixmilebridge celebrating after another Clare championship success.
Winning is all that matters and he has instilled a 13 man behind the ball strategy with the brilliant club forward Alex Morey up top and a breakaway game akin to the Donegal footballers in the early 10s. Unfortunately for the Bridge, they won’t win Munster clubs with this strategy but what really defines success? There are two sides of the coin, one would say they are doing very well to keep mopping up Clare titles, others would say if he actually let the players play they may be closer to the really big boys in the Munster club championship.
Davy in action during this years Clare county final win v O’Callaghan Mills.
Comfort in the South East
The same comparison could be currently thrown at this Wexford side. Was the 2019 championship their Everest? Do they have any really exceptional players to lead them to all Ireland glory? Is there game plan limited with no goal threat due to lack of numbers up front? Are the Wexford county board and supporters happy to simply remain relevant in the Hurling world or do they too want to beat the big boys?
For now, it appears the main stakeholders in Wexford are firmly behind him.
The main players have begged him to return again, that being said Davy has shown huge loyalty to his trusted soldiers, would a new manager keep these same players on the pitch. I can’t imagine if I was one of the 16 players who saw no championship action I would be echoing the statements of starting players that got cleaned in double digit hammering’s.
The Wexford county board seem to be giving him backing for another year. They appear to be really well run in all departments. From a commercial point of view they are one of the first counties to appoint a full time commercial manager in former player Eanna Martin. They secured a high profile sponsorship, with Zurich in 2020 being a prime example. For all the costs in running an inter county team (and Davy’s set up is hardly cheap) I can only imagine that Davy’s ability to bring in revenue through gates, merchandise and sponsors is unparalleled to any other manager Wexford could appoint. They are getting a massive bang for a sizeable buck.
Their games development programmes surrounding the Hurling 365 initiative can only be helped with a figure head like Fitzgerald at the top of the county hurling tree.
There are of course the other backers of the county’s senior team who despite some public reservations on their style of play still believe he is the most capable trainer in getting this Wexford team past the winning post.
Wexford supporters bring huge colour to the championship. The question is are the real hurling supporters on the ground satisfied…
On the whole it appears Fitzgerald’s excuses of failure have been accepted for at least another year in the South east. The general mood among many of the real hurling people does not appear to be as emphatic , Martin Storey for example recently noted the lack of new blood which seems to be a common trend among many in the county who know their hurling. Fitzgerald seems to be content to keep picking the same players week in and week out which is grand when the results are good. The obvious limitations in their game plan being the other.
Wexford in 2021.
Again it must be noted the man has won every honour there is to win in the game. No matter where he goes, he generally gets results. It’s not a long term solution but if I was looking for a manager for instant success with a team you would be probably be not looking too far past Davy. He gets teams motivated, organised and defensively sound. That is what he has built in Wexford. After that it depends on the quality of his forwards as to whether that particular club, county or college can go all the way. Wexford don’t have a set of forwards like he did with Clare in 2013 or a Joe Canning/ Eoin Kelly type player who led LIT during their Fitzgibbon cup days. The likes of Rory O’Connor and Conor McDonald are very good hurlers in there own right but appear to be suffocated and out numbered with McDonald in particular often looking like a frustrated figure.
Conor McDonald is often the lone ranger in that Wexford full forward line.
Davy always refers to how his teams get 40 shots away in games but this is standard in modern day inter county county Hurling. It is the nature of these shots that must be called into question. Many of the shots are from well outside the scoring zone which a basically a 55 yard “D” in the modern game. Although the modern hurler is well capable of scoring from outside this range the amount of wide’s increases with this strategy.
Such is the nature of Wexfords running game it requires overlaps and players taking on difficult shots going at full speed on the overlap. These shots are second nature to Tony Kelly but most players like hitting shots where they can set their feet going across the field. Limericks Peter Casey is a prime example of a player who always seems to get off shots in the scoring zone whilst going across the field.
There were huge problems with this overlap game when Galways basically set up a defensive wall on their own 65 last year. They also tracked the runners. Wexford were left playing the ball laterally and taking on shots on the back foot from miles out.
At the heart of the problem is the lack of any penetration inside with Wexford often having only one player inside the 45. Davy always seems to point out that other teams are playing with sweepers and deep lying half forwards but there is no county that compares to Wexford in this department. Davy’s mantra of coaching is more Jose Mourinho than Pep Gaurdiola. It’s instant success built on the back of a strong defence. Long term, it’s hard for it to remain sustainable physically and mentally for players. Like most Mourinho management spells, he moves on with a whimper and I can’t see any other result for Wexford at the end of this year.
The Future
If and when he does move on from his tenure in Wexford there will be other counties that will come calling. Dublin is the most obvious proposition as Mattie Kenny is on his last chance saloon in the capital, Davy would bring a bit of energy to the hurling community akin to what his former team mate Anthony Daly did in the previous decade.
Dare I suggest that Cork may go outside the county to sort out their defensive frailties, it would spark huge debate in the people’s republic but hurling is a results based industry at this level. They do have the skilled hurlers down in Cork, could Davy be the man to add that defensive organisation to bring Liam McCarthy back to Lee-side.
There were also murmurs that Davy was in the running for the Galway job before Shane O’Neill was appointed. They have a history of Clare men at the helm. Counties like Offaly, Westmeath, Antrim and Laois would jump at the opportunity to appoint Fitzgerald if the budget allowed. As I said previously, the Wexford template in commercial revenue makes it an attractive proposition for all parties if an external backer is found.
Celebrating the 2013 All-Ireland. Does this Wexford team have the forwards to go all the way?
I am sure there will always be a warm seat for him on the Sunday game panel and it could be nicely complimented with guest appearances on the club manager merry-go-round. One thing is for certain, there will always be a place for Davy on the sidelines and by-ways of elite Hurling management.
Hurler on the ditch 