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I made the effort to get out, and scurried accross to Thurles for the Cork-Tipp hurling clash of the day......an exciting finish fails to highlight the issue that really, hurlers should not be out this time of the year. 

Cork hurlers aren't too hopeful about next season

Word reached Shoulder today in Tipp from a good Cork source as well that Cork will struggle next season in the small ball game, with little expectation in the camp and belief of taking Tipp in the first round......

Discipline - the GAA must deal with violent tackling

What has plagued my troubled mind, has been the burning issue of discpline.....now, this is no new chestnut.

But when a hurler gets a smack in the face with a hurl at half time in a Dublin semi-final and in  the same week a football referee is head butted and ugly scenes yet again dog Galway club hurling, then we must all accept we have issues.

The violence associated with some GAA matches, especially this time of year and especially in club matches is not new.

What is also not new and must be tackled, is blatant disregard for refs and the giant irritant of appeals and rule-bending and nod and wink politics to get clubs and players off the hook.

The GAA MUST deal with the dicipline issue and grasp this thorny nettle now. Pictures of prostrate refs in national papers do little for the image of the game....we must start again, make the rules water tight and make the refs untouchable.....

But are hard hats the answer?

Hard Hats.....okay, you need them on the bulding site but fair play to the GAA for introducing the mandatory wearing of helmets next year. It will be harder to recognise players and yes, it will not suit the Mullane's and Sean Ogs and the keepers will hate it, but it has to be done.

Shinty - please, anything but shinty

As for the shinty/hurling debacle....what in the name of God kinda game is that??

A very hungover Shoulder endured this spectacle.....It is like a cross between golf, lacrosse and ground hurling with a bit of medieval hockey thrown in.....my god, we could all do without it. It is absolutely dreadful.

A bit more time trying to reinvent the inter pros and forgetting about this shambles would be a good start.....what next/?

Some form of cross between welly throwing ,netball and football?

Hurling and football are basically very good games, that with some tweaking could become even better....do we need to play GOLF/Hurling/HOckey/Lacrosse just to have an international team??

Brian Cowen expects a winter of discontent but an ever powerful union of another sort is preparing for action....the players union. The Banner is torn, with 17 players handing in a letter to the County Board but the men in suits (or woolly jumpers) standing by the embattled MIke Mac. The trouble is that this one will not go away. While the Bannermen will hardly strike, the divisions run deep and one has to question Mike's sanity for wanting to go again despite all the opposition. Clare isnt the only place where the players aren't happy. The Dublin, Mayo and Laois footballers are not too pleased while word reaches Shoulder of deep angst amongst the Deise stick men. The Waterford lads are not happy with Davy but after the Justin debacle they will be reluctant to raise the heads again, but what are the odds of Mike Mac walking and Davy taking over before the year is out??? Do not rule it out..... And now to matters of a Down Under nature. Tommy Walsh shocked nobody by leaving but I expect Kenenelly to announce his return to Oz very shortly. Word reaches Shoulder that the deal is done, and Tadgh is packing the bags, just waiting to announce the timings. Cusack's Late Late Show........And lastly, for now, as the dust settles on Donal óg Cusack's book, it now looks like the player will walk away with all the plaudits. His Late Late performance was superb and polished as you would expect from one so articulate and sharp minded. It struck Shoulder that the very things that made Cusack great, were the same things that made him so many enemies. He is a true hurling man and passionate, but he is intense and driven, the attributes that made him succeed but also led to his lack of willingness to compromise his principles and helped cause division. In the long run though, his honesty will be apllauded and his memoirs will go down as some of the best yet......  

Donal óg is now a lonely man I hear.

Many of his former Cork allies have turned away and he has split the GAA camp on Leeside......the perception of an intense, flawed and slightly paranoid individual has been enforced.

Cusack has been 100% honest and this is most welcome in a time of drab biographies such as the Da Vinci (Brian) Cody and others. But, with a season of hurling ahead of him one wonders was he wise to tell it all at this stage??? Never mind the personal sexual choice which is welcome for many reasons and Cusack deserves respect.......but his crack at Kilkenny and all who disagree with him will comeback to haunt him. .....

Kennelly Should Face Ban...

 What is it with the GAA  and favoured sons who can do no wrong.....? Tadgh Kennelly, the son of a great, returned hero and County Board employee......

Whether you admire Kennelly or not doesnt matter. I do. But the reality is that he should have been sent off in the All-Ireland Final and when this didnt happen, he should have been banned retrospectively...when this didnt happen, he should now be banned for admitting his misdemeanours and this ban should be two months. Kennelly's foul on Nicholas Murphy warranted a red card and it was cowardly and dangerous. A sending off and red card at this early stage would have made this a totally different game.

AS it happens, Kennelly was man of the match for around 40 minutes and gave Canty a torrid afternoon which arguably should have lost the Rebel his All-Star....