Ciarán Murphy: I was wrong about the Tailteann Cup

A sportsperson’s motivations to compete are in the news this week. Anyone who watched Graeme McDowell’s shameful defence of his decision to join the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour might despair of ever again seeing a person in public life make a principled stand.

Thinking less and less of people in the public eye is probably the smart decision these days − it will lead to less disappointment down the line. But there are many sportspeople who will never have to choose between life-changing riches on the PGA Tour, and otherworldly riches on offer elsewhere.

Motivation has to be intrinsic for most of the sportspeople we get to watch week-in, week-out on this island – and that’s obviously not just the amateurs in the GAA. For most provincial rugby players, or Olympians, or League of Ireland footballers, the money is never good enough on its own to motivate oneself.

But a group of GAA players had to try and magic some motivation out of nothing this summer, and they’ve done it. I was not alone in thinking that, for the Tailteann Cup to be a success this summer, there would have to be dedicated TV coverage, marketing campaigns, money and sponsorship and all the rest.

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All of those things will be important as the competition looks to solidify its excellent start over the last four weeks.

But the plain fact of the matter was that I was wrong. And it’s important to say this before the live TV coverage kicks in, before we get a chance to see the teams play in Croke Park on Sunday week. Those things were supposed to be the carrot, but the players have emphatically put the lie to that already.

The GAA were starting this competition by trying to keep costs down for county boards − what message did that send out to players? But they refused to sulk about it

The mere provision of games in high summer against teams at their level was enough motivation for them to put their best foot forward. Their desperation for games, for just that one simple thing, was even more keenly felt than we realised.

The overwhelming, almost universally positive response from coaches and players has given the competition a future. They’ve been upbeat, they’ve been open-minded, and they’ve single-handedly made it work.

I felt at the start of April that without a coherent, vocal marketing push before the competition started, it could be dead on arrival.

Then when the first draw was made, and the teams were divided into northern and southern regions, many people’s worst fears were confirmed. The GAA were starting this competition by trying to keep costs down for county boards − what message did that send out to players? But they refused to sulk about it.

And looking ahead to the expanded format that will begin next year, all of those building blocks that were absent this year can be put in place, but from a position of strength. Instead of trying to create a positive outlook, they can build on the one put in place by the county panels over the last month.

The public will react to that too. For all that the tiered system in hurling has been a success, the reach of those competitions will always be limited. Other than Antrim, what other county in any of those competitions below the Liam MacCarthy Cup has a hurling team they prefer to their football team?

And that’s the key difference. Perhaps we’re all guilty at times of underestimating just what football means to counties like Leitrim and Longford and Cavan. Their intercounty football team is the light they shine out to the GAA world.

I wrote last autumn about what a thrilling occasion the Leitrim county final was, shown live on TG4. Their pride in showing their wares to the country that day was obvious. Here we are. Here is how much we care about this game.

Hammerings like the one they received last year on live television against Mayo, or this year against Galway, is not the sum-total of their contribution nationally to the GAA. It’s not even a fraction of it.

When they start training in January, they can see and feel, and remember, and dream of, summer days with a chance of silverware on offer

They lost the outstanding game of last weekend against Sligo, on penalties. The man-of-the-match in the Leitrim county final last year, Keith Beirne, was the star attraction again, even if it was once again in a losing effort.

It was genuinely devastating, but the feeling among Leitrim fans I spoke to this week was that they went out of the championship this year to Sligo, not to Galway. The atmosphere in Páirc Seán with 5,000 people on a lovely summer Sunday was light years away from a league game in February, which is usually the only time Leitrim play against teams at their level.

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The stench of that Galway game won’t hang over this team like a black cloud all winter. They have regrets about last Sunday, but it’s the regrets of a couple of refereeing decisions going against them, or minor mistakes here and there. It’s not the regret they might have felt leaving Salthill last month, when they would have been forgiven for regretting the idea of becoming an intercounty footballer in the first place.

When they start training in January, they can see and feel, and remember, and dream of, summer days with a chance of silverware on offer. That’s a gift they and their compatriots in Divisions Three and Four have given themselves through their efforts so far this summer, and it’s to their credit that it’s all the motivation they’ll need.