WHEN TG4 recently screened a programme on last year’s All-Stars football trip to Boston, some of the footage included interviews from the night of the awards ceremony in October. One of the players interviewed was Hurler-of-the-Year, Richie Hogan. When asked for a snapshot summary of an unbelievable season, Hogan said it was “a dream to play in probably the greatest All-Ireland final” just five months after also playing “in probably the greatest league final ever”.
Last year’s drawn All-Ireland hurling final was the greatest in living memory. Kilkenny and Tipperary had played out epic All-Ireland finals too in 2009 and 2010, but looking for signposts towards last September’s instalment could be found last May. Hogan was right; the teams also played out probably the greatest league final ever.
Although the game went to extra-time, it produced 55 scores, and an almost identical scoreline to the drawn All-Ireland final. While there were different teams involved, both finals also rhymed with the 2013 season in how the league final and All-Ireland final replay were epic matches. The league will always have its place in the psyche of GAA supporters, but the 2013 and 2014 league finals would comfortably rank in the top 25 hurling matches of the last five seasons.
Despite Kilkenny’s iron grip on the championship, this is still another golden era for hurling. Four of the last six All-Ireland finals (2009, 2010, 2013 (replay) and 2014 (draw)) have been amongst the greatest in history. Yet the modern standard has also been reflected in the quality of three of the last six league finals.
The standard at the very top now is reflected in how the big teams can absolutely deliver on the biggest days. In the history of the All-Ireland hurling championship prior to 2009, it was rare when the All-Ireland final delivered the best game of the season. Many of those All-Ireland finals were poor spectacles. Now, in five of the last six years, the best game of the year has been the All-Ireland final.
That 2009 final between Tipperary and Kilkenny was the starting point. Excellent scores, brilliant saves, ferocious tackling, outstanding defending, and high-wire drama. It was a superb match that perfectly encapsulated where hurling had gone in the decade. Like so many games in the latter part of the last decade, it was defined by space management and immense physical endurance. And underlined by a sustained scoring blitz.
In the history of All-Ireland finals, two teams had never hit more than 21 scores. That 2009 final produced 47 scores, which equalled the highest number ever recorded in an All-Ireland final – set by Kilkenny the previous year in their destruction of Waterford. Kilkenny had 10 scorers from play, which was the greatest spread of scorers on an All-Ireland winning team.
At the time, that 2009 All-Ireland final was considered the greatest ever, one that might never be repeated. Yet compare that standard to the quality of last year’s final? The accuracy was off the charts, with the tally of 54 scores the most recorded in an All-Ireland final. There were 20 different scorers from play, six more than there had been in the 2009 decider.
Kilkenny star Richie Hogan. Photo: INPHO.In that 2009 epic, which was groundbreaking in scoring terms, Kilkenny’s tally of 2-22 secured them a five point win. In last year’s drawn final, Kilkenny’s 3-22 wasn’t enough to win the match. Tipperary managed four more scores than Kilkenny and that didn’t suffice either.
Hurling underwent more introspection and strategic change during the last decade than at any time in its history, but last year’s All-Ireland final was a fusion of all of those elements which have enhanced the game since the turn of the century; breakneck pace, short stick passing, rotating forward lines, intricate puckout strategies, ferocious intensity, manic tackling, turnovers, and massive score-fests.
The standard of shooting in particular continues to rise. There was little intensity in Dublin’s play when they met Cork in March, but Cork still managed to hit a record breaking 0-34. When the sides met again in the league semi-final two weeks ago, it was another score-fest, with 53 scores recorded.
The current hurling league format has repeatedly drawn criticism, but the manic competitiveness it has cultivated has coincided with excellent championships. There is definitely a correlation between the quality of league and championship now. Division 1A was a bear pit again this season, with the last two All-Ireland champions contesting the relegation final. The competitiveness of Division 1B, which produced the last two Munster champions, is further underlined this season by Waterford’s progression to Sunday’s league final.
The league quarter-finals were introduced last year to give teams more games, while also giving 1B sides the opportunity to measure themselves against 1A teams. Dublin's hammering of Limerick was not a true reflection of Limerick’s ability, while Offaly and Wexford got within two scores of Tipperary and Cork in their quarter-final meetings. Waterford’s progress this spring, though, has confirmed hurling’s expanding top-table.
The league structures and formats have repeatedly changed over the last few decades, but Sunday will still be the first time since 1991 that a team from outside the top division has reached a league final. Back then, hurling’s golden era of the 90s was still a few years away.
Hurling has never been greater than in the current era, but it looks set to get even better as more teams prepare to dine at the top table.
