Hurling Rankings

CAVAN
Highlight: It's good to have them back after a 6 year hiatus, finished their season on a major positive by hammering Fermanagh by 4 goals.
Lowlight: Took a 20 point drubbing at the hands of Warwickshire in their first game back and went on to lose their next three games.
Final 2017 ranking; 33rd
Final 2016 ranking; N/A
25 year high; 30th (1998)
25 year low; 36th (2008,2009,2010)
2018 objective; It's good to have them back but room for improvement, probably going to be too soon to expect them to be pushing for promotion in league or championship but need to spend a few years building up a bit of experience. (And if things don't go well, please keep at it and don't bugger off for 6 years again )


FERMANAGH
Highlight: Started their Meagher Cup campaign by coming out on the right side of an 8 goal thriller with Leitrim.
Lowlight: Fell apart thereafter and followed up finishing bottom of division 3B by finishing bottom of the Meagher Cup group..
Final 2017 ranking; 35th
Final 2016 ranking; 31st
25 year high; 25th (1996)
25 year low; 35th (2017)
2018 objective; As little as two years ago Fermanagh were a Meagher Cup winning side, at the very least they should be targeting final positions in both 3B and the championship once more.


LANCASHIRE
Highlight: Won their first and second ever games and would now appear to be a competitive county at this level after two difficult introduction years. Defeated Fermanagh by 13 points in their breakthrough victory.
Lowlight: Their heaviest defeat was a 9 point defeat away to Sligo.
Final 2017 ranking; 34th
Final 2016 ranking; 35th
25 year high; 34th (2017)
25 year low; 35th (2015,2016)
2018 objective; Keep up the good work and maybe even push for a final spot, if Warwickshire can do it why can't Lancashire? Oh, and a win in the England derby would be nice.

LEITRIM
Highlight: A good year for Leitrim culminated with a trip to Croke Park, a 7 point victory over neighbours Sligo in the last round of group stage games in what was essentially a semi final between the two will have been most satisfactory.
Lowlight: They didn't have a great league campaign. Losing the Meagher Cup final will no doubt have hurt but getting there in the first place is definite progress for Leitrim.
Final 2017 ranking; 32nd
Final 2016 ranking; 34th
25 year high; 31st (2007)
25 year low; 36th (2011)
2018 objective; Any team that gets to a final and loses will obviously have the ambition of going one better the following season.


SLIGO
Highlight: Appeared set for a place in the Meagher Cup final after winning three of their opening four fixtures.
Lowlight: Lost their 5th and final game in Carrick-on-Shannon which saw their neighbours Leitrim advance to the final at their expense.
Final 2017 ranking; 31st
Final 2016 ranking; 32nd
25 year high; 25th (2004,2010)
25 year low; 33rd (1998,2014,2015)
2018 objective; They were a victory away from a final place in both the league and championship, will seek to go one better and push for promotion.


WARWICKSHIRE
Highlight: Rounded off their championship by winning their second Meagher Cup.
Lowlight: Victory in the Meagher Cup final will have made up for defeat in the Division 3B league final.
Final 2017 ranking; 29th
Final 2016 ranking; 33rd
25 year high; 29th (2017)
25 year low; 35th (2008,2009,2010)
2018 objective; Retain their Rackard Cup status and win division 3B.

ARMAGH
Highlight: Recovered from defeat to Donegal in the first round of the Rackard Cup and made it to the final.
Lowlight: Relegated from division 2A but they always had their work cut out there, they would have had high hopes of defeating Derry in the Rackard cup final so that defeat will have hurt.
Final 2017 ranking; 23rd
Final 2016 ranking; 22nd
25 year high; 21st (2010)
25 year low; 28th (2003)
2018 objective; They'll be competitive in both league and championship and they'll be aiming for the division 2B and Rackard Cup trophies.


DERRY
Highlight: Recovered well from a disastrous 2016 and ended their season by winning the Rackard Cup at the first time of asking.
Lowlight: A 10 point defeat at home to Wicklow in the league did terminal damage to their push for league promotion.
Final 2017 ranking; 21st
Final 2016 ranking; 24th
25 year high; 10th (2001)
25 year low; 24th (2016)
2018 objective; Push for a place at the business end of the Ring Cup and stay clear of relegation play off. Should have a good shot at winning division 2B as well.

DONEGAL
Highlight: Won a tight division 3A league campaign in style with a comprehensive 22 point victory over neighbours Tyrone in the final.
Lowlight: 4 weeks later Tyrone returned the favour handing Donegal a 15 point drubbing in the Rackard Cup. A 37 point turnaround on the 3A final result....
Final 2017 ranking; 25th
Final 2016 ranking; 25th
25 year high; 24th (2014)
25 year low; 34th (1999,2000)
2018 objective; They've tried and failed to retain division 2B status in the last few years so will look to tick that box. And get back to at least the semi finals in the Rackard Cup.


LONGFORD
Highlight: Rounded off a strong division 3B campaign by pipping Warwickshire in the final.
Lowlight: A wretched Rackard Cup campaign saw them lose both their games by a combined total of 48 points.
Final 2017 ranking; 28th
Final 2016 ranking; 30th
25 year high; 25th (2002)
25 year low; 34th (2012)
2018 objective; Retain division 3A status and it would take some doing for them to somehow not improve on their 2017 Rackard cup. They're lucky there was no relegation from the Rackard cup this year, will need to do better next year to avoid the drop.


LOUTH
Highlight: Unfortunately, nothing. Like Longford, they will retain their Rackard Cup status due to no relegation from that competition this year.
Lowlight: In all competitions; played 8, lost 8.
Final 2017 ranking; 30th
Final 2016 ranking; 28th
25 year high; 24th (2000,2001,2002,2003,2012)
25 year low; 31st (1991,1992,2004,2015)
2018 objective; They'll probably be favourites to win Division 3B, and they'll hope to retain their Rackard Cup status too.


MONAGHAN
Highlight: A good league campaign where they only missed out on a place in the final on scoring difference.
Lowlight: Made it to the Rackard Cup semi final only to suffer a heavy defeat to Derry.
Final 2017 ranking; 27th
Final 2016 ranking; 29th
25 year high; 24th (1991,1992,1994,1998)
25 year low; 33rd (2001,2007)
2018 objective; They'll hope to push on a little more and claim the division 3A title. In the Rackard Cup they'll look to get back to the semi finals and give a better account of themselves this time.


TYRONE
Highlight: They were competitive in both league and championship, making the league final. They gained sweet on revenge on Donegal in the Rackard Cup after taking a big beating from them in the 3A league final.
Lowlight: They were competitive in both league and championship but both came to a close with crushing defeats, 22 points to Donegal in the league final, and 20 points to Derry in the Rackard Cup semi final.
Final 2017 ranking; 26th
Final 2016 ranking; 27th
25 year high; 24th (1999)
25 year low; 31st (2002,2003)
2018 objective; You could nearly just copy and paste Monaghan's objectives from above, they should be competitive in both league and championship and should make the latter phases on both counts.

Position|previous|change|Team|Points
1st |(1)|=|Galway|9004
2nd |(3)|+1|Waterford|8700
3rd |(2)|-1|Tipperary|8694
4th |(4)|=|Cork|8684
5th |(5)|=|Kilkenny|8360
6th |(6)|=|Clare|8338
7th |(7)|=|Wexford|8142
8th |(8)|=|Dublin|8044
9th |(9)|=|Limerick|7931
10th |(10)|=|Offaly|7195


Galway still setting the pace, Tipp fall a position behind Waterford, only 16 points separating 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The winners of next weekend's game will take 2nd and the defeated team will finish the year in 4th.

ALL-IRELAND SEMI FINAL

CORK (4) -v- WATERFORD (2)

They meet again after their Munster semi final clash. That was eight weeks ago now in a game where Cork never really looked threatened, what has changed since then? Cork again always seemed in control against Clare, they always had a few points in hand and kept their cool any time Clare had a bit of a surge. Waterford demolished Offaly before almost throwing away what looked set to be a certain victory over Kilkenny. A victory over Kilkenny will be a nice monkey off their backs, and they were in complete control against Wexford in the quarter final.

I'd hope to see the new championship structure proposals passed because since that semi final meeting, where Cork won, they've played one game to Waterford's three. A lot of the Cork panel were there in 2014 when they had a similar Munster campaign only to fall flat in the semi final so I believe they will have learned from that, I'd be very surprised to see an undercooked Cork today.

Waterford too may have learned a few things from the last two seasons, their third semi final appearance in a row - they won't be phased by big days in Croke Park, McGrath has publicly downplayed his teams chances, very much painting themselves into the underdog role but behind closed doors they'll be raring to go. This one is nicely primed, the worst thing that can happen in a semi final is one team comes in undercooked or one team freezes, I'd be very surprised if such woes beset either team today.

Predicted result based on ratings gap; draw

The dreaded cowards prediction! I think the minimal points gap is a fair reflection of how closely matched these two are. You'd imagine De Burca will be one deciding factor, though even with him in the team Cork did still find enough space in the Waterford half of the pitch in the semi final. Cork have played with a degree of freedom this year, that's not to say they've been let do so, they've very much imposed their style of play on the three teams they've met. Can Waterford take their second chance? This one is delightfully tough to call. Gun to my head; Cork by between 1 and 3 points.

PREVIOUS CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS
2017: Cork 0-23; Waterford 1-15. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2015: Waterford 3-19; Cork 1-21. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2014: Cork 0-28; Waterford 0-14. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2014: Cork 1-21; Waterford 1-21. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2012: Cork 1-19; Waterford 0-19. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2010: Waterford 1-16; Cork 1-13. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2010: Waterford 2-15; Cork 2-15. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)
2007: Waterford 2-17; Cork 0-20. (Croke Park, Dublin)
2007: Waterford 3-16; Cork 3-16. (Croke Park, Dublin)
2007: Waterford 5-15; Cork 3-18. (Semple Stadium, Thurles)


This will be their 66th meeting in a rivalry dominated by Cork overall who have 46 wins to Waterford's 13, (6 draws) but things even out nicely when you look at the 21st century only, in their last 16 ties Cork have won 7 time, Waterford 6 and 3 draws.

I was going to ask the mods to lock this so I could disappear away quietly but instead I'll throw it out there; is anyone willing to take this over?

All that's involved in an Excel spreadsheet, copy and paste the two team's and their ratings and the respective new ranking points are calculated based on the points difference in the match result. It's all fairly simple, a small bit time consuming, I just don't have the time (and to be honest, the desire) to commit to this enough to keep the thread interesting to for example the brilliant standard set by laoisman11 on the football rankings thread.

I'll happily send the Excel sheet on to anyone willing to take this on, let me know if interested

BonnieSituation wrote: »

I never got sent the excel sheet. And it seems HurlingRanker has gone to the great Board in the sky.

I'll gladly do it if I can get my hands on the data.

Sorry folks, he did indeed put his hand up to carry it on and someone brought this post to my attention, I know this sounds very convenient but not long after he posted the laptop I had been doing this on died and I lost the Excel sheet. Luckily a few weeks back I found a 2015 back up, so between that and the 2016/2017 rankings posted on this thread I pretty much have it stitched back together.

It will be in BonnieSituation's capable hands soon

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