Jaw-dropping increases in the Tipperary County Board accounts are unsustainable

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What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, the Tipperary County Board convention voted down Conor O’Donovan’s proposal on the hurling handpass. On Saturday last the same gathering gave unanimous backing to the proposition.

The Nenagh Eire Og clubman was unavoidably absent last year but this time he made his presence felt with an impressive presentation on the topic. A handout was distributed to delegates outlining the case. Many sources of support for change were produced, ranging from Liam Sheedy to Martin Breheny to referees like Barry Kelly. Even this humble column got honourable mention on the list.

Conor, a tireless advocate on this issue, had his homework done. He ended his presentation with a short video piece showing alternative handpass options used by players over the years.

All of this happened in the same week that the third level freshers’ hurling league concluded its trialling of the proposal. That league final was played midweek, with UL defeating DCU. The game was streamed on YouTube and for many offered convincing evidence of the effectiveness of the new rule.

What strikes one immediately while watching the game is how quickly the players adapted to the new instruction. There was one incorrect handpass penalised early in the match and that was it. Thereafter the players seemed to embrace the new order seamlessly, finding alternative ways to handpass whether doing it directly off the hurley, employing a version of the “Brick flick” or switching hands.

All of this lays bare the criticism that Conor O’Donovan’s suggested solution was impractical. Apart from eliminating the throw, there are other benefits to the game as well. The following post on Premierview offers a useful summary:

“Only one illegal handpass and it was blown. Players avoiding contact, knowing the consequences of being bottled up. Lots of direct hurling and moving the ball on rather than playing into contact. Some rucks but I couldn’t say there were any more as a result of the new rule. All positives and the refs must love it. This needs to be trialled further”.

To which we can only add, “Hear! Hear!” Hopefully the decision of Tipperary’s convention will give added impetus now to the proposal and see it trialled further, perhaps in the winter leagues or even national league. Always remember the huge prize at stake here: the elimination of the thrown ball from the game of hurling. Hopefully the end is in sight.

In other musings from the County Convention, the financial statement attracted significant interest (excuse the pun), even if delegates desisted from making public comment.

The overall balance sheet showed a deficit of €78,203 in a year when total expenditure increased by a whopping 19% on the 2022 figure. When you include contra items the total expenditure reached €4,087,981. Such is the scale of financial activity nowadays.

For anyone interested in scanning the accounts be forewarned that the figures are eye-watering, especially the levels of increase from 2022 across nearly all headings. To say this trend is unsustainable is the understatement of the year.

What’s particularly interesting about accounts countrywide this year is the fact that Croke Park issued a new template to be used by boards when publishing their financial reports. It means a more transparent itemising of expenditure, whereas previously entries tended to be bulked together. You’ll have noticed from the national media that team managements have come under particular scrutiny as a consequence.

In Tipperary’s case the figures for team managers and selectors make for curious reading. Our county football management cost more than their hurling colleagues, despite the fact that it was an especially bleak year for the former. Waterford was the only county beaten by the footballers in any competition, with their season ending officially on June 3.

Team manager and selectors on the senior football side were paid €56,525, whereas the hurling management received €41,311. Indeed, underage teams and development groups cost €91,489. Overall, it meant that money paid to managers and selectors in 2023 increased by over €80,000 from the 2022 figure.

Other areas too showed jaw-dropping increases. The cost of player mileage payments rose by over €90,000 from the previous year’s figure. Interestingly, the county’s senior footballers were again more costly than the hurlers under this heading. Mileage payments of €113,376 went to the senior footballers, whereas the corresponding figure for the senior hurlers was €106,029.

With almost €300,000 going on player mileage alone, it’s an area of huge cost for the board, thanks principally to the GPA, who negotiated a very lucrative rate for players.

The backroom teams involved with various sides are yet another huge item of expenditure for the board. Here the figure for the county’s senior hurlers is, curiously, almost double that for the footballers. Indeed, the figure for backroom personnel for underage and development groups almost matches those of the county’s senior hurlers and footballers combined.

Once more this category jumped by over €70,000 from the previous year. In general increases of 25% and more are typical under many headings in these accounts and clearly such increases can’t continue. If this is what happens on a bleak year, one can only wonder at the state of the accounts if our various county sides had been successful in 2023.

An item of drama at convention arose with the only election of the night. Jimmy Minogue (Nenagh Eire Og) took over as the new chairman in place of the very able and affable Joe Kennedy, who had completed his three-year term. An election ensued for the position of vice-chairman between Roscrea’s Mark McLoughlin and Borris-Ileigh’s Michael Tierney. However, the ballot had to be voided when the number of votes cast exceeded the voting strength of convention.

It's the curious case of the extra votes – up to fifteen I’m told. No doubt it will be fertile ground for all sorts of conspiracy theorists. It’s difficult to understand how this occurred. When club delegates register, they’re given their voting papers so how the extra ballot sheets got into the mix is strange.

The problem was compounded when it was realised that some voting delegates had subsequently left the meeting, so a re-casting of the vote wasn’t possible. In the event it was decided to void the original ballot and proceed instead with a postal vote after Christmas. It’s a tough one on the two candidates who are left in limbo.

On the motion front I was interested in a Rosegreen proposal, which was passed without opposition. It introduced a new by-law to the effect that where one or more clubs share a catchment area - as Rosegreen does with Cashel KC - a juvenile player having already established his first club may only transfer with the agreement of both clubs.

The haemorrhage of players to the King Cormacs was clearly a backdrop to this move by Rosegreen, which as a small unit is struggling for its very existence. Remember the club was also in the limelight in recent years with the transfer of two players to Boherlahan/Dualla, so this is a very live issue for them.

While there is understandable sympathy for a club like Rosegreen, I was surprised nobody raised any quibble about this proposal. At one level it appears to challenge the parish rule where there was always a right for players in urban areas, for example, to transfer between the clubs in the town. This regulation now limits that right because clubs can effectively veto such a transfer.

I think it’s a highly questionable insertion into the rules. Ultimately, as Rosegreen learned in recent years, you can’t force players to play with you. I doubt it would survive any appeal – it certainly wouldn’t pass the DRA.