It's not hurling weather but Cork GAA fans still hungry for action
Waterford's Shane Bennett takes on Cork's Cormac O’Brien during the Friends of Brian Greene Senior Hurling Challenge in Fraher Field. Photo Sean Byrne
It’s been a tricky week to be a sportswriter.
More used to grousing about being snowed under with work, it’s been a change of pace being snowed in by the literal white stuff.
So far, five attempts to attend my first match of 2025 have all been spoiled by the weather.
I arrived early — new year, new me — only to be greeted with a rap on the car window from a friendly steward bearing news that the game had been called off. The All-Ireland champions had already departed on their own commute back across the Shannon.
Amid heavy sleet on the road south that evening, the text came through that a Cork-Waterford football challenge slated for the following afternoon had inevitably been pulled.
On Monday, the Harty Cup quarter-finals succumbed to the freezing forecast. On Tuesday afternoon, I was five layers deep in cold gear when UCC’s Sigerson Cup opener was the next domino to drop due to the stubbornly unthawed Mardyke pitch.
The task of layering down was at least softened by not having left the house, unlike the UCD team bus almost in Cork or the Kerry contingent who had braved the icy trip across county bounds.
Thursday’s Canon O’Brien Cup game was also pushed back 24 hours to a Friday night throw-in. Thankfully, Saturday’s appointment, the basketball National Cup semi-finals at Neptune Stadium, will be held indoors.
While the turn of the year brought with it some selfish regrets that the calendar had been stripped of its pre-season placeholders, the Munster Hurling League and McGrath Cup, memories came flooding back of last year’s January misadventures.
Munster GAA CEO Kieran Leddy released his annual report on Tuesday, which summed up the meteorological obstacles.
“The game involving Corcaigh and Luimneach was cancelled not once but on three occasions due to bad weather,” he wrote.
“A thick fog put paid to the first attempt to play the game in Mallow, then a frozen pitch in Rathkeale forced the second cancellation, and finally an orange storm warning saw the fixture cancelled once more.
“The Munster CCC took the decision to cancel the competition as the time was not there to complete it in time for the start of the Allianz Leagues.”
Leddy went on to make the case for the provincial warm-up competitions, which have been put on ice – less literally, this time – due to player welfare concerns, primarily the need for an extended off-season.
A similar number were in Páirc Uí Rinn the year previous when a Cork comeback defeated Tipperary to become the most recent Munster Hurling League champions.
Of course, the Munster Council also hold a financial stake here. They generated €79,226 in gate receipts in 2024, down from €127,127 the year previous when both competitions were completed.
Additional revenues flow from streaming income and Co-Op Superstores’ sponsorship of the hurling edition.
The GPA has articulated “overwhelming evidence of player burnout” but Leddy noted how those tournaments have been directly replaced by a slate of challenge games, which have often mirrored the prior fixtures.
Last weekend was Cork v Waterford and Tipperary v Clare, while the Rebels had been scheduled to play Tipp this weekend but for the clash with the Canon O’Brien Cup.
“I think that the Munster League was a good thing,” said Cork boss Pat Ryan last Saturday. “We all have to play matches… because you have to get conditioned.”
Football managers certainly would’ve liked the opportunity to road-test the new rules before the League but some will enjoy greater control over fixtures.
Kerry playing Cavan may do them more good than facing the same old opponents.
On the other hand, Waterford have bemoaned the difficulty in finding good quality challenge games. Their 2015 McGrath Cup success remains a standout moment for many of those players who played that day.
The Kerry hurlers have also enjoyed the adrenaline shot of victories over experimental Cork and Tipp outfits. For fringe players, these pre-season games may be their one shot to play in county colours in front of their family and friends.
Play them in 20-minute quarters with unlimited subs or whatever custom format best enhances readiness for the League, while retaining more of a ‘challenge’ than ‘competitive’ vibe.
All the same, we won’t miss them too much so long as the weather remains the same.
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