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.
