O Riain Cup rebranded as Premier Intermediate for 2022

By Shane Brophy

The winners of the Seamus O Riain Cup will represent Tipperary in the Munster Intermediate Club Championship from 2022 following a decision made at the November County Board meeting held in Thurles last night.

Delegates voted narrowly in favour, 43 to 41, to rename the O Riain Cup competition, the Premier Intermediate Championship, which is required under the Munster bye-laws to allow Tipperary’s second tier championship winners to compete in the competition, in place of the existing intermediate champions, who for the moment, will have no further avenue of advancement after a county final, although this years champions Moyne-Templetuohy or Kilsheelan/Kilcash will represent the county this year.

County chairman Joe Kennedy proposed the motion for change on behalf of the county management committee who felt Tipperary teams would have a better chance in Munster if their 17th team were to represent the county, rather than the 33rd as currently is, compared against Cork who enter their 25, Limerick, Clare and Waterford their 13th and Kerry their senior champions.

He argued that changing the title to Premier Intermediate isn’t relegating teams as teams have slotted into their respective grade of sixteen teams in Dan Breen, Seamus O Riain or intermediate, since 2013, via promotion and relegation and clubs have found their level.

Carrick Swans Sean O’Shea spoke against the motion saying premier intermediate was just a branding exercise and that sixteen clubs not being classed as senior anymore would cause great damage. “Relegating sixteen clubs so one can compete in the Munster Intermediate Championship is a betrayal to those clubs and should remain so.”

Cumann na mBunscol’s Jerry McDonnell agreed that a club like St Mary’s has worked hard to get to senior and the status of hurling in Clonmel has never been higher, and that teams should gain and lose their status on the field, rather than in the board-room

He added that the O Riain Cup should remain a senior hurling competition, however, Joe Kennedy said it cannot as it contravenes a Congress decision made last February where a championship can only have a maximum of sixteen teams, and currently the link between the Dan Breen and Seamus O Riain competitions through the divisional link is a 32-team championship. A decision at the August county board meeting saw that link altered whereby new divisional championships at O Riain Cup level are to be created whereby the link can remain to the county championships, however, if a division retains a joint senior championship between senior and O Riain level teams as has been the case, there can be no link to the county championship, via a preliminary quarter final.

Sean O’Shea argued that under GAA rule 3.63 (B) that Tipperary County Board could apply to Croke Park for deviation from the sixteen team limit it if it were for the betterment of the association, but Joe Kennedy confirmed that on advice from the rules advisory committee at Croke Park that it wouldn’t apply in this case, with the Swan delegate asking for written confirmation of that advice, which the county chairman agreed to.

Michael McCarthy of Cappawhite argued why the Dublin senior ‘B’ champions could play in the Leinster intermediate championship so why not the O Riain champions, without changing the status or name, however, Joe Kennedy said that Munster bye-laws are different to Leinster and that the name ‘intermediate’ has to be in the competition title to enter. He added that it could be changed if a proposal went to Munster Convention to do so.

Age Grades

Another major change made at the meeting was the ending of the under 21 hurling and football championship after this year. Delegates voted 46-36 in favour of retaining just one of the grades at under 19 and 21, with a subsequent vote taking place with the under 19 grade chosen to continue going forward.

Proposing the motion, county chairman Joe Kennedy said there were difficulties playing both under 19 and 21 grades this year as they cut across all adult competitions as well, citing the fact that the 2021 under 21 hurling championships only started last weekend and the under 21 football hasn’t been scheduled yet. He added that it wasn’t about destroying competitions or clubs, but it would be better having one good competition at under 19 with regular games, played in the summer months

Cappawhite’s Michael McCarthy rejected the motion citing the success of this years new under 19 championship and those players aged twenty and twenty-one would miss out on games, however, Joe Kennedy responded that those players will largely be playing some level of adult hurling from senior to junior C.

Derek Williams from Clonmel Commercials spoke in favour of removing one grade saying some of the same players are playing under 17, 19 & 21 grades as it is and they are being “flogged”, with the latter two ages also able to play on adult teams as well.

Following the vote to go with just one grade, a separate debate began over which age it should be, with no one in favour of retaining under 21. Football Board chairman Conor O’Dwyer said under 19 had a better chance of being successful as you would have fewer players cutting across adult grades, while it was suggested the under 19 grade be played on a league/championship format between April and the autumn, with clubs playing the league section without county minor and under 20 players in the first half of the year, before playing off the championship when the inter-county season is over.

Following a show of hands, the under 19 grade was voted in strongly ahead of an under 20 grade.

Championship seeding

From 2023, seeding for the draws for the group stages of the county championships, in both hurling and football, will be determined on how far teams get in the championship the previous year. The four semi-finalists will be top seeds, with the four defeated quarter finalists as the second seeds. Previously, seeding was based on how the groups finished which is how it will remain for the third and fourth seeds.

It won’t come into force for 2022 as this year’s championship was played on the basis of group placings as seedings, meaning despite reaching the county senior hurling and football finals, Loughmore/Castleiney will be second seeds in both draws next year as they finished second in both their groups.

County Leagues

Next years County Leagues in both hurling and football will be twelve-team competitions, divided into two groups of six, with each club guaranteed five games, with semi-finals, finals, promotion, and relegation.

The County CCC argued that the only eight-team groups from 2019 were too big and the closer teams got to championships, the more walkovers were given. With the All-Ireland Hurling final on July 12th next year, most county championships will be starting by the beginning of July and playing leagues in their current format from March to mid-June would be close to the start of championships.

Ballina’s Ger McKeogh argued that the old eight-team groups worked well as each team got seven matches and that reducing the number of guaranteed games from seven to three, would mean a club only gets a minimum seven games between league and championship in the year.

Kiladangan’s Michael Quigley proposed an amendment to split the difference and have two groups of six in each division, guaranteeing five games, which was passed.

Tom Cusack Cup

An amendment to the Tom Cusack Cup in senior football was passed whereby the quarter finals would see the teams that finish third in the groups drawn against one another with the winners progressing to the semi-finals. The bottom placed teams in the groups would also be drawn against one another with the winners progressing to the semi-finals and the losers going into the relegation final. It removes the anomaly whereby a team that finishes third in their group could end up being relegated.

Junior Hurling and Football

Quarter finals will return in the junior ‘A’ hurling championship, after they were removed for the past two years due to the Covid impacted schedule, meaning the losing divisional finalists will join the winners in the last eight.

It will be the same for football as the group stage format in Junior ‘A’ and ‘B’ won’t be returning, instead reverting to the divisions whereby in Junior ‘A’, both finalists progress to the county quarter finals, while in junior ‘B’ just the divisional winners progress to the county seniors.