Considering the furore that has surrounded the decision to introduce a two-tier football championship, this seems like a very ill-advised move.
The Joe McDonagh Cup has been a mixed bag thus far. Some of the hurling on show has been outstanding, with some of the most exciting games in this year's championship taking place in the competition. Players enjoy it, as it gives them a number of competitive games with a proper goal at the end.
However, the media coverage of the competition has been sparse. Games were not shown on live TV, although the GAA did hastily make the decision to stream the games online this year, only for the streams to not even work.
It has been largely ignored in many national newspapers as well, leading many to question what the GAA are doing to promote the competition. This news is unlikely to do them any favours.
The GAA have decided to abolish the Joe McDonagh all-stars after only one year, a move which came without any pre-warning. A press release was issued yesterday to announce similar teams for the other lower tier competitions, but there was no sign of the Joe McDonagh Cup.
They confirmed that '"players competing in the Joe McDonagh Cup were considered in the PwC All-Stars for the Liam MacCarthy”.
There was a Joe McDonagh Cup All Star team in the first year of the competition in 2018 but has been dropped this year. The first notice of this came yesterday when the Christy Rackard, Nicky Rackard teams etc were announced. No explanation as to who or how that decision was made https://t.co/ErnqIc201a
— Steven Miller (@steven_miller12) October 22, 2019
Laois won the competition this year, going on to upset Dublin in a preliminary All-Ireland quarter final. They have two players nominated for PwC All-Stars, but Laois Hurling Board chairman Tom Clear told Laois Today that this decision was a 'disgrace':
This is an absolute disgrace and I am seriously disappointed with this decision.
The Laois hurlers gave us some brilliant days this year and while we are delighted Enda (Rowland) and Jack (Kelly) got nominated for All-Stars and Paddy Purcell for Joe McDonagh Player of the Year – to have these awards just dropped without any notice is not fair on the rest of the players.
This is the second tier competition of hurling and yet it has been kicked aside while the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher players, who play in tier 3, 4 and 5, are getting more recognition.
While it is bad for us, it is even worse for the rest of the counties. Players from Westmeath, Kerry, Antrim and Offaly, who all played their roles in this championship, will not get any recognition at all.
Special Congress voted for Tier 2 football at the weekend and I wonder now is this the type of disrespect that faces those counties too?
Indeed, the timing of this could hardly be worse. With suspicions over how much attention the new second tier of the football championship will receive, this does not bode well for that competition.
Some also found it convenient that there was no mention of this decision prior to the vote on that proposal.
Remarkable how they allowed the vote on Tier two football go ahead before this came out. Remarkable indeed. https://t.co/ac06INUCVx
— Kevin Egan (@lonesharkoy) October 22, 2019
Joe McDonagh Cup was a very competitive championship but:
❌ Live stream didn’t work
❌ 3pm Saturday throw ins
❌ Winners snubbed for Super 11s in New York
❌ All Star team dropped
❌ No kids from competing counties at HT of final (a Dublin camogie team got that honour 🤔) https://t.co/yhsxJmnzSL— Steven Miller (@steven_miller12) October 22, 2019
We're sure the fallout from this one will continue over the coming days.
