The Munster Championship is so good, it could be bad – for teams, not spectators.
There's an age old saying, 'too much of a good thing is a bad thing'. In regards to the Munster Championship, could this be true for the groups of players involved in these weekly titanic battles in the long run?
As spectators, we are being spoilt and we love it, with these exhibitions of speed, skill and passion from all involved.
Epic clashes in the Gaelic Grounds, in the Páirc and in Thurles, and it’s not done yet, not by a long shot.
The mathematical possibility of Limerick being out after three games is something nobody would have even thought about but now has become a reality, should Clare beat Waterford, then Cork beat Clare, and Tipp beat Limerick in two weeks' time. Lots of ifs and buts there and a lot of hurling to take pace beforehand, but nonetheless, a possibility.
I’m just wondering with all these brilliant spectacles, at what cost will it come to those teams who eventually make it out, especially those who come third or lose in the Munster final and for who the rest period before the All-Ireland series is shortened.
If you come third in Munster, you will have done very well to get to the preliminary quarter-final where you will get a well-deserved three-week break before playing the runner-up of the Joe McDonagh. But then it’s week-on-week again and you play, for me, a much fresher Leinster final runner-up in Kilkenny or Galway in the quarter-final the following week.
Not asking for any small fiddle here but just stating the facts, the Munster Championship is brilliant but by god is it tough going on the players involved and, in the long run, could the wear and tear of the effort involved to just get out of it be detrimental to a team’s hope of lifting Liam MacCarthy?
Leinster hurling people are probably looking at us in Munster like 'will ye give it a rest over there, you know we play hurling here too', and they do, but the championship is nowhere near the intensity of Munster and hurling people in Leinster are doing their talking with their feet at present, with brutal attendances at the games. I mean the showcase game in Nowlan Park between Kilkenny and Galway only had 12,000 there.
For me, this is a clear indication that Leinster's top two don't need to be anywhere near full tilt until Leinster final stage at the earliest, whereas in Munster you’ve nearly given it all just to make it that far.
The battle for third should be interesting, with the Dubs' last two games against Kilkenny and Galway, and them sitting on five points.
Wexford will beat Westmeath in two weeks' time and then they have to produce their performance of the year to overturn Kilkenny in Wexford and hope the Dubs get nothing from their two games.
Stranger things have happened and if it’s coming down to that last game in Wexford Park and the Wexicans show up in their droves, what an atmosphere that will create for Darragh Egan and his troops.
Maybe Kilkenny might be sound and let them win as they’ll most likely be qualified at that stage anyway - ya right - I’d say more of a chance of Trump togging out for the Doonbeg senior footballers next time he’s back over.
Let's put stats and figures on it. The average winning margin in Leinster is 11 points, average winning margin in Munster is three points and that would be one point, only for Waterford not bothering to lay a glove on Cork two weeks ago.
One team in Leinster is getting beaten by so much they’re not counting the score difference for those games.
It’s like in primary school hurling, whereby you play an additional 10 minutes of a fun game just to give everyone a run. That’s what these particular games have become in Leinster now. So that allows an almost down week for groups even though they have a game to play.
As sure as the Pope is Catholic, it will be Galway and Kilkenny in the Leinster final. You couldn't dream of picking the Munster finalists right now.
My point is this – Munster is savage but it's going to take its toll on the players involved and there is a clear and distinct advantage there for those coming out of Leinster if they are good enough to take it.
Leinster have two teams this year who can seriously challenge for All-Ireland honours. Munster has four this year but one will be gone in three weeks and the Joe McDonagh final teams and the third team in Leinster will still be left in the championship.
This is something that really needs to be looked at. A team ranked as top five in the country is gone and teams ranked eighth, ninth and 10th still going doesn’t make much sense to this writer. All debate from the good people of Leinster is welcome, but can you really say I’m wrong here?
What's the solution? I want jam on both sides here and it's probably not feasible but keep the provincial finals if at all possible because what days they are. As a fan and having played in them, the Munster final is second only to the All-Ireland final, but I’d be all for the two groups all-in approach for the All-Ireland series.
Made up of the top 10 teams – two groups of five – top two out from both groups, first place into an All-Ireland semi-final and second place into a quarter-final. Teams get home, away and neutral venue games. The rankings are based on where teams finish in the championship in 2023. Bottom team from each group faces a relegation battle.
So, in alphabetical order, it would potentially look like this: Antrim, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford.
How and where to fit the provincial championships into this is a conundrum, but perhaps making it a straight knockout could help and let the incentive of winning your province be a place in an All-Ireland quarter-final, should you not qualify as one of the top two from your group of five.
If there's an overlap here with provincial champions and the top two, well then there’s no need for quarter-finals and we just have our All-Ireland semi-finals made up of the four teams who have finished first and second in their groups.
This isn't without its flaws and perhaps they are glaringly obvious, but an idea all the same rather than another problem.
The Munster Championship is all that is good in hurling and sport but I’m just looking at it here in terms of the effect it could have on players and panels in the overall bigger picture, which of course is the lifting of the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
As I write this, I get excited at the thoughts of what is coming in two weeks’ time in Thurles and Ennis – the stands already sold out for Tipp v Limerick and Ennis thronged again.
We are very lucky to have these games and these players.
But can we keep asking them to lay it all on the line and play an All-Ireland four times before even qualifying for an All-Ireland series?
