Hurling on the edge

By GAAme Thoughts

Stand at the oche. Hold dart. Apply blindfold. Complete ten turns. Now throw dart – an fitting representation on a week of nine darters.

That is the current way to pick the top two and bottom two in many of the leagues this season. So any predictions here are in pencil. Better still, I’ll not make any predictions.

The Playing Field

The variety in results has been excellent for the viewer. Wexford head to Clare and steal a much needed two points. Then Clare visit Limerick and pick up their first two points of the league in a game that bubbled, boiled, simmered and near the end spilt a little over the top. Tipperary sit top without playing. Limerick are third from bottom but have 3 games and could finish top. Wexford are second from bottom on head to head with only one game to play.

In 1B its very similar. Offaly are almost certainly up but Dublin and Waterford both will be vying for second. At the bottom Antrim took a small step to safety by claiming a last minute draw in Carlow. However they have one game left – this week against relegation rivals Laois. Laois who in turn have three games left to claim enough to stay up. After this week Antrim next play a competitive game on 19/20^th April in round 1 of Leinster.

I could go on and on and on….but it won’t help.

Is the league better this year? Most definitely. Reduced numbers in each division and two up two down is helping. But is it the best structure and is it squeezed too early? I said last week I feel we would be better served by shifting our finals back to the last weekend of July and the first weekend in August, taking advantage of the bank holiday Monday south of the border and alternate the code year by year.

Those two or three weeks could allow the hurling league to start a week later. It could run leagues with even teams, removing the bye week and still keep two up and down which I think is excellent. It would push further back to spring weather and give pitches and those who look after them a chance to recover that small bit more from winter. It would also allow football more time in the calendar. It may help to make sure Donegal are not likely to be forced to choose between prioritising a league final or a championship opener.

What we have heading our way in the next few weeks and months based on league standings and performances in hurling is very appetising. Even the enhancements Jim Gavin and the FRC are making in football have made the viewing more engaging. While perfection should always be something to strive for in all walks of life, it will likely never be achieved. I do believe the shift of the finals could allow the calendar to be smoothed out, the pitches to flatten and the leagues to flow easier.

Now how do we do it. Well football have said that from 2026 the championship will ease the amount of fixtures by 2 rounds by my guessing. This should free up a bit of space. The split season is excellent. Counties get to focus without clubs wanting to interrupt. And on the other side clubs know that come the start of July they will have a full compliment and for many this gives four to six weeks or pre championship prep.

I am a huge advocate of clubs and club players being treated better. I urged the GPA a few weeks ago not to forget the club. I think we should though take a learning from Rugby in how we structure our seasons:

·         GAA release county master dates in autumn 25 – county boards can then arrange fixture dates well in advance of the turn of the year

·         County squads are required to name 30/35 panel members – anyone outside these numbers should be available to play with their clubs unless an other agreement is made. This can be updated between league and championship.

·         Clubs play set number of games without those panel members – this to be agreed in each county. There are plenty of players out there prepared to play for clubs who train and wait for club games to begin based on county calendars, and then are subs to those county players they waited on. Let them play in March, April and May.

·         Come late June there are likely only 4-8 counties with panel members still on hold from clubs.

I urge clubs to play without their county players – there is many club players training 2-3 times a week. They should not be forced to wait on county players to get games.

Now after that idea (and no doubt with plenty of alternate views on it) I look forward to an exciting week of hurling. Will Limerick topple Galway on Saturday night? Will Davy’s Antrim field against Laois? Will Down win away in the kingdom and provide a competitive fixture to fill the gap they have between 16^th March and 19^th April? And please let the weather continue to improve, there’s nothing better in life than a spring evening watching club games on the grass bank in many pitches in Ireland.