A little like the budget, the proposal for a new Leinster SHC structure appears to offer something for everybody.
Former GAA president Nickey Brennan is chair of the work group that devised the model and the Kilkenny man cut a genuinely excited figure at the launch of the proposal. Players, officials, supporters and, in particular, improving tier two counties; Brennan’s belief is that they will all see significant merit in the recommendation which gained Leinster Council approval on Tuesday evening.
There is still the hurdle of Congress to be navigated, but a green light there would see the existing six-team round-robin format binned in favour of two new groups of four.
Group A would comprise the top four teams from the previous season, while Group B would be made up of the fifth and sixth teams from the previous season, along with the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.
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The new format wouldn’t kick in until 2028, although the 2027 championships would be used to determine starting positions, lending extra importance to next season’s results.
With Leinster quarter-finals and semi-finals included, as well as a playoff – between the two beaten semi-finalists – for an All-Ireland quarter-final place, the eastern championship could suddenly be loaded with fresh possibility and intrigue.
“I am excited, absolutely, I think it’s a new development for Leinster,” enthused Brennan, a former manager of the Kilkenny senior hurlers.
For supporters, his feeling is that it would be an enhanced product and he used the word jeopardy on several occasions.
“We have one knock-out game in Leinster at the moment – we’re now adding two Leinster quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a final and a third place playoff,” said Brennan. “So we’re now adding six what you could call knock-out games where there’s only one at the moment.”
Not all of those teams would be entirely eliminated, of course, but the feeling of the eight-man work group is that it would add a layer of unpredictability to proceedings.
“That’s real jeopardy,” said Brennan. “And we feel that in terms of supporters, they’ll be excited about that. Because there’s nothing certain, in terms of results.
“We also don’t know who the pairings might be in the semi-finals until we finish the quarter-finals. So there’ll be a draw there. There are all sorts of possibilities here.
“We do feel this will excite patrons, the amount of knock-out games. Because look, if you make it to a quarter-final and you lose it, that’s your year gone. And that has the potential to be what we might call a strong county at the moment.”
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For the existing tier one counties, they will be part of an attractive Group A that stacks up well against the blockbuster five-team Munster round-robin.
Brennan was quick to state that Leinster’s Group B teams would be afforded the same respect as their Group A counterparts and, where possible, equal billing.
“I’d like to think they’d get decent coverage and decent respect,” he said, pointing to the possibility of Group A and Group B double-headers. “We know that some of these games may not equate to some of the big games in Munster, but I think that’s a narrow focus to be looking at it just like that.”
Further down hurling’s food chain, the threat of immediate relegation for teams promoted from the Joe McDonagh Cup, such as Kildare, who were highly competitive last summer before ultimately dropping back down to tier two, will be removed.
“I know Brian Dowling is particularly delighted about this,” said Brennan of the Kildare manager.
For county and provincial officials, the new format carries a similar overall fixture footprint and guarantees a number of revenue-spinning games. Brennan is also confident that the format would prepare teams well for the All-Ireland series.
“That’s the hope anyway, because I totally accept that based on the 2026 All-Ireland quarter-finals, it was a no-show by Leinster teams, there’s no point in us saying otherwise,” said Brennan.
“Dublin and Offaly just didn’t fire on those particular days. Hopefully the extra bit of competition that’s built in here around the knock-out stages will put teams in a better shape going forward to take on their Munster counterparts.”
Brennan acknowledged potential issues further down the line should New York reach the Joe McDonagh Cup competition. After winning the Lory Meagher and Nickey Rackard Cup competitions, the Exiles will play in the Christy Ring Cup in 2027. He also said Kerry potentially reaching a McDonagh Cup final – the two finalists would be included in the following season’s Leinster SHC – would be problematic.
“There’s ways around this, but it would be remiss of me not to mention it,” said Brennan of the New York and Kerry situations.
National head of hurling Willie Maher described it as a “very, very clear and simple championship” format.
“It allows for sustainable competition over time, that we don’t have that yo-yoing effect of, for example, Kildare going down after a gallant effort this year,” said Maher.
