Dónal Óg Cusack and Joe Canning are in agreement that the current relegation scenario in the Leinster championship does little to raise hurling standards across the board.
Carlow's victory in the Joe McDonagh Cup means they are promoted to Leinster next season, with Westmeath dropping down after a season, despite last week’s memorable victory over Wexford.
Defeat to Antrim, coupled with Kilkenny’s loss at Wexford Park means that Westmeath drop out.
With the second tier counties in hurling struggling to make serious inroads on the established sides, the panel feel that the current system doesn’t allow the chasing pack time to get used to the step-up in class.
"You really need to be playing at that top level to improve as much as possible," Cusack said, speaking on the Sunday Game.
"Guaranteed, all of those players (Westmeath) want to be putting themselves up against the best players.
"I actually don’t know what the solution is. Do you need to give a team like that a break, so that if a team comes up, it’s not a yo-yo situation?
"Carlow are coming up now after a fine victory yesterday. If they are only up for a year and go back down again, is that really developing teams?
"It’s a hard one to figure out."
Is relegation serving to improve standards in All-Ireland hurling? With Westmeath now heading back down to the Joe McDonagh Cup, Dónal Óg Cusack believes that the GAA need to support teams that drop down. #SundayGame #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/KEiZw6Tzsx
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 28, 2023
As challenging as it is for promoted sides, Munster has come under more scrutiny for the lack of relegation/promotion.
Former Galway player Canning said that Westmeath’s shock win over Wexford may have counted against them in losing to the Saffrons.
"It’s really hard to come up one year and go down the next year. There is no progression with that," he said.
"Westmeath winning last week against Wexford, for all the goodness it done, might have just taken their eye just a small bit."
Cusack concluded by calling on the association to help raise standards for tier two counties.
"We need as many teams playing at the top level as possible. Westmeath have shown enough. Whoever is in control in Croke Park should be giving them whatever they need to keep them going."
