Could a Ten Team Division One National Hurling League Work

In previewing Waterford’s National Hurling League Quarter Final game with Galway I said that I felt that one team from Division One ‘B’ was going to make the semi-final stages of this year’s competition.

Results from recent years suggested that the four teams from Division ‘A’ in the quarter finals suggested that at least one Division One ‘B’ team would reach the last four.

The last two winners of the competition, Waterford in 2015 and Clare twelve months later won the competition after winning Division One ‘B’ so Wexford should have felt confident going into their game with Kilkenny, and of course they also had the famous ‘Davy Bounce’ going for them.

The last two winners Waterford and Clare were also the side that were relegated from Division One ‘A’ twelve months earlier, so Galway must have gone into their game against Waterford, a side that showed no fewer than nine changes to the side that had beaten Clare a week earlier.

I will be honest here and admit, the side that I saw advancing to the semi-finals from Division One ‘B’ was Limerick, a side that I think are to be looked out for in the coming years, as they were playing a Cork side who have played very hot and cold in recent years.

I might have talked Waterford down a little on Saturday when previewing their game, but despite all the changes I was somewhat confident that Waterford would have advanced to the semi-finals as I believe that Waterford do have strength in reserve, and if anything went wrong on Sunday with Waterford it was sending in the established players as the game was drawing to a close, as the players that had come in in their place were doing well and those coming in might have had needed time to get going.

After the game I asked a question on my thomaskeane1973 Facebook and Twitter pages.

It was a simple question, should we have one Division One Hurling League with eight or ten teams  instead of the current twelve team Division One league split between Division’s One ‘A’ and Division One ‘B’.

My reason for asking was simple. On a given day during the league nothing separated the six teams that played in Division One ‘A’ as could be seen going into the last round of games as only Tipperary knew what they would be playing for this past weekend, and as we saw in Division One ‘B’ of the top three sides there is little between them and the six sides in Division One ‘A’.

To have nine teams in a one group would have its pros and cons. To have an odd number would allow teams to have one bye during nine rounds of games, something they might welcome, but it could also make it difficult to have even numbers competing in the other divisions, so have included Offaly in a possible ten team group. After all, they earned the right to be there having reached the last eight of this year’s competition, something Dublin and Clare did not achieve despite playing in a group higher.

Some might suggest having one big group might cause other problems. Questions might be asked, what about the damage it will do the Club Championships to have such a big group. The question might be asked where the extra time be found for the playing of the games.

If we think about it, little or no extra time might be needed.

The final could still be played the first Sunday in May. With the extra four games in the league, there would be no need for quarter finals as sides would be well catered for games wise.

Time is available to give the week after semi-finals and finals a free week, and another free week could also be given between round nine and the semi-finals. A free weekend would also be given at the end of February or early March for the playing of the Fitzgibbon Cup.

Along the way there would be plenty of local derby games for each county so surely a ten team division would generate interest amongst supporters.

So how could a ten team Division One work out in 2018.

·         Each team would play each other once.

·         The top four teams would play the semi-finals

·         The team that finish tenth would be relegated and replaced by the Division Two winner.

·         The breaks between rounds nine and the semi-finals and between the semi-finals and final could be dropped to allow for a two week later start in the hope of better ground.

Round One	W/E 4 February	Limerick	V	Kilkenny
		Tipperary	V	Clare
		Dublin	V	Galway
		Cork	V	Offaly
		Waterford	V	Wexford
Round Two	W/E 11 February	Clare	V	Limerick
		Galway	V	Kilkenny
		Offaly	V	Tipperary
		Wexford	V	Dublin
		Waterford	V	Cork
Round 3	W/E 18 February	Limerick	V	Galway
		Clare	V	Offaly
		Kilkenny	V	Wexford
		Tipperary	V	Waterford
		Dublin	V	Cork
Round 4	W/E 4 March	Offaly	V	Limerick
		Wexford	V	Galway
		Waterford	V	Clare
		Cork	V	Kilkenny
		Dublin	V	Tipperary
Round 5	W/E 11 March	Limerick	V	Wexford
		Offaly	V	Waterford
		Galway	V	Cork
		Clare	V	Dublin
		Kilkenny	V	Tipperary
Round 6	W/E 18 March	Waterford	V	Limerick
		Cork	V	Wexford
		Dublin	V	Offaly
		Tipperary	V	Galway
		Kilkenny	V	Clare
Round 7	W/E 25 March	Limerick	V	Cork
		Waterford	V	Dublin
		Wexford	V	Tipperary
		Offaly	V	Kilkenny
		Galway	V	Clare
Round 8	W/E 1 April	Dublin	V	Limerick
		Tipperary	V	Cork
		Kilkenny	V	Waterford
		Clare	V	Wexford
		Galway	V	Offaly
Round 9	W/E 8 April	Limerick	V	Tipperary
		Dublin	V	Kilkenny
		Cork	V	Clare
		Waterford	V	Galway
		Wexford	V	Offaly
Semi-Finals	W/E 22 April	Top Team	V	Fourth Team
		Second Team	V	Third Team
Final	6 May	Semi Final Winner	V	Semi Final Winner

People say if a thing is not broken, then don’t try and fix it. The current league format is not broken, but maybe could be improved on. I must also say that I cannot see County Board’s nor Croke Park officials going for a one group of ten in the National hurling league.