Wexford star Lee Chin calls for major All-Ireland SHC shake-up with four teams qualifying from Leinster and Munster

The Irish Sun

10 hours ago

Chin says the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists deserve a break and insists extra provincial spots would boost competitiveness in the Championship
ALL CHANGE Wexford star Lee Chin calls for major All-Ireland SHC shake-up with four teams qualifying from Leinster and Munster
WEXFORD captain Lee Chin has added his voice to calls for four teams to qualify for the All-Ireland SHC from both Leinster and Munster.
GAA president Jarlath Burns has vowed to review the current structure of the hurling Championship, admitting that the pathway into the All-Ireland series for the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists could be abolished.
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County icon Chin says the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists deserve a break and insists more provincial spots would boost competitiveness
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Wexford skipper Lee Chin has called for a major adjustment to the senior hurling championship campaign
Along with the likes of Clare's Tony Kelly and Waterford's Stephen Bennett.
Chin was one of many leading players whose season ended in May after Wexford failed to secure the top-three finish required to advance from the provincial stages.
He said: "Every inter-county hurler wants to be hurling as late into the year as they can. It'll be interesting to see what will come if they do potentially change what way the format goes.
"My own feelings on it would be that if they're going to keep the same one, maybe change it so that four teams come out of each province.
"I mean this with the greatest respect, but the teams that are coming up from the Joe McDonagh over the last number of years, their games in the preliminary quarter-final just haven't really been competitive.'
In light of the introduction of participation in the top-tier of Championship hurling as a bonus for Joe McDonagh teams, the 2019 win for Laois over Dublin remains an outlier.
Since then, the eight preliminary quarter-finals have ended in victories for the Liam MacCarthy Cup sides by an average margin of more than 17 points.
Chin added: "It's quite unfair on them too that they have to go out and play again only a week after playing their All-Ireland.
"They're not able to put in the best week of preparation as a result and it's probably something that just needs to change.
"If those places were taken by the teams who finished fourth in the provinces, I think it would just add more competitiveness to the rest of the Championship.
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"From a player welfare point of view, let the Joe McDonagh finalists have their few days to celebrate afterwards or whatever it might be because the bodies wouldn't necessarily be right to go into a high-intensity Championship game.
"If there's not going to be any change to that – and I don't know where it's going to be found – then they're going to have to give those teams an extra week or two to be ready for it.
"But if the same timeframe is there, the more appropriate alternative would be to have four teams coming out of both Munster and Leinster."
Chin's next outing will be the annual Hurling for Cancer Research game at Netwatch Cullen Park, where he will be among an array of big names lining out on Monday evening.
He said: "It's an absolutely fantastic occasion each year. I'm privileged to be involved in it and I love heading up to see the players, the coaches and the crowds that have gathered over the years.
"Since my first year involved, which was 2015 or 2016, there's been a huge difference in the size of the crowds attending the game and the number of people who have bought into it.
"Fair play to everybody who continues to make it happen because it's a brilliant thing they're doing for such a great cause."