Tipperary Chairman John Devane says he is determined to get games structures right

The Chairman of the Tipperary County GAA Board, John Devane has told delegates at the annual Convention this evening in The Dome at Semple Stadium, that he is determined to get the best possible championship structure in the county before he leaves office.
In a very wide ranging address to a packed venue, the Boherlahan Dualla man said that he is convinced that teams playing in a championship in which they are competitive is the only system which can be of benefit to all.
“There is no doubt our fixtures structure is seriously flawed. Maybe there is no simple solution to it but I'm convinced that with teams playing in a championship that they are competitive in, playing in a set format, we can get a system that will be of benefit to all. Now I hear a lot about the inter county scene taking over the prime summer months and leaving the clubs on the fringes, but ever before this new round robin format was even considered, we in Tipperary had a championship with too many teams playing an uneven and irregular number of games, leading to mismatches and mediocrity.

Tipperary GAA Board Chairman John Devane addresses Convention.

“If many clubs survived at senior or intermediate level, it was seen as ok. But it's not. We in Tipperary have fallen behind our competitors in many ways and if there's one motivation for me in my role it's to try and provide a proper structure to our competitions. I know that many people will not agree with my views and I can accept the will of the majority. But please, make the decisions based on fact and what is right, not what's best for me and my club right now. Or even worse, because this is the way we've always did it and it has served us well, when clearly it has not.
“I concur with the secretary of the CCC, Tom Maher, in his report in convention booklet. This county did not close down during the summer months. There were full rounds of county leagues played, not to mention many divisional games. In some people's eyes these games don't count -well they should. They are good competitive games. It is up to everyone to take them seriously,” he said.
However the chairman added a caveat - “Now, having said all that, we in Tipperary, or in fact many of the top hurling counties were not in favour of the new Inter county hurling format. There is no doubt there were excellent games attracting a new audience particularly on TV but it does hinder our club activity. I believe we should go back to June 1 start and restore the September final dates. This would provide a proper window in April and May for clubs and give sufficient time for inter county preparations,” he said.

Referring to the disappointment of the senior hurling and football teams, which ultimately led to the stepping down of Michael Ryan and his management team in the senior hurling grade, John Devane pointed to the u-21 hurling campaign as being the saving grace for The Premier County in 2018.

“If both our senior teams were disappointing, the U-21 hurlers were the story of the year. Preparations were thorough and beating reigning champions, Limerick in Thurles in mid June was a welcome tonic after our seniors exit. This put us in the Munster final against Cork in early July in their own backyard. The weather was scorching and we got scorched by a side containing many members of their senior team that had won the Munster final the previous Sunday. Under a new system introduced this year, losing provincial finalists were still in the championship. Coming off the field that Wednesday evening, it was difficult to see huge prospects for Liam Cahill's team. But true to form, Liam and his selectors took on the challenge and the All Ireland semi-final in Limerick against Galway saw a much changed lineout and victory put us back in the final against Cork who had underlined their credentials with a strong victory over Wexford.

Tipperary's Colin English accepts the silverware  after winning the u-21 All-Ireland

“The final will live long in the memory. A good start saw Tipp on top but Cork rallied to lead at half time. The second half was epic with Conor Staklelum’s late goal snatching victory leading to wild scenes of celebration. It provided a much needed fillip to our fortunes and lets hope many of these players continue on to achieve success at senior level,” he said.