A LEINSTER SENIOR hurling championship complete with fresh jeopardy and a clear mechanism for weaker counties to make long-term progress.
That is what former GAA president Nickey Brennan and national head of hurling Willie Maher believe the new proposal for the Leinster SHC offers.
Kilkenny man Brennan is chair of the workgroup which was tasked with devising a new format for the eastern competition.
From around a dozen different options initially, they have whittled it down to a single proposal, which has the full support of the Leinster Council, and which weds itself to the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup.
The proposal, which requires Congress backing, is an eight-team Leinster SHC, split into two groups of four.
Group A would be the more competitive, comprising the top four teams from the previous season.
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Group B, meanwhile, would be made up of the fifth and sixth placed teams from the previous year along with the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.
The top two teams from Group A would advance to a provincial semi-final while, in quarter-finals, the bottom two in A would play the top two from B.
The two teams that lose semi-finals would play off for an All-Ireland quarter-final place.
As for the link with the McDonagh Cup, the bottom two counties from Group B would be parachuted in at the semi-final stage of the tier two competition.
Brennan noted that, compared to the existing six-team Leinster SHC structure, which culminates in a final following a round-robin, the new model would add multiple knockout games.
“That’s real jeopardy,” said Brennan. “And we feel that in terms of supporters, they’ll be excited about that. Because there’s nothing certain, in terms of results.
“We also don’t know who the pairings might be in the semi-final until we finish the quarter-finals. So there’ll be a draw there. There are all sorts of possibilities here.
“We do feel this will excite patrons, the amount of knockout games. Because look, if you make it to a quarter-final and you lose it, that’s your year gone. And that has the potential to be what we might call a strong county at the moment.”
There will be no changes to the 2027 Leinster SHC or McDonagh Cup models but finishing positions would decide where teams begin in 2028.
Asked if he envisaged any Congress opposition to the extensive proposal, which binds the Leinster SHC and McDonagh Cup competitions tightly together, Brennan shook his head.
“I’d be very surprised if Congress didn’t applaud the fact that we’re very much integrating Tier 2 counties and embedding them into the competition,” said Brennan. “I think that’s something to be applauded. But I’m around long enough also not to make any assumptions.”
Brennan pointed to the example of Kildare who were highly competitive in this year’s Leinster SHC, following consecutive promotions, but who ultimately suffered relegation.
“I know Brian Dowling is particularly delighted about this,” said Brennan of the Kildare manager. “We saw their game against Galway, they were brilliant for 35 or 40 minutes. Even against Kilkenny it was the same, but they just died a death after that. They don’t have, I suppose, the depth of panels that other counties have, or the experience, and that does show when it gets to the heat of battle. But this gives them a real opportunity now.”
Brennan rejected the idea that Group A may hog all the limelight.
“I’d like to think they’d get decent coverage and decent respect,” said Brennan of the Group B games. “We know that some of these games may not equate to some of the big games in Munster, but I think that’s a narrow focus to be looking at it just like that.”
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Eight teams, two groups, and more knockout games: The proposal for the new Leinster SHC format
A LEINSTER SENIOR hurling championship complete with fresh jeopardy and a clear mechanism for weaker counties to make long-term progress.
That is what former GAA president Nickey Brennan and national head of hurling Willie Maher believe the new proposal for the Leinster SHC offers.
Kilkenny man Brennan is chair of the workgroup which was tasked with devising a new format for the eastern competition.
From around a dozen different options initially, they have whittled it down to a single proposal, which has the full support of the Leinster Council, and which weds itself to the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup.
The proposal, which requires Congress backing, is an eight-team Leinster SHC, split into two groups of four.
Group A would be the more competitive, comprising the top four teams from the previous season.
Group B, meanwhile, would be made up of the fifth and sixth placed teams from the previous year along with the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.
The top two teams from Group A would advance to a provincial semi-final while, in quarter-finals, the bottom two in A would play the top two from B.
The two teams that lose semi-finals would play off for an All-Ireland quarter-final place.
As for the link with the McDonagh Cup, the bottom two counties from Group B would be parachuted in at the semi-final stage of the tier two competition.
Brennan noted that, compared to the existing six-team Leinster SHC structure, which culminates in a final following a round-robin, the new model would add multiple knockout games.
“That’s real jeopardy,” said Brennan. “And we feel that in terms of supporters, they’ll be excited about that. Because there’s nothing certain, in terms of results.
“We also don’t know who the pairings might be in the semi-final until we finish the quarter-finals. So there’ll be a draw there. There are all sorts of possibilities here.
“We do feel this will excite patrons, the amount of knockout games. Because look, if you make it to a quarter-final and you lose it, that’s your year gone. And that has the potential to be what we might call a strong county at the moment.”
There will be no changes to the 2027 Leinster SHC or McDonagh Cup models but finishing positions would decide where teams begin in 2028.
Asked if he envisaged any Congress opposition to the extensive proposal, which binds the Leinster SHC and McDonagh Cup competitions tightly together, Brennan shook his head.
“I’d be very surprised if Congress didn’t applaud the fact that we’re very much integrating Tier 2 counties and embedding them into the competition,” said Brennan. “I think that’s something to be applauded. But I’m around long enough also not to make any assumptions.”
Brennan pointed to the example of Kildare who were highly competitive in this year’s Leinster SHC, following consecutive promotions, but who ultimately suffered relegation.
“I know Brian Dowling is particularly delighted about this,” said Brennan of the Kildare manager. “We saw their game against Galway, they were brilliant for 35 or 40 minutes. Even against Kilkenny it was the same, but they just died a death after that. They don’t have, I suppose, the depth of panels that other counties have, or the experience, and that does show when it gets to the heat of battle. But this gives them a real opportunity now.”
Brennan rejected the idea that Group A may hog all the limelight.
“I’d like to think they’d get decent coverage and decent respect,” said Brennan of the Group B games. “We know that some of these games may not equate to some of the big games in Munster, but I think that’s a narrow focus to be looking at it just like that.”
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