Cork GAA CEO says Kerry are 'out of sync' with other counties in Munster club championships
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Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan has said Kerry are “out of sync” with other counties in who they send forward for junior and intermediate provincial club competitions.
O’Donovan was responding to a suggestion from the Knocknagree club at the recent county convention that the Cork Senior A champions should represent the county in the Munster intermediate club championship, and not the premier intermediate champions as is presently the case.
Mike Doyle of Knocknagree told convention that Cork would be “more competitive with Kerry” at Munster club level if Cork were represented in the provincial intermediate championship by the winners of the second-tier county championship.
The current situation, he added, sees Kerry clubs “walking all over” their Cork intermediate counterparts.
With only eight club teams in the Kerry senior championship, their intermediate winners are the ninth ranked outfit in the Kingdom. The Cork premier intermediate champions, by contrast, sit 25th on their respective ladder.
By allowing the Cork Senior A champions go forward to the Munster Intermediate, Knocknagree argued, you would have Kerry’s ninth-ranked team taking on Cork’s 13th.
In last month’s Munster intermediate semi-final, Austin Stacks travelled to the home of Cork third-tier champions Kilshannig and scored a comfortable 1-12 to 0-6 win. Stacks’ subsequent final victory meant they became the 16th Kerry winners of the competition over the past 18 seasons.
“It should be our second grade competing at the second grade at national level. There are 12 of our top 24 teams who can't compete at the national club level,” said Mike Doyle.
“Going forward, we should be more competitive with the Kerry clubs because they are walking all over us. It seems like we need to bring up our grade to compete.
“Our players would be getting bigger exposure to bigger games, our footballers would be getting the experience of playing in big matches, and hopefully getting the experience of playing in Croke Park, which would benefit Cork football enormously.”
In response to Knocknagree’s proposal, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan said Cork are not the ones out of sync in having their 25th and 49th best teams represent the county in Munster intermediate and junior respectively.
“It is our friends over the border who are most out of sync,” O’Donovan remarked.
“The Waterfords, Tipperarys, the others, they are swinging along the same as everyone else. It is our friends across the border, they are sending out their ninth best team, that's the anomaly.”
O’Donovan added that were Cork to change their Munster intermediate representatives from the premier intermediate winners to the Senior A champions, they would have to rename the latter competition to reflect its new intermediate ties.
“We engaged with Munster when we brought in the new grades a number of years ago. We clarified with them what teams we would be allowed to put into Munster, and Munster are very clear; whatever your top senior grade is, we are taking that team; whatever your top intermediate grade is, we are taking that team; whatever your top junior grade is, we are taking that team.
“So if you want Senior A going out in the intermediate in Munster, whatever kind of intermediate you want to call it, it must be called intermediate. I am only flagging that, if ye want to bring a motion on that next year. Our grades are in the bye-laws, so it will need to go through county convention, as well as the regulations.
“It is not a matter of us making a phone call to Munster saying, we are sending in this team instead of that team, you will have to call it intermediate within this county.”