Waterford show hurling growth can only be organic

Waterford’s performance against Cork wasn’t entirely out of the blue, only though in the sense that reliable judges within the county had said the team wasn’t going to be outclassed. To the outsider however, this looked optimistic. A slew of injuries and a long-term downwards trend suggested we could turn this particular page without reading it too intently.

In the aftermath of a thrilling draw – one of those apparently pre-determined matches which slip the hand brake on your parked scepticism so that you end up not knowing what's going to happen – Waterford didn't sound too surprised.

Meanwhile, the Leinster preliminary group concluded with Antrim surprising Laois in the final match and completing the quarter-final line-up in the province. On the face of it, it appeared a good idea: a round robin to give the emerging counties – Antrim, Carlow, Laois, London and Westmeath – a run of fixtures so that the top two would have some hurling done before the quarter-final against Galway or Wexford.

Yet the air has been thick with complaints from the counties involved more or less since the first ball was pucked. Some of this disaffection centres on the small print of the round robin – its role as an eliminator in the process to reduce the number of counties competing for the elite championship, the MacCarthy Cup.

Antrim manager Kevin Ryan, having led his team to top spot in the round robin, wasn't holding back on his opinions about the structure when speaking to RTÉ: "It's like you want to get those teams out of the way. The round robin is designed to get teams out of Liam MacCarthy which they are doing a team each year over the next two years. That's all it is designed for. Ask any of the counties involved if they want to play that. Absolutely not. 'Promoting hurling' "There is Carlow out of championship hurling in the middle of May. How in any manner of means is that doing good for promoting hurling in Carlow? I think it's disgraceful."

The format was accepted by congress in Derry last year on a fairly substantial margin of 82-18. The main issue raised was by Antrim: that the original format didn’t allow for a county, which had qualified from the preliminary group, to secure a place in the following year’s main draw even if they beat a higher-rated county. That was addressed at this year’s congress and so, for instance, if Antrim or Laois beat Wexford or Galway, the losing county will have to play in next year’s preliminary group.

There is a genuine grievance in the lack of a rest period between the round robin matches and the Leinster quarter-finals. Both Ryan and Laois manager Séamus Plunkett have made that point. That will be addressed next year when the preliminary group will have just four counties, now that London have dropped out. Plunkett has made the argument that championship format is largely irrelevant until the GAA assists the likes of Laois in instituting development programmes, along the lines of what Dublin hurling has received in the past 10 years or so.

This is a reasonable position although it shouldn’t over-emphasise the role of money in Dublin’s development. It’s now 13 years since the blueprint for Dublin hurling was launched and in hitting its initial targets the county did so, on the back of voluntary commitment from the comparatively small but fiercely driven hurling community in the county. Resources followed.

Yet what are the options? Throw all of the counties into a first-round draw, knowing that the same conclusion would be reached but a little later and with fewer matches for the counties in question?

Exposing the counties in question to a programme of matches against better teams? A round-robin format was tried in the All-Ireland qualifiers up until 2007 but all it led to was a clutch of uncompetitive matches and wholly predictable group outcomes.

In a nutshell there is no structural way to make counties competitive in senior championship hurling.

Developing counties In the past 20 years or so a number of developing counties – such as Kerry, Meath or Carlow – have improved dramatically for a period and enjoyed a moment in the sun but none have managed to move on to a new level for a sustained period.

Getting back to Waterford, their display on Sunday further emphasised a striking achievement. Starting with the Munster minor and under-21 wins of 1992 – the latter leading to an All-Ireland – which were with just one exception the only time the county had featured on the underage horizon since the 1950s, the county has built a presence at senior level that has not faded away even if the successes of the last decade have receded.

Current manager Derek McGrath has, through his work, in De La Salle been to the forefront of the colleges’ breakthrough (three of the last eight Croke Cups have gone to Waterford). That was followed at underage level by last year’s minor All-Ireland.

Regardless of what happens in next weekend’s replay, Waterford have survived an injury crisis by promoting talented young players from their own assembly line and remained competitive against Cork.

Seven years ago McGrath reacted to his first All-Ireland success with De La Salle by stating his belief in the future. “I’m sure it will have a knock-on effect,” says McGrath, a teacher in the school and centre forward on the 1992 minors. “The buzz that’s been created and the psychological effect of winning in Croke Park after coming from behind puts more distance between us and the inferiority complex that used exist in the county.”

It’s not a slight on the Leinster round-robin counties – but neither is it much consolation – to point out that improvement in hurling can only be organic.

smoran@irishtimes.com