Congress is done for another year. We have a new president-elect in Jarlath Burns and if the speeches he has made, the interviews he has done, and passion he always shows when speaking of the GAA are anything to go by, we are going to have one serious operator at the head of our organisation. Ádh mór ort Jarlath.
So what has Congress served up in terms of the hurling world?
Different motions passed, including Motion 58 – don't touch those goal posts or it’s a score (Seanie O’Shea rule).
Motion 57 – unless you’re involved in the throw-in stay outside the 45 – I think refs here need to have a look at and review what they deem to be a throw-in because right now it is loose at best.
Motion 37 – central council now has authority to set and vary standards of hurleys – hide those big básses outfield players.
Motion 10 – delighted to see this as will many under-20 managers – allowing the top under-20 players to play at their own age group was a no-brainer, with the stipulation of not being allowed play twice in seven days. Please don’t mess this one up, fixtures people and force the hand of the senior or under-20 management. I am a firm believer of the age old saying 'if they are good enough they are old enough'. No burnout here – just let the players play the games and not train 47 times in a week, that’s where the burnout occurs (slight Fr Dougal "I’m no good at judging the size of crowds" exaggeration there).
The most eye-catching of them all is Motion 19 – this will certainly catch the attention for Kerry hurling folk. The carrot of winning the Joe McDonagh and getting promoted to the Munster Championship – the group of death in hurling terms. No play-off like before, straight into the Munster SHC. Proper order. If you win there has to be incentives and perks, no more so than if you lose there needs to be repercussions.
Now that’s a massive 'if' and Stephen Molumphy won’t bring this up at every opportunity, they will focus on a game-by-game philosophy, but the players will know and what a motivation it would be when needed and it will be needed as Kerry are aiming to reach their fourth final in a row.
Right now if you were to pick the top five teams in the country, four if not five would be from Munster. No offence to the Leinster people, just facts. Yes, Galway and Kilkenny were in the last four and Kilkenny in the final last year, but Leinster is a much easier nut to crack right now than Munster.
So in terms of development, which we see working so well in the football side of the house, this would be an ideal scenario for the hurling heads to do the same. How you ask?
A sixth team in the Munster Championship would mean all the teams play the same weeks, all teams rest the same weeks. Ideal. My thinking, in terms of game development is this – allow Kerry an extra home game and no relegation in the first year. What better way to promote the game in Kerry than to have the best in the country coming to Tralee or Killarney three times during the summer.
Picture this – the streets of Tralee thronged with fans, the sun shining, a carnival-like atmosphere everywhere, and it’s not even the Rose Festival. Instead of Americans fighting for the next jaunting cart around the national park, it’s a crowd from Tipp or Limerick.
On a serious note, imagine the buzz and the interest levels this would generate and the hurling folk of Kerry, especially that stronghold of north Kerry having their game being the limelight in the Kingdom for a change.
No relegation in year one. This allows time to develop, time to make mistakes and learn from them – fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Allow players from Kerry to stand hip to hip with the Limerick giants of Hayes and Hegarty and realise, "Hey, I thought I was training hard and hitting the gym hard, this is what top level fitness looks like".
Allow management the chance to see the speed of the top flight, the movement of these players at ground level and how ruthless they can be. Allow them a chance to learn and adapt and go back to their county boards and say now were at the top table we need the support to help us stay there and become competitive there.
We need to spread the spotlight of hurling. It's certainly evident when we see the Sligo champions, Easkey running Ballygiblin of Cork close in the All-Ireland junior final and Mayo's Tooreen nearly beating Monaleen of Limerick in the intermediate decider
These are ifs and buts, and I’ve no doubt the likes of Laois, Carlow and Offaly are all licking their lips at the thought of stopping this dream for Kerry.
We need to spread the spotlight of hurling. It's certainly evident when we see the Sligo champions, Easkey running Ballygiblin of Cork close in the All-Ireland junior final and Mayo's Tooreen nearly beating Monaleen of Limerick in the intermediate decider that hurling is alive and very well in these counties, so it’s about tapping into that success and further growing the game and its appeal in these places.
So as we look forward to the next round of games in the hurling league, the roadmap of the GAA world for the near future has been set out in Congress and, in my opinion, a lot of right calls were made.
I’m still a believer in the old age groups, namely under-18 and under-21, but that’s another debate for another day.
But this week, in my Netflix time at home, once the three kids and the labrador have settled down for the night, I am drawn to another sporting love of mine, golf. Watching the behind-the-scenes docuseries 'Full Swing' and I’m watching this going, 'please Netflix and the GAA', please do something like this soon with a team or teams, it’s been too long since 'A Year Til Sunday' and the GAA world is crying out for this – just a thought, but you never know – watch this space GAA heads.
