Former Kilkenny star Michael Fennelly has questioned the current hurling Championship structure, particularly the make-up in Leinster.
Although the round robin format in Munster and Leinster has proven to be popular since its introduction in 2018, albeit it was parked in 2020 and ‘21 due to the pandemic, Fennelly feels that an open draw, free from provincial boundaries, would be fairer.
Indeed, the eight-time All-Ireland winner wonders why the Leinster Championship is so called given that two of the six participants are from different provinces.
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He said: “The Leinster Championship has an Ulster team and a Connacht team in there, they are trying to repair it, do different things but it’s not Leinster anymore so I’m not sure why we even call it that name any more, to be honest, if you are talking about the geography side of things.
“So I don’t know, it is a funny one. The whole structure is unusual, there’s no relegation in Munster, there’s relegation in Leinster [provided Kerry don’t win the Joe McDonagh Cup].
“So there are a lot of things there that is not overly right with the structure at the moment.
“I get the steps that were made to try and boost and make Leinster stronger. Galway were in Connacht on their own and Antrim the last couple of years they progressed on which is great to see but there’s no relegation in Munster so there is one rule for one group and not for the other so it is just a bit unusual to see.
“There’s a lot of people giving out about structure and systems and I don’t like to jump on the bandwagon to be honest.
“I would have said six or seven years ago it wasn’t working and I think they should just open up to two groups and do a draw basically and make it more exciting and much more fair.”
Having failed to win a Leinster title between 2016 and ‘20, Kilkenny’s dominance of the competition has been restored in recent years as they’ve now won three-in-a-row, though they haven’t been able to add an All-Ireland and were beaten in last year’s final by Limerick.
But Fennelly is confident that they have what it takes to bridge the gap to their last Liam MacCarthy Cup success in 2015.
"I think so. Without a doubt. I think there is that expectation of hopefully getting back to a final and, whoever is there, possibly winning one. That is the expectation, without a doubt.
“That's the way it is in Kilkenny. They won the last three Leinsters in-a-row. Obviously we need to win a Leinster first, that'll be the first goal, and it would be very important for Derek [Lyng] to get that done if possible. There are some challenging games.
“Obviously Galway are there as well and they'll be the biggest challenge to winning Leinster realistically."
And despite Wexford’s struggles, he doesn’t write off their chances of turning Kilkenny over on Saturday week having scored a famous win in the corresponding fixture at Nowlan Park last year.
“It's a derby, it's a situation that those derby games take on a life of their own. Without a doubt we've always had big battles with Wexford over the last number of years. They drove 20-odd wides against Dublin, without those it would have been a different story. They have been wasteful in games.
“But when it comes to Wexford Park, when it comes to Kilkenny and Wexford, anything can happen, that's the truth of it. Kilkenny will need to be on their guard that day, massively, and we'll need a big performance to beat Wexford. The fact that Wexford are at home as well will be a huge factor down there.”
A midfield powerhouse for Kilkenny in his prime, Fennelly’s Ballyhale Shamrocks clubmate Adrian Mullen is playing in the engine room these days, which he feels is not ideal.
“You'd like him to be in the forwards because he contributes an awful lot to the scoreline as well. Over the years, we have been maybe lacking there, to find one or two permanent midfield spots which has been unfortunate and which has caused us headaches to be honest.
“There have been a lot of moving bodies within there in the last few years, as you said. There's no one sticking out still and I think Adrian will have to play there.
“He's quite capable of playing there without a doubt, he's good at long-range scores but ideally I'd love to have him up in the forwards, he's more of a threat. And I'd love to see him driving at the goal as well.
“I think at times he plays too far from the goals. I'd like him closer to it personally. It's what you have I suppose, you have to work with what you have. You need someone there in midfield as well, someone with experience, so it's a tricky one.”
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