Westside says there's a lot of developing still to be done by triumphant Tipperary minors

The afterglow of the All-Ireland minor win continues to warm the hearts of Tipperary folk. Its brilliance will live long in the collective memory. For the young lads themselves it’s a taste of what the old game has to offer. It’s also, hopefully, an encouragement to strive for further development in the sport.

The players themselves - the butcher’s dozen as someone remarked – have rightly been acknowledged and acclaimed for their sheer heroism in pulling off that win. However, it is appropriate also to put things in context.

These are Under 17s, the grade at local level run by Bord na nÓg. It’s effectively a juvenile development squad, especially since the grade adjustments were made back in 2018. It will typically be five years before you’d expect to see any of these lads making a senior impact. That’s a lot of growing and a lot of developing still to be done.

Without taking anything then from Woodlock’s Warriors, context is always important. Indeed, there is a significant, and growing, volume of opinion that’s highly critical of the grade changes that introduced Under 17 and Under 20 championships. The issue at stake is its impact on player development and the gap that now exists between underage and senior.

In The Irish Times recently Kerry’s Darragh Ó Sé highlighted the issue. The Kingdom had just won the Munster minor football final and all the talk was about a lad called Gearoid White who was exceptional. Yet O’Shea pointed out that he’s still just fifteen years old and has yet to even play for his school’s senior team.

It’s the level of focus and fame that it brings to a lad so young, a garsún in Ó Sé’s words, which is the issue. At a time in his life when he should be carefree and enjoying his boyhood, he suddenly faces all the spotlight of televised games and the associated attention that it draws.

In Ó Sé’s view it’s not healthy or helpful in the player’s development.

The point is further illustrated with the case of Tyrone’s Ruairi Canavan. Two years ago he was blowing the lights out at Under 20 level, but is now struggling at senior.

In time it’s a fair bet that Ruairi Canavan will be a senior star for Tyrone but the key word is time and the problem is that the experience of premature promotion can destroy a lot of very promising players. Not all are David Cliffords.

The developmental pathway to senior, the ultimate target for all players, has gone back in years and added a layer of difficulty that didn’t exist to the same extent with Under 18 and Under 21 grades.

Speaking to John Kiely after their Munster final win over Clare, he was adamant, even animated on the same issue. That may surprise people, seeing that Limerick have a cohort of very promising young players snapping at the heels of their more established colleagues. You think of Cathal O’Neill, Shane O’Brien, Adam English, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh and others.

Shane O’Brien had just played a star role in the Munster final. Yet he couldn’t make the starting fifteen for the All-Ireland semi-final. A lot still to learn was Kiely’s summation, while still acknowledging the huge potential and the pivotal role he played against Clare. The Kilmallock lad is still under twenty this year.

In John Kiely’s estimation the underage structure is failing our players badly. Put simply they’re not ready for the rigours of senior and have to be nursed and nurtured for several years before properly making the grade.

The Limerick manager more than anyone should know because the last few years has been all about developing these lads to eventually fill the boots of a Hannon or a Hegarty.

They’ve played cameo roles with a high performing team but perhaps only Cathal O’Neill has been deemed developed enough to fully take on a regular starting role.

The problem of changing back to Under 18 and Under 21 is that those who brought in the change won’t admit defeat.

Speaking of John Kiely leads on nicely to the weekend’s action – and what a spectacle it was. Two extraordinary games both hanging by a thread at the end. It’s all about margins, the wafer-thin ones. Limerick and Kilkenny are now left to rue the what ifs as they digest the events that unfolded.

For Limerick there were the goal chances that could have put a different complexion on events, Cork goalie Patrick Collins the hero of the day. Then a few crucial wides near the end saw their fightback fall tantalisingly short.

For Kilkenny too there will be many regrets and again a goalie will feature in their analysis. Eibhear Quilligan stood bravely in the “bearna baoil,” hurling defiance at The Cats. Even then there was a chance at the end but for once TJ Reid baulked at a few vital ones, frees that would normally be routine for him.

The old game continues to mesmerise. If Waterford hadn’t been caught for a draw by Tipperary, then Cork were out of the race. Likewise, if Limerick had delivered the K.O. at Páirc Uí Chaoimh the semi-final pairings would again have been different. Cork survived by a thread and now they’re on the cusp of ending a nineteen-year famine. I think they’ll do it too.

Sometimes it takes just one significant victory to light the flame and that Cork win over Limerick at Páirc Uí Chaoimh was the spark. John Kiely will know that they created a monster that day and it has come back to bite.

In a sense the thing has gone full circle. Limerick’s emergence in 2018 had a pivotal moment in their semi-final triumph over Cork. Remember Quaid’s flick away from Harnedy. Now the roles are reversed.

It would be silly to write Limerick’s obituary after this defeat; there’s too much quality in the panel for the side to simply disappear into the ether. What will be interesting is how they respond in future years. Will there be departures and how will the younger crew step up?

Either way they’ve had a remarkable innings, one that the rest of the hurling world could only sit back, admire and envy. For that to happen you need a lot of moving parts to work in unison. At its core you needed an incredible panel of players who simply kept returning year after year undiminished. How long could they sustain it? They came to the very gate of immortality in their quest, but there’s a reason no hurling side has ever done the five-in-a-row.

People will, and have, highlighted different elements as the secret to their success, whether it’s Paul Kinnerk or Caroline Currid or whoever. These obviously played a part but I’ve no doubt that the essential glue that held it all together was John Kiely. All great teams, in whatever sport, have great managers and Kiely will stand hip-to-hip with the very best we’ve seen.

I can’t finish this week without reference to the handpass debate and its latest offering on The Sunday Game. Once more the absurdity of the rule came to light, especially in the Cork/Limerick clash with wrong calls being made, ones that might have proven very costly to Cork especially.

The TV panel acknowledged that in real time it’s impossible for a referee to adjudicate on the issue. The logical conclusion then is that the rule must change; what’s not enforceable shouldn’t be there. However, the panellists instead suggest that referees just let it happen, it helps the game in Donal Óg’s words. That brings the debate to a new level of absurdity, which will probably encourage Croke Park to stay sitting on their hands. The inaction is as shameful as the comments of the panellists.