BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: Show class when it’s needed

On Saturday morning last, Anne Moran was laid to rest in Dunboyne. A member of the famous Watters family, she and her sisters Marion (Reilly), Brigid (Guy) and Kathleen (O’Connor) were the fulcrum of a camogie team which dominated the sport in the county for a good portion of the 1970s and ‘80s. My late father was of the opinion she was among the best hurlers - male or female - he ever saw.

It’s quite easy to see why such a view could be taken when you consider that she won 10 Senior Championship medals from midfield. It was hardly surprising then that when retirement did arrive, she turned her expertise to nurturing the next generation. Whether her own kids - David, Tricia, Sean and Stephen - were on the teams or not.

Mind you, with both the Watters and Moran families steeped in the traditions of all things Dunboyne GAA, it probably naturally followed that the generation coming behind them would be to the fore in some of the club’s greatest accomplishments of more recent times.

What was also a fairly safe bet was that - once Anne did step back from involvement with teams and the like - something was going to be needed to fill the void. Thus the golf clubs replaced the hurl. And, as was her want, taking part simply wouldn’t do, she had to be the best at whatever she was doing. Hence whenever herself and Kathleen teamed up for pairs competitions, it usually spelt trouble for the rest of the field therein!

Hardly surprisingly, along with John, her husband, the offspring have proven themselves to be quite adept at the tee-to-green fare as well. So much so, in fact, that a seasoned and respected practitioner of the craft once observed “if Sean hung up the hurl he could play golf professionally”. Good luck with that discussion around the dinner table!

Now, fado fado it was standard practice for games to be called off as a matter of routine whenever there was a bereavement in a club, all matches were called off. Now, obviously, in some cases, that still applies, but, at grassroots level, the GAA have always found ways to show class when it’s needed most.

So, when fate decreed that Dunboyne had a camogie fixture on the night before Anne was brought to her final resting place, the No. 8 jersey she donned with such distinction was retired for the evening and sat on the halfway line as both teams stood in respectful silence.

If only the upper echelons of the Association could show even a modicum of such respect to counties considered to be outside hurling’s elite.

Pat Spillane has spouted enough dung in the media over the past 30 years, but when he spoke of “Hurling snobbery” he hit the Bulls Eye. As Eamonn Sweeney also did with his ‘Hurling Man’ column.

By the way, in neither case was, nor in this case is ire directed at players or those involved with teams. Opprobrium needs to be very much directed at those in the corridors of power.

You see, big grandiose launch events seem to be the ‘in’ thing within the GAA’s marketing arsenal. However, it’s a bit like the school play where the smart kids get all the lead parts and those considered lesser lights are lucky if they’re stage hands.

Likewise, in the middle of last week, there was a glitzy, glamorous launch of the ‘Hurling Championship’, but of course it was reserved for the elite competing for the Mac Carthy Cup. Even though those who populate who populate the McDonagh, Ring, Rackard and Meagher Cup competitions make up the vast majority of hurling’s playing pool.

Much was made, and understandably so, of the paltry attendance at the recent meeting of Meath and Dublin in Croke Park. Why was footfall so poor? Because the dogs, cats and crows on the street knew that, in all probability, it was going to be akin to shooting fish in a barrell.

No, I do not have a silver bullet solution. But when the Dubs themselves now admit it’s a farce surely somebody has to shout stop. The clue is in the name, the Leinster SFC is no longer a competition.

To that end though, Gaelic football may find the solution to what ails it in hurling. The first step to making any team competitive is aligning them with an appropriate level of opposition.

Then, if and when they acquire a taste for winning, they can aspire to take aim at the next level, whatever it may be. But there’s very little incentive there if you’re being made feel like the shit on the shoe of the elite

That said, other events during the week would lead one to believe that even the best of the best aren’t immune to having idiocy foisted on them.

If, as I understand it, the ludicrous rule precluding senior panelists from playing at U-20 has been catapulted to its rightful place, the dustbin, you’d wonder is it absolutely necessary for Championship matches in the latter to be played during the same week as a county’s senior side are out?

Actually, forget that, of course it's not. To do so is unfair, maddening and counterproductive. In so many ways, the GAA can be obstinate, conservative and immovable in stance.

But there’s one cohort within the organisation who have, with worrying ease, made it a case of the tail wagging the dog. We can only hope Jarlath Burns puts a leash on the hound.