Letter to the Editor: Hurling's Woes and Structure
By late May, great hurling traditionalist counties Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and Tipperary had been eliminated.
Dear Editor,
The time to change is now!
Those of us in the hurling fraternity - recently defeated in our provinces - can only look on with envy at the superb All-Ireland series structure currently afforded to our Gaelic Football counterparts where - despite major provincial reverses - 16 teams are allowed to compete for the Sam Maguire trophy.
In very stark contrast, by late May, great hurling traditionalist counties Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and Tipperary - along with gallant Kildare, who have been making huge strides this spring/summer - had been eliminated.
Waterford Manager Peter Queally, for example, very accurately described recent results as "bitterly disappointing" and "very frustrating", going on to say that "We should really still be hurling."
Who can dispute that in the month of May!
The solution is simple...
a. Maintain the current excellent provincial championships as such - giving the winners the fabulous prize of two All-Ireland Semi-Final places.
b. Place the remaining nine counties (four Munster and five Leinster) into two All-Ireland groups of five and four - mixing provinces.
c. Run off a Round-Robin system within each group. Each team would therefore - depending on the size of the group - have either four or three games to play.
d. The top two teams in each group would play All-Ireland Quarter Finals to decide the two remaining Semi-Final places.
Such a structure would: 1. Give each provincial winner a fantastic prize i.e. a Semi-Final place 2. Propose an excellent possibility to Teams 1 and 2 in each All-Ireland group to reach a Quarter Final 3. Renew great excitement amongst the young girls and boys about their inter-county stars - not to mention the adult supporters! 4. Provide more games - at a crucial level - for public consumption and profile 5. Lift morale for players and supporters deflated by early season disappointments 6. Extend the inter-county hurling season for tens of thousands of supporters across many counties 7. Lift the entire profile of this wonderful game - the fastest team sport on grass in the world...
G.A.A. authorities, bring it on!
I rest my case,
Adrian McIntyre,
Gortlandroe,
Nenagh,
Co Tipperary
