This time last year, the corridors of Croke Park were as populated as the stands as a host of hurling fans elected to watch the Munster final on screens instead of the Leinster final curtain-raiser on the field, the Joe McDonagh Cup final.
That's not the fault of attendees but an administration who elected to put hurling's second tier up against the top one. There was only going to be one winner.
Laois’ Aaron Dunphy has just scored a contender for goal of the year against Westmeath in the Joe McDonagh Cup final, but it’ll go more or less unnoticed because most eyes are in the Munster hurling final.
Madness.— Brendan O'Brien (@byBrendanOBrien) June 30, 2019
Yet the same thing happened again this year as Laois and Westmeath were denied a platform.
That's why Neil McManus and Oisin Kelly, two of the country's best hurlers, can go head to head in the Antrim versus Offaly shoot-out scoring 0-10 and 2-2 respectively with little recognition of it. It's why so many players have reservations about being cut off into a second tier in Gaelic football and it's why hurling remains a marginal sport without any presence in numerous counties.
Earlier this month Carlow hurler Paul Coady spoke to Balls.ie and spelt out in grim detail the future of hurling outside the upper echelon if the current system continues to operate as it does.
We are not closing the gap because the nine counties above us are so heavily financially backed. They have so much sponsorship. They have a huge playing population. They have everything well above where we are and the counties in the Joe McDonagh.
Sunday's scheduling farce is not the sole problem but it is a significant indicator in terms of the scale of it.
Within five minutes, Killian Doyle had landed a scorer of a sideline cut and Ross King had responded with a rasper of a goal. The competition's showcase game had delivered, it had an exceptional broadcaster in TG4 to demonstrate that but was dwarfed by a scheduling failure.
Massive coverage for Joe McDonagh Cup Final. Empty promises. Football counties please take note @officialgaa pic.twitter.com/Ff3WsGDTvn
— Turlough O Brien (@TurloughCarlow) June 30, 2019
Enda Rowland pulled off a superb save, Aaron Dunphy scored a sensational goal, Gary Greville fired his entire body on the line to perform a brilliant block and in the main, it'll go unnoticed.
Cúl do Joey Boyle & @CLGLaois! Corn Joe McDonagh beo ar Youtube anois!
We're live with an entertaining McDonagh Cup Final on Youtube. Laois v @westmeath_gaa https://t.co/Kuoim056Q0@ballsdotie @GAA__JOE @LaoistodaySport pic.twitter.com/ZXi7Ze9xJB
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) June 30, 2019
As Paul Rouse outlined at the end of last season, the issue is the association's apathy.
Speaking to Balls.ie, the former Offaly manager explained that the greatest failure of the sport has been it's inability to grow.
The truth is within the GAA itself there are too many people who don’t care about hurling in Carlow, who don’t care about hurling in Tyrone, or hurling in Monaghan. It is just a sideshow to them. They are happy with the way things are in terms of our eight or ten counties that are fairly strong in hurling at a given time.
They compete there and the rest is secondary. They are secondary. That becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
"Basically, across the last 100 years, there have been two new counties who have won All-Irelands. Galway won in the early 1920s but basically, the guts of 100s years two news counties have won the All-Ireland championship. That is failure."
Will the game ever grow? Does anyone really care?
It ended in a 3-26 to 1-21 victory for Eddie Brennan's outfit thanks to goals from Stevie Bergin, Dunphy and King. They'll compete in the Leinster championship next year, but the longterm future of such counties remains uncertain.
A second tier now looms for Gaelic football. Yet the continued treatment of hurling's lower tiers will no doubt fail to inspire confidence in those already unsure of it.
