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The Irish Sun
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
If the GAA is business, Croke Park is showing disregard for its customers – it has become far too expensive for families
THE flaws of the ridiculous manner in which the GAA has attempted to wedge the entire inter-county season at all levels into such a short time frame have been exposed yet again. Particularly for families, it has become far too difficult to support one's county to the same extent that it was possible to in the past. 2 Babs Keating took aim at the scheduling of the inter-county season Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile 2 Tipperary beat Clare in Ennis Credit: John Sheridan/Sportsfile Tipperary fans were required to travel to Ennis on Saturday evening of last weekend for the Munster SHC game against Clare. And none of them would have complained about that as they journeyed home after seeing a massive win for Liam Cahill's team. It was money well spent. But the same people were expected to get back on the road again on Wednesday night to see the Under-20s retain their provincial title at the Banner's expense in Limerick. Tipp fans will have to put their hands in their pockets once more for today's senior game against Waterford in Thurles. And there are plenty of football fans among them who would have been in attendance for last night's Tailteann Cup fixture against Kildare in Clonmel too. Because of the condensed nature of the calendar, passionate GAA followers are being priced out of supporting their county. Read More on GAA With as many as four extremely important Tipp games taking place in the space of just over a week, nobody could afford to invest the time or the money to attend them all. That is just one of many examples, as I'm sure there are people in other counties who have encountered similar scenarios recently. Indeed, Cork fans will follow their senior team in great numbers today in Limerick, less than 48 hours after their minors played a Munster final in Thurles. At a time when fuel prices are exorbitant, not to mention a sandwich and a cup of coffee in most restaurants setting you back in the region of €20, ordinary people are being squeezed. Most read in GAA Hurling If the GAA is a business, those in power at Croke Park are showing a blatant disregard to their customers. Gardai investigating as GAA fans engage in brawl in shop
The Irish Sun
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Tipperary can exceed Munster SHC expectations by beating Waterford – but they were lucky to beat average Clare team
WITH back-to-back games that should reveal plenty about how the rest of the year will unfold, Munster SHC days do not come much more attractive than this. The Gaelic Grounds will host the main event as Limerick will have a bone to pick with a Advertisement 3 Babs Keating takes a look at a massive day in the Munster hurling championship Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile 3 Limerick face Cork in a rematch of the All-Ireland semi-final Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile 3 Tipperary also face Waterford Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile However, the stakes could not be higher at Semple Stadium, where a spot in the All-Ireland stages of the Championship is up for grabs. There is no overstating the importance of this game for both counties. This is must-win territory for Tipperary, whose season could end today if they come away empty-handed. Coming into the Championship, there were short odds on the top three places in Munster being filled by Peter Queally therefore have a huge opportunity to exceed expectations. Advertisement Read More on GAA Tipperary will be full of confidence after health warning as the All-Ireland champions have been decimated and are a shadow of their former selves. While Tipp were allowed to build a sizeable lead in the first half in Ennis — and the manner of their performance was certainly unexpected — they also left several handy scores behind them. As for the second 35 minutes, during which they allowed an average Clare team back into the game after being nine points down, it left a lot to be desired. Only for a few stupid errors, Brian Lohan's men would have emerged victorious. The performance of the Tipperary forwards after the change of ends warranted being marked at no more than three out of ten. One thing I learned from a very early age is that the perfect team is made up of backs performing like forwards and vice versa. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling It brings me back to the 1964 All-Ireland final win against Kilkenny , when my main objective was to ensure that Séamus Cleere did not have any impact on the game. Tipp did nothing like that against Clare. And even worse, they were frequently guilty of one of the biggest sins in the game as two players were caught going for the same ball. It happened too many times in the second half and there was subsequently nobody there to collect the breaking ball. Gardai investigating as GAA fans engage in brawl in shop Waterford's form is no better or worse than Tipperary's. They deserve credit for getting the better of a Clare team who were heartened by their second-half showing against Cork. But the Déise's forwards in particular were a huge disappointment against Limerick. They are far too reliant on Stephen Bennett and Dessie Hutchinson has not brought his brilliant Ballygunner form to the county team for the last couple of years. This would be the perfect time for him to rectify that. Advertisement Waterford have always loved going into enemy territory to play Tipperary. And there is no evidence of Semple Stadium providing any home comforts to Tipp. These days, the pitches and facilities in the top grounds around the country are in such good shape that the advantage of playing in one's own backyard is often negated. But Tipperary's recent record in Thurles, where they have not won in their last seven Championship outings — a run that stretches back to 2019 — is particularly poor. Tipp scraping home is my expectation nonetheless. Having said that, it has the look of a game that is sure to produce a nail-biting finale. Once that clash is in the books , all eyes will be on the Ennis Road . Advertisement Given the close nature of last year's meetings of the two teams, it is no surprise to see the bookies pricing them both at evens to win. RED WARNING With two home games to come, Limerick's victory in Waterford left them in a reasonably strong position. But unless they address a number of issues from that game, today will belong to Cork. Tom Morrissey, Gearóid Hegarty and even Aaron Gillane all squandered easy chances that night in Walsh Park. David Reidy had no impact on the game at all and he is not justifying his continued inclusion. Advertisement Adam English has been highly touted as a man who will lead Limerick into the future . Nevertheless, despite having plenty of opportunities, he has not yet convinced me that he is capable of doing that. The form of Shane O'Brien is far more encouraging. From a Cork point of view, it has to be a concern that Patrick Horgan's input is still so important when the man is now 37 years of age. The same goes for Séamus Harnedy, who has been on the road for almost as long. Brian Hayes has been very influential since he emerged and Darragh Fitzgibbon is an outstanding hurler. But when you look at the physique of Limerick backs like Diarmaid Byrnes, Dan Morrissey and Kyle Hayes, the Cork forwards can expect a bruising battle. We are also seeing a trend of Cork failing to sustain their performance levels into the second half. If that continues, it will cost them dearly. Advertisement You can expect to see red and green in equal measure in the stands and terraces at the sold-out Gaelic Grounds. And with the weather forecast continuing to play ball, this promises to be a very special occasion. And there is every chance that these teams will meet again in a Munster final in 20 days' time. Perhaps it will even become a trilogy at Still, I am not prepared to write Kilkenny off as All-Ireland contenders either. They remain the best in Leinster by a considerable margin, which I see them proving again this afternoon against Advertisement The Cats are on an upward curve and it will be interesting to see what becomes of their trajectory once they mix it with Munster's finest later in the summer .
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Hurling's history of violence: ‘Some of the belts I got were criminal. My skull was fractured. It was madness'
Shortly after half-time in the 1968 hurling league final all hell broke loose. Len Gaynor was struck, John Gleeson was struck, Ollie Walsh was struck, Eddie Keher was struck, twice. One of the Tipperary players was struck by the Kilkenny team doctor. The doc was ordered by the referee to leave Croke Park but doubled-back and sat behind the Kilkenny dugout, barely disguised in a borrowed hat. He was also a State pathologist. On hand. In case. 'Croke Park exploded in a frenzy of violence,' wrote Babs Keating in his autobiography. 'If you blinked you missed someone being clobbered.' Pat Henderson, the Kilkenny centre back, described it as 'toxic'. Donie Nealon, the Tipperary centre fielder, said it was 'sickening'. Everything is of its time. The poisonous relationship between Kilkenny and Tipperary had resulted in a couple of bitter league finals in the mid-1960s and one sulphurous All-Ireland. The 1968 league final, though, was beyond the pale. Uproar followed. John D Hickey, in the Irish Independent, frothed on the page. 'Hurling took a beating,' he wrote, 'in eight scandalous minutes. [There were] acts of violence that must have sickened every spectator with a shred of respect for the precepts of law and order, never mind the canons of good sportsmanship.' READ MORE Two players, one from each side, were given six-month suspensions but hurling wasn't plunged into a novena of repentance and reflection. In the game, there was a certain tolerance for blackguarding. It was hurling's original sin. In the game's relationship with discipline there was no pious outcry that ever manifested itself as a tipping point. Along the way, there were high-profile atrocities, such as the 1989 Munster final and the 1998 Munster final and a Munster first round match in 2007, and the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final, and various other games, where people were up in arms, and sanctions were doled out. A pre-match scuffle involving Cork and Clare players in the 2007 championship. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Attitudes and practices, though, were only altered by incremental reform. By that process, the line that mustn't be crossed kept shifting closer to harmlessness. At other times in the history of the game the flaking and belting that took place in Páirc Uí Chaoimh before the throw-in a fortnight ago would not have generated such hand-wringing; the general revulsion at the spectacle, though, reflected how the game's values had changed. The only way to measure how far the game has come is to look back. Johnny Callinan was brilliant Clare forward from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, during a period when some of the reckless stuff was stamped out and some of it was driven underground. 'Looking at the films of games from that time,' he says, 'we seemed to get rid of the ball fairly quickly. There was a lot of hurried stuff. Looking back on it, I think it was fear all right. We talk about, 'Aw, it was much tougher in our time,' and in a sense it was because there was a lot more one-to-one contact, there was a lot more pulling on the ball – or close to the ball. Pulling a bit early or a bit late was de rigueur.' Some stuff is trapped in a time warp. Eddie O'Brien scored three goals for Cork against Wexford in the 1970 All-Ireland final, and for one of the goals, says Callinan, 'the Wexford corner back hit him three good flakes from about 30 yards out. But he got the goal and there was no problem.' Clare's Johnny Callinan: 'Looking at the films of games from that time, we seemed to get rid of the ball fairly quickly. I think it was fear.' Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Callinan is involved with the Clarecastle Junior Bs this year and a couple of weeks ago one of their corner backs resorted to the same kind of guerrilla defending, out of character and out of the blue. 'He gave two 1960s flakes to the corner forward going through and you're thinking, 'Jesus, where did that come out of?' I'd say the fellah who got the belt was so surprised he didn't even go down.' Once upon a time, and not that long ago, corner-forwards running through on goal expected to suffer. Corner backs were protected by the laws of the jungle. At a county board meeting in Clare 14 years ago Callinan expressed Clarecastle's concerns at the time about the calculation of suspensions. In the course of his contribution, he made an essential point: 'In no other sport is the need to respect each other greater than in hurling,' he said, 'because each player has, effectively, a weapon.' Through the generations, hurling harboured players who were liable to break that contract. As a fast, skilful, high-scoring corner-forward for Limerick and Na Piarsaigh, Damien Quigley was a prime target. 'The club scene in Limerick in the 90s was just bonkers,' says Quigley. 'It was appalling. There was an incredible tolerance of violence. I went to college in UCC and I used to follow them in the county championship. I used to marvel at the protection Joe Deane used to get, whereas, up here, some of the belts I got were just criminal. Limerick's Damien Quigley in the 1996 All-Ireland final against Wexford: 'The club scene in Limerick in the 90s was just bonkers. There was an incredible tolerance of violence.' Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho 'One in particular, my skull was fractured with the pole [heel] of a hurley. I was wearing a helmet, but he turned the hurley sideways [and hit me]. It was madness. You know when you're at a match and you hear the crowd gasp – it was one of those. I finished the game, concussed or not, it didn't matter a damn in those days. But I was getting headaches and six months later I had to get a brain scan. When facemasks came in, people became more liberal with ash. That definitely happened. You were getting belted across the head more, certainly at club level — Damien Quigley 'I played again the following year, but I didn't play then for a couple of years because I was sick of getting hurt. There was a point that you assumed your opponent wouldn't cross because he has a three-foot plank in his hand – so it's a weapon. That line was crossed that day.' [ Jennifer O'Connell: The GAA has a cultural blindspot about violence Opens in new window ] Over the last 50 years or so, rule changes made a critical difference. In the early 1970s, the third man tackle was abolished; in 2010 helmets and faceguards were made compulsory. A few years after that, striking offences were more clearly defined with graded penalties, so that 'striking with minimal force,' was a red card offence but not as severely punished as more serious striking offences. The message was that every species of striking was outlawed. Tackling around the head, though, remained a problem. Quigley was one of the first intercounty players to wear a faceguard in the early 1990s. 'There was no question, when face masks came in, people became more liberal with ash. That definitely happened. You were getting belted across the head more, certainly at club level.' Brian Gavin, the former intercounty referee, remembers a crackdown early in 2012, 'when there were terrible incidents around the head. Pat McEnaney [the head of referees at the time] called us in, told us to cop ourselves on and start refereeing the game.' Brian Gavin shows Tipperary's John O'Brien a red card in the 2012 Munster semi-final against Cork. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho But there needed to be another crackdown at the beginning of 2019, and another one during this year's league. Before the championship, every county secretary received an email from Croke Park reminding them that head-high tackles would result in red cards. After all this time, should reminders still be necessary? [ Documentary on GAA referee abuse lets players, coaches and fans off the hook Opens in new window ] Gavin spent the guts of 15 years as an intercounty referee, and in that time the game turned revolutions. 'The physicality has been taken out of it, I think, because we're not holding our positions and taking on our man the whole time,' he says. 'Has it gone a bit soft? It probably has. Now, we're seeing really skilful, muscly men creating space out of nothing. So, the skill levels have gone up. I hate to see the physicality going out of it, but the nastiness seems to be gone out of it all right. By the time I finished up there was less blackguarding.' A foul stroke that has almost disappeared is chopping down on the hands while an opponent is striking the ball. Those belts were lethal. Because your hands were gripping the hurley so tightly any direct hit was liable to break something. Callinan remembers being 'done' by a Dublin player in a league match in Croke Park. 'I knew the way yer man was coming in I was in trouble,' he says, 'and he broke my finger. I turned to the ref and showed him the back of my hand – looking at it now, I can still see the lump. And the ref said to me, 'Didn't you get your point.' That was the one that fellas really hated.' For ball players, though, danger was lurking behind every bush. 'I would have run with the ball a bit and I felt you were probably more in danger from a body charge than anything,' says Callinan. 'Donal O'Grady lifted me off the ground one day. He didn't get booked or anything and we missed the free. I'm still on the ground and my lungs had actually collapsed. I was drowning for 30, 40 or 50 seconds. Scenes from the very start of the recent Munster SHC game between Tipperary and Cork. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'You were more likely to get that kind of belt when you passed the ball. Fellas would carry on through you. Pat Hartigan ran into me another day. Just ran through me. If the likes of Frank Cummins hit you that time, you were dead. I'm not trying to be angelic or anything. I advocated it myself one day in a county final with Clarecastle. We knew we'd get away with one bad belt into the chest for Mikey Guilfoyle – and we did.' In Quigley's experience, 'you weren't getting horribly, filthy, rotten, dirty' belts at intercounty level in the 1990s. He got his share of belts off the ball – 'a jab of the hurley into the guts' – but he always regarded it as a test. 'It was searching for a weakness in a crude, Cro-Magnon man kind of way, that's what people were doing. You did have to be able to take a belt. You couldn't survive at intercounty level if you hadn't that mentality.' The game is different now. There is more surveillance. Crime doesn't pay as well as it used to. Teams with 14 men can't win – more or less. The tone has changed. 'This is a bit philosophical,' says Callinan, 'but there's nearly too much danger taken away. There's no jeopardy now really. Not that I was a hard man, or anything like that, but part of the attraction was the fear, it was the bit of danger. When we were growing up we were told, 'If a fellah hits you, don't pretend that you're hurt.' That concept is completely gone.' There was no messing before the ball was thrown-in between Limerick and Waterford last Saturday. Nobody would be so foolish this weekend. Would they? 'Striking is striking,' says Gavin. 'Young [Darragh] McCarthy was unfortunate that he was caught, but that stuff had to stop. Someone had to suffer for it to stop.' Different game.
