Tipperary hurlers waiting in the wings to face either Waterford or Clare

A brief pause to the inter-county hurling season last weekend allowed everyone draw breath and reflect a bit more calmly on recent developments.
It was a week too when Joe Canning injected some welcome realism into recent controversies. The game hasn’t lost its physicality, he said, and he should know as one who’s taking the hits. High-scoring and long-range scores were a reflection of modern skill levels, he suggested. He should be listened to.
For my part I was thinking back to 1984, centenary year of the association. At a West Board banquet in Dundrum House Hotel, held as part of the centenary celebrations, I got drawn into a conversation with two elder statesmen of the time, Mick Ryan (Fox), Clonoulty, and Tom Duggan, Knockavilla.
They were two of the six surviving founder members of the board and they had been team mates when Clonoulty won the first-ever West senior hurling championship in 1930. By all accounts they were hardy boys in their day. Then in the twilight of their years they were in reflective mood and not short of opinions on the state of hurling.
They were unequivocal in their assessment that hurling was gone to the dogs. There was no physicality any more, it was all tippy-tappy stuff. Referees were ruining the game. Sure, you couldn’t touch an opponent now but it would be a free or a sending- off.
Sounds familiar? Their favourite phrase was ping-pong hurling. That was almost forty years ago and you wonder has much changed in the public discourse since then. As the fellow said – whoever this famous fellow is – if I had a bob for every time someone told me that hurling was ruined, I’d be sitting on a neat pile now.
So, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised when an assortment of pundits and ex-players denigrate the game today and how it has developed. After all, it has all been said in the past and was every bit as inaccurate then as it is now.
Vincent Hogan in Saturday’s Indo quoted the views of another ex, though unnamed, player who was strident in his condemnation of the modern game. “It’s become unwatchable … the game is completely over-coached … there’s no hurling on instinct anymore … it’s dead as a spectacle.”
This charge that all instinctive hurling has been coached out of the game is a curious trope to emerge. Hogan’s piece even had a sub-heading, which proclaimed that “modern coaching has rinsed much of the spontaneity out of hurling.”
The underlying premise behind that assertion is that the old game was bubbling with spontaneity and inventiveness. But was it? My memory of the game back the decades is of a very rigid, inflexible format. Every position had a specific mandate and you dared not stray beyond your remit. Inventiveness was frowned upon.
Thus, a corner back had to stick to his few square metres of pitch and any deviation risked immediate substitution. It was the same for the wing back in front of him. The goalie’s only function on the puckout was maximum distance – anything else was sacrilege. If a ball dribbled harmlessly wide the corner forward’s head was on the line. His duty was to be in there and stay there. It didn’t allow much scope for spontaneity, did it?
In the old order Domhnall O’Donovan’s famous point in the 2013 All-Ireland final would never have happened. Or Tony Kelly’s ridiculous point from the corner flag in the league. Or Cian Lynch’s numerous tricks and flicks. Or Noel McGrath’s endless magic.
All of these players act spontaneously off instinct, which has never been more prominent in the game. It seems to me you can coach as much as you like but in the rough and tumble of a game qualities like instinct and creativity and spontaneity will always play a crucial role. The great players always have that capacity to improvise in a way that can never be coached.
An amusing aspect of the recent fuss about hurling was the response from within the football community. I suppose the football folk have spent years listening to so-called hurling snobs scoffing at their game with its endless handpassing and blanket defences and now was an opportunity to hit back.
At a time when football seems to be moving towards a more attractive, attack-orientated game, hurling is mired in controversy. For some it was too good an opportunity to be missed.
Anyway, the hurling fuss really was a case of much ado about nothing and already the background noise has subsided. Worries about free counts have abated, not so much because referees readjusted but because teams stopped fouling. The so-called goal famine has ended with a surge of green flags in the last two rounds of the league. The quota of scores from frees has also dropped. Peace is returning and we can look forward to an exciting championship.
All of which leads on nicely to this weekend and the start of the action. Tipperary eyes will be keenly focused on the Stadium on Sunday when Waterford and Clare kick off the Munster series. It’s a fascinating prospect, with Tipperary waiting in the wings for the winner the following week.
A week may be a long time in politics but a few weeks can alter perspectives dramatically in the hurling world too. Back in mid-May Clare lost at home to Wexford. Coming after their opening round defeat to Antrim, and set to the background noise of internal strife in the county, it painted a bleak picture of their prospects.
Since then, however, the horizon has brightened dramatically. Their win over Laois marked a turning point, which was followed by another stabilising result against Dublin and then their strongest statement of the year against Kilkenny in the final round.
With injured players returning, key men finding form and a string of three wins on the trot their star is definitely rising, and whereas Waterford might have been strongly fancied back in May the odds have surely narrowed significantly since then.
For the Deise, the league produced home wins and away defeats in a series of mixed signals from Liam Cahill’s charges. They’ve certainly turned Walsh Park into a fortress with home wins over Tipperary and Limerick, as well as a scrambled success with a shadow side against Westmeath.
On the debit side, however, there were away defeats to Cork and Galway, with the side shipping a combined total of 9-50 from those two fixtures. Against that they scored 4-50 in those games but if they continue bleeding so heavily at the back they’ll always struggle to outscore top opponents.
There’s no doubt Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans have brought a real buzz and energy to Waterford hurling so that they’re the bookies fancy for Sunday’s clash.
Iarlaith Daly seems to be limiting the loss of Tadhg de Burca at centre back and with Stephen Bennett and Dessie Hutchinson leading the way in attack they’re exciting to watch. Where to position Austin Gleeson, if fit, remains a puzzle.
A few weeks ago, I’d have firmly tipped Waterford but Clare’s upswing in form has altered matters somewhat.
With John Conlon now anchoring defence, Colm Galvin on duty at midfield and Shane O’Donnell, Aidan McCarthy and Aron Shanagher offering back-up for the inspirational Tony Kelly, it all adds up to quite a force. Diarmuid Ryan is developing into a quality player too so they’re in decent shape.
With two sides full of running and enterprise this will be an energy-sapping encounter. I still have a fancy for Waterford but the conviction of a few weeks ago has weakened somewhat.
Meanwhile we’ll be watching across the provincial border to Leinster, where two quarter-finals are on the cards.
The highlight fixture, I’d suggest, is the clash of Dublin and Antrim at Navan. The bookies see it as a one-sided affair, the Dubs unbackable at 1/4 against 10/3 for the Glensmen. I don’t quite see it in those terms. Antrim beat Clare and drew with Wexford in the league. Their form was one of the stories of the series.
Their challenge now is to transfer that impact to the championship.
Dublin had an eight-point edge on the northerners when they met in the league at Parnell Park but I wouldn’t read too much into that result. This is a game with potential for an upset.
The other Leinster quarter-final has Laois going hip to hip with Wexford at Nowlan Park. Davy’s men had a patchy enough league run but they’ll still be expected to have enough to advance here. The bookies certainly think so, with odds of 1/20 versus 8/1.
Finally, the group draws for the county club championships have set the scene for upcoming games later in the summer – as late as possible, we hope, with Tipp progressing on the inter-county front.
Eire Og Annacarty might as well be in the Mid division as they line up against Sarsfields, Drom/Inch and Upperchurch in group 1. It’s a tough group for the West side who had to fight off relegation last year but if any club can rise to a challenge, it’s the Annacarty lads.
I think Clonoulty will be happy enough in Group 2 where they face Toomevara, Holycross and Mullinahone. The South side won’t be unhappy either on their return to the top flight.
Kiladangan and Loughmore are the two big beasts in Group 3. Memories of last year’s final will add spice to their meeting, with Brackens and Moycarkey also adding flavour to what promises to be a very exciting section.
Finally, Group 4 is an all-North affair. Borris-Ileigh are the top seed who’ll face off against Nenagh, Kilruane and Roscrea.
It’s all to look forward to later in the summer.

Tipperary hurling and football championship draws made

There are some mouth watering clashes in prospect later in the summer