Recent history shows league final losses are far from fatal

It’s always the way of things that a team reaching a final and losing will have their failings cast in a harsh light, moreso than the sides that did not even get that far.

So it is in the wake of Sunday’s Allianz HL Division 1 decider, with Cork’s six-point loss to Limerick providing plenty of fodder for those of the view that the outcome is a worrying portent ahead of the championship.

Of course, the perfect riposte is to point out that, 12 months ago, Cork’s victory in the decider had people worried that the hype machine would go into overdrive and leave Pat Ryan’s side as sitting ducks.

That didn’t happen – though their opening Munster fixture did not yield a win either, as Clare came from nine points down to force a draw at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg. A year before that, the Banner County were the league champions and they started their provincial campaign at home to Limerick – on that occasion, they led by nine but still ended up losing.

In 2023, Limerick won the league but were not convincing as they edged Waterford in their first Munster outing and in 2022 – the first year of the return of the round-robin following the two-year Covid hiatus – the Déise themselves had the spring form but barely got past a Tipperary side that would not win any games.

Clearly, winning the league does not imbue a magical elixir that guarantees a bump – and what of the counterpoint? Are the league finalists condemned to a championship campaign of disappointment or disaster?

Well, we hardly need reminding that Tipperary lost to Cork by ten points in last year’s decider and ended the year as All-Ireland champions; Kilkenny lost the two finals before that, to Clare and Limerick respectively, and yet it didn’t stop them winning Leinster both times, as well as reaching the All-Ireland final in 2023, losing again to the Treatymen.

In 2022, it looked as if Cork’s league final loss to Waterford had left a mark as they opened with defeats to Limerick and Clare in the Munster SHC – yet a victory over the Déise in Walsh Park was the turnaround that helped to ensure that Kieran Kingston’s side made it into the All-Ireland series while Liam Cahill’s did not.

It should scarcely need stating, given that it is a secondary competition, but a league win is not a fix-all and a final defeat is hardly the fatal blow that it might be portrayed as.