New hurling battle lines drawn

GAELIC GAMES/News: Full details of the complete overhaul of the senior hurling championship were announced in Croke Park yesterday, including the formal unveiling of the new Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard competitions.

With only 12 counties now set to compete for the Liam McCarthy Cup, it is envisaged that the new second and third tier championships will help revive hurling outside the few remaining strongholds.

The 12 counties that will compete for the senior All-Ireland championship were initially drawn from division one of this year's National Hurling League - Galway, Dublin, Laois, Kilkenny, Offaly, Wexford, Clare, Waterford, Limerick, Cork, Tipperary and Antrim.

The main purpose of yesterday's announcement was to highlight the advantages of the new Tier Two and Tier Three championships, which will be played off for the Christy Ring Cup and the Nicky Rackard Cup, respectively.

There will be 10 teams competing in the Tier One championship - Roscommon, Mayo, Westmeath, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Carlow, Down, Derry and Kerry.

Two groups of five teams will be drawn and each team will play four games at the group stages. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final on August 14th. That game will be the curtain raiser to the first All Ireland senior hurling semi-final.

Another 11 teams will make up the Tier Two championship - Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh, Louth, Longford and London. Those teams will be divided into three groups (two groups of four teams and one group of three).

The runners-up of the two groups of four will meet in a quarter-final, with the winners of this game joining the three group winners in the semi-finals.

The final of the Rackard Cup will be played in Croke Park on August 21st. The four counties in the Tier One qualifier competition that do not qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-finals shall play a series of relegation games. The losing team in the relegation final shall be relegated to Tier Two, and Tier Two Champions shall be promoted to Tier One.

It was confirmed that Warwickshire had applied to be included in the new competition, and that a decision in that regard would be made shortly.

It was also announced that a team of the championship would be picked in each competition, along similar lines to the current All Stars scheme, and that the new competitions will run for a trial period of two years.

GAA president Seán Kelly hoped that the two great legends of hurling - Cork's Ring and Wexford's Rackard - would "inspire a new generation of hurlers from the traditionally less successful counties".

Yet the generally fragile state of hurling throughout the country has already been highlighted at several county conventions. Dublin secretary John Costello was particularly anxious about the current plight of hurling in his report to be delivered to next Monday's county convention, and was somewhat sceptical about this overhaul to the championship.

"We can re-shape the championships all we like," he said, "but unless we re-shape our thinking on hurling, the game will be in serious trouble in all but a few counties in a relatively short space of time. And however much they like to win All-Ireland titles, it won't mean a whole lot to the strong minority unless there is meaningful competition across a much wider range of counties."

Costello added that the GAA has failed to nurture hurling, and the new championship tiers merely highlight that: "However interesting and innovative they may be, the fact remains that only 12 counties will compete for the McCarthy Cup.

"Isn't it sad that a full 120 years after the foundation of our association only 12 of 32 counties are deemed sufficiently strong to compete for hurling's first prize?

Kerry chairman Seán Walsh was a little more welcoming of the new championship format in his address to the county convention, although he too highlighted the problems facing the weaker hurling counties.

"For the coming year our senior team are in a championship that reflects their standing," said Walsh. "The restructured championship suits Kerry, as they will play teams of their own standard. With proper preparation and commitment, reaching the final of this competition would not be out of reach for the team.

"The success of the team will not depend on the management team to be appointed shortly but on the attitude to the players to the team and the competition.

"I have constantly said over the past number of years that Kerry hurling will only be successful if all the players of intercounty standard make themselves available for the county team.

"Until there is a change of mindset by the unwilling players to give the commitment to the county as they give to their clubs then this will not change."