bringing back the Connacht Hurling championship

Mal-Adjusted

I was just musing over the idea of how possible it would be to bring back the CSHC. most counties there aren't really strongholds of the game and there's a real chance that without a competitive outlet during the intense summer season the game could be lost to them.

For practical reasons, Galway would have to stay in Leinster but the likes of Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo and London could be relatively competitive there, maybe New York as well.

The elephant in the room of course would be where would the winner progress to? the Liam McCarthy would be too intense but maybe being seeded into one of the lower tier championships might work?

it's all just academic of course, but any debate on the topic would be welcome

cormac halpin

Joe Rabbitte does not like this.

Prop Joe

Good idea i would like that idea but no London,They would walk it every year,Ulster aswell would be competitive enough without Antrim.

eyescreamcone

How about put in a team called Connaught into the Liam McCarthy Cup.
Players could be picked from all counties bar Galway.
Same for Ulster with or without Antrim.
Then all counties would have some representation.

Now to sort out Kilkenny footballers

Prop Joe

eyescreamcone wrote: »

How about put in a team called Connaught into the Liam McCarthy Cup.
Players could be picked from all counties bar Galway.
Same for Ulster with or without Antrim.
Then all counties would have some representation.

Now to sort out Kilkenny footballers

And Munster without......
Could work with a leinster side? Wicklow,Louth,Meath etc..

Only problem is when do these guys get a chance to train with Ring,Rackard commitments with the county?

Syferus

To be fair Roscommon is significantly out in front at most levels of hurling at the moment compared to the other actual counties. London are perfectly happy with their progress and I doubt the other counties would jump at another costly trip to New York.

There's Connacht championships at every grade but senior anyways and the tiered cups make far more sense for senior level.

Wouldn't mind us collecting a few extra Connacht titles, mind

beggars_bush

Syferus wrote: »

To be fair Roscommon is significantly out in front at most levels of hurling at the moment compared to the other actual counties. London are perfectly happy with their progress and I doubt the other counties would jump at another costly trip to New York.

There's Connacht championships at every grade but senior anyways and the tiered cups make far more sense for senior level.

Wouldn't mind us collecting a few extra Connacht titles, mind

Mayo would beat Roscommon at senior hurling

Syferus

beggars_bush wrote: »

Mayo would beat Roscommon at senior hurling

They did recently but few Mayo people would argue that Mayo hurling is in better health than Roscommon hurling - Roscommon have made it to three of the last four combined minor/u21 B All-Ireland finals and have two u21 B All-Irelands in the last five years, as well as the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup.

nice_guy80

Syferus wrote: »

They did recently but few Mayo people would argue that Mayo hurling is in better health than Roscommon hurling - Roscommon have made it to three of the last four combined minor/u21 B All-Ireland finals and have two u21 B All-Irelands in the last five years, as well as the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup.

Mayo play in the Christy Ring Cup.

Syferus

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Mayo play in the Christy Ring Cup.

And? Roscommon have too recently. As I said, Mayo beat Roscommon recently to boot. The point remains, however - Mayo generally are near bottom of the barrel in Christy Ring (they haven't won a single knockout game in it since 2009) whereas Roscommon are usually one of the favoured teams in the Nicky Rackard - not much a difference, in all honesty.

jordainius

Syferus wrote: »

And? Roscommon have too recently. As I said, Mayo beat Roscommon recently to boot. The point remains, however - Mayo generally are near bottom of the barrel in Christy Ring (they haven't won a single knockout game in it since 2009) whereas Roscommon are usually one of the favoured teams in the Nicky Rackard - not much a difference, in all honesty.

Ah, actually there is a significant enough difference to be able to conclusively declare Mayo the better team. Mayo comfortably defeated Roscommon in the league in 2012 and 2011, Roscommon haven't placed ahead of Mayo in the league since 2005. Similarly they haven't bettered Mayo in championship hurling since the inaugural Christy Ring Cup season in 2005, since then Mayo have always done better and generally played a grade above Roscommon.

Mayo and Roscommon are both middle of the road teams in the Ring and Rackard Cups respectively, and it goes without saying that the standard is much higher in the Ring Cup.

Sorry, but Mayo hurling is certainly in front for now.

jordainius

A Connacht hurling championship wouldn't really work as it would at present be dominated by Mayo but would over time be a toss up between themselves and Roscommon.

Leitrim, and to a lesser extent Sligo are a very long off being able to win this hypothetical championship.

London were mentioned but they might be happy enough in Ulster? A Galway team could be included, an Intermediate or maybe their under 21 team could use it to get a competetive game or two during their annual long wait for their all ireland semi final.

So perhaps the following;
Preliminary round of Sligo v Leitrim.
Winners into semi finals with Roscommon, Mayo and Galway U21.

If London were to join, just add another preliminary game. Also, one final long shot; maybe bring Kerry along too! Not good enough for Munster, but this championship would be ideal for their level of competetiveness.

I'd like to see something like the above happen but I know anything like that probably never will.