Jack Fagan could be a role model for the future

Waterford's famous Meath hurler Jack Fagan could be a role model for some 13 counties that have been identified for assistance by the GAA's National Hurling Development manager Martin Fogarty.

The statistics produced by the National Hurling Development manager make for stark reading with the code in 13 of what in the past would have been classified as 'weaker counties' facing a serious battle for survival.

Remember all the great hurlers who have played for Meath - Pat Potterton, Paddy Kelly, David Martin, Nicky Horan, Mark Gannon, Mike Cole - there's more.

Last year there was the phenomenal performances of Rathmolyon man Jack Fagan - a Meath man playing in an All-Ireland SHC final.

Meath would have been one of those 'weaker counties' in the past, but the Royal County has progressed to such an extent that it is not included in those statistics now.

However, this proposal by Fogarty and his team should be of serious interest to the GAA in Meath and in the so-called 'stronger counties' as well.

To apply a well-worn cliche - the chain is only as strong as its weakest link - on that gauge hurling is not very strong if close to half the counties are struggling. There is a form of elitism within hurling and the 'strong' counties just aren't too bothered about anyone but themselves.

The geography to this proposal is quite simple - draw a line across the middle of the country from east to west going through Athlone.

Broadly, anything north of that line is in the frame for this proposal that suggests five regional groups (see map) to improve club hurling.

Meath hurling enthusiasts will probably watch this process as it takes shape with more interest than most.

There would be no opposition amongst the hurling fraternity in Meath to the prospects of an improvement in standards in any of those 13 counties and it's worth noting that two of them - Sligo and Leitrim - have both enjoyed success in recent finals of the Tier 4HC and Tier 5HC - Nicky Rackard Cup and Lory Meagher Cup.

The GAA's hurling fraternity deserve credit for the structures that are now in place for the inter-county hurling championships and there is a clear pathway from the bottom of the pile to the top if a county can make and sustain significant improvement to progress through the grades.

In the past Meath has won the Nicky Rackard Cup (it was Tier 3HC at that time) and the Christy Ring Cup (Tier 2HC at the time) but they also won it more recently when it had been re-classified as Tier 3 HC. Meath now hold a place in the Tier 2HC Joe McDonagh Cup and the immediate target there is to preserve that status whenever inter-county action resumes in 2021.

Having addressed the imbalance in the hurling championships at inter-county level, the next challenge has to be a similar result at club level.

Perhaps it would have been more beneficial to tackle the problem the other way around, but it's likely that club officials will be determined to retain some sort of county identity and that could be one, and possibly the only obstacle to what appears to be an excellent proposal.

However, there shouldn't be any reluctance within each county to embrace this proposal because if it is successful and hurling prospers in each of the 13 counties the long-term goal can be a return to the pre-regionalised structure. There is also nothing to prevent each county in staging their own SHC finals with agreement locally that the top two teams per county would contest a SHC final once the regional competitions are concluded.

By adding that clause each county will then produce a SHC champion annually, but those teams would have to be catered for in whatever format is applicable to the All-Ireland club championships annually.

An interesting development is the concept of ‘hurling only on a Monday.’

According to the GAA report 13 counties have eight senior hurling clubs or less while six counties have four or less.

If Meath hurling enthusiasts need any convincing of what can be achieved by higher standards all they need to do is look to Rathmolyon man Jack Fagan.

There could be players like Jack Fagan in any or all of those 13 counties that will benefit from this plan?