IN ALL FAIRNESS - Divisional championships need period for itself

IN ALL FAIRNESS

 

Where now is the future of the divisional senior and intermediate hurling championships following last Sunday's damp squib of a North Senior Final.

There is no doubt that the importance of the divisional championships has waned in recent years with the group stages of the county championship and it will only grow in the years to come in my opinion.

Last Sunday there was a cup on offer in Nenagh for Kiladangan and Borris-Ileigh to go after but it was secondary to ensuring both sides didn't pick any serious injuries ahead of the county quarter finals in two weeks time.

To clubs like Templederry and Burgess who have never won a North senior title and would bite your hand off to win a North senior title, the approach of both clubs would appear like sacrilege. Both sides went out to try their best to win and will inhibited by playing five weeks in a row, the bite you would usually associate with a final was not there.

Hurling fans knew it too with one of the smallest attendances for a North Final probably ever. Ok, there were divisional finals taking place in the Mid and West at the same time but that wouldn't have drawn too many more to MacDonagh Park.

For clubs like Kiladangan and Borris-Ileigh who have won North titles in recent years, the next step is winning a county title, which should always be the target for any club in the grade they are in. Last year, a North senior title was a big deal for Kilruane MacDonaghs as they hadn't won it since 1990, this year it didn't matter as much as there is always the next target which for them in winning a first county senior title since 1985.

For the three clubs I have mentioned, a North title is still imporant but not when it is played in the middle of a county championship campaign. Would another West title have been as important for Clonoulty/Rossmore last Sunday if they didn't have to win it to get back into the county championship? I seriously doubt it. It was a means to an end for them this year.

So what do you do going forward? I like the fact that the divisions still contain a fall-back for clubs like Clonoulty and Upperchurch who needed to win them after failing to progress from their county championship groups, with those finals containing an extra edge unlike the North Final where you had two teams that already had their tickets booked for the county quarter finals.

The one problem the North Championship does have with 13 teams in it at the moment is there aren't 13 teams capable of winning it in one season. Would a secondary divisional championship for Seamus O Riain level teams such as Newport, Lorrha, Silvermines etc...be such a bad idea for them to have a chance at winning until such time they are strong enough to compete for the Frank McGrath Cup in its own right and a county title as a whole.

The best way of securing the integrity of the divisional championships going forward will be to play them in April solely, and leave the group stages of the county championship until after the inter-county season is over. It means one competition can be focused on without being affected by the other and not potential leave a club with nothing to play for if they lose a match in both competitions in April.

It's a suggestion the County Board ruled out last year as it would secure the long term future of the divisional link which many tasked with running our county affairs want to do away with to create a more streamlined championship similar to every other county in the country.

Whether you can play four rounds of North Championship hurling up to a final in April is unlikely but if you got three played and be down to at least a final that would be a good start as a final can be slotted in later in the year as Tipp won't be getting to an All Ireland final every year which would then open up August for more games.

The county management will say more games in April is taxing on players but if, for example, Borris-Ileigh drew Lorrha in the first round next year, either Brian Hogan, Patrick Maher, Dan McCormack and Brendan Maher would be gone after one game. Two players would have to play a second or maybe a third game but would that be any different than those players playing a taxing training game in Dr Morris Park or Semple Stadium.

You would think after Tipperary's success this year that a little lee-way might be provided to allow one extra weekend of games to be played next year in April which all clubs would appreciate and keep them onside and it would be great if Tipperary could lead the way on this issue from where other counties would follow.