No easy solution to club v county time - Egan
By Shane Brophy
Tipperary senior hurling coach Darragh Egan has said there is no easy solution to balancing the time needed to prepare an inter-county team with more time for club championship games.
The round robin format to the senior hurling championship over the last two years has meant club championship games being played through the summer, in counties such as Tipperary, have become impossible with frustration among club players growing.
In 2018, club championship games were played up until three weeks before the start of the Munster Championship and it was argued that this played a part in Tipp's poor championship campaign.
This year, there was a four week build-up to the first round of the championship where Tipperary produced a superb performance in defeating Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, going onto win all of their round-robin games.
Egan revealed that last years schedule was well planned but that their plans for 2020 haven't been confirmed yet to possibly allow an extra club round in April, particularly as Tipperary have a three week game between the games against Clare and Limerick in the 2020 championship.
“It's not ideal,” admitted the Kiladangan clubman who helped his club reach the county intermediate hurling final this year where they fell to Sean Treacys
“I am extremely proud clubman. My own club Kiladangan is thriving at the moment and I want to see any many lads playing games. I am still hurling for the club myself and I want to play as many games as I possibly can, but for 2020 and the club aspect, we haven't sat down and spoken about it yet.
He added: “Our approach last year was a very calculated one in regards to the club games in April. We studied every club championship in every county and made a calculated decision on that. As it transpired, Dublin beat us in the league quarter final but these decisions are made November and December so you can't decide in March to play extra club games.
“As it transpired it stood us in good stead as when we went down to Cork for the first round of the championship it was the freshest and the sharpest we were over the course of the championship and that's what we need to keep in mind. It's May 10th next year to be ready for and how fresh our lads can be.”
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