CLARE
SO far, the season has gone nicely for the Bannermen, winning the Waterford Crystal Cup at Tipp’s expense, and manager Mike McNamara has stated his belief that the current panel is the strongest Clare has had in 20 years.
That’s quite a boast, but McNamara clearly likes the mix of experienced campaigners (Tony Carmody, Alan Markham, Niall Gilligan, Colin Lynch) and new faces (Conor McMahon, Caimin Morey, Cathal Dillon) he has assembled.
Also pleasing will be the early-season form of Tony Griffin, who missed much of last season through injury and is a real difference maker when fit. Clare are an interesting shout to sneak into the final. Odds to win Division One: 20/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Limerick (a);
Sunday, February 15: Waterford (h); Sunday, March 1: Tipperary (a); Sunday, March 22: Cork (h); Sunday, March 29: Kilkenny (h); Sunday, April 5: Dublin (a); Sunday, April 19: Galway (h)
CORK IF you’d have told any hurling follower at the end of the 2008 Championship that Cork would be for 20/1 to win the 2009 National League, they wouldn’t have believed you.
If you had told them they would be underdogs for a home game against Dublin, they wouldn’t have believed you.
If you had told them the reason for those things was that the Rebels would be fielding a massively weakened side because the 2008 panel had fallen out with the manager Gerald McCarthy (right) and county board and had gone on strike, they would have believed you without a second thought.
If Cork lose against the Dubs on Sunday, as they probably will given the team they’ll be putting out is probably the third best 15 they could manage, they are in serious danger of being relegated.
The panel that’s currently demanding Gerald McCarthy’s removal is a good one, even if the cracks are beginning to show in some areas. If a solution is brokered they can stay up but, at this stage, the parties involved reaching agreement seems one of hurling’s less believable scenarios. Odds to win Division One: 20/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Dublin (h);
Saturday, February 14: Tipperary (a); Sunday, March 1: Galway (h); Sunday, March 22: Clare (a); Sunday, March 29: Limerick (h); Sunday, April 5: Kilkenny (a);
Sunday, April 19: Waterford (h)
DUBLIN FIRST of all, it should be stated, if there’s any doubt remaining, that Dublin thoroughly deserve their place in the top flight.
Unfortunately for the Dubs, they are miles out of their depth.
Whatever Anthony Daly manages to conjure up, the Dubs will be fighting emphatic relegation from the moment the ball is thrown in on Sunday. Their best chance probably lies with the fiasco down in Cork dragging on throughout the spring.
He will certainly have the home game against his native county marked as both a big match personally, and the Dubs’ best chance of picking up something, apart from this weekend’s home clash against whatever 15 Corkmen show up in red jerseys.
The rest of the slate is brutal, and trips to Tipperary and Kilkenny could prove especially painful, though Dublin have saved their best performances for the League in recent years, and might spring the odd surprise. But it’s asking an awful lot. Odds to win Division One: 66/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Cork (a); Sunday, February 15: Galway (h);
Sunday, March 1: Limerick (a); Sunday, March 22: Waterford (h); Sunday, March 29: Tipperary (a); Sunday, April 5: Clare (h);
Sunday, April 19: Kilkenny (a)
GALWAY IT was alarming how Galway developed into a one-teenager team last season. It might be more alarming for Tribe supporters that they could be without Joe Canning (below) for the first four NHL games, depending on Portumna’s All-Ireland progress, though he came into the panel towards the end of the NHL last year, and good things happened.
With Ger Loughnane gone, the buzz around Galway has subsided a bit, but the lack of hype will probably suit them.
New manager John McIntyre gets a chance Loughnane never had, to play in a provincial Championship in the summer, so that might change Galway’s attitude to the League, and getting other forwards scoring in time for Canning’s return must be the priority. Odds to win Division One: 5/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Kilkenny (h); Sunday, February 15: Dublin (a); Sunday, March 1: Cork (a); Sunday, March 22: Limerick (h); Sunday, March 29: Waterford (a); Sunday, April 5: Tipperary (h); Sunday, April 19: Clare (a)
KILKENNY WHO is there to mount a challenge to the greatest team that ever hurled?
They lost last year’s semi-final to Tipperary and it did them no harm whatsoever, so a repeat this season would be more than satisfactory for Brian Cody, whose League – and Leinster Championship – campaign is simply a tune-up for the real action towards the end of the summer. Missing Henry Shefflin and James Fitzpatrick to Ballyhale’s All-Ireland campaign is a blow, but Kilkenny are so packed with quality and depth, it won’t hamper them getting to the final at least. Tipp are probably their main challengers and, as brilliant as Kilkenny were against Waterford in last year’s All-Ireland final, it’s difficult to shake the notion that Tipp would have provided a much sterner test.
Still, Kilkenny are already a step ahead of last season, having won the Walsh Cup, and there’s every reason to think they can further up last year’s ante by winning the League title that eluded them in 2008. Odds to win Division One: 10/11 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Galway (a);
Sunday, February 15: Limerick (h); Sunday, March 1: Waterford (a); Sunday, March 22: Tipperary (h);
Sunday, March 29: Clare (a); Sunday, April 5: Cork (h); Sunday, April 19: Dublin (h)
LIMERICK AS messy managerial transitions go, Limerick’s takes some beating, with former boss Richie Bennis labelling the appointment of Justin McCarthy “a done deal” despite Bennis and others submitting to interviews, and Tom Ryan threatening legal action to stop the process before he withdrew his candidacy.
With the dust, presumably, settled, McCarthy takes over a side heavy on talent, but prone to self-destruction. He’ll also have to deal with the fact Stephen Lucey, Stephen Walsh and Mark O’Riordan will be playing football as well for the Treatymen.
Against that backdrop, it’s unlikely Limerick will produce much this spring. Odds to win Division One: 20/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Clare (h); Sunday, February 15: Kilkenny (a); Sunday, March 1: Dublin (h); Sunday, March 22: Galway (a); Sunday, March 29: Cork (a); Sunday, April 5: Waterford (h);
Sunday, April 19: Tipperary (a)
TIPPERARY THE reigning National League champions lost just once all last year, but it came in their biggest game, the All-Ireland semi-final. Liam Sheedy’s side was – that loss to Waterford notwithstanding – far and away the second best team in the country last year behind Kilkenny, and will be itching to pit their wits against the Cats. The match in Nowlan Park on March 22 is the first chance, and they’ll certainly want to have another go in a League final.
Injuries have them depleted for the opener against Waterford, though the Decies are missing players too, but the chance to blood some of the young players that have come off Tipp’s underage conveyor belt over the last few years, including highly-rated 18-year-old Noel McGrath, will help Sheedy in the long run.
Winning the NHL didn’t do their Championship chances any harm last season, so expect Tipp to put up a stout defence of their crown. Odds to win Division One: 11/4 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Waterford (a); Saturday, February 14: Cork (h); Sunday, March 1: Clare (h); Sunday, March 22: Kilkenny (a); Sunday, March 29: Dublin (h); Sunday, April 5: Galway (a);
Sunday, April 19: Limerick (h) )
WATERFORD JUST how is the collective Decie psyche after what happened to them on Sunday, September 7 last year?
The humiliation they suffered in the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny was acute, and the plaudits Kilkenny picked up in the aftermath and since won’t have softened the blow.
They have a chance to gain a modicum of revenge by hosting the Cats and, with Tipperary weakened for Sunday’s opener, can propel themselves to a decent League run.
John Mullane, the one man who came out of the All-Ireland final with some credit, is on club duty with De La Salle, while Eoin McGrath could miss the entire National League with a groin injury, so Waterford might struggle to get scores. They are seriously depleted for the League opener against Tipp, with Ken McGrath, Stephen Molumphy, Tony Browne and Eoin Kelly almost definitely unavailable, though manager Davy Fitzgerald (right, with Seamus Prendergast) is probably more interested in their second game, a trip to face his native Clare. Odds to win Division One: 10/1 Fixtures: Sunday, February 8: Tipperary (h); Sunday, February 15: Clare (a); Sunday, March 1: Kilkenny (h); Sunday, March 22: Dublin (a); Sunday, March 29: Galway (h); Sunday, April 5: Limerick (h); Sunday, April 19: Cork (a)
CLARE
CORK
DUBLIN
GALWAY
KILKENNY
LIMERICK
TIPPERARY
WATERFORD
