Hurling

01/01/2021 - Babs Keating and Joe Brolly. Neither a Shrinking Violet

There was an interesting show on the Cork Double the other night. RTE exercised the 30 year rule and finally released the infamous Babs Keating interview from 1990 relating to Donkeys and Derbies. It is easy to see why the interview was kept under lock and key. Babs smirking as he spoke, seemed to think that it didn’t matter who was in charge of Cork, that you won’t win a derby with a donkey. And he had the neck to protest that he was taken out of context!

Cork were in a bad way in 1988 and 1989. Babs thought he was playing Antrim again and made a feck of Cork. That is simply it. Babs Keating made a feck of Cork. He was smirking as he ridiculed them. The camera never lies and there is a reason that this interview was kept under lock and key for 30 years. Ask anyone in Tipperary what they think, and you will get the answer. Babs stopped being relevant in Tipperary after his second coming as manager, when Liam Sheedy won an All Ireland with the men he dropped.

Joe Brolly has been shooting from the hip of late. In his attempts to decipher recent Mayo defeats, he sought to address why the most recent three All Ireland winning teams were successful. It boils down to one thing. Balls from the management. And nothing else only balls from the management.

There have been a vast number of squads where the top 5 players sinned, and the bottom 5 players were made dirt of to send a warning shot out to the top 5 players. The top 5 players went on the beer, but someone from the bottom 5 players used the wrong toothbrush. Not Pat Gilroy, Jim McGuinness or Eamonn Fitzmaurice though. As Brolly points out, Diarmuid Connolly, Kevin Cassidy, and Kieran Donaghy, all players vital to the cause, were dealt the strongest of hands.

The easy thing for Pat Gilroy to do would have been to drop a relative unknown on the Dublin Panel of 2010, an Alan Hubbard, a Sean Murray, a Pat Burke etc. Send out the warning, “It will be you next Dermo, if you don’t change your ways.” Gilroy, far more honourable than other managers in the GAA, took the bull by the horns. If the problem was Dermo, Dermo got the chop, not some unknown scapegoat.

Brolly’s latest article has morphed from a prologue a week earlier. Mayo have not been successful in this past decade because management have not made the tough decisions he has declared. Joe Brolly is essentially saying that any of the above managers would drop Aidan O’Shea. Without being close to the Mayo political scene, judgement is difficult to cast, but Jimmy Sloyan would certainly agree.

https://twitter.com/JimmySloyan/status/1040700344764977152

Finally, we hope that 2021 will bring to an end the military style disciplinary lifestyles that most people have led. The efforts of 90% of the population continually being undone by the other 10%. But we cannot stay under the bed. There is a balance to be found between being sensible and being ridiculously over cautious. It is a very frustrating time in life. Kids and adults alike have a lack of freedom comparable only to the World War II generation. There is a limit in these things before people begin to rebel, and rebel they will. We hope the vaccine will bring some degree of normality by summer time.

We need our big championship days out, for mindfulness and wellbeing above all else.

28/12/2020 - Message requests to frame people not appropriate

The inbox has been full in the last few days.

People have no pub to go to, don’t fancy hiding under the bed for the entire festive season, so they have taken to social media.

One message received “If you are not really [Name of Person deleted], can you at least tweet that you are because we have been trying to frame him for years and this is our chance to finally bury him for once and for all.”

There was a financial offer and all. The cut throat GAA world eh!

GAA Viewpoint will decommission itself rather than frame somebody in the wrong. Let that message spread out there. The point of decommissioning GAA Viewpoint is not far away. While revenues from online traffic are exceptionally healthy, and the few quid lodged in the bank, the continual need for extra income is not really there. It is a matter of boredom. A new challenge needed.

Anyway, we are in the midst of the AGM season and this is where the cut throat stuff really kicks in. Local areas are full of men who want to run the operation and put their own men into the positions of power. In some clubs the chairman is the boss. End of. However, the real chairman in many clubs is not the chairman, it is the person behind the scenes who is calling the shots. He runs the operation. He decides where tickets go. He picks the management. He picks the team. The real boss.

There is an old story of a school looking to use a club field for a colleges game. They went to the field contact, who diverted them to the Chairman, who diverted them to the real boss. The real boss was not only the boss, he had history with the school. He agreed let them in, but on the day of the match when both schools arrived, he wouldn’t let them in. The Chairman carried the can for that one. No point sitting in the seat if you do not wear the pants.

Another story relates to Covid-19. A large glass panel fronts off the GAA gym. It was late March 2020. The nation was in lockdown. There was activity in the gym. The son of the real boss. The Chairman fielded complaints, social media was alive, labelled a disgrace. The son kept using the gym though. No point sitting in the seat if you do not wear the pants.

The final story relates to the club lotto. The jackpot was getting a bit high. The weekly money put aside to cover a jackpot win never lodged to the account. Instead the outside trainer was handed the cash (and more). 17,000 euro of a jackpot and ticket sales never as high. But no 17,000 to pay out if it was won. The real boss wrote the numbers. The prize won by a chosen disciple. Jackpot back down to 2 grand. Club financial problems sorted.

So remember as you enter the AGM, there is often a real boss. If you are asked to become Chairman, you are not being handed the keys, you are being asked to be a puppet.

GAA Viewpoint is getting a little bit bored of writing these articles. The time is coming to a natural end. I may write another article. I may not write another article.

If I choose to turn off the lightswitch, see you in Croke Park or somewhere in 2021.

25/12/2020 – The Christmas GAA Book Range is Disappointing

Christmas 2020 is like no other. Nowhere to go.

All us GAA folk like nothing more than a good GAA book in the off-season. Burying oneself in a book the only way. Quite frankly, the harvest has been disappointing. The blunt truth is that a book by Paddy Stapleton aimed at school children surpasses most of the GAA material aimed at adults. I think most books were rushed rather than planned. The Covid downtime giving people time they never had.

It makes sense to begin with Tipperary. The problem this year is that there are too many Tipperary authors. Len Gaynor with Shane Brophy, Stephen Gleeson, Paddy Stapleton, Damian Lawlor etc. In fairness Stephen Gleeson has produced something of a masterpiece, though outsiders will consider it somewhat of a Tipperary orgy.

Damien Lawlor is a GAA man trying to write what is primarily a non-GAA book. His following are GAA people. Lawlor has written many masterpieces, but this doesn’t really light the fire of a hurling man with no interest in other codes. Book writing is a sales driven business. Lawlor will sell well in the Dublin market, but in rural Tipperary and beyond?

Len Gaynor, his legendary Kilruane clubman had a great chance to produce a bestseller, but at this stage of his life, Len Gaynor chose not to. Len had scores to settle if needed be. A book on the bitching of Babs Keating would have been worthy of a volume in itself. But Len played the game, put his name on the front cover, and did not delve particularly deeply into matters that would have made scintillating reading. We are a politically correct society after all.

Moving onto Limerick, the Richie Bennis book was disappointing. A poor man’s version of the Len Gaynor book. Maybe Richie being in the public eye a number of years ago already had his story told to the ravenous journalists. He was a very public Limerick manager. We recall an issue with Limerick Leader journalist, Jerome O’Connell that made the national media at the time.

Richie Bennis shot from the hip in an interview about the players, but backtracked when the pressure came on. The simple thing to do was to buy time and let it pass. Richie backtracked and accused Jerome of misquoting him. It seems that Richie was public enough in Limerick with his utterances, so the Limerick public knew his true feelings without ever reading an interview.

But Richie backtracked anyway. He forgot about Jerome’s Dictaphone. The recording was produced. Case closed. Richie was an ex Limerick manager. Funnily enough this story never appeared in his book. Not even an apology to Jerome. There would be a lot more thought of Richie if he had even uttered the words “I was wrong.” That old favourite son of Limerick Tom Ryan would not have backtracked, but he is a far more successful Limerick manager than Richie Bennis. For all his publicity trail, Richie never actually won anything with Limerick. His book will not win anything either.

Bernard Brogan is the jewel in the crown. This is a bitchfest. The final days of his career were messy. Jim Gavin like Brian Cody, never one to mollycoddle players, with those who achieved the most, getting the most ruthless endings. It is still raw in his blood. Always a good time to write a book. You tend to vent when something is raw in a fashion that you would not vent in later life. Buy this book and read it. This is a book.

Finally the Larry Tompkins book. Larry has been here, there and everywhere. Half page spreads in the Examiner, features prominently in the Cork ‘Double’ book. Only so many times you can read about certain things. A flight not paid for by Kildare County Board, a trip to Old Trafford, a cruciate injury in an All Ireland final, the Collins brothers, manic individual training sessions. Sometimes you have to produce something new. Larry didn’t.

Happy Christmas everyone!

14/12/2020 - Message to Outside Coaches - Pick by Surname, not on Merit

We are at the time of year where clubs are getting their shit sorted regarding trainers, coaches or whatever you want to call them. There are some very good coaches on the circuit, but they generally come with a price tag. There are a number of bluffers, but will massage the egos of the right people within clubs and will mooch along from club to club. There are some who are incompetent, but lower the asking price and invariably end up with a club, purely because nobody else is available and the club simply have to keep up with the Jones family and have an outside man.

Firstly, we have to look at what a club wants in a trainer. Anyone that thinks the club wants a coach to come in and pick 15 players on merit and improve them as a team and win is only talking horseshit, is only thinking horseshit, and will be dumped like horseshit before the end of the year. Life does not work like that. Even the most successful and most independent coaches on the circuit are doing what they are told.

They wouldn’t be on the circuit for long otherwise. They wouldn’t be successful either because invariably a cohort of players will down tools if they aren’t allowed to meddle with team selection behind the scenes. It is how the system works. Jason comes in as a coach. The coaches on the scene don’t take long to identify who has to be ‘looked after’ in terms of importance. In layman terms, we are talking about who the Royal Families are within a club. And their buddies.

Sometimes like in Eire Og Nenagh, a bigger club, more than one Royal Family exists, and that creates complications. In general there will only be one Royal Family in any club. There may be big name families, but not every big name family is a Royal Family. Sometimes a coach will start in early in the year. A player is making an impression. Let’s call him Paddy. The coach thinks he is onto something here. Roars of encouragement have the same effect on the player as high octane fuel. He is really making an impact in training and in the February challenge games.

However there is a complication. Paddy is really only suited to the full forward line. There are players available, but the coach thinks they aren’t able to lace Paddy’s boots. Paddy doesn’t know it, but his race is run. The coach waxes lyrical about Paddy in front of the players. After a few nights a couple of committee members drop the hint. Paddy is ‘not to be considered.’ The consequences of picking him are severe. A Royal family member (or buddy) will lose out. It is not to happen. The coach has a choice to make, nod the head or face the exit door. His One-Fifty a night makes that decision for him.

Paddy will be gone by the end of April, frustrated at a lack of gametime, back to the Juniors where he can score 1-9 every night and can play with freedom. Nobody will have seen much of him in 2021 anyway as nobody saw the challenge games in February. You get the picture. If Paddy is picked, someone will be dropped. If the someone is dropped, the brothers and cousins will down tools. The few quid coming to the coach might be delayed. It is a vicious circle. When you are on that circuit, you do what you are told.

Paddy knows why he is gone. The coach has been got at. The whispers will be put out that training drills were always breaking down because of him. He was slowing down the pace of training. He wasn’t fit. He was dodging in the sprints. Any lie will do as long as it catches fire. The real truth doesn’t matter. There will be plenty Royal Family disciples to spread the lies. This is an age old game. They are veterans at it. The Royal Family themselves will never be caught telling lies. The foot soldiers look after that.

Even the so-called dictators who go into clubs are doing what they are told, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Someone is always being made shit of, so that buddies and bloodlines are being looked after. The coach might fancy a man at 6, but that man might not fancy 6. You do what you are told. The experiment at 6 is discontinued. He returns to his chosen position.

On the financial front, here is where it gets messy. The quality guy is on €150+ for his first club, and he might negotiate for less if taking a second club the same year. The second club might get a bargain for €90, but will never have the coach when there is a clash, and may never see him for a match. The first choice club hasn’t a hope of getting him for less than €150, and might be paying more. The bluffer is definitely getting €100+ a night. He will litter the field with cones, and complicate and confuse players with drills, but there are always fools who will be impressed and he is different.

The incompetent guy is pulling close to €100 but probably €80ish and maybe less in some cases. That €100 is small money if he is letting you dictate team selection. And perhaps your father is the man writing the club cheques so all the better.

You would be surprised at the big names that have been done out of money. But they cannot exactly publicise it, can they? Not every coach gets paid what they are owed. I would say 90% of coaches are left short as the year goes on. I mean what are you going to do? Walk out? Call the guards? Take a court case? Mr Revenue would love if that became a paper trail.

The best thing is to hedge your bets, stay in situ. God forbid if the team won silverware without you. You aren’t leaving, the club know you aren’t leaving. End of story. By staying, you have some hope of pulling a few more quid. By leaving you are writing it off as a bad debt. Chances are that you might have been better off leaving much earlier, damage limitation and all that. You might pick up another club late on.

So to summarise, if you want to walk into a club, pick a team on merit and independently, improve them as a team and be successful, you might as well turn your car around and head for home. Remember success only matters if the players you are told to pick are picked. You might try to be smart, play the game up to the county final and then make a couple of early subs and win the game. The cup might be won, but you have poisoned the waters. Your P45 already written.

To survive in this game, you pick by surname, not on merit.

Time to do what you are told!

13/12/2020 – Limerick can chase new records now

So the championship we thought we would never have is over. Limerick are worthy champions. Freed from hype and bullshit, life was easier for both teams in the buildup. No ticket hassles. It was a normal game. See my preview article on Hype here.

https://sites.google.com/view/gaaviewpoint/hurling#h.7raqwflpdix

Consequently both teams gave their all and played to their maximum level. Limerick’s level a couple of notches above Waterford’s. Losing Tadhg De Burca was a major blow for Waterford. They wouldn’t have won with him, but it would have been somewhat closer. Iarlaith Daly didn’t fail, but De Burca is a spiritual leader and had started exceptionally well.

The narrative suggests that Limerick gave Waterford a hiding and in a way they did, but Waterford were not without their chances. Twitter was alive with exclaims that Waterford were going for goals, when goals weren’t on and when the point would have done. It is easier pick off three or four points from successive attacks.

On 63 minutes it was 0-26 to 0-19. Waterford had gone for goal by then on a few occasions. Why not peg it back to 0-26 to 0-22? Waterford went for goals from chances that weren’t really chances, and the ball was hit directly at Nicky Quaid on a few occasions. You don’t beat experienced All Ireland winning goalkeepers from long range, or by hitting shots straight at him. You have to actually finish.

Limerick always looked like they had another gear. Some of their points flowed seamlessly, the transition from defence to attack almost like clockwork. The Paul Kinnerk formula. What a loss to Clare! Had Waterford taken points and made it 0-26 to 0-22, chances are that Limerick would have pressed the accelerator and moved on, as they did anyway. In short, Waterford were essentially chasing respectability rather than victory.

This Limerick side are gathering silverware nicely and are young enough to gather more. All Ireland Champions, League Champions and Munster Champions all twice. No Limerick player has more than three All Ireland Medals. They are good enough to surpass that. But as they found out in 2019, things can get derailed. Off the field matters can create unnecessary distractions. They got a free pass in 2020 due to Covid, but some lingering matters have yet to be resolved.

Waterford on the other hand have now lost two All Ireland Finals and it is hard to see where they can close the distance. Their best chance was today. Kevin Moran will be a year older. Shane Fives a year older. Tadhg De Burca possibly a cruciate victim yet again. They need a few more fresh players. Will Liam Cahill remain on? On a positive note, Stephen Bennett and Austin Gleeson are performing with the ease at which they did as minors. They could do with Shane Bennett back.

We still do not know the 2021 Championship format. At this juncture it appears as though the league will recommence in February, then the championship, probably in 2020 format, with an All Ireland Final in early July. Limerick look well placed to retain their clean sweep of titles, and go unbeaten for the second year in succession. There isn’t a lot standing in their way.

11/12/2020 – Hype – The Kryptonite Enemy of All Ireland Finalists

It is ironic that the two counties who reach the All Ireland Hurling Final in this Covid year are those who have been most besieged with hype in the past. Limerick and Waterford. They can finally approach an All-Ireland Final with a calm low profile build-up that they might have dreamed of on previous occasions. You wonder would Limerick have reached the Holy Grail without Caroline Currid in 2018, someone to decipher the sense from the bolloxology and to strip away the bullshit from the occasion.

There cannot be hype in 2020, which is by their own admission, a huge relief to management, backroom teams and the individual players themselves. The ban on gatherings due to lockdown has prevented all forms of promotional opportunities and occasions. Sometimes it is not even the direct hype itself, it is the constant ducking and diving from those who demand and expect your time in the lead up to an All-Ireland Final. There can be demands from Media, Businesspeople,

The year 2020 is a fantastic year for squads in that regard. The Garda cars patrolling the roads in recent weeks mean that people are reluctant to travel, reluctant to gather. Anyone that does gather in numbers anyway should be ashamed of themselves and should take one long sorry look at themselves in the mirror. Even those who endorse gatherings without actually being present themselves should be ashamed of themselves.

The big problem with hype is that it is not the wish from within a squad barring a few self-centred individuals. Hype in general is commercially driven. Someone who wants to make a name for himself as a celebrity will drive the push on a local radio as Waterford found out in 2008. There are a wave of non-GAA or half-hearted GAA people in most counties. Winning and losing All Ireland Finals do not matter. There is only one thing that matters. They just want to be part of a party. Any party. In 2008, Waterford found that out to their cost.

The radio stations cash in on advertising revenue. There are no financial gains to be made from a low profile. The dollar signs start to flash. No point waiting until the final is over, because after a losing final the commercial aspect evaporates. A businessman wants his slice of the pie before the final, not afterwards. People want to board the train and want to board the commercial train now. Hands get greased. Phone numbers get given out. The commercial greed kicks in.

There tends to be a huge level of irresponsibility in the lead in to an All-Ireland Final. People who should have the balls to erect a ring of steel around the squad go missing. Nobody wants to be Mister Unpopular. Doing the right thing takes balls. Not everyone on this planet has balls. Particularly those who need to have the balls at a time when having balls is most necessary.

The balls to make a stand and object and block something from happening that shouldn’t happen is admirable. Deep down, how many people have the balls? Ultimately, everything is about ‘me’ Everyone wants to be seen, everyone wants to be heard. Even the man on a ladder putting up the bunting wants his photo in the paper. There is no point putting up the bunting if you can’t make a name for yourself doing it.

For some reason, Kilkenny and Tipperary seem to get it right, whereas counties like Limerick and Waterford tend to get it wrong. At least both Limerick and Waterford have a healthy lead-in this year. If they are beaten, they are beaten because of on-the-field matters, and not because of the irresponsibility of others in the lead up to the final. Intercounty players are relatively young, and can be naïve, and can succumb rather easily to situations. Situations that they might see through in later life. Situations that they look back on with regret in later life.

The media works in a very simple fashion. You get your story and you run, you try and extract a slip of a tongue, anything to dramatise things. It is how the business works. If a throwaway remark riles the opposition, so be it, not your problem, you have earned your wages on the article. Onto the next hit.

I recall a conversation with a beaten player of relatively recent vintage. He described a local radio mercenary as an asshole. Comments were made on air that were only becoming of an asshole. There were consequences. Money speaks all languages. When push comes to shove, nobody gives a shit about the players or the result.

In recent times, the done thing is to be ruthless leading into an All Ireland final. Only one thing matters. The game and the result. Ticket problems are now taken from the players, who have to be cocooned. Family members have to be told to fuck off. Long lost relatives who suddenly become your best friend need to be fucked back off to where they came from. And plenty more with them.

At least this final brings no ticket worries

To Limerick and Waterford, I wish them well. Waterford have a romantic level of support behind them. Limerick have their sympathisers too, but having won in 2018, the tears being shed are reserved for Waterford.

No All Ireland Finalists in history have had a less interrupted chance to prepare.

Best of Luck to both.

06/12/2020 - Tipperary Hurling Management and Buff Egan

There was a man who had been chasing a bird for some time. He was getting nowhere. She was steadfast in her refusal. One particular night, there wasn’t much doing for either of them. She ventured close to him and the conversation developed. The punchline was as follows, “I don’t need a relationship, I just need a fuck.” He accepted the terms, they went home. He rode the hole off her. She wanted more, she got more. If Carlsberg did rides, she was it.

The next day she left, more or less telling him that she had got the fuck that she needed, had her good time, and wouldn’t be returning for more. Her final words were that it wasn’t just good sex, it was great sex, but the chapter was closed as far as she was concerned. She became engaged to someone else six weeks later. Married within a year. A mother within another year. Jimmy is still scratching his head, clinging to that one night. Where did it all go wrong? The moral of the story is that life moves on very quickly.

It is a bit like that for Liam Cahill and Waterford. Waterford are the one night stand. There will be no long term relationship. There is a feeling within Tipperary that Liam Sheedy may be considering his position. Should the premier vacancy arise, Liam Cahill is the people’s favourite. Currently in the throes of a great sexual experience with Waterford, marriage to Tipperary is inevitable, and not necessarily in the distant future.

Liam Cahill was clear in his terms when spoken to previously in the late summer of 2018. He had successful kids from the minors and Under 20s, he believed that the time had come to blood them. The Tipperary players might not have had the same enthusiasm. Liam Sheedy became interested. Tipperary won another All Ireland. Who was right and who was wrong? Cahill’s kids would be further along the road towards glory. But would he have won in 2019?

Sheedy won an All Ireland with the old brigade but delayed the cull. Over two years on, the cull is fast approaching. The Minors of 2006 are 32, the Minors of 2007 are 31. You will manage away with some of them, but not all. The blooding mission needs to commence. Tipperary in many ways were finished in 2018, but Sheedy got 2019 out of them. They reverted to type in 2020. They are a year older in 2021. There would be more of an acceptance of the mantra of Cahill ahead of 2021 than there was in 2018. Some players might be more ready for voluntary redundancy, lessening the need for a cull. Watch this space.

Anthony Nash has pulled the pin in Cork, departing after a 15 year involvement. Patrick Collins pulled off a few serious saves in the League in 2020 pre-lockdown. There is a readymade replacement. Nash might not have been first choice next year in any event. Will more follow? Time waits for no man. Cork will take a while to be contenders for an All Ireland again. Not many will fancy waiting around.

The big story of the weekend however, was the Limerick GAA raffle for a car. We have seen the Fitz dynasty in Clare who are regularly subjected to much criticism, but the Fitz’s have never presided over such a live video gaffe. Perhaps it is because Clare GAA don’t do Internet, but in fairness they might be considered wise now in hindsight. Limerick remind me of one of those old movies where a number of dollar bills are blowing away in the wind as people frantically try to fetch them. Not their proudest moment.

Finally. Will someone in Croke Park headquarters grant permission for Buff Egan to attend the Joe McDonagh Cup final and All Ireland final next weekend. It is the very least that they can do for a man who has travelled the length and breadth of the country covering the Joe McDonagh cup. We know that he is not politically correct, but he has a significant following and he preaches the GAA mission to that following.

29/11/2020 - Limerick stumble to victory

In 2018, the pinnacle of an excellent summer for hurling was the All Ireland Final between Limerick and Galway. Both teams going for it full blooded. Limerick appeared to have had made their way, but a Galway surge almost snatched the game. In truth, both teams were better back then. Perhaps it is winter hurling, perhaps it is Covid, but Limerick vs Galway 2020 was not Limerick vs Galway 2018. Furthermore, Limerick are not the Limerick of 2018 and Galway are not the Galway of 2018. The worrying thing for Limerick is that Waterford are not the Waterford of 2018 either.

As ever, when a team loses a main man, their artillery is weaker. Galway lost Cathal Mannion early in the game, and Joseph Canning (thankfully in recovery) late in the game. Limerick have had their injury worries, balancing things somewhat, even if they are long term. Mike Casey and Richie English do not have the same capability to change a game as Mannion and Canning.

It is no coincidence that Galway exited a championship last year without Canning for the main part. They lost to Tipperary in 2016 also without Canning after that injury from a Padraig Maher hit. They also lost tonight. Galway’s capacity to get over the line is diminished without Canning. Cathal Mannion also a massive loss. A player who unsettles defences.

And even with those misfortunes bestowing themselves upon Galway, Limerick still almost contrived to lose. The clinical, calculated, composed version of Limerick we had become accustomed to, seems to have hit a speedbump. Donal Og Cusack summed it up aptly when remarking that they went for goals when the points were the sensible option, and tapped over the points when the goal was on. There will be plenty of work done on the training ground to rectify the decision making, even at this late stage.

As for Galway, you would have to give them a free pass for tonight, given the injuries. However they do not deserve a free pass for the year. They let the Leinster title slip from their grasp, which altered the complexion of the championship knockout stages. They are heavily reliant on the 2017 players. Only John Hanbury and Colm Callinan from that 2017 run did not play Championship 2020, plus Johnny Glynn who made limited appearances that year. The question remains, where are the players who won the three All Ireland Minor titles with Galway in 2015, 2017 and 2018?

It is very difficult for a team to win one All Ireland after a long number of years. It is even more difficult to win a second. Circumstances intervene. Injuries and suspensions can occur. The same driven selfless hunger may not exist. Players are further on in age, and further on in life. You don’t miss three years slipping past, and here we are in the blink of an eye three years on from the Galway 2017 victory.

Limerick have at least got to the final again. They have that chance to win a second title. Ger Loughnane says good teams win one All Ireland, great teams win two All Irelands. Limerick are known to have an army of men behind the scenes on laptops analysing operations. They will have plenty to dissect this week. Sometimes on the back of a game like this, it is important to avoid over-analysis.

All Ireland Semi Finals are for winning. Getting over the line. No more. No less. Knowing you are back in training Tuesday night, still not finished for the year. Today was that kind of game. Two teams that were there to get over the line. It was not about hurler of the year performances, it was about digging your way out of the trenches. Limerick crawled out first. Flat or not, they are there. Galway are not.

Only one more game of the hurling season to go

28/11/2020 - There is an old saying, “When a woman’s arse gets into a man’s head, it turns his brain to shit”

Ladies have discovered squatting. Ladies leggings were never more skin tight, never more stretched to fit. Squatting essentially adds 95% to quality of the female arse. We now have 50 somethings with incredible arses, and wonder why they hadn’t those sort of arses in their early 20s. They might have been more attractive to a wider range of males if they had better arses back then.

An arse is a greater selling point than a pair of tits. A greater selling point than facial beauty. Therefore it is in the interests of a female to present her most prized asset in top condition. There are tangible benefits. Ladies know that it increases their market value. They are in the market. “That is not an insult, that is just a fact of life.” Buff Egan.

Barring sexual orientation, the vast majority of females enter the market for male attention in their teenage years, primed for sexual activity. A recent survey of teenagers between 17 and 19 stated that 73% of Irish 17 year old teenage girls will have had sex with at least one partner. 49% will have had more than one sexual partner.

An interesting statistic is that 80% of those surveyed believed that knowledge of their sexual encounters were a tightly guarded secret between them and their partners. However the key statistic was that 87% of males felt that the arse was the most attractive physical feature of the female specimen. Essentially, ladies can attract a greater number of suitors predominantly through working on their squats, and wearing enhancing clothing.

Ironically the recent Carlow Secondary School episode, fact or fiction, reinforces that theory. For what it is worth, it appears as though there was a lack of compliance with a school uniform regulation in Carlow. A ‘Joe Duffy’ type mammy got the hump and it all started from there. You know the story here. Nothing in school has to be true in the first place. It just has to be believable for period of time that complies with the narrative.

The narrative is essentially a modern day term for what we must comply with in terms of believing what we are expected to believe and going with the flow. There have been many examples of the narrative this week. Waterford will lose because they played three weeks in a row. Did nobody check the Cavan fixture list recently. Six games in six weekends including extra time. The second narrative is that the Kerry footballers are trying to get Peter Keane shafted because he dropped Paul Geaney. Not sure what the real truth is there, but there is expectation that the public should take it as being 100% true.

Anyhow onto the Waterford victory. Waterford were discussed in the article below, prior to the start of the 2020 Championship. I recommend reading it.

26/10/2020 - An outside tonic for Waterford

https://sites.google.com/view/gaaviewpoint/hurling#h.721dt0iivpbl

Waterford arrived at Croke Park on the crest of a wave. A crucial first round victory over an out of sorts Cork side provided a platform. A defeat in the Munster Final that was of the moral victory category for an emerging team. A comprehensive high scoring victory over Clare. And tonight another victory was notched up, again with a healthy scoring tally. A total of 2.27 should probably win the All Ireland Final for Waterford barring extra time.

Waterford left a number of scoring chances behind them in the last two games and indeed in the Munster Final. The last two games were reminiscent of the 2002 Munster Final, games where Waterford surged with momentum, put up a huge score, but missed opportunities that they shouldn’t really have been missing.

In the summer of 2019, the Sunday Game highlighted a clip where the Waterford workrate wasn’t acceptable by any standards. The Sunday Game were criticised for such, and there in itself is a problem. Austin Gleeson wasn’t pulling his weight. Instead of holding his hands up and saying “I fucked up and was deservedly highlighted for it on the Sunday Game,” Gleeson went down the sympathy route. The media were worse to quote him. The Waterford video analyst wasn’t doing his job either.

It was refreshing for Jamesie O’Connor on Sky to highlight the workrate of Austin Gleeson tonight when analysing the game. Attitude is everything. Gleeson had it tonight. He didn’t have it in Walsh Park in 2019. The biggest game of his life is in two weeks time. There is no point going to Dublin and letting the game pass him by like the 2017 All Ireland Final. The opportunity is now. Put it like this, if Austin Gleeson delivers his best ever performance in a Waterford jersey, they become All Ireland Champions.

There is no magic formula to what Waterford do, except that they have collectively displaying the right attitude. They mix the possession game with the Route 1 game, they retreat to defence, they break from defence and they are not afraid of shooting on sight. Austin Gleeson, Stephen Bennett and now Jack Fagan are very comfortable winning ball overhead, and that provides an outlet.

Their bench is significant though. Neil Montgomery a UCC star. Conor Gleeson an important player in 2017 who missed that final. Iarlaith Daly a coming player. Darragh Lyons an endless runner. Patrick Curran is only getting a couple of minutes to snap a score, and maybe that couple of minutes could be enough in the final. We still haven’t seen Colin Dunford but that does not mean we will not see him in the final. Not sure on the Fives Brothers, but you get the picture of the quality of the bench.

Neil Montgomery seemed to run out of steam near the end, because of his earlier than usual introduction for Jake Dillon. Dillon is an underrated cog in the wheel. Puts in a shift, but not a runner in the mould of others. Was hauled off tonight after a couple of balls were misread and didn’t stick but a quality player. Maybe he is suited to some games more than others.

Where now for Kilkenny? Padraig Walsh was not the man he was against Galway. They may have erred in picking Richie Hogan. He offered too much value as an impact sub. They have about 12 players (in their pomp they had 24 or so) but are in need of a couple of more to return the McCarthy Cup. Adrian Mullen would be 13. Richie Leahy perhaps 13.5. Next year will be 2021. They last won the All Ireland in 2015. Nobody will step away now, but next year is a serious year for Kilkenny. Colin Fennelly, TJ Reid, Richie Hogan, and the Lord himself, Brian Cody might be found considering their positions should Kilkenny not win the McCarthy Cup in 2022. And who would replace them? Billy Ryan and Eoin Cody need to step forward now. The aforementioned Mullen will be a help. Leahy also if he develops consistency.

Kilkenny are now losing games they used to win. Tonight. The 2019 Leinster Final. 2018 vs Limerick. 2017 vs Waterford. A lot has changed since Michael Fennelly pulled up with his Achilles in Thurles in 2016. You wonder if a Michael Fennelly driven team would have lost those games. They went into the 2016 All Ireland Final aiming for three in a row. They exited Croke Park on the back of a 10 point hiding.

The greatest advantage that Waterford have is that they do not fear Limerick or Galway. They aren’t facing a traditional jersey in a final such as Kilkenny, Cork or Tipperary. They are facing one of two teams that they have plenty of experience winning against.

It is no good winning tonight unless they go the distance now. They have had their shit days in Croke Park. Back to the old saying, All Ireland Final day is like the amazing arse of a lady. Sensational if you manage to take ownership of it, but it can turn your brain to shit.

The absence of hype will help them. They won't have that luxury every year.

Time to make it count

16/11/2020 - Johnny Murphy in a conundrum?

The GAA do not help themselves sometimes. Johnny Murphy (Limerick) appointed to referee Tipperary and Galway in the All Ireland Qualifier to decide who meets Limerick a week later. In a fortnight in which James Owens was instrumental in dubiously sending off Clare’s David McInerney ahead of a possible clash with Wexford, the appointments committee scratch the head again.

That there was a perceived lack of motivation among the Fitz’s to have the McInerney suspension overturned, can in no way construe that the red card was the correct decision. James Owens should not have been there. It would have been perfectly legitimate for James Owens to referee the prestigious Leinster or Munster Final this weekend. As it transpires, it would have been even more legitimate, given that Wexford were gone by mid afternoon on Saturday.

It was not legitimate for him to run the line a week earlier in the lesser game. The David Gough and Dublin discussion has been going on quite a while also at this stage. A Dublin Cumann Na mBunscol official, who are essentially a sub-committee or some similar family tree branch of Dublin County Board. The GAA want to go down the road of “the integrity of the individual ensures that he will remain totally impartial.” That is very unfair on the individual.

The “I’d prefer not,” is a long time coming from Gough, it must be noted. The thirst of individuals to climb the ladder, can sometimes see them accept any consequence at any cost. Joe Brolly aired his views. Declan McBennett wouldn’t necessarily be worshipped up and down the land. We are nearing the top of the tree. The big games are running out. Only a handful will survive and reach All Ireland Final day. And they will cut one another’s throats to reach the top of that tree.

Johnny Murphy should not have to ring Croke Park and say “Look, I feel I am a big compromised here, is there any chance I can be kept in mind for a different gig.” Croke Park should make that decisions. They should say “Johnny, given the possible permutations for the Semi Finals, you aren’t being considered for now.” James Owens, Colm Lyons, John Keenan, Paud O’Dwyer and Sean Stack are available and their counties are gone.

And what if Johnny has reason to brandish a red card or two. Red cards are quite easy to pick up these days (as David McInerney found out). I am sure the Limerick setup wouldn’t object, for all the foreseeable soundbites “We would prefer to be facing full strength opposition.” Wexford didn’t go to the Zoom meeting campaigning for David McInerneys restoration, did they? Oh silly me, that is a bad example. I forgot myself for a moment.

So let us say, Johnny Murphy decides that Joe Canning has to go. Or Pauric Mannion. Or Conor Whelan. Or unthinkably and unrealistically all three. Or on the other side, Michael Breen, Cathal Barrett or Seamus Callinan. So does Johnny think “Ya, Red, has to go” and move on with the game. Or does Johnny think “Fuck me, I am in the shits here, damned if I do, damned if I don’t”

The GAA have wronged him and seem to be wanting to be making a point of making this type of appointment. There are plenty experienced officials out there.

Brian Gavin needs to address this matter in the Examiner

15/11/2020 - Are Tom Condon and Darragh Fives less relevant than Robert Ryan?

John Kiely has a point. There are players on his squad who could not attend the game. Tom Condon plucked the ball from the sky in the 2018 All Ireland Final. Without that catch? Who knows? Limerick won and ended their famine. The rest is history. He probably watched the Munster Final on the Sofa. What a place to pick up his third Munster medal! The injured Darragh Fives came close to winning his first Munster medal, also from the couch.

As Stephen Kenny would say there are plenty people who ‘aren’t exactly taking the free kicks.’ Could some of these be sacrificed? Robert Ryan seems to be very visible on TV during Thurles games, shepherding imaginary supporters of the field. Could a Munster Final go ahead without Robert Ryan? How many yellow bib stewards can be done without? What about the media? Can numbers be reduced here?

Anyhow the game. Tony Kelly is getting a bit of hype about being 2020 hurler of the year already. Well, Tadgh De Burca is up there with him. Jackie Tyrrell mentioned it before the game. De Burca is better now than he was before. What a hurler. What composure. Waterford as a team lost out on four championship games last May/June, but they gained Tadhg De Burca. And what an injury comeback it has been.

Waterford have workers rather than finishers in their forward line. Patrick Curran a natural finisher got limited gametime and nailed a classy close range point. It was probably their easiest poached score. The remainder involved a bit more grunt. Long range scores, frees and hard earned scores. They will need to find scores easier to progress next weekend. They are three games away from an All Ireland title.

Waterford were intent in making it known this wouldn’t be a non-contest. They had beaten Cork and had fought hard to beat Cork. There would be no lack of fight. Their workrate was incredible and they are exceptionally fit. They appear to have set out to disrupt the Limerick short stick passing game, and they obstructed them getting it through the lines.

Their biggest achievement was upsetting the supply to the Limerick full forward line. They got ball in, but not as cleanly as before. Pressurised deliveries meant that the ball was not on a plate. When the ball is not on a plate, it can venture near the sideline, or over the sideline.

It can ask questions of a full forward line player who may be the master of a 20m lateral run. His runs may need to be longer and he may need to start deeper. Readjustment does not come naturally to all. Aaron Gillane did not score from play in the second half. Peter Casey did not score after 21 minutes. Graeme Mulcahy came outfield to forage for scores.

Limerick march on and retain their title. The hallmark of champions is often to win games when questions are asked. Limerick delivered that. They found a way. They also learned what teams might do to choke them, and will think their way around that. However one has to question the tactics board. It appears to be for show more than anything. Like kids in a classroom, the players’ eyes were on everything but the blackboard.

Please Limerick, you have won neutral hearts and minds. You are above this type of public display of showmanship. Leave it in the boot of the car the next time.

Not long till the draw in the morning

14/11/2020 - Brian McDonnell, Derrick Lynch, Davy Fitz and the Clare Times

On a day that Davy Fitz called on Clare County Board (Daddy) to warn a member of the Clare Backroom team for abuse. No point beating around the bush here. To Niall Romer, I apologies if I am wrong. The perception is out there that the next Vice Chairman of Clare County Board might have offloaded a few verbals. There wouldnt be a major appetite for Romer in Sixmilebridge. It would suit if he was labelled in the media for his abuse. Anything to derail his election campaign.

Romer has support though, he hijacked a Clare County Board meeting last year. Louis Mulqueen was jilted at the altar and Brian Lohan inspired Clare to a humiliating victory over Davy Fitz today. This was a grudge match. How Clare perform in a non-grudge game, will define how they go from here. But this was personal. Peter O'Connell has been waiting six years for this defeat.

I would look forward to Derrick Lynch during the week, but prompted by Brian McDonnell, Derrick has decided that he wouldn't like us to be friends. Schoolboy yard stuff. You are not allowed to play with us. Brian decided that he doesn't wish to be tagged in any tweets, followed swiftly by Derrick Lynch. One for all guys and all for one. Check out the Tweets below.

We all have an entitlement to write. I acknowledge that it is a market. There is only so much pie, the more writers there are, the smaller the slices of pie get. These writers do not like a new kid on the block. But ultimately the readership will decide. If people choose not to read this, it will not be successful. If people choose to read this, it will be successful.

I'd better stop now, I am making Brian McDonnell and Derrick Lynch famous. Thank Goodness for the Clare Times

This all boils down to one conclusion.

GAA Viewpoint has arrived!

PS: Check out Dominic's response to Brian McDonnell

14/11/2020 - Impotent Cork play second fiddle to Tipperary wet dream

“Corkness may be the only known force to counter Limerick’s invincibility,” screamed Larry Ryan’s Irish Examiner headline. On the day of a Cork vs Tipperary game, it seemed odd. The reference to Limerick incredible on a weekend when both Limerick and Cork had completely separate assignments.

There is no point in rewriting the Cork article written a couple of weeks ago. Here it is for those who want to read it:

27/10/2020 - Cork Hurling: Mission improbable. Thy father, Thy son

https://sites.google.com/view/gaaviewpoint/hurling#h.mwgoq8qh59hu

Cork revisited the past on a wet day in the Gaelic Grounds, playing a sweeper in the first half rain against Tipperary. Déjà vu. 2016 in Thurles. William Egan back then. Cork learned back then that a sweeper lets any of the Mahers free. The Mahers are not the fastest things on two legs, and playing a sweeper gives them a life support machine at the other end. What it was in 2016, it is now. And the elder Mahers are 4 years older now. Cork also learned a year later in 2017, how to spread out and open up the Mahers. Why revert to the tried and failed?

There is something lacking in Cork. Conor Lehane a busted flush. Seamus Harnedy can hit points all day, but his finishing for goals is poor. Jack O’Connor needs to give more. Alan Flynn has been cleaned in the corner at this level in the past, but he had the measure of Jack overall. They have no 3 and no 6. Tipperary won this game, because for all their bad days, they have a proven track record in winning. Cork do not have the same reliability in terms of winning crunch knockout games.

This Cork team is done. The best of the Under Under 21s of 2018 are already in the system, Mark Coleman and Shane Kingston made their debuts in 2016. Darragh Fitzgibbon in 2017. Robbie Flynn first played in 2018. This game was there for Cork. They even had the lead, but they choked. The great tragedy being that Pat Horgan is further than ever from an All Ireland Medal. Look at the Under 21 Munster Final of 2019. Kian O’Kelly scored a goal before half time without a glove laid on him. And these are the next crop of Cork hurlers?

Michael Breen was dubbed the new Michael Fennelly in 2016. An Achilles injury to Fennelly in the All Ireland Semi Final replay against Waterford, deprived us of the clash of titans. Breen had scorched through for a green flag in the Munster final. The awaited clash of the titans never arrived. Breen was hauled off early in the second half of the All Ireland Final. Tipperary prospered after his departure. Perhaps the hype got to him.

He is an older head now and has spent time on the bench. There was no argument tonight. 17 possessions, 5 points from play. MOTM. The Fennelly debate can reopen. Tipperary could be very dangerous here, but Limerick Gaelic Grounds is a smaller pitch than others. That is why Ger Fitzgerald of Midleton was wheeled out into the media midweek. Cork didn’t want to play there. Cork might have won the game in Thurles. It is not often that Tipperary win a dogfight, but it wasn’t a real dogfight against a pooch.

Jake Morris seems to have a habit of producing killer goals in Tipperary games that are on a knife edge. Last year against Wexford, the Munster Under 20 Final, and ever so nearly against Clare in 2018. Not a 70 minute player, but a man that has changed the course of history. How he has learned from the Clare experience in 2018.

Time to settle down now with a hot whiskey and the Leinster Hurling Final

13/11/2020 - Pat Fitz, David McInerney and Laois County Board

There are times when County Boards take a lot of shit. Deservingly so a lot of the time. Being on a county board is not easy business. There is management required. There are decisions to be made. Financial means and financial prudence dictate a lot of things. Some counties have opted to employ full time secretaries and it is sometimes convenient to rebrand the title as CEO.

Except you don’t have the former CEO of Coca Cola, Pfizer or Intel leading a County Board. They aren’t leading Croke Park either for that matter. The GAA doesn’t recruit the best of the best. The GAA is about votes. And those who procure votes land the positions. If you were to build a house in the morning, would you go for a specialist blocklayer or just any old guy who happens to be popular among his mates.

GAA elections are not about Mr Nice Guy popularity either. He who gets elected on the basis of hard won votes, has worn the rubber off his tyres to get there. In past times, one picked up the Fianna Fail or Fine Gael vote among the club delegates, depending on who was in power in a locality.

Modern times have become detached from direct party politics, but many of the principles remain the same. There is a man in power in a club who calls the shots, and in many cases may not even hold down a position.

The key is to put yourself in a position whereby you are owed a favour. Let us be real here, most County Board officers do not spring out of nowhere. There is a greasy pole to be climbed first. Lads get onto committees that pick referees. They sit on appeal hearings. They stand at gates and let certain individuals slip in for free.

You are building a profile. People wonder why the capable and accomplished people aren’t able to get on these boards. I recall one County Board had a company CEO running for the Chair. He didn’t get it. Beaten by a man who facilitated a number of overturned red cards. And perhaps took more credit for overturning them than he merited. A bit like every politician who claims sole responsibility for sporting grants. They can’t all be responsible for the good news.

The new Chairman could barely sit in a chair, let alone lead a County Board with vision. Meanwhile the CEO was forced to swallow the arrogance of someone incompetent. He slipped back to civilian life. What is more, he had the capability of running an operation. He can take solace in his 100 grand a year job.

In the past 10-15 years, many County Boards decided upon full time secretaries. But shure the positions were filled by the boys who were elected to previous roles anyway. Put it like this, not too many full time secretaries were unknown within the boardroom.

Colm ‘Wooly’ Parkinson has been a breath of fresh air in the GAA world. Going under the @woolberto handle on Twitter, he has really raised the stakes for others in the media. He asks hard questions, demands answers, and will not settle until satisfied that he has got the answer that he wants. Try getting the safe provincial newspaper sports journalist to ask the same questions. A release of semi-solid brown liquid down the inner leg, the most likely outcome.

But we all get caught. Parkinson interviewed Eddie Brennan early in the week. There didn’t seem a lot untruthful, to be honest. Brennan stated that he was speaking ‘off the record’. Someone forgot to press the stop button. The ‘off the record’ Brennan discussion was released on the regular podcast inadvertently.

It became public knowledge as listeners tuned in. Some don’t get to hear the blockbuster Sportsjoe GAA Hour show immediately. Listenership hadn’t reached peak before the offending piece was deleted. But not quickly enough to limit the damage. Whatsapp shares increased in price.

It reminds me of a story of a lady who had a few male partners, possibly ten. There were long term partners and the odd one night stand. Her modelling career was all but over as she reached the big 30. Perhaps through boredom, she decided to tattoo the name of any jockey, who had experienced the pleasure, on her upper thigh.

Only those who had been there of late, knew who had ventured before. However she was always careful what she wore. The skimpiest of clothing could reveal the names. One day as she was walking in a shopping centre in a pair of shorts, someone came from behind. The shorts were dropped, the names were exposed. The secret was out

It is a bit like that with Eddie Brennan and Colm Parkinson. Unlike the lady above though, there was no revealing information. County board officers are no good. We have heard all that before. There is a man worth 50 million in Laois GAA. We have heard all that before. The Sunday Times Rich List or similar might even reveal a few more. The County Board officers are there for the free Jacket. Again nothing new there.

Confusing Derek McGrath for Ken McGrath might be the biggest single piece of insightful information. Perhaps they wanted Ken and thought they were getting Ken. Ken would surely have achieved better than Dictionary Derek with the Laois minors. One of the better performing underage crops to represent Laois at previous underage age grades. And losing heavily to an Offaly team that had not performed at underage. They say underage tournaments and challenges aren’t relevant but……

Laois have bigger problems than Colm Parkinson and Eddie Brennan. Let me tell you that.

But onto other County Matters. The County of Clare. Soon to become the county of Vice Chairman Niall Romer. The whole subject of Daddy problems in the GAA has been discussed before. And Daddy’s do matter in the GAA. David McInerney’s challenge on a Laois player was such that he was red carded and suspended for the Wexford game. If he was a porn star having sex, would be booted out of bed by the woman for not going in hard enough. This was as soft and delicate as red cards go.

Passionate Clare fans might have a vision of Pat Fitz walking across a bed of nails to free the prisoner David McInerney, in a plot to slay his own son. Forget it, this is the real world. Clare get enough of a hard time without their own not going 100% flat to the mat to overturn a decision. I’d imagine club officials have put together better cases to get a player off ahead of a county league game.

Clare get a right blackguarding off officials. The record is there. The cards are there. The injustices are there. Probably a lingering residue from the Davy Fitz disrespect of officials. His ways were not the ways to buy a 50:50 call. Clare need to try something radical. Decide to unite for all and one and field David McInerney, suspension or no suspension. Get Niall Romer to look after the team sheet.

Banish Pat Fitz into the Wexford dressingroom.

Enough said. I am starting to rant

Time for a Cigar and a Brandy

07/11/2020 - Where now for Dublin hurling?

Dublin have been here before. It wasn’t meant to be like this. None other than the great DJ Carey once suggested that Dublin might find it less difficult to win an All Ireland in hurling rather than in football. The Dublin footballers were in the midst of a famine, hard and all as it is to believe such a thing existed. It all started with a blueprint developed by luminaries such as Humphrey Kelleher and Michael O’Grady. Hurling men to the core.

A MAJOR initiative designed to re-establish Dublin as a powerful hurling force was launched yesterday with the intention of ensuring that the county would be serious contenders for national honours inside five years, leading to at least one All-Ireland title triumph by 2008.

Irish Independent November 20^th 2001

The blueprint has been successful. Dublin have won Leinster Titles at Minor in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2018. They have won Leinster Titles at Under 21 level in 2007 2010, 2011 and 2016. That is significant. The Leinster Senior Hurling final victory in 2013 another significant milestone. There have been many losing Leinster Final appearances, there has been colleges success, but ultimately Dublin hurling is in better shape now than it was in 2001.

The All Ireland title did never arise, the best chances probably coming at Senior Level in 2013, and at Under 17 level in 2017. The under 17 final was significant. Cork were there to be beaten, though Dublin had 14 men. They weren’t able to cross the line. The major issue at the moment is that the traditional counties do not fear Dublin. They do give Kilkenny a game most years, but 2013 apart have not crossed the line.

Anthony Daly left Dublin after 2014, a just-in-case year after being beaten by Cork in the All Ireland Semi Final a year earlier. Dalo had a good stint, winning League and Leinster titles, and competing with the great Kilkenny side at their peak. You would never have put your house on them either. The very same side lost to Antrim in a 2010 qualifier.

Antrim had two excellent minor teams in 2005 and 2006 but struggled to amalgamate them with the impressive seniors of 2002 and 2003 who ran Tipperary and Wexford so close under Dinny Cahill. Cahill came back in 2010. They frightened Offaly in Leinster, took the Dublin scalp, gave Cork a run for their money and ran Wexford close in the first half a year later. By 2012 they were conceding 8-26 against Limerick in a qualifier.

But Dublin contrived to lose to Antrim in 2013. And lost to them with a number of their Leinster title winning team. Gary Maguire, Niall Corcoran, Oisin Gough, Stephen Hiney, Joseph Boland, Simon Lambert, Shane Durkin, Peter Kelly, Liam Rushe, Dotsy O’Callaghan, Paul Ryan, Michael Carton and David Treacy all saw action on both days.

The Dalo years were the marquee years, but somehow Dublin were unable to draw a straight line. The see-saw every second year run was always an issue. But there were players of individual quality. Like there are now. Getting it out of them seemed to be forever an issue. Even in the Leinster title winning year, they nearly exited the Leinster Championship in Wexford Park.

Dalo finally bowed out in 2014 after When Dalo departed, the search for a manager ended with Ger Cunningham. You could see why, he had been with Cork in 2013 before getting his P45 from JBM after flirting with Limerick. He had been with UCC teams. He was a recognised coach, and it was deemed that Dublin needed a coach, as they do now. However Dublin could not afford the shedding of bodies that happened during the Cunningham era.

The fact that Pat Gilroy and Mattie Kenny used some of those culled by Cunningham a number of years on, suggests that Cunningham was hasty in his approach. However the Cunningham years were the lost years, and until Gilroy took over, Dublin appeared to be heading nowhere fast. Gilroy prepared them for the future, got their injury problems sorted and got them organised. He nearly took a scalp against Kilkenny.

You sensed when he departed, that he was only there to do a favour to someone somewhere along the line, that he didn’t really have the will to do it, but had immense capability. The man who built the Jim Gavin era possibly did not remain awake at night dreaming of hurling success. But he did his duty and did it well, and in many ways Dublin have suffered from his departure.

The race to succeed him became a three horse race. Anthony Daly, Matty Kenny and Gilroy’s sidekick Anthony Cunningham. Dalo pulled out, leaving Kenny and Cunningham to fight it out. One sensed that Dalo might have felt there would be no race if the job was to be his. A whisper of never go back hangs in the air. Either way it wasn’t meant to be.

Cunningham had Galway baggage, and was probably better off reinventing himself as Roscommon Football manager. He wasn’t the man. Mattie Kenny had form with Cuala, and winning two All Ireland club titles in a row was a significant achievement. However those titles were won by letting space for King Con and delivering early ball into the pockets. Intercounty sides just fill that space. Tactically Kenny needed to come up with new ideas.

Where are Dublin now? Cork produced a level of workrate that would have won them a lot more in recent years, had they bothered. Dublin couldn’t think their way out of situations and when they couldn’t think their way out, there were turnovers and also unforced errors. The tell tale sign of a lack of intensity in training and a lack of ‘boxed’ conditioned games.

The ability to supply the inside line was a major handicap. Lash it up the field and let’s see if Con gets on the end of it, might work against club defences but it did not work here. Eamon Dillon, Ronan Hayes, Liam Rushe, Chris Crummey, Davy Keogh etc. were all deprived of ball, but what was done to ensure they were put on the end of ball? Dublin have individual players but are not equalling the sum of their parts. They have reasonable options for all lines on the field. Is Mattie the man? He is not getting it out of them.

Most managers have had a free shot at this championship, secure in the knowledge that they will be there again next year. Does Mattie Kenny have that security? What will change by May 2021? Dublin need to be getting out of the Leinster group again, need to be in a Leinster Final.

There will be some thinking done.

06/11/2020 - The Dummy Teams have been named

So the teams are named, that is if named teams can be taken at face value. We often get teams, but we don’t always get subs. And the teams are often of the dummy variety. When did we first see a dummy team? Perhaps I am wrong but the 1997 All Ireland Final? Niall Gilligan came in for the named Fergal Hegarty after an impressive Semi-Final showing against Kilkenny. Loughnane proclaiming all week that the team to start the All Ireland Final would be the men who did it before in 1995.

In 1998, Clare named a side to face Cork in the Munster final. This was Loughnane at his zenith. Clare had been beaten by Cork in the League Semi Final. Allegations of training that morning began to surface. Cork won the League. As Dalo would regret, that Clare team did never win an aul League. That was the year to do it. The championship encounter came along, somewhat surprisingly as Limerick were expected to dispose of Cork in the first round.

Clare were first to pull the trigger, and pull the trigger they did. Despite not conceding a goal, and conceding several outfield points, Jack Browne and Patrick O’Connor got the chop. David Fitzgerald and Diarmuid Ryan also carried the can for the Limerick defeat. Arguably more culpable. The rangy pair, as natural half backs, would be expected to double up effectively in defence. Breaking forward in time to reach where the action is another job requirement.

Others can count themselves extremely lucky to have survived. Considering the performance of some of the Under 20 team against Tipperary, there would be merit for their inclusion. Paul Flanagan, Aidan McCarthy, Colin Guilfoyle and Aaron Shanagher coming in. Aaron Cunningham must be well down the pecking order at this stage. Surely management would have started him if deemed to be worthy of offering something. Everyone expected the two Aarons to start the last day, the dummy team outfoxing Limerick and another famous Clare victory. Oh now.

Flanagan is an interesting selection in that he was seen as a much lesser light than others of the Davy Fitz era. Nobody was clamouring for any injustice against him either. He was there, he was on the books, but he was a squad player. No more. No less. Such players do exist. They fill in for Munster League games, perhaps the odd league cap. Championship appearances are rare if any, but invariably corner backs end up marking the marquee forwards in training. Has Paul Flanagan raised his game to this level?

Aidan McCarthy has been fast tracked into the Clare Senior setup from a very early stage. A good bit of stuff, and Clare need good bits of stuff. 2020 for Aidan McCarthy is as much about 2021 as it has been 2020. He is the future, he can be depended upon and he won’t let the side down. His best position is debatable but if he lines out at centre-half-back and remains there, necessity may declare it his natural home.

Colin Guilfoyle is a player that we almost forgot existed. He led the line impressively last year in the Munster League Final against Tipperary and is a credible outlet for aerial possession. There will also be a significant portion of ball breaking off him. Will his fellow Clare forwards have the desire to get on that ball? David Reidy could especially profit.

Aron Shanagher is a player of significant aerial reputation who does not always live up to his reputation. What percentage of advantage aerial ball does he win, or at the very least break to team advantage? He gets the credit for the Ryan Taylor goal against Limerick, but realistically Sean Finn was probably the man responsible for that assist. A Laois game will not define Shanagher, but he has to deliver one game on.

Laois have named their team, and this team is probably a team that is 100% certain to start. The team is closer to that who faced Tipperary last year with ten starters. Dublin had issues to deal with when facing Laois in the Leinster Championship a couple of weeks ago. They set to right the wrongs of 2019. Job done was the order of the day. This is not really a grudge match for Clare, and possibly a dangerous game.

Laois have suffered from second season syndrome. Aaron Dunphy was shown red against Tipperary but it would have been interesting to see where Laois may have gone with 15 men. Tipperary led 2-12 to 1-10 at the time of the sending off. There were 42 minutes on the clock. By no means game over. And Tipperary had their biggest of fish on the field.

Tipperary did what Tipperary do against lesser teams with 14 men, they cycled downhill, and had 2-19 on the board within 10 minutes. Laois to their credit did not fold and ended with a respectable 1-18 to Tipperary’s 2-25. You sensed that what was more important for Laois was not how they performed with 14 men against Tipperary, but what they would do in 2020. This is their test.

Cork have changed their outfit for the Dublin game. Barring injury the named lineout should start. Chris Joyce, Sean O’Leary-Hayes, Conor Lehane, Daire Connery and the injured Alan Cadogan making way. Colm Spillane, Luke Meade, Robbie O’Flynn, Jack O’Connor and Declan Dalton coming in. Niall O’Leary must be deemed hard done by. Lehane has probably had his day at this stage. The waiting game over. He has had his days, but not enough of them.

O’Leary Hayes, is nobody’s idea of an aggressive tenacious defender. But you sense that Cork will pick him repeatedly in future years. Daire Connery was thrown in the last day when Aidan Walsh got injured in the warmup. He was not ready. Too early to tell if he has a long career ahead of him. Chris Joyce was never really forgiven by Cork supporters for not clearing the ball for Jamie Barron’s goal in Croke Park, notwithstanding that Darragh Fitzgibbon never tracked Barron. Alan Cadogan is only ever as good as the ball he gets.

Colm Spillane will add a bit of ruthlessness at the back, but an early yellow may compromise his ability to defend as he would wish. Luke Meade has never really let Cork down. He does not have the same marquee status as others, but has produced goals and points in big games when it really really matters. He will not weaken the side. He is a top class one-on-one finisher, a superb linkman and has a significant work ethic.

Robbie O’Flynn has been knocking around with Cork for a while now after a lengthy Fitzgibbon Cup stint with UCC. He had a chance to put Cork in the 2018 All Ireland Final but opted to play a overhit pass to Seamus Harnedy. Nicky Quaid and the rest is history. The time has come to produce. Jack O Connor and Deckie Dalton are the men who come without baggage.

O’Connor will have a cut at defenders, has pace, and won a penalty for John Meyler’s 21s in Walsh Park in 2017. We should have seen him before now. The penalty was debated, but one thing was for sure, it came about because O’Connor was willing to take men on and take punishment. Dalton is more of a luxury player, a high five scorer in the mould of the Tipperary forwards but not necessarily someone who will dig you out of a situation.

Mattie Kenny has probably picked the most suitable Dublin team. Ronan Hayes and Eamonn Dillon have got the nod. Dublin never really name their subs. David Treacy, John Hetherton, Davy Keogh and Fergal Whitely show that there are backup options for the forwards. Liam Rushe, Conal Keaney, Mark Schutte and Paul Ryan have not been massively involved, have had niggly injuries and you wonder is there much left in them. Getting the right players off the bench will be important.

02/11/2020 - Tipperary Hurling: Sex Before Marriage – Sex After Marriage

There was a saying quoted in The Examiner in the last few days, "Put a penny in the pot every time you have sex before you get married, and take one out every time you have sex after the wedding, and you'll have change to spare when you die". Oh feel for those poor souls whose wives made them wait

In the context of Tipperary hurling, put a penny in the pot for every score they get cycling downhill, cruising to victory. The exhibition stuff. Take one out for every score when you are trying to rescue defeat from victory. Tipperary hurlers will also have spare change.

Discuss any hidings they have dished out in recent years. The scores have flowed. The hidings given to Kilkenny in 2010, 2016 and 2019. When Tipperary get ahead, they tend to stay ahead. There are very few games when they have ground out a result in a game that mattered, when defeat was staring them in the face. The show and go’s, the one-twos and the slick scores don’t come as easy. The high five scores.

The qualifier draw has been kind to Tipperary. An extra week to sort themselves out. They won’t face Wexford it seems. Though the goalposts are moving by the hour on the format of the draw. Cork or Dublin will take one another out. Dublin had Cork by the throat in Pairc Ui Rinn in 2016. They have had Kilkenny by the throat in each of their past three meetings. Now is their time. Cork are eminently beatable.

They had Galway by the throat last year and got their win over a marquee team, but blew it against Laois. Full credit to Laois, we saw the more recent result, albeit with Laois significantly depleted. The proper standing with both teams at full strength should probably Dublin by 5. Dublin seem to bother Kilkenny, but that does not make Dublin any better than +5 against Laois. Your form against one, does not translate to form against another.

Laois themselves have got the best possible draw. They will restore credit. Clare will fancy their chances of restorative practice, but Laois will make them earn it. Laois will make things happen in this game. Clare will expect things to happen, just like they did in the hot summer of 2013. This is not the hot summer of 2013. Eddie Brennan has got to get his selection right.

Tipperary never fear Dublin, and they oughtn’t fear Cork. A safer path exists if Cork are gone. The second round should see Tipperary vs Dublin and Lohan vs Davy. Dublin have form against Kilkenny, but have whippings against Tipperary. A league quarter final last year apart, Tipperary win as they choose. The high five scores again. The league quarter final wasn’t mentioned on the steps of the Hogan Stand.

For Tipperary to win the All Ireland last year, they beat 14 man Laois, Wexford and 14 man Kilkenny. To win it this year, they may need to beat them all. Kilkenny, Galway and Limerick. Neither a pushover. That their finest exponents of the camán aren’t all firing, often presents a challenge. They can hurl, they can score, but there are times when the Tipperary players just are not arsed.

A well-known scribe once told a story told of a lady who was particularly talented on the mattress. Not the most radiant, not the most pleasant, but significantly adept. There were suitors. She did not disappoint. The problem was she wasn’t always arsed. “I might be good in the sack, I like the flat of my back.” “But sometimes, I just don’t bother with the sack.” The motivation aint always there.

Therein lies Liam Sheedy’s challenge.

01/11/2020 - Limerick March On – Tipperary March On

We have been here before. Limerick and Tipperary in a non-knockout match. Shadow boxing. Populist opinion is that Limerick threw the game in Thurles last year, and Tipperary threw the game in Limerick. Pity they didn’t meet in the All Ireland final last year, we might know exactly who is who. Were Tipperary incompetent and incapable tonight, or were they just not arsed. Time will later tell us.

Liam Cahill vs Liam Sheedy would have been nice, but it might happen in an All Ireland Quarter Final. The man who wanted the job vs the man who got the job. The man who wanted youth vs the man who wanted experience. Sheedy won an All Ireland but delayed the rebuilding process a year and more. Would Cahill have won the 2019 All Ireland title? Who knows? But he will win one with Tipperary in the 2020s.

Tipperary are not without worries. Seamus Callinan goaled per game last year and captained them to win. Not today. Bubbles Dwyer seemed to lack sharpness and more. Padraic Maher hauled off. Brendan Maher not what he was either. Tipperary don’t do two in a row we are told. The Cork donkeys beat them in 1990, Brian Corcoran’s Cork in 1992. Waterford and then Jimmy Coogan in 2002, Kilkenny in 2011. Cork and then Galway in 2017. Limerick today.

Their best chance was probably 2017, they were good against Galway, primed to win, but Joe stole the day. The original Munster championship cost them dearly this year. A chance to see defeat but not be gone. They would possibly be in a Munster final with Limerick again. The will possibly be in an All Ireland with Limerick again.

Limerick in a Munster Final against Waterford. This Limerick team are slick. Very comfortable in their own skin, very robotic in their movement, almost very predictable. But yet teams cannot cope with them. They seem to manage the expanse of the pitch well, the half forwards clocking up GPS readings. They hit large point tallies and let goals look after themselves. Liam Cahill may have a few tricks up his sleeve, but Limerick will manage.

Above all else, Limerick have a bench. A serious bench.

Munster Champions to be

01/11/2020 Apprenticeships for the Future: Shane O’Neill and Liam Cahill. But what of Davy?

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a bleak year. My own life curtailed. A regular visitor to a choice of three holiday homes owned by friends in the sun. But that is not essential business. The economy suffering. The airport industry dying. Social welfare queues on the increase. The GAA has bailed us out.

Tipperary and Limerick are farming out their next managers to gain experience in reputable hurling counties. Waterford taking on Liam Cahill, Galway taking on Shane O’Neill. Win win for both this weekend. The time will come when Liam Sheedy returns to the Sunday Game studio and John Kiely partners him there.

Liam Cahill and Shane O’Neill have All Ireland winning pedigree. They now have Senior Intercounty experience. Silverware would be a bonus on a personal level before they return to take charge of their own. The best way to serve an apprenticeship. We have seen in the past where managers walked into their own counties in management at Senior Intercounty Level. They kissed arses, they manipulated the media, they brainwashed the players into wanting them. They might or might not get the profile of manager. But if so, were they successful?

Look around, Brian Cody was a primary teacher training kids every day. Something that is often undervalued. Every day. Liam Sheedy was an All Ireland winning minor manager. Davy Fitz was with Clare 21s on that famous night back in 1999, John Kiely a Limerick Intermediate and Under 21 manager. Mattie Kenny All Ireland Club. Liam Cahill All Ireland Minor and Under 21. Shane O’Neill All Ireland Club. But above all else, they have it.

The irrepressible Davy Fitz is hogging column inches yet again. His entertainment value most definitely five star. I can vouch for it. I have played golf with him. Superb post match interview. Players thrown out the window. When Curracloe beach fears a pummelling next week, when ‘we’ really means ‘they’. Oh Wexford players, a grueller is on the way. Any swelled heads and complacency after winning Leinster in 2019 will be banished

I quote:

“We were absolutely terrible”

“All I can say to the Wexford supporters is that I am extremely sorry for the way we performed”

“We showed no guts, no fight, no character”

“In the three and a bit years that I have been here, we have never thrown in the towel that easily”

“We tried four different formations, we tried two different styles of play”

“If you want to win the game, you have to win the 50:50 battles, you have to win the hard ball”

“I am just disappointed with the amount of fight we had”

“I am downtrodden because I just believe in a game of hurling you have to fight like anything till the very end”

“We were bad, we didn’t fight like we should have fought and it’s not good enough”

“There is no excuses for the way we played, end of story, crowd or no crowd”

“We have to all look at ourselves in a big way”

And further quote:

“I am not really worried what the result is the next day, what I’ll be worried about, will we come out and will we fucking fight. That’s the fucking name of the game. I’m involved in hurling to compete, I’m not involved in fucking hurling to just go out there and put up the white flag and hand Galway a game like we did tonight. It’s absolutely horrendous and Im not happy with em.”

The decision not to start Jack O’Connor was strange, his overhead role equivalent to that of the main lineout jumper on a rugby team. Is something amiss within? Has Davy lost the dressingroom. Throwing the players under the bus in an interview is Babs Keating stuff. Will the Wexford players respond like Johnny Pilkington et.al. in 1998?

Hard to see Davy getting 2021 out of it now. There is an expectation that all managements will have a free shot at 2020 due to circumstances and will have automatic retention rights for 2021. You sense the end is near for Davy. He took them places they thought they would never see. Won them games they thought they’d never win.

Bear in mind that he was on borrowed time in May 2019. Jim Bolger and I quote

“If we went back to the traditional style of hurling that Wexford always had, we’d be winning more games and we’d be going home winners this evening,” Bolger said. “That short game is very energy-sapping and very risky. To me it makes no sense whatsoever. Go back to the Wexford traditional style of hurling and we’ll win. If someone can’t work that out for themselves in a managerial position, there’s not much I can do about it.”

And this was in the middle of a Leinster Championship that Wexford went through unbeaten, beating no more than Cody in the Leinster Final. Davy has a record against Cody that nobody else has. They have met on 13 occasions. Davy has won 8 wins, 4 losses and a draw. Loughnane would kill for that record against Cody. His most recent game against Cody with Clare was also a victory, the 2016 League Semi Final in Thurles.

For the record, and it is a record, the list is as follows:

1.Walsh Cup Semi Final 2017 (New Ross) (Loss)

2.League Quarter Final 2017 (Nowlan Park) (Win)

3.Leinster Championship 2017 (Wexford Park) (Win)

4.Walsh Cup Final 2018 (Nowlan Park) (Win)

5.League Group Stages 2018 (Nowlan Park) (Loss)

6.League Semi Final 2018 (Wexford Park) (Loss)

7.Leinster Championship 2018 (Nowlan Park) (Loss)

8.Walsh Cup Semi Final 2019 (Enniscorthy) (Win)

9.League Group Stages 2019 (Nowlan Park) (Win)

10.Leinster Hurling Championship 2019 (Draw)

11.Leinster Hurling Final 2019 (Win)

12.Walsh Cup Semi Final 2020 (Win)

13. National Hurling League Group Stages 2020 (Win)

Every manager has his time. Davy possibly at the end of his time, barring a ‘just in case’ year. But easy talk about getting rid of Davy, you have to replace him. Davy has not been replaced in Clare. If anyone was to get a second All Ireland out of Clare it was Davy. This mad thinking that Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor would have won them an All Ireland if they got the job earlier is highly questionable.

Let us say they got it in 2015. Kilkenny were still alive. Tipperary scored 2-29 in 2016. Maybe 2017 was the year. Go back to the three doors open and Ger Loughnane relating to Waterford 98. Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor had three doors open. The 2017 Munster final. The 2018 Munster Final. The 2018 All Ireland Semi Final. The doors were open. They didn’t go through. That is not Davy Fitz’s fault. He went through the open doors in Wexford.

We were told they were flogged to death by Davy Fitz. Nothing left in the tank. Why bother taking on the job in that case, let it to someone else.

There is only one draw to make this championship worthwhile. Le Crunch. Davy vs Lohan. Thurles next Saturday night. Covid doesn’t allow handshakes, not that there would be anyway.

To summarise this piece. Dublin are a project. Davy has been courted by Dublin for some time. He will manage Dublin. That much is inevitable. Will Brian Lohan manage Dublin? Will Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor manage Dublin?

Davy has a three year cycle of victories.

LIT: Fitzgibbon Champions 2007

Waterford: Munster Champions 2010

Clare: All Ireland Champions 2013

Clare: League Champions 2016

Wexford: Leinster Champions 2019

Dublin: 2022?

31/10/2020 - Where now for Cork?

We won’t go back over old ground with Cork and Waterford articles. The links are here:

26/10/2020 - An outside tonic for Waterford

27/10/2020 - Cork Hurling: Mission improbable. Thy father, Thy son

“We are Cork boy, We are Cork”

Kieran Kingston like Banty in the Curtain Raiser, will ponder those prophetic words. Never go back. His named team sensed of ‘same old, same old.’ Reminiscent of the Waterford game of 2014. Many of the same faces. Waterford by now have recycled twice since then. Kingston is actually in his third stint, his time with JBM included. Ger Cunningham in his second stint.

There were a couple of changes, Daire Connery and Sean O’Leary Hayes getting their head. Your changes have to be better though. Perhaps they will get better in time. Hard to see where Cork go from here. Fitzgibbon will make a huge difference, but not enough.

Like Tipperary they tend to pick up handier scores than most, almost effortless white flags. In their prime the willingness to take punishment for goals did not come naturally. I recall being at a Cork match earlier in the decade. The call ‘easy ball, easy ball’ was regular. It sums things up.

They now have serious baggage. Some of these have lost two All Irelands that were theirs. 2013 and Donal O’Donovan. 2018 and the six point lead. They would have beaten Galway in the final. They have never really recovered.

But don’t worry, “We are Cork”

Any year now, the mushrooms boy.

Liam Cahill, successfully pulled the best from the 2017 Waterford team. Gone are Shane Bennett, Brick Walsh, Noel Connors, Sub Maurice Shanahan, the Mahony brothers, though one was enforced and most crucially Barry Coughlan.

The new men the impulsive Jack Fagan and Jack Prendergast, Dessie Hutchinson, Conor Prunty and late sub Neil Montgomery. When one team is done, another is reborn. Kieran Bennett got in for Croke Park that year, suspensions giving him a break. The lesser Bennett, everyone’s brother. He aint the lesser brother now. Jake Dillon also back, a proven big game man.

What we do know now is that Tadhg De Burca can cope in a 6, he doesn’t need a Back 7, Prunty also. McNulty too. Calum Lyons definitely. Moran surprisingly. The Jury is out on Shane Fives. What we do know is that Philip Mahony and Noel Connors on the left flank needed to be in a Back 7. Perhaps that is why Mahony took his voluntary redundancy. Were Conor Gleeson and Darragh Fives to return, Waterford have decent options at the back.

Not a good evening for Derek McGrath either. We will get an article, delighted for ‘my’ players and so on, etc. The dictionary will come out. He will find some way of seeking credit, but they won the non-Derek McGrath way. Tadgh De Burca far more than just a loose scuabadóir. Deserved MOTM. In McGrath’s time as long as Barry Coughlan was there, the Back 7 could never become 6. Explains taking voluntary redundancy when McGrath departed.

But this was against Cork, the Munster Final opponents will be more. Cahill has made no secret of his interest in the Tipperary job. But Sheedy got the nod. Cahill made his position clear, the time had come for youth. The older Tipp lads weren’t keen, they felt they’d more to give.

By the time Cahill’s turn comes, the time will be right. He will infuse the youth.

Meanwhile, there is a Munster Final to prepare for.

29/10/2020 - Time for the Choirboys in the Media to stand up

At the turn of the millennium in the year 2000, the venerable Raymond Smyth passed to his eternal reward at 68 years of age. One of the truly great writers, his material was phenomenal and he was ahead of his time. Of similar vintage, Con Houlihan has always been more revered. For all his qualities, trust me, Con Houlihan was no Raymond Smyth. Smyth wrote as many as 22 books. I have encountered less than 10, each one better than the next. They don’t make them like Smyth anymore. There is a vacancy.

Colm Parkinson, better known as Woolberto, has an excellent show, the GAA hour on Sportsjoe.ie. Parkinson is good to probe. He digs deep, throws out the bait, seeking a bite. Once you bite, he has you where he wants you. Box Office content. Entertaining and insightful for the listener, but not guaranteed to be politically correct. There shall be those who take offence at times. Woolberto welcomes that. An open invite to respond. Another interview. Another show.

I recall an interview with Tipperary’s Michael Ryan a few years ago regarding access to his players. Michael Ryan pretty much told him to earn a living. Not to be depending on soft quotes from players to earn his crust. Like many other journalists, would Woolberto survive in the game without an interview or a quote?

However Michael Ryan had a point. Earn a crust like the rest of us. The truly best writers will produce a magical piece without ever speaking to anyone. They will wax lyrical, ooze class, and enthral the reader with brilliance. Raymond Smyth could do that. Not many bother anymore. Too much time and effort? Too much thought required?

Parkinson is different to the print media in that he is purely auditory. Maybe the above is harsh, in that Parkinson can entertain. He should try a one-man show. Can he multitask like Jimmy Hill? Possibly better placed than most. Shane Stapleton another perhaps. Himself and Verney are a good double act. For some reason podcasts can throw out discussions that rarely appear in print.

Why can Colm Parkinson throw out loose comments, dangling pieces of bait, allowing the listener to join the dots, when the print media cannot? The print media seem extremely cautious. The Irish Examiner, a fantastic sports publication, rarely rock the boat. You sense that anything contentious must be ratified upstairs. The Irish Independent likewise.

You will hear of a story, but not the reasons why. The GAA Hour will give the reasons. To provide an analogy. A gentleman procures a lady. They retreat to a residence. Lights out, curtains closed. We know what happens next. Woolberto gives positional detail and recommends IKEA for a new mattress. “Lights are out,” suggest the papers, "because there is a power cut." It is noteworthy that the papers don’t quote the GAA hour very often.

Newspaper media is a bitchy enough game, but often a silent unnoticed bitchiness. New faces take time to earn welcome. Fresh and hungry, the breath of fresh air that everyone fears. Only when institutionalised, are they no longer seen a threat. Far better to be in with the crowd than without them. No point sprinting ahead of the crowd, if they won’t drink tea with you at the finish line.

County Boards carry the bulk of the power. Possibly a direct bat phone line to Commissioner Gordon in the Editorial office. I speak and you obey. The scribe only a pawn in the game. “We won’t bother running that piece, Jeeves”, do a nice little feature on the County Board instead. Woolberto wouldn’t be made for the print media. Occasionally the ice will be broken. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon, the work already done. But who wants to be the giraffe with the neck on the line?

Ger Loughnane is a breath of fresh air. He calls the shots. The Dunphy of the GAA world, but better than Dunphy. He questions Clare County Board and christens the Village Idiots on the floor. Non-conventional to say the least. “We are mortified for him” cry the press box, pulling out the rosary beads. But typically Loughnane, unapologetic, “I’m the one mortified for ye”, “If ye were any good, ye’d be me”. But will they hunt of a Sunday, or any day.

The point is that the newspaper media in the GAA is quite safe. Provincial newspapers moreso than national. Politically, bravery doesn’t sit well. There are those who have been barked at, Peter O’Connell, more often than most. But Fitzy knows better than anyone, O’Connell is no Loughnane.

We read two pieces, three days apart. Ger Loughnane “The local media tend to parrot the board party line” & Clare Champion “Time for a major discussion around the future of Clare Hurling.” Indeed. The Champion have bought them 12 more months. A discussion to create a discussion. A committee to create a committee.

I am surprised the Clare Champion aren’t leading “Lohan Out, Fitzy Back” along with “Match Wexford Offer”. The Champion would sell well that week. How about another headline “Bring Backroom Team & Co. with him” and don’t forget “US Fundraising Trip planned”. And finally “Please don’t send US tales home to Whitegate.” Woolberto, here’s a ready made show.

Some in the newspaper media lack such cojones, they may as well wear a bikini. Twin airbags, fried eggs, all amounts to the same thing. The liathróidí just aint there. There was a county board meeting at one time. The journalist reported “largely an uneventful meeting.” The safe game. Twitter beat him to the punch. The real truth came out. The Clare Times = Manna from heaven.

Forget about soft quotes from people. Make your own soup, use your own ingredients, not an Erin hotcup. Loughnane has proven the needful. Journalism courses don’t create men.

The Raymond Smyth legacy never honoured.

A saddened heart. A dying art.

28/10/2020 - Finding Common Ground: Knockavilla Kickhams and Ballyhale Shamrocks

There is a new GAA book in the offing

It chronicles almost every club controversy over the past 20 years. Covering every one of the 32 counties, and abroad. Delving from Senior to Junior to Underage to Ladies. Where parties haven’t co-operated, the sagas have been summarised. The publication date is open ended, waiting for more. The word count must be phenomenal.

Tipperary club Knockavilla Kickhams have joined the queue, destined to feature. Making national news, dominating the social media era. All for what? Four of their adult players, plus an underage player, have sought to depart to neighbouring club Cashel King Cormacs. The circumstances are controversial.

Knockavilla Kickhams are a West Tipperary club, the pitch situated adjacent to the old Great Southern Railway line. They have a long heralded tradition, winning West Tipperary Senior championships regularly throughout the 1940s and 1950s. A long famine period ensued, before they reaped the rewards from underage success in the 1990s, winning a West Senior Hurling Championship in 1997. They regained their title in 1999.

Their last stab at Senior Glory was the West Senior Hurling Final in 2016, trained by Clare’s Tommy Guilfoyle. They didn’t make the grade. Within a couple of years, they were an Intermediate club. Down three years now, they haven’t stepped back up. Another underage harvest is ripening, the future bright one would think.

Commonly nicknamed as ‘The Hockers’, presumably emanating from the old days of slash hook hurling, their modern day record on the field is one of hurling. Their underage sides producing natural hurlers. They have two intercounty referees, John McCormack and Fergal Horgan, presumably preaching discipline within the club.

Fines aplenty have been garnered, but generally from vocals on the sideline. Ironically enough though, one of the most carded females in Senior Intercounty Camogie, is a Knockavilla Kickhams woman.

Ger Browne was an All Ireland Minor medallist in 2016. He won an Under 21 in 2018, a Senior in 2019. The full set. A player of searing pace, earning him a cameo role for Liam Sheedy’s men late in the All Ireland Final. We all have fond memories of those many TG4 Wednesday night Under 21 games in recent years. In 2017 and 2018, Ger Browne wasn’t anonymous. Green and white flags were raised.

A grandson of Eamon Browne of Munster Camogie and refereeing fame, his brother Aaron is the current Tipperary Under 20 goalkeeper. Their first cousin Devon Ryan, ex Thurles CBS, became the Tipperary Under 20 freetaker during the Clare game. Nathan Ryan was in the All Ireland winning Tipperary minor setup in 2016. The DNA is good. These are serious hurlers.

An impasse has developed within the club, leading all four plus another family member to seek a transfer to neighbours Cashel King Cormacs. It is early in the winter for such, with January or February generally the deadline. Tipperary Live have reported that mediators have been appointed. In the passion fuelled GAA world, mediators never achieve much.

It is a very similar case to Ballyhale a few years ago. A similar impasse developed with the Mullens. Possibly more complex in Ballyhale because the Mullens are the Fennellys. The older Fennellys became very vocal. Social media played its part in Ballyhale, and presumably so here. Ballyhale won a County Under 21 without the Mullens. They knew they could be done without. It took King Henry and an outside selector or two to heal the rift. It wasn’t simple. He had King Cody as an advisor though.

Without King Henry to diffuse the personalities, the wrong man could have finished Ballyhale. The rest as they say is History. Ballyhale already had many medals in the locker though. They weren’t building from the ground up. With Knockavilla Kickhams it is different, unlikely the Brownes can be done without. But you cannot let them dictate either. Too many clubs destroyed by family dominance.

Who would seriously take four from their Neighbours anyway? No Kilkenny club would have taken the Mullens. Chances are they would be former players now. In the modern era, the track record of big signings is poor anyway. Bud Hartnett to Midleton anyone? Cathy Landers gave him his answer on RTE. Her son Seamus stood firm. Wouldn’t transfer. Admirable for his humility. Loyal only to St Ita’s.

By all accounts, Harnedy is an ordinary St Ita’s man in that dressingroom. Not one of these big name stars who comes back and knows it all. Midleton did have form in the transfer department, but it is a long time since the Dungourney Boylan’s were in their prime. Bud Hartnett went back to Russell Rovers. His tail between his legs. As said, the track record of modern transfers is poor.

The choice of destination is most interesting. Social media videos showed Cashel King Cormacs and Knockavilla Kickhams bating the shite of one another after a recent West Minor Hurling final. No love lost between the clubs. Adults as well as players. The oddest of destinations to say the least.

So where do Knockavilla Kickhams go from here? And how did it get this far? Liam Sheedy and Tipperary County Board could help for a start. Not granting a transfer, and a phonecall from Portroe. “Ger, I see there is a bit of difficulty in the club. I’ll tell you what, we won’t be needing you inside. Let me know when you have that matter sorted” A miracle cure. Something that Brian Cody might do. Club comes first in Kilkenny.

But Sheedy will choose to stay afar, his title on the line. His views on last winter would be interesting. Ger Browne had a long term need for an operation for a niggly injury. Understandable up to this point. The story goes, that the theatre date was before Knockavilla Kickhams exited the championship. Causing him to miss the remainder of their season. It was possibly quarter final stage by then.

A return to Senior didn’t necessitate winning the County. Restructuring the championship meant that reaching the final would have done. The leeway to defer the operation didn’t seem to be there. Was that the choice of Ger Browne or Liam Sheedy? He played club on a Saturday, the operation due the next week. But then played soccer on the Sunday, two days in a row, the week of an operation?

Could the operation have been deferred? Would Knockavilla Kickhams be a Senior club now? As for playing soccer? You can imagine the fuses blowing within the club. It quite possibly simmered all along, perhaps morphing into the current situation. In any other winter, downtime would intervene. Sheedy has other priorities now. He wouldn’t have fans in Knockavilla Kickhams anyway, a training camp two years ago put paid to their Under 21 hopes. The player in question? Ger Browne.

And what of the impact on the Cashel club? On an upward curve, promoted back to Senior last year. Which four Cashel men are willing to turn the other cheek? Happy to vacate their places on the team. Clubs have been split for less. Cashel have been of interest to brotherly love before, the Leamy’s of Golden back in 1992. Hooking up with a team that had won a Munster Club the previous year.

The West Tipperary Board ruled against them, the County Board appeals committee backed them. Ratification never ensued though. Croke Park were consulted for clarification, the matter lingered for weeks. The players remained in limbo. The candle burning out by itself. Cashel probably sorry they ever got involved, though injuries at the time meant team vacancies had arisen. The Leamy brothers didn't fill them.

It wouldn’t be the first time that an possible incoming transfer raised the temperature within the coming club either. Fergal Horgan, best known now in refereeing was an exceptionally talented Tipperary hurler. Nowadays he has put in Trojan work at club level with Knockavilla Kickhams. But there were issues in the past.

Lads fall out in clubs, a bit of short term stuff. Generally resolved over a winter. Horgan had his differences, a transfer to Clonoulty/Rossmore whispered. Clonoulty remained impartial, staying out of it. Not everyone within agreed. Horgan was of county standard. It became a saga. There were those who wanted Horgan and those who wanted to remain out of it. It wouldn’t have helped interclub relations. Horgan never signed.

But it all came at a cost. Things were said and spoken. Things became entrenched. Clonoulty Rossmore became victims. There were to be consequences. Directly or indirectly, Thurles Sarsfields gained a couple of players out of it. In 2010, they would win County medals against their own.

You would hope for all concerned, that this will settle down. Can a solution can be found? Maybe not now, but give it time and it will be found. Do Knockavilla Kickhams have a unifying force like Shefflin? Generally these things get sorted, but sometimes not at all. Even in the case of Brendan Cummins of Ardfinnan it took a few years.

Look at the Baron in Newtown. The twins never hurled senior again. Kevin hurled with Charleville.

You only get one chance to sort these things.

The time has come right now.

27/10/2020 - Cork Hurling: Mission improbable. Thy father, Thy son

There have been many Daddies in the world of intercounty GAA. Some with success, some without success. Leaving success aside, is it right, is it honourable? Some would have you believe that it is. Everyone except Daddy is underqualified. Nobody else will do. He is only available during the period of time in which he can pick his son. He is not interested before or after. One may excuse some clubs, but at intercounty level there is absolutely no justification.

Most clubs are moving well away from Daddy involvement these days, even as selectors. Most Daddies honourably step aside. At club level, lack of finance or lack of a lot of things has often meant the involvement of Daddies from within. But it is not as prevalent anymore.

It is generally unavoidable up to Under 14, however from then on, many clubs are now opting to take the decision away from the Daddy, and have mandated constitutions that declare no Daddies after Under 14. It makes sense. The voices in the bushes will tell you “we can’t get people to take charge of teams” Who do the voices represent? The Daddies.

Let us look at the history. In 1989, Pajo Whelahan managed the Offaly hurlers in defeat to Antrim in the All Ireland Semi Final. He managed the minors and Under 21s the same year. The common denominator, his son Brian was a member of all three panels. Brian made his debut as a substitute against Antrim, and became one of the best hurlers in the game.

However the Daddy comments from the Antrim defeat in 1989 lingered for a while. Whelahan captained Offaly to an All Ireland minor title a month later, defying a side containing Davy Fitz, Conor Clancy and substitute Jamesie O Connor. Another week on, he would lose an All Ireland Under 21 final with a star studded Offaly side to an equally star studded Tipperary side. The Daddy comments lingered on though. Pajo would never manage the Offaly seniors again.

Karl O’Dwyer faced a different dilemma, in that his father was long gone as Kerry manager when he made his debut. However his shadow remained. When Kerry lost the 1992 Munster Final to Clare, outstanding and all that the Clare side was, there were repercussions. O’Dwyer was made a scapegoat. He was a Kildare footballer within a few years, and despite winning two Leinster titles, the Daddy talk was to be heard.

In 2012, Tipperary Under 21s faced Clare in Ennis losing the Munster Final by two points. Cian Hogan of Lorrha had a goal chance with an open goal, the goalkeeper down. He didn’t put it away. Given the surname and the club, you can guess who the manager was. Ken Hogan wasn’t flavour of the month as the final whistle blew.

‘The Baron’ in Newtownshandrum is a reverse case in point. Not that Daddy wouldn’t want the sons, but in this case, the sons wanted the Daddy. Consequently Kevin O Connor is midfield for Charleville now and Ben and Jerry finished their days with the Newtown Juniors after an impasse. Newtown were probably right. The club belongs to the people regardless of how high profile a family may be. Too many clubs are owned and run by one family, and one family only.

There are countless other examples at intercounty level. In Kilkenny Ollie Walsh had his whispers, but his son Michael came good at 30 years of age. DJ and Michael Carey are there now. Nickey Brennan was booed off Nowlan Park for losing a League Semi Final with his brother picked. Brian Cody’s sons have been knocking around. Martin Fogarty’s sons likewise. The difference being that Kilkenny won. Conor Fogarty was worth his place in bucketloads, but Martin walked away. Cody will never be questioned given his record, but……..

Dan Shanahan and his brother Maurice in Waterford, the lack of starts was a source of ongoing frustration for Dan. Michael Ryan stepped away from teams his daughters were with for a while. Conor Hayes and David Hayes in Galway, nephew and not son. It didn’t help the case of Conor Hayes.

At the other scheme of things, having been used to a cosy relationship with Uncle Paidi, the O’Sé brothers in Kerry found it hard to adjust to life under Jack O'Connor. And what of Jack in Kildare, son Eanna in the mix of late. Mickey Harte and Mark dealt with criticism too. Joe Kernan and his sons, causing Joe to do the honourable thing and step away.

In Limerick Joe Hannon wasn’t the manager but liaison officer of Limerick Senior teams with his son Declan. Was there no other person in a county with a massive population who could do that job? As Stephen Kenny would call it a non-essential role, “he wasn’t taking the frees”

His comrade Shane Fitzgibbon of Limerick was never far away from his son John either, directly or indirectly. Not with the same success though. John never really made the grade. Not for the want of trying though. Brian Ryan Senior and Junior were associated. A video of the Limerick bench, circulated on social media after the 2014 Munster Final. Limerick played Waterford in the minor curtain raiser. A sub was introduced. One thing was clear, the management were not a united front.

Mike Mac in Clare even had a go. His son popped in for an early season cap in 2009 if I recall correctly. Colm Fitzgerald was a Clare minor for three years but we won’t go there….. A third level hurling scholarship might be used as evidence to prove us wrong. Sometimes it is best to let sleeping dogs lie! John Carmody, a Fitz loyalist in Clare, forced into an uncomfortable 21st minute substitution at Under 21 level in 2018. Enough said. Loughnane is right. You won’t read much about these matters in the Clare papers.

At one County Board meeting a decade or so ago, a delegate used the word ‘disgrace’ because the county were adopting a ‘No Daddy’ policy. He wasn’t speaking from the heart, he was a plant, acting on behalf of others. A later fallout brought the truth to light. Some avoid managing their own like a plague, others really relish it, whereas the real influencers tip away behind the scenes, opting to influence and get ‘their man’ put in charge. The indirect approach if you like.

To be fair, most people avoid it at this stage. The policy in most counties is also one of avoidance. There are plenty men to fill these jobs, and if the candidate for management is of such calibre, why such a rush to be involved with his own. There will be other times. Why anyone would want to be in such a position with their son involved is beyond me, and in the case of Kieran Kingston, not once but twice. People who step clear, generally respected for their choice. Stepping away as a Daddy, has never been held against anyone.

Kieran Kingston walked away from Cork in 2017 due to work commitments. His son Shane was part of the Cork squad. A hit and miss player, 1-5 and MOTM one day, relative anonymity the next. It was seen as an honourable decision. A player of searing pace, Shane is a scoring threat. However he is a player whose selection or non-selection merits thinking time. There are times when he is first to the breakdown, but doesn’t get the ball up first time.

Nobody is questioning the honour and integrity of Kieran Kingston, but he must need his head examined to go back again. Does this Cork team even have prospects? The days of ‘We are Cork’ were finally banished in a Munster Under 21 final in 2014 in Ennis. Kilkenny and Tipperary never feared them. Clare, Limerick and Waterford had historical victories over them. And now, does anyone really fear Cork anymore? The one advantage in 2020 is a straight knockout four game run to a possible All Ireland. But he didn’t know that when he took the job. Barring injuries and Covid elsewhere it is unlikely that the draw can even save Cork. The handy frees awarded since lockdown, their only saving grace. Patrick Horgan will nail them all.

Had Darragh Fitzgibbon been fit, it is likely that as many as 12 of Kingston’s Munster Champions in 2017 would line out this Saturday. Anthony Nash, Damian Cahalane, Colm Spillane, Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Bill Cooper, Luke Meade, Seamus Harnedy, Shane Kingston, Alan Cadogan, Pat Horgan and Conor Lehane. It will probably be 11 without Fitzgibbon, though Anthony Nash had Patrick Collins breathing down his neck last Spring.

Not enough evolution in the intervening time. And those players are three years older now. And carrying baggage from those three years. It is not like elderly Tipperary who have All Irelands in their back pockets.

Promising Cork underage players have not made it through, the collapse to Tipperary in the All Ireland Under 20 final last year deemed horrifying. This was the golden group. The dream team. When Meyler sought to add to the Cork Panel, he stopped at the door of Aidan Walsh and Eoin Cadogan. Back to the future, All Ireland Football winners in 2010. And to be fair they have done a job.

It is notable that Meyler didn’t cap too many Under 20s or his own Under 21s from the year before. They didn’t merit it. The pre-half time goal in last year’s Munster 20 final showed that those kids grew up watching the All Ireland final in 2013. Thinking that the Red Sea is the norm. There is a lot of stepping up to do.

Kingston is reputedly popular with the players having also been involved with JBM as right hand man. But you always have to question, how popular can popular be? With 36 players in a squad, no more than any manager, there will be some dissenters. Winning keeps it all alive, but Cork have got only so far with their current crop. At face value, Cork will compete in most open games, but the modern physicality and intensity seems beyond them.

So why did Kingston feel the urge to return?

A lack of cash in Cork? A lack of alternatives, where people see the writing on the wall? Granted Cork have White Elephant #2 to pay for, not having learned the lifelong lessons from White Elephant #1. If White Elephant #1 was done right Day 1, there would be no need for White Elephant #2. The Kinane Stand in Thurles a case in point. Standing since 1968, Proper leg room, proper exits and proper circulation room underneath. Paris revisited, Parc De Proinsias replaced by Stade De Frank.

Kingston is not expensive, a couple of All Ireland tickets the nub of his demands. And Cork couldn’t even afford him that courtesy a couple of years ago. That John Meyler replaced him was an interesting one. Again inexpensive. A loyalty throwback to a comment to Mark Landers regarding SIPTU in 2002? Meyler wasn’t wrong by the way, Landers didn’t see much of ‘The Park’ again.

Meyler came close to ultimate glory in 2018. All Robbie O’Flynn had to do was pop the ball over the bar against Limerick. Nevertheless, murmurs of discontent seemed to whisper through his reign. Others names were interested pre and post Meyler, but cheques would need to be written. Meyler and Kingston weren’t bank breakers. Donal Og will be next it seems, and he might be the man for the job.

Meyler and Kingston have had pretty much parallel reigns as Cork manager, both winning Munster titles. Both coming close in All Ireland Semi Finals in 2017 and 2018. Their respective teams probably had five common forwards, Pat Horgan, Alan Cadogan, Seamus Harnedy, Conor Lehane and Luke Meade.

Meyler’s ‘other’ forward would generally have been Daniel Kearney, predominantly out of favour under Kingston. Kingston on the other hand opted for his son. That Meyler didn’t pick Kingston much in Year 2 may not have received favour in Tracton/Douglas. That Kingston didn’t pick Daniel Kearney either possibly led to voluntary redundancy for the Sarsfields player.

Let us examine the facts. Under Kieran Kingston, Shane Kingston started all of Cork’s Munster Championship games in 2017 along with the All Ireland Semi Final. Daniel Kearney started none. John Meyler started Kingston regularly in 2018 but Alan Cadogan missed the year through injury.

Once Cadogan became available in 2019, it was the opposite. Kingston started the Tipperary defeat in Munster, but would not start again that summer. A week later he was benched for Limerick. When Conor Lehane got injured after 6 minutes. Cadogan was the man called into action. Daniel Kearney started all five games in 2019.

In Croke Park against Kilkenny, the acid knockout test, Meyler opted for the five common forwards, plus Daniel Kearney. Shane Kingston only introduced after Robbie O’Flynn was sent in first.

It is difficult to see Kieran Kingston being so unaffectionate towards Shane. John Meyler was no Daddy that is for sure! Back in the gladiator days, there was a famous saying regarding defeat.

“Don’t let it fall upon thy head Son”

It is notable that Daddy managers generally protest that it doesn’t affect their role. The claim being that they are harsher on their own. Indeed….

No need for such cruel parenting if you sit outside in the stand, eh!

Kingston might yet ponder why he didn’t remain there

26/10/2020 - An outside tonic for Waterford

There are a number of hurling people, who would secretly admit they have a sweet spot for Waterford hurling. Some memory may have ignited it.

It may be a holiday to Tramore, perhaps a dirty weekend in the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, or a visit to the Dungarvan Greenway. Encounters with locals tend to revolve around hurling and the passion is evident. Liam Cahill does not just have a hurling job. He has a legacy. Outside managers have previously bought into that legacy, and the magic has flowed.

A number of years ago, I recall meeting a Waterford colleague. It was early June and Waterford hurlers were gone. The footballers possibly outlasted the hurlers that particular year by virtue of the Munster Championship fixture schedule. That in itself speaks volumes. Gone before the footballers.

He was gracious for the many Waterford beaches and the fresh sea air. A summer to be spent eating the finest fish from the ocean, rather than lining the pockets of a publican inside a Thurles bar counter. “I will have a few pound in my pocket this summer” he said.

Waterford supporters have had many of those affluent summers down through the years. Cash waiting. Day Trip required. Time and time again, the hurlers left them down. But at least they had a few pound in their pockets.

They weren’t always the fittest, they weren’t always inclined to keep 15 men on the field, but Gerald McCarthy was probably the first outside man who changed the culture. Ironically, another Cork man should have been the man to change the culture a number of years earlier.

Waterford had dabbled with the excellent Joe McGrath, and it should have been a success, because McGrath had a serious record. However, boardroom politics blighted both his stints with the Deise. His second stint ending in the midst of a saga that involved the High Court and a substantial revenue bill. His first stint a decade earlier ended in tears also.

McGrath should have known better to return. Never go back. A decade or so earlier, he had also attempted to change the culture. In November 1980, the Waterford Senior Hurling selectors approached the County Board to bring in Joe McGrath. Results were not good. At that time, Joe McGrath was Box Office. The Pep Guardiola of the hurling world. He had been there, done that, and been there again.

Silently believed to have been involved with the Cork three-in-a-row team of the 1970s on a consultancy basis (a known involvement would have led to an outcry), he had been prominent at club level also. He was also instrumental in the foundation of the Limerick 1973 team. It was a coup. Waterford regrouped in early 1981 and made a League Semi Final. His organisational skills and experience making a difference. Life seemed good.

It seems unthinkable now, but McGrath had cited the previous November that he had prior business commitments in the US for the date of the 1981 League Semi-Final. When the time came, a postponement of the tie was requested. The GAA were agreeable, but Waterford County Board were not, privately if not publicly.

With four Waterford players on the way back from injuries, the extra week would help. Cork were agreeable once the refixture was in Cork, the small few pound helping them service their debt on White Elephant #1. Would the extra week suit the political replacements on the team in their stead?

Politics took over. There were old scores to be settled, and no better way to settle them than behind the scenes. Waterford County Board officers and selectors, running with the hare, hunting with the hound. Publicly unable to get a postponement, privately ensuring it did not happen.

Cork won the match. Joe McGrath got the hump, departed the scene for a couple of weeks. He returned for the championship knockout tie against Clare following a player plea. Defeat was their lot. The positivity of April a distant memory.

The players wished for McGrath to continue. He agreed but with terms. The selectors who approached the County Board to bring him in, must all step away. The trust had been broken with the postponement debacle. It went to a County Board meeting, the clubs backed the selectors and Joe McGrath was gone. Waterford would reach the Munster Finals of 1982 and 1983, the foundation work by McGrath a factor. Would they have shipped the same hidings with him involved? Who knows?

As stated above, McGrath should never have gone back a second time. He was not even first choice. Prior to the second McGrath appointment, Waterford had courted Mick O’Dwyer in 1990 and he was keen. The transaction got lost between a Mallow hotel and the boardroom. There was no consent to meet with Dwyer. A prominent official went on a solo run - one sticking point.

Presumably there were generous horse racing sheiks in Kildare, where he ultimately ended up. Such sheiks did not exist in Waterford. Not then and not now. It would still have been interesting to see if Dwyer could have made it in the hurling world.

The Gerald McCarthy spell has been well documented, as has the Justin era. Davy Fitz came in then, and Davy being Davy, he brought half of Clare and beyond with him. Davy Fitz doesn’t cost as much as people think, it’s his entourage that broke the county board. To be fair Davy brought high standards and won a Munster title in 2010 when the team were on the slide. While was professional, he was considered too much into the bolloxology side of things. Waterford needed the professionalism, but perhaps with a bit more simplicity.

The 2011 Munster Final defeat finished him. Interestingly enough, he blooded a number of players, to replace the warriors of the 2000s. Many didn’t stay the distance. Derek McGrath sweeping with the broom a few years later. How ironic it is that Liam Cahill has now also swept out the dressing room. For every long serving Brick Walsh, there are several Richie Foleys, Ray Barry’s and Jamie Nagles.

After Davy returned home in the Autumn of 2011, the bank managers declared that Waterford must remain inside. The seven star hotel standards would need to diminish. The solution was multiple All Ireland winning ladies manager, Michael Ryan. Cut from the same cloth as football manager Jackson Kiely, he might cut it in Ballymacabry, but his habitat wasn’t the D4 culture. Some of the Waterford lads might have had D4 aspirations. There would be no fancy twangs in this setup. With no financial carrot, there wasn’t much interest in the position either. They just had to make do.

Michael Ryan is an out and out gentleman, with only the best interests of Waterford at heart. Had he the capability to match his integrity? Touted for the position many times over many years, but was it self-declared interest, or purely external speculation? His forthcoming book may reveal all. In the end he got the job, but not the job it was 10 or 15 years earlier.

Very often in life, a well-meaning gentleman develops a sweet spot for a lady in her 20s. Financially secure and with prospects, his chances ought to be better than they are. She has other suitors. You know the type. She dismisses his interest, a failing on her own part. He still sees value in her. Nevertheless he remains disappointed. She possibly sees him as not being on her pedestal. He may not realise it at the time, but he has probably dodged a bullet.

Had he won her over, he wouldn’t mind, it would be his bullet, and he would care for it like no other. He may never be motivated to find another bullet. She auctions herself off to the highest bidder, the ring comes, the children come and then in her late 30s or 40s, the wheels start to come off the wagon. Single again, and with the range of options not what it was 15 years earlier, she turns to her admirer who she has probably snubbed for years. Except she is not the prospect that she was.

The glamour no longer radiates from her. Her appetite for bedroom activity not as frivolous, possibly non-existent. He is not getting what he once craved. Essentially the job requirement is different. Someone to sweep the footpaths, powerwash the patio and do a few dirty maintenance jobs. His bank balance will pay the bills and he will be a useful childminder and taxi.

Some will let the heart rule the head and open their arms to her, chasing lost memories. Others having lived without her this long, will politely decline. If she wanted them, she had her chance. It is like expecting someone to do the wash up after the meal, without being allowed to dine at the table.

When he finally got his chance ahead of 2012, Michael Ryan opened his arms to the Waterford lady and possibly at reputational cost. The players had once dreamed of marquee managers such as Donal O’Grady and Nicholas English. The County Board needed solvency. It wasn’t really a marriage with prospects, merely a stopgap. Like the gentleman above, Michael Ryan inherited a team that was not what it once was.

A thrilling extra time encounter with Kilkenny in the second year of his term failed to convince the players that he was the man to lead the flock. John Mullane retired after 2012. He sat in the stand that night in 2013 against Kilkenny, pain etched on his face. His legs were not gone. He had more to give. Does he regret not giving it one last year. Ironically, as the season panned out, they might have been unlikely All Ireland Champions. Or might not. Who knows? But 2013 was a funny year. On a positive, Waterford produced a superb minor team, brightening the prospects for the future.

When Michael Ryan departed, Waterford remained within. A lot has been said and a lot spoken about the Derek McGrath era. Ger Loughnane has spoken of the three doors that were open for Waterford in 1998, but what of Waterford under Derek McGrath. They won the 2015 league to their credit, his only honour as manager. The Munster Final of 2015 was probably before their time, as was the Kilkenny Semi Final. McGraths fate was determined in a failure to get through the doors of the Munster Final and All Ireland Semi Final of 2016 and All Ireland Final of 2017.

By 2016 he was into Year 3. This was THE year. Tadhg De Burca his lieutenant. The scuabadóir. Three games with Clare within days of one another in May/June told us a lot about this team. McGrath seemed more interested in being apocalyptic towards traditional routes to victory than getting over the line. If success was to come it was his way or not at all. He won one game out of three against Davy Fitz in that period. The first half of the drawn League Final off-putting from a spectator viewpoint. However, the one game that he did win put him into a Munster Final.

For all their proverbial luxury, if Tipperary smell a weakness at all, they will fillet you. The ultimate downhill cyclists in the game. They never shy at putting minnows to the sword, and on an off day stronger opposition have been slain. The 2016 Munster Final was the day that the dream died for Derek McGrath. Motions of no confidence have been tabled for less. The day his defensive system was to reap ultimate reward, it collapsed. Five goals leaked.

They would reach another Semi Final and push an off colour Kilkenny to the limit, playing sweeperless, I might add. However a cardinal sin was committed. With minutes to go they abandoned that 15 vs 15 approach that brought them to within a cusp of victory. Seven Defenders. Tadhg De Burca. Kilkenny were afforded a spare man where they so badly needed it in defence and found a bit of breathing space to manoeuvre a draw. The game had to be won the McGrath way or not at all. In the replay, Kilkenny were a different animal. McGrath will have regrets, but may never admit so.

He reverted to 15 vs 15 initially in the replay, with debatable success for a significant amount of time. The attack was freeflowing, but ultimately this game defined why the scuabadóir was necessary in the first place. Colin Fennelly one-vs-one against Barry Coughlan was a mismatch and he duly delivered two goals. Waterford in their most glamourous years had problems in their full back line. The McGrath solution left shortcomings elsewhere. Most notably the constipation of the many forwards he was blessed with. However the 7^th man did protect his 6 man defence.

During the second half for a period, he reverted to a scuabadóir for a time but was forced to revert to 15 vs 15 when they weren’t closing the gap on the scoreboard. This was knockout hurling. Michael Fennelly thundered into the game after a disappointing drawn game and had he not pulled up with injury, Kilkenny might have pulled away to win by a lot more. His loss for the All Ireland Final would be telling. Waterford made use of his absence to close in the gap, but a late Pauric Mahony free didn’t clear the crossbar. There would be no extra time.

The Derek McGrath show probably ended that night. His beliefs and his systems enough to come within touching distance, but there is a world of a difference between a lady permitting you to touch her frontal assets, and getting to wake up beside her in a hotel room the morning after. McGrath was on borrowed time. Waking up in that hotel room further away than ever.

In 2017 they ran into a Cork machine that had blitzed Tipperary in a high scoring first round thriller. A game that Cork won with significant ease, perhaps more so than the score line suggested. The qualifiers brought a rematch with Kilkenny, dumped out of the Leinster Championship in Wexford Park, and fresh from a qualifier win over Limerick. Billed as Derek McGrath’s last match, the Waterford supporters were prepared for the inevitable.

Michael Fennelly was back in harness and fought valiantly, but a second game in a week was too much for him. McGrath reverted to, and would remain with his scuabadóir. Less than a year later the Saturday night victory over Kilkenny came, in Thurles, after extra time. Something stirred inside them that night, a last sting from a dying wasp, and the momentum carried them to the All Ireland final. Doubts remained though, a superb All Ireland Semi Final victory over Cork failing to eliminate the doubt.

The spark in September 2017 was not what it might have been had they reached the final a year earlier. Galway had their own baggage and did just enough to get over the line. A fight between two counties riddled with self-doubt, won by the team with slightly less doubt. Losing previous finals had stood to Galway. Just about. This Waterford team was done. League and Championship 2018 proved that, 2019 copperfastened it, despite a March appearance at Croke Park. Padraic Fanning a victim of circumstances.

Something had died in Semple Stadium on that fateful August night in 2016 and in hindsight, the run in 2017 was unable to resurrect it. Would Waterford have reached the final at all if Damien Cahalane had remained on the field to obstruct the Gleeson goal? If Chris Joyce had cleared his ball for the Barron goal? If Darragh Fitzgibbon had tracked Barron? Derek McGrath retains a level of frustration that his methods failed to reinvent hurling. It wasn’t winning vs losing, it was innovation vs history. Perhaps he needed greater open-mindedness.

As stated already, Liam Cahill has a legacy. Maurice Shanahan and Noel Connors are no longer part of the setup. Both have been vocal but both have been great servants, and have had their day. Cahill needs to move on with youth. Connors is unlikely to have the luxury of a seventh defender in this setup. Shanahan, while possibly offering something in a cameo role, has not been consistent for a while now. After the past two years, any Waterford hurler discarded cannot have too many complaints.

It is now the era of those who came in at the back end of the McGrath era and the Fanning era. Jack Fagan, Neil Montgomery, Conor Prunty, Jack Prendergast. A rebirth for Patrick Curran perhaps. In his loyalty towards protecting the shortcomings of long term associate Barry Coughlan. McGrath diminished the appetite of the likes of Curran, Shane Bennett, Colin Dunford et al. How they might have sizzled up front in a 15 vs 15 game

Perhaps Waterford weren’t good enough, either as a 15 vs 15 outfit or as a 7 man defence, but ultimately they saw some great days and brought us some great days.

A return is overdue. We need some inspiration this winter

25/10/2020 - Are Clare paying the price for sins against the Fitzgerald family?

Sometimes things just happen for a reason. Karma just seems to have its way. The Fitzgerald family, rightly or wrongly, have served Clare well. While incurring the wrath of many, Davy has is possibly the only manager in the history of the game to win it all. The four major titles on offer in the hurling world. Leinster Championship. Munster Championship. All Ireland Championship. League. Throw in a couple of Fitzgibbons. He may yet offer the All Ireland Minor, Under 20 and Club as he winds down in retirement.

Davy took charge of the Clare Seniors ahead of 2012, following a four-year apprenticeship in Waterford. Granted the Sparrow had done a lot of the dirty work for him, moving on the Croke Park remnants of 05/06 and the Munster Final of 08. Year 1 ended in defeat to Waterford and Limerick, but crucially four 19 year olds started against Limerick. Tony Kelly, Seadna Morey, Aaron Cunningham and Colm Galvin. That a winning team against Dublin was changed seems irrelevant. Their time would come.

Clare became champions in 2013, deserved champions and put a sequence of wins together against substantial enough opposition. Comparisons were drawn to Tipperary’s ‘Junior’ All Ireland in 1989 but let us state the facts here. Clare beat Waterford, Laois, Wexford, Galway, Limerick and Cork en-route to the McCarthy Cup, losing to Cork in Munster. That would again be a populist anti-Fitz stance.

The 2013 Waterford game was significant in that it brought Clare into a Munster Semi Final vs Cork, and ultimately further down the line in the qualifier draw having lost to Cork. It was also the goalscoring debut for Shane O Donnell, not the All Ireland final as regularly touted in the media.

The game against Laois was a confidence booster in the way that Carlow 2018 boosted the confidence of neighbours Limerick. Critically though, in Limerick 2018 had gone into the Carlow game on the back of a series of box office displays and one bad day at the office in Ennis. Clare 2013 had not really put that run of form together so the Laois game was arguably more critical. Nevertheless, the comprehensive victory started the run. But not before the Miwadi and Custard Creams.

Next up, a Saturday evening game against Wexford, when Cathal McInerney and the Referee (playing on after Tomas Waters injury) were the saviours of Clare. Undoubtedly, Wexford in that period had bad days at the office. However, Wexford were also one off big day performers, and that was long before the Davy Fitz show hit town and brought them a bit of consistency.

Davy could testify to that himself, losing to them in 2014 after a replay and scraping through against them with his Waterford side in 2008. Do not forget that Wexford dumped Cork out of the championship in 2016. Not to mention beating Clare in the 2010 Division 1B League Final. Any victory over Wexford was not to be taken for granted. 2013 was a hard earned victory. Character building.

Galway were next in a quarter final double header in Thurles. Leinster Champions, All Ireland finalists and very nearly winners a year earlier. After Cork had beaten Kilkenny in a thriller in Game 1 that day, the Clare Galway game seemed somewhat more subdued. Like watching football after hurling. Galway had taken a hiding to Dublin in the Leinster Final, a game in which the negative body language was evident. Nevertheless, a backlash was expected. It never came, or perhaps was never allowed, by a momentum driven Clare. The sweeper system at its best.

Onto the All Ireland Semi Final against Limerick. There was only one result coming here. The build-up to this game embodied FAI style mismanagement from Limerick. Was John Delaney rather than John Allen at the helm? The Mardis Gras celebrations after beating 14 man Cork in the Munster Final seemed excessive, reminiscent of Irish Soccer in Poland a year earlier.

In a year in which the Kilkenny hurlers had Bruce Springsteen rather than Liam McCarthy on their minds, the Limerick celebrations and preparations were never subjected to the scrutiny that they ought to. Clare didn’t mind.

The rot set in for the Shannonsiders when Captain Donal O’Grady predicted that Limerick would face Cork in the All Ireland Final. Davy Fitz would use that speech, and not sparingly. He would also repeatedly use an ill-advised Limerick song. Siege mentality. On towards September

Cork had already beaten Clare in the Munster Semi Final. It might not be universally accepted, but Cork might also have been Munster Champions in 2013, or at the very least, defeated by significantly less than they were. Remember the Patrick Horgan red card. That is not to take from Limerick, but let us be real here, who would a full back line prefer to face? A two man full forward line of Michael Cussen and Jamie Coughlan, or a three man line with Patrick Horgan and any two others. There is only one answer.

Cork had the drawn All Ireland Final won, their fate in their own hands, the aforementioned Horgan nailing a superb winning score. Kieran Kingston and JBM on an RTE camera seemed to believe it was theirs. ‘We are Cork’ didn’t prevent Donal O’Donovan from grabbing an unlikely equaliser, but Cathal Naughton might have. Naughton, would never be forgiven. Cork never really looked like winning the replay. The parting of the red sea preceding the Patrick Donnellan - Shane O Donnell goal seemed charitable. Cork were a busted flush after the drawn game.

Clare were champions on merit. They were the best team in the country. They had travelled a long road to get there. Bear in mind that psychological constraints may have made it a more difficult task than it might have been. And Davy Fitz was the man who conducted the orchestra. That said, Clare have had baggage regarding Munster Finals, but loosen out when they reach Croke Park.

As late winter drew into early spring, the country awaited a possible 2014 All Ireland Final pairing between a wounded Cody and a resurgent Davy, the uncomplicated traditionalist vs the tactical biochemist. The game never came.

Cork in 2014 were a different animal to Cork in 2013, and had already wobbled in a drawn game against Waterford (Austin Gleeson’s wonder goal) before cutting loose in the replay (Stephen O’Keeffe’s wonder bruise). Firing on all cylinders entering the Clare game, but blew the Banner back to Ennis, en-route to winning the Munster Championship.

The scenic route brought Wexford to Ennis, a Podge Collins red card, a replay defeat in Wexford Park and in the blink of an eye the season was over. A bigger issue was beginning to emerge though which arguably proved detrimental in subsequent years. The anti-Fitz brigade were gaining momentum.

In 2015, Clare faced Limerick in the Munster Championship first round. Aaron Cunningham, finally injury free, scorched through the Limerick defence for two goals, but Limerick found a way to steal it at the death. Tipperary would blitz them in the Semi Final. How would Clare have fared? They didn’t fare well against Cork in the qualifiers. Out again. Cork did not fare well thereafter for that matter, bombing out to Galway

The anti-Fitz brigade really thriving. Sweepers and tactics were not endearing to the Clare ultras. Players from 2013 were succumbing to retirement, injury and loss of appetite (linked to excessive training loads).

The year 2016 was a watershed year. The Davy vs Cody game materialised in the form of a League Semi Final, notable only for the final appearance of Jackie Tyrrell. Clare were better, Kilkenny defensively riddled, a sign that Cody’s side were on the wane and Davy’s side were reinvigorated. Kilkenny would concede 2-29 in the All Ireland Final later that year.

Davy would torment Cody again, but his time was nigh in Clare after defeat in Munster to Waterford and a final exit to Galway. Like Tom Ryan in 1997 with Limerick, a league title victory seemed to hasten the exit.

Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor, the joint managers from the Under 21 days were up next after Dalo honourably allowed them a free run (maybe he was blessed). The election promises from Clare were bountiful. Not by management, but by the ultras who took it upon themselves to decree an end to the tactical complexities.

Sweepers were for the streets of Ennis the morning after a night before. Six forwards vs Six backs. Clare would score 2-28 or more. No longer chained to the kitchen sink. Those memorable Wednesday night TG4 encounters at Under 21 level would be revisited. Success just around the corner again. But the success never came.

A Munster Final appearance in 2017 suggested that all was on track, but Clare people tend to forget that Cork came from the tougher side of the draw. Blitzing and dethroning Tipperary in Round 1, then eliminating Waterford who would make the All Ireland final.

Clare had beaten a 2017 Limerick side that were not the Limerick of August 2018, and not even the Limerick of Nowlan Park 2017. They were closer to the Limerick side of 2016 truth told, with the new managerial regime yet to impose themselves fully. Cork became comfortable Munster Champions. Far more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

Even allowing for the Cathal Malone goal chances, Cork would still have had their way. Clare bombed out to Tipperary in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Andrew Fahy was labelled the scapegoat for a puckout implosion before half time, though the receivers were never subjected to proper scrutiny. Ironically Davy remained in the Championship longer than his former team, losing to Waterford at the same venue a day later, having dumped Cody out of Wexford Park in June.

The year 2018 was the year that might have been. Clare had been used to 7+ defenders for some time, therefore a year’s grace was allowable for adjusting to the lack of defensive cover. The new Munster Championship gave Clare what they craved, a promise of a second chance and a third. The time arrived to exorcise the ghosts of Davy, who never had such luxury. The Joint managers had arrived.

After defeat to Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, tweaks to the team were beneficial. Clare would win three games in succession. Waterford in Ennis who lost half a team to injury, Tipperary in Thurles after Jake Morris had hit a post, and Limerick were taught a lesson in Ennis. Another Munster Final. Another chance to right the wrongs of 2017. If anything Clare bottled it on the day.

Eoin Cadogan, deemed to be washed up as a hurler way back in 2013, was recalled and did an off the ball job on Peter Duggan reminiscent of what he sometimes did to Kerry’s Paul Galvin in the past. Cork were Munster Champions again. Save a late cameo, there was to be no redemption for the previous year. A thrilling saga with Galway ultimately ended in the same result as the 2016 clash. Galway advanced. Clare were out.

In truth Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor were also out, 2019 being a ‘just-in-case’ year, as 2018 was for Derek McGrath in Waterford, 2008 was for Justin in Waterford, and 2014 for Dalo in Dublin. This particular Clare team was done. The remnants of the 2013 team ever depleting, and the palpable conclusion that 2013 was more about Bugler, Donnellan, Dillon, Ryan et al. as it was about the younger species, has never been fully debated.

What actually happened to the Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor dream? Failure to secure an interested Paul Kinnerk is one issue that merits a tribunal. The failure at board level rather than at joint manager level. While 2019 was always going to be a busted flush, the failure to rise it for Limerick was strange. They met in a league game in the snowflakes, a game not lacking in bitchiness. There wasn’t any suggestion of a mid-summer collapse. Too much was made of the logistical planning for a League Quarter Final visit to Walsh Park with a later visit in mind. Sensible? Yes. Publicity Warranting? No.

An Ennis defeat to Tipperary probably ripped the soul out of them. A fortress no more. Ironically, the nemesis for much of the 2010s, Cork were beaten in Ennis. Too little too late. Forces within may have worked against them, fearing the legacy of Davy was at risk of being tarnished. But ultimately Donal Moloney and Gerry O Connor had been with some of this group going back to 2009 and 2010. Sometimes the voice needs changing. Alex Ferguson removed backroom team members, released key players. Manchester United never went stale in his time.

Their biggest enigma turned out to be Tony Kelly. They failed to make him tick. Some will say it is his own responsibility to make himself tick, but management will be blamed if he doesn’t. One ray of light from the defeat to Limerick today is the fact that Tony Kelly scored 0-9 from play out of a total score of 0-17. A superb individual display. It is known he prefers to do the majority his work for the team with the ball than without it, and perhaps his display of loose scores came at a defensive cost. It is notable that Limerick did not deem his contribution concerning enough to man mark him.

When it came to replacing the joint managers, Clare made national headlines. Like the old ABU from Des Cahill back in the day, the analogy is ‘anyone but Lohan’. In the history of the GAA, being militant has sometimes, though not always, reaped rewards.

The Cork hurling strikes, Justin McCarthy in Waterford and Limerick, Dave Keane in Limerick, Cavan Footballers, Mayo Footballers and many more. Ironically enough Tipperary hurlers were successful after the removal of Babs Keating, Galway hurlers after the removal of Anthony Cunningham, Kilkenny after the removal of Kevin Fennelly.

In all cases above, the players were militant. However, in Clare, the clubs ran the operation. The players couldn’t really involve themselves after embarrassing championship defeats in 2019. Niall Romer drove the momentum at meetings. At County Board meetings in general, the regular delegates tend to be meek, many do homage, genuflect and worship at the altar.

Things get slipped through, the top table settle a few scores without dissent. The delegates just nod. The conscience might not always be clear, but man was never sent to hell for a few white half-sins. The auld bit of recognition kind of softens the blow. A soft big game ticket, a nod at a club gate to slip in for free, a handshake. You get the picture.

There are always delegates who are exceptions to the above. These remain suppressed and frustrated and generally do not last, departing bewildered over time. When a Niall Romer type leads the charge of the light brigade, a few voices start to be heard. Louis Mulqueen was due to be slipped in as manager. Word filtered around that afternoon. The leak was out. Delegates knew their role. Slip him in. No fuss, meeting over in an hour. Everyone home early. What shall be, shall not always be. It is very rare that a County Board is overruled but such was the charge of momentum from Romer that Mulqueen may never send a Christmas Card his way again.

The trouble in these cases is that the pressure comes on to win matches. While Brian Lohan won one Fitzgibbon Cup with UL, it could never be claimed he made the most of the embarrassment of riches at his disposal. Brian Lohan had to deliver. The fact that he was an arch rival of Davy, and that Davy was delivering in bucket loads in Wexford added to the pressure. Having a Tipperary and a Limerick selector provides another stick to beat him with when other Clare men fancied those roles.

Covid-19 intervened when they were going reasonably well but Limerick were going well in March too. If anything though, results after Lockdown #1 at club level seem to have copperfastened the ranking of the strong. Those who would have been expected to be knocking on the door for success, seemed to be achieving it after lockdown at club level anyway. Were there many surprise club champions, or even semi finalists?

Clare are now a long way from the glory years. A scoreline of 0-36 to 1-23 tells it all. There were two positives, the Tony Kelly show and the clean sheet in terms of goals. Realistically that is clutching at straws. Sparrow O’Loughlin famously stated he felt like throwing in the towel after one of the 1990s Munster Final defeats. Dalo has stated if Clare lost in 1995 that he was done. Clare and Limerick used to beat each other every second year. There now have been two hidings in a row.

The Aidan McCarthy conundrum is also interesting. Could he have played a vital role at Under 20 on Monday night? Could he have started today? The lack of scoring power was also evident. The shooters did not fire. Conlon and Peter Duggan are massive losses to be fair, but there is a sense of going back to the future. New blood like Mark Rogers, Shane Meehan and Cian Galvin may get infused in 2021.

For now, this Clare team is done. Tony Kelly won’t score 0-9 from play again in this Championship. The others may not score that between them to compensate. A shootout with Shane Dowling in a St Flannans vs Ard Scoil Ris Harty Cup in 2011 apart, he has never distinguished himself as a freetaker.

So Clare revert to Ground Zero in a year that could yet be the Year of Davy

As for Brian Lohan, be careful what you wish for, it may just come true.

PS: Today was the day that Fergal Horgan finally bowed to the Assessor in the Stand (or on the couch). Not a good day for hurling when Fergal Horgan can no longer be his own man

24/10/2020 - Has King Cody slipped from his seat on the throne?

Brian Cody initially became Kilkenny manager in late 1998 after the Kevin Fennelly debacle, following unlikely levels of public bloodletting on Noreside.

Uninspiring would best describe the Kilkenny performances under Fennelly that year, despite winning the Leinster Championship and reaching the All Ireland final.

In 2013 after Dublin escaped with a draw in Wexford Park in the Leinster Championship, Ger Loughnane famously conjured the term ‘constipated hurling’. Ironically enough the term might have been assigned to a possible Clare vs Kilkenny All Ireland final 15 years earlier, but for his preoccupation with the three priests and other matters of paranoia.

What remains as the single most dramatic summer of hurling of all time, 1998, pretty much bypassed Kilkenny - who repeatedly produced such aforementioned constipated hurling. Beaten All Ireland finalists, yet irrelevant in a year of many significant relevancies. Kilkenny would become more substantial in time. The BC (Before Cody) era was over

In his first championship season, Cody revived the Kilkenny brand, reproducing the goal threat of the Ollie Walsh 92/93 era. While Kilkenny did not quite make it to the podium in 1999, losing a low scoring All Ireland Final against JBM’s youthful Cork, they won ultimate honours in 2000. Kilkenny being Kilkenny, the seven-year famine would not have been over-celebrated. A gracious acceptance being the order of the day. The low-key personality of Willie O’Connor as captain epitomised the general low-key nature of the winter celebrations.

Nevertheless, in 2001, Brian Cody endured a well-documented ‘attitude changing’ defeat to Galway in the All Ireland Semi Final. There was bullying on the field. A rookie, Richie Murray of St Thomas would wield the ash and not so sparingly. Kilkenny taught a physical lesson by 14 man Galway, embodied by a couple of incidents involving the 19-year-old Murray. The defeat remains etched in the memory. Above all else, the Kilkenny men on the field faltered. There would be repercussions.

Known as the famous five, Stephen Grehan, Eamonn Kennedy, Brian McEvoy, Denis Byrne and John Power were not going to feature with prominence again. The exit door was prepared. There would be a new Cody mantra, with the motto of the three brass monkeys on the mantelpiece being the new doctrine. See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. If a finer place exists than Croke Park on a September Sunday and you wish to be there, feel free to exist in that place. Be reminded though, that you shall not also be present in September. Cha Fitzpatrick might testify to that. You get forgotten quickly in Kilkenny.

Returning to 2001, Stephen Grehan was granted a reprieve after a soccer misdemeanour cost him his All Ireland final place a year earlier. Somewhat surprisingly he started the Galway game. Reprieves were not a feature of future Cody years, possibly influenced by this defeat. While remaining a squad player, Grehan would not hold down a starting place for much longer. Eamon Kennedy (perhaps harshly) paid the price for a team performance against Galway, falling victim to the Kevin Broderick ‘Will-O-The-Wisp’ point at the end.

Brian McEvoy’s time as a central starting figure was diminishing. Public appearances with well-known camogie player Tracy Millea deemed to be an unnecessary distraction. Not appreciated by Cody. The urban legend goes that Cody deliberately clashed training to collide with bookings the then Kilkenny Golden Couple had committed to. Never a fan of the celebrity lifestyle! Not then and not now.

Cody often chooses to not drop players, preferring them to languish on the bench and seek out the exit door themselves. McEvoy would depart of his own accord in time, at the tail end of the Charlie Carter saga. The Carter saga told of in detail in Carter's own book. The 2001 Captain, Denis Byrne, a reigning All-Star did not start the Galway game. He would eventually transfer and hurl for Tipperary in 2003. The fact that a Kilkenny player was selected by Tipperary was strange to say the least. The fact that he would expect forgiveness for treason in Kilkenny another. Notwithstanding, Tipperary had form in that department, accepting Mossie Carroll of Limerick in 1981. Eamonn Morrissey, Shiner Brennan, MJ Ryan, Stoney Burke etc. left, but not for the enemy Tipperary.

The influence, hardness, and sheer determination of John Power was not lost on the younger Kilkenny players. Cody had restored Power to the Kilkenny team in 1999 to swashbuckling effect. The fulcrum of a free flowing attack, disrupting the opposition and creating scores for others. A tale regarding punctuality at training seems to have created indifference. Power allegedly suggesting that that he may find it easier to make training earlier if he was a schoolteacher and finished at 3pm. As an 1984 minor, his time was served by 2002 anyway but there were to be no exceptions after 2001.

Sentiment is not guaranteed. Henry Shefflin had to plead with Cody to give John Power a run late in that 02 final. A testament to how the players appreciated the influence of war-horse Power. It was one of two occasions where Henry Shefflin provided input into selection matters during an All Ireland Final. The other when he came down from the stand during the 2010 All Ireland Final. Cody capped Shefflin in 2014 at the death, but nobody clamoured on his behalf as he had for Power. It must have pinched.

As we advance towards the 20^th anniversary of that 2001 ground breaking defeat to Galway, Cody has some matters of concern. High profile defeats have become more regular than rare. Kilkenny are in the midst of the biggest famine since the Cody era. They have shipped three hidings to Tipperary in All Ireland Finals in 2010, 2016 and 2019. For all their heroic victories over the Premier County in recent years, those defeats must rankle. The performance indifference that existed in Tipperary between title winning years, put right when it mattered in All Ireland Finals against Kilkenny. So many laughed their way back across the border at Urlingford. It has to hurt.

Jibes about spectacular two-in-a-row failures are somewhat irrelevant in the Premier County. Tipperary can speak of three double-digit victories over Kilkenny in recent All Ireland Finals. Which would Cody prefer? the 2011 revenge game, the 2013 Nowlan Park victory and a raft of League Final wins? Or the three All Ireland titles won by Tipperary by a combined winning margin of 35 points. The fact that Kilkenny were not at full strength for 70 minutes in any of the three finals has never really received the media attention that it should have. Tipperary aren’t noted for grinding out victories from the claws of defeat, but can pedal downhill like no other. The hard-facts surrounding depletion and injury tend to get lost in the midst of scoring sprees.

An interesting feature of the high scoring Cody reign are the occasional low scoring tallies posted among some major defeats. Even in the midst of their greatest successes. There have been bad days at the office. Unusual and miniscule tallies such as 0-12 in the 1999 All Ireland Final, 1-13 in the 2001 Galway defeat, 0-9 in the 2004 All Ireland Final, 1-7 in the 2011 National League Final, 0-14 in the 2013 exit to Cork. Relatively speaking Kilkenny were in the midst of their peak for these games. The systems failure on the scoreboard never truly made sense, with the calibre of forward on the field. That said, there was always a rebound. Always. The problem nowadays is that the rebound has never really come. The inability to shake off Wexford manager Davy Fitz must be another source of concern. Davy Fitz and Tipperary. Not one nemesis but two. It has to hurt.

Undoubtedly, Cody is at a crossroads. Kilkenny hurlers have become synonymous with the RSVP magazine and less familiar with the steps of the Hogan Stand on All Ireland Final day. There was a time when life could move on without Brian McEvoy. However with the dearth of riches all too apparent these days, Cody is almost forced to accept the celebrity status culture he vetoed in the past. The match winning forwards are not there. The cap total of Ger Aylward and Liam Blanchfield is rising without any major impact on the scoreboard. With certainty, they would have struggled to get gametime with the 2008 team (quality subs remained rooted to the bench on the day of the 2008 final). Aylward’s 2015 season is by now a distant memory. The unexpected Cody selection bolters are not having the same effect either. The selections of Mark Bergin and Blanchfield for the 2016 replay against Waterford were of the left field variety, Billy Ryan in the 2018 Drawn Leinster Final also. These things may work once or twice and rarely beyond. Avoiding defeat on both occasions possibly lessening interest in greater scrutiny.

One might point at the reduction in scores from play from TJ Reid, but his ball winning and leadership often far outweigh what he contributes from play on the scoreboard. Colin Fennelly is a dog of war, but sometimes lacks the finesse to turn defeat into victory. Suggestions that Mickey Comerford is running the legs off them in training, draws inevitable comparisons to Clare training in 1995. Back to the future?

There are challenges in terms of management. There was a Covid-19 scare earlier in the summer emanating from his own James Stephens club. While linked to innocently sharing a car journey to the beach in Tramore, a public perception has emerged that ‘the lads’ were allegedly at a house party. Only contact tracing can establish the facts from the grapevine, but one assumes Cody knows the real story.

Partying may have been more disruptive in a regular season. Nevertheless, it would be unlike Cody to show tolerance. Remember a phonecall in the early 2010s to a player who had completed his Leaving Certificate. A long-term invite into training would be availed of the following night. Deciding to socialise was not his best choice. An ‘informed’ Cody apparently rang the following morning pronouncing that his services were not required after all. The inevitable shortened and split season for club and county, might give greater party time to players in summer conditions!

Of greater concern for Cody will be the propensity of his men to adapt to the publicity trail. TJ Reid has developed a celebrity profile, with Colin Fennelly and Cillian Buckley featuring in the RSVP magazine of late. It is not the Kilkenny way. The Kilkenny people generally prefer the low profile, away from the limelight. It is difficult to imagine Cody being anything other than unsettled by such developments. The tough love that preceded the departure of Charlie Carter and Brian McEvoy would not appear to be an option. Some of the current players appear more willing to test the boundaries in a manner in which previous generations feared. And fear they did.

Dublin are on the victory road under Mattie Kenny, offering youth a fling. Laois spectating rather than participating. The elder lemons didn’t cross the line against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park last year, or in Parnell Park a year earlier. The young legs disposed of Laois in clinical fashion. It is make or break time for this Dublin team. Kilkenny cannot be off colour. Team selection will be interesting. Five years since an All-Ireland title. Four years since the Bob O’Keeffe. Truly famine times. Kilkenny have made fools of writers in the past, but never in the midst of such barren times. The failure to extract established Kilkenny lynchpins from the dominance of St Kieran’s College remains a mystery.

Under a pseudonym back in the early 2000’s, a well-known scribe penned a tale regarding a female from Golden, Co. Tipperary. On a night in Galway, a request was made of her to wear a Tipperary jersey during some nocturnal activity. That “she didn’t demur” suggests that Kilkenny had their way on that particular evening.

It may not be so simple in 2020

23/10/2020 - The Legend that Is Buff Egan

On New Year’s Eve 1999, as the year 2000 dawned, the nation went to sleep fearing that their computer hardware would self-implode. The paranoia surrounding it, the year 1999 would revert to 1900 and thereby creating meltdown. The Intel share price possibly sky-rocketed as the demand for chips increased. There was no meltdown. A marketing ploy at best. How innocent were the people.

Technology has moved on. In 2020 we are a far cry from those days. As we sip on our sofa and lament the lost weeks, the Hurling Banter Page has given us some solace, albeit minus the one key ingredient, live footage of hurling games. They return to TV, but Buff Egan remains in limbo.

Born in Co. Clare, Buff Egan was raised on the family farm in Kilgarvan Co. Kerry. Played a bit of Junior Hurling, known for his excellence on frees, a troublesome knee injury finished his career. Following all great retirements, comes a greater career. Reinvention the creator of all inventions.

Buff started a Facebook information page in 2010. Highly successful and informative, he branched into the world of Snapchat in or around 2016. This proved to be an innovative evolution. Through a simple, yet effective platform, he began to broadcast clips from GAA games.

Soon 2016 became 2017, morphed into 2018, on to 2019 and now 2020. The collection of games grew, his audience grew and eventually he has reached a stage where those who do not know Buff Egan are not tuned into the world of GAA on social media. Instantly recognisable and approachable he has achieved a greater level of fame than many stars.

But like us all, the coronavirus has curtailed the activities of Buff. When something good is gone, it is only then you miss it. His snapchats of live action, professional and passionate commentaries, match previews and reviews were second-to-none. There is a wide appreciation for Buff.

He has his critics online, but inevitably as with all walks of life, such critics are riddled internally with insecurities. The man so bothered by Buff, to necessitate posting negatively about him, has much deeper problems than Buff. We are not all likeminded. Buff has been a breath of fresh air in the GAA world.

We look forward to 2021 with hope, and when we cannot be there, Buff will bring us there.