By Niall Gartland

CAVAN hurling manager Ollie Bellew doesn’t blame any of the players who have stepped away from the intercounty scene following the controversy surrounding last year’s Lory Meagher final.

Speaking ahead of their Division Four opener at home to Warwickshire this Saturday, the Belfast native reveals that the progress made over recent seasons could be derailed by the events of last season.

New York were parachuted into the Lory Meagher championship at the semi-final stage and overcame Cavan in the final, and Bellew believes it was a kick in the teeth not just for Cavan, but all the lower-tier hurling counties. Some players have opted out as a result, and Bellew says the blame for that resides with the association at national level.

“I’m not going to say too much, but what I will say is that, given how the weaker counties have been treated following events last year, you can understand why some fellas have lost heart and the drive to be successful and push things on.

“It was the second time in three years that the organisation tried to impact the role of the weaker counties. They were almost expelled from the leagues, and then the championship was obviously tampered with last year.

“When you look at lads who have been totally committed to Cavan hurling and progressing it, you can understand why a lot of them feel the organisation has turned its back on them.”

Bellew goes as far as to say that the aforementioned controversies have the potential to “kill” hurling in counties such as Cavan.

“Hurling communities in non-traditional counties are just as passionate as anywhere else. It’s the national game and it can’t be allowed to become extinct in those areas. I think the GAA’s actions could kill the game off in so-called weaker counties. It’s put Cavan hurling in real danger.”

Time will tell how Cavan will fare on the intercounty scene in 2026. They were unfortunate to face the drop from Division Three last year, though it won’t be easy to spring back in this year’s National Hurling League given the prevailing circumstances.

“Given that we’re now in a rebuild phase, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that we’re not there (in Division Three), but we definitely could have and should have stayed up last year.

“We had some unbelievable performances last year. In all my time with Cavan, we never played as well as we did in our league match against London, we just ran out of steam in the end. We beat Wicklow, who finished third in the table, and were competitive in every match. Those were all really good teams competing in last year’s Nickey Rackard and Christy Ring finals and we were able to hold our own.”