IN ALL FAIRNESS - Nothing beats raw club fare
There’s a rawness about club championship fare that is the GAA at its best.
The hurling we saw last Sunday in Thurles might not be close to inter-county standard, but I’d argue it is more entertaining than some of the modern fare that is thrown up at the elite level which is almost robotic in how they go about things.
The spontaneity is gone out of it, whereas most of the club games, mistakes lead to more action and contests for possession. Last Sunday, we saw Kilruane’s Kieran Cahill pull on a ball in his own half back line, a rarity in the modern game. It might have gone straight out for a line-ball, but at that moment in time he thought it was the right thing to do, as it didn’t lead to a Kiladangan score.
There might have been just 6,600 or so at FBD Semple Stadium for last Sunday’s county hurling final double-bill but come the second half of the senior final, it sounded like the great old venue was packed for a Munster Final.
Sadly, gone are the days when county senior hurling final day got into five-digits in terms of attendance. It was the one date in the calendar when even if your club was not involved in the final, you felt you had to be there to see the crowning of the best adult hurling team in Tipperary.
Why is that? Certainly, the Tipperary championship has been at its most competitive since the 1970’s & 80’s with five different champions in as many years and it could be six if Kilruane win the replay. However, there are no real rivalries among the leading clubs to get you gripped with.
The Kerry county hurling final gets bigger crowds than Tipperary, which makes little sense you would think, but for the fact the senior clubs in the Kingdom all come from a small pocket between Tralee and Listowel where you can’t but be a rival of the other.
We are also very loyal to our divisions and unless a team from your division is involved, you are unlikely to head along as a neutral to sit back and enjoy a game.
There’s no doubting cost is a factor in these financially harder times but I’d argue that a double-header of hurling games at this time of the year at Semple Stadium is as good a value for money as you will get anywhere. Look at the prices charged for Munster rugby games at they get twelve home games a season.I don’t buy the argument that they are a professional entity and need the money whereas the GAA are amateur. What are we to do then so, let all GAA games be free entry in that case. That really isn’t dealing with reality, as it is from these club games where the income is generated largely for the preparation of Tipperary teams at all ages from under 14 to senior, hurling and football, in 2023.