In 2016, Limerick were sinking and without a manager. The county footballers had just been relegated to Division 4, they hadn't won a Munster Championship game since 2012 and it looked destined to get worse.
Such a nadir is all too familiar for many within the GAA. A typical reaction is to appoint a high-profile manager from outside the county in the hope they can entice reluctant players to opt-in and stem the tide. Limerick opted for a bolder route.
Instead, they choose Newcastle West native Billy Lee. Devotedly, he went about trying to rebuild. He consistently stressed the need to build a foundation and develop a long-term plan. He got work on the phone and coxed players back.
He took on his county board in 2018 when an administrative error meant a squad member couldn't play against Clare and no food was provided after training. Driven by a desperate desire to restore pride and see the Shannonsiders succeed.
Gradually, they started to build. In 2019, came the first Munster Championship win in seven years with a 3-11 to 1-10 triumph against Tipperary.
In 2020, they won the McGrath Cup, the Division 4 League title and were a width of the post away from the Munster Final. In 2021, they got to a Division 3 semi-final, losing out by four points against Derry.
Underneath, the county's academy got up and running under the shrewd leadership of Paul Kinnerick. Numerous former players chimed in as coaches and development officers. Many had played in the 2010 Munster final, all were volunteers. Grafting for a greater good, yearning for the return of provincial finals.
On the blueprint to build a brighter future, they checked every box. Yet their reward is paltry.
The likes of the Limerick footballers are well used to lip service. Well-intentioned but ultimately token platitudes. 'Good to see them building. They gave it their all.' Patrionsising babble that really is a dressed-up version of the familiar 'fair play for togging out.'
The big takeaway from the offerings of 2021 so far is that the current system is broken. This has been evident for a decade. The tradition has reached its expiry date. We are at the end of the road and change is coming. A special congress in the autumn will tackle the matter.
Yet this is an important moment. Consider the motivation behind this weekend's outcry. Was the anger because of how much work and commitment went in before one unequal game or because we had to watch it?
This has to be about more than segregating the weak with their own competition and a little cup. Castigating them to the corner to play amongst themselves serves no one. The league is often heralded as the ideal structure, but are we doing enough to allow teams to progress within it?
In 2019, Limerick GAA announced they would appoint a new full-time Development Officer for football. It was one of the headline recommendations from the Limerick Football Review Committee report that year.
Two years later and there has been no resolution. Of course, circumstances have been challenging but momentary improvements are only worthwhile if they are reinforced with long-term commitments.
There is an upper echelon and a lower rank. Then there is a middle tier, striving to rise and with the potential to do so. The next step must ensure they can.
As Tomás Ó Sé said on The Sunday Game, a tiered championship is only a starting point, not the destination.
"We need to make sure the counties in the so-called lower-tier have a gap to come up. A gap to progress. To be competitive, the same relevance is connected to that as the top tier. Otherwise, it won't work."
Ciaran Whelan stressed the need to back up all the well-intended words with action:
Investment. The investment in teams and preparation of teams. The bigger counties have more money going into them. It is very difficult for the weaker counties. There needs to be more investment, whether that be strength and conditioning or commercial. They need to be given a chance. You have to feel for the players.
Take Leitrim today, what encouragement is there for them to come back next year and go through that again? What happens then in the weaker counties is you have a turnover of players. A manager can't go in and invest two or three years trying to develop. Chances are five or six of them won't play next year.
"There is a massive gap. It is not just introducing a two-tier system that will solve that."
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