2016 was the year that Galway's patience with Leinster ran out. After eight years in the province, the Galway seniors have yet to play a home game and the underage sides haven't even been let into the province yet.
The Leinster counties are determined that the present arrangement will continue. Liam Griffin, who won acclaim for his advocacy of club players on national radio, spoke for those who wished to keep Galway underage teams out of the way.
There has always been a grating with people that a Connacht team would be Leinster champions. While it has been acceptable at senior, I can see at the developmental stage where fellas are trying to develop minor and U21 teams where Galway have very strong teams, that it could eliminate our chance of winning a Leinster final.
Sooner or later, we can expect some sort of unilateral intervention from Croke Park demanding that the Leinster counties give way on key issues.
Last month, the Galway county board passed a motion put by Liam Mellows that the county investigate the possibility of moving their senior, U21 and minor teams into the Munster championship.
While there are many who might like to see Galway moving into Munster, for others, this was a stance designed to provoke a response from the authorities.
Joe Canning certainly sees no point in switching from Leinster to Munster. He pointed out that there's no guarantee that Munster counties would be more accommodating re home and away arrangements. He told the press in Croke Park yesterday that he would prefer that Galway remain in Leinster and that the counties underage sides join them.
"I don't see the benefit of going into Munster. What are we going to do? Munster mightn't let us play home games either," Canning says. He believes it's critical that Galway's underage sides are invited into the Leinster championship. Under the present system, they are playing their first match in August, a la the Galway seniors of old.
The quotes were in the Indo and the Mirror and others.
Some counties have just one game a year while other counties have four or five games throughout the year developing. Wexford, the last three or so years, have won three Leinster titles. They have a serious crew coming through that have played seriously competitive matches. Whereas all our guys at 22, 23 have probably played three games over the last three years.
Canning is worried about the effect isolation at underage level is having on young Galway hurlers. And yet the principal objection to allowing underage Galway sides into the Leinster championship is that they're far too strong.
