Maidin mhaith hurling nation, aon scéal?
The hurling championship gets some room to breathe this week.
The GAA schedule has two provincial football finals and the start of the Tailteann Cup, which if you haven't heard of it, is a sort of Gaelic football Grand National for disappointed also-rans.
This means that we’ve one big hurling game at tea-time on Saturday and available for viewing, you know where.
Say what you like but it beats having three hurling championship matches throwing-in within the space of three hours on a Saturday evening – something the rushed calendar has given us.
Waterford versus Clare on the sacred turf of Semple Stadium. It’s a game you’d buy a ticket for just to watch Davy Fitz and Brian Lohan stalking and eyeballing each other up and down the sideline.
But it’s more than that.
Davy has brought a booster along in his first season with teams wherever he’s gone but so far this summer Waterford seem to be immune from the short, sharp shocks. They’ve looked as flat as they did last summer.
After two straight losses, this is a game they have to win.
Pros and cons for Waterford? Overnight Austin Gleeson has been named to start and their defence has given up just one green flag so far, but their forward line is the only one in the competition yet to raise one.
What about Clare? They inflicted a few wounds on themselves in the first day against Tipperary but they hurled like demons for the 70 minutes plus when they needed to slay Limerick.
Clare’s trouble in the recent past has been stitching good performances together.
Davy Fitz will be looking at the Clare defence which has offered up seven goals so far and will be asking his forwards for a bit more.
It’s hard to believe that Waterford have lost five Munster finals since they last won one. Hurling can’t afford for the Déise to fall away, but it’s hard to see the revival starting tomorrow.
Now we have some space we can mention the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard, Lory Meagher and Joe McDonagh Cup all proceeding this weekend with a slew of games, mainly on Saturday.
There are big fixtures in the Joe McDonagh Cup in the top and bottom of the table going into the final round.
Unbeaten Offaly play Carlow who are two points behind them and at the bottom, Kildare and Down play at Hawkfield and they’re both looking for their first points of the campaign.
So good luck citizens and keep beating the hurling bodhrán with no apologies. This is hurling, this is 2,000 years of tradition handing down from generation to generation.
It's older than the samurai, older than the soccer, the rugby, the Super Bowl, it’s older than whatever you’re having this morning.
It’s not just any sport, it’s Skellig Michael, it’s the Cliffs of Moher, it’s the Giant’s Causeway, it’s Glendalough, it’s the Book of Kells but with better stories.
It needs ring-fencing, proper financing and proper marketing, it needs protecting and preserving.
As they say, you can’t make soup out of promises and from lip services to streaming services, the game has had enough of promises.
Dónal Óg Cusack was speaking on Morning Ireland.
Follow Dublin v Louth and Armagh v Derry via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport. Highlights on The Sunday Game, from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Follow Waterford v Clare via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport or watch highlights on The Saturday Game, from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
