Is the tipp championship most competitive hurling championship in the country? Seems it to me, at least 6 or 7 teams who could win it. No wonder the tipp county team is so strong.
It has become very, very competitive in the last 3 or 4 years and is likely to become even more competitive as the likes of Holycross, Brackens and Moycarkey have young teams who have done very well at underage.
The likes of Borrisileigh, Clonoulty, Kildangan, Nenagh, Thurles, Kilruane and Drom are all likely to be around for many years to come too.
Sars have won 7 of the last 11.
There will be a good spread of winners over the coming years starting back with Clonoulty in 18. Sars have come back into the pack but their dominance forced clubs to get better. Kildangan and Kilruane should win some in the coming years.
Only in the last 2 years really. Are Thurles Sars back to the pack for good or just in transition?
They have but won’t dominate going forward.
They are probably still the favourites but have came back into the pack. A lack of a winter hurling forwards has been their undoing.
It all went wrong for Thurles when Billy McCarthy got injured.
They’ve barely won a game of significance while he’s been out.
There was a very good article with him in Tipp Star a few weeks ago. Please God he gets back soon.
Another thing with the Tipp championship getting better is that Tipp have had such good underage teams the last few years and lads that wouldn’t have even made those teams are really good club players
not reflected in national honours which doesnt seem any bit coveted in Tipp
There isn’t a team in the Tipp championship of the calibre of Ballyhale, Na P or Cuala. However I am of the opinion that the depth of quality in the Tipp championship has greatly improved in recent years. I’d say the 8th best team in the Tipp championship would be better than their equivalent in other counties.
The depth of teams has not been reflected in the inter and junior all Irelands as it’s the 29th best team competes in the intermediate compared to 13th best in KK or 17th in Cork.
2 of those 3 were nobodies on national club scene until recent times. tipp should have had more clubs pop up and nab a title or two over the decades.
Why don’t tipp go top 16 senior, 16 intermediate, would have a cracking intermediate championship.
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They are on the way there. The wheels of change move slowly. At the moment there are 16 senior A, around 12 senior B and 20 or so intermediate.
Don’t understand senior b in any county. Should be 16 senior at most, intermediate after that.
Even 16 is way too many. But the Tipp championship is well known for its Byzantine format.
No county has more than 12 senior clubs IMO. Probably even 8. The rest are just fodder who want to stay senior just so they can say they are senior even though they have no chance of winning it.
The Limerick Hurling club championship has never been stronger in one sense. Whoever wins has a realistic chance of progressing in the AI, but in terms of competitiveness there’s only four clubs who have any hope of winning it. The senior b nonsense where they bring in two teams that are worse or at least no better, than the two teams knocked out is just dumb. Don’t even get me started on “premier” intermediate and intermediate. You are either intermediate or you are junior
Senior B is up to 16 now. Should be great championships across the board from now on
16 is only way too many if you don’t have depth. If we’re only talking teams that can actually win the thing sure we may as well only have 4 senior clubs at most in most counties. Clonoulty won it 2 years ago and they would have been lucky to have been rated in the top 10 before the championship started, Borris were probably 6th or 7th favourites last year
Any team in Senior A would fancy themselves against Clonoulty or Borrisoleigh
I think there is merit to keeping senior at 16 or 20, reducing it across the board only really affects the smaller clubs or those with less numbers. Senior status is earned and a lot of these small clubs are dogged team who add to the championship. If you just drop them to intermediate they will be a long time before they get back to senior again. Far easier to get players to buy in and put in the necessary effort for a senior championship especially if they know that they will take hammerings if they don’t than trying to rouse players to be a middle of the road intermediate side.
Senior B is only a cod. Something that i would like to see is another competition/championship to be played in each county which takes place at the same time as the intercounty stuff. Open draw/straight knockout but clubs cannot field players who are on intercounty panels. Senior, intermediates and even junior A sides if they want into it. Would throw up some decent games.
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Also it’s no coincidence that Tipp is the hurling county with the most proper club rivalries which is because of the divisions and the high number of teams