Club players not being catered for in Tipp - report
The vast majority of Tipperary clubs are not meeting national targets in terms of providing enough competitive games for players according to county fixtures analyst John Costigan in his report to Tipperary GAA Convention last week.
The former county board chairman revealed that the GAA nationally recommends that adult club players should be playing at least sixteen games in one code between league and championship spread over the course of the calendar year, increases to 25 games for clubs that play both hurling and football competitively.
In a related statistical overview compiled by former North Board secretary Gerard McKeogh from Ballina for convention, it revealed that on average in 2018, just 11 games of hurling and 6 games of football were provided for club adult first teams, a long way short of individual and collective targets.
In terms of hurling, Loughmore/Castleiney (19) and Nenagh Eire Og (16) were the only two senior clubs to reach the 16 game minimum in hurling in 2018. No senior club reached it in football although Moyne-Templetuohy's intermediates played 16 games over the past year, culminating in winning the county title.
In terms of dual clubs, it isn't surprising to see Loughmore/Castleiney as the dominant club in terms of playing competitive games in both hurling & football, league & championship in 2018 with 29 (19 hurling & 10 football).
Mid Tipp neighbours Moyne-Templetuohy are the next highest with 26 games (10 in hurling and 16 in football), the only two clubs to reach the 25 dual game mark, although Arravale Rovers did get to 24 in senior football and intermediate hurling.
In terms of the numbers in both hurling and football, clubs that reached the knockout stages of league and championships had their figures inflated to satisfactory game numbers but for those that didn't make quarter or semi-finals, it was a tough year in terms of guaranteed games.
The figures should also provide a huge cause of concern for clubs at the lower end of the scale with most shockingly Lorrha's senior hurlers only playing seven competitive league and championship games in 2018, all in hurling as they didn't field a football team.
Walkovers were not calculated in these figures with Lorrha as received one walkover in the county league but they conceded a game to Ballina in the Seamus O Riain Cup, meaning they could have played nine matches, but still well short of the sixteen games recommended.
Roscrea senior hurlers played just eight games while Ballina and Newport seniors as well as the intermediates of Moneygall and Shannon Rovers on nine games failed to reach double figures.
League & Championship games played by a clubs 1st Adult teams in 2018 - full breakdown in this weeks Nenagh Guardian