John Martin: The Kingdom’s rules

AGAINST…Former Kerry boss Jerry Molyneaux was against the rule

IT may have been hailed as a victory for common sense by the Kerry county board (what else would they say?) but is the dispensation granted to the Kingdom hurlers to continue using ‘outside’ players fair, and is it in the long-term interests of Kerry hurling?

To recap – back in 2007 a rule was introduced when a Louth motion to the 2006 Congress was passed to allow up to five players from MacCarthy Cup teams to switch to a county competing in the Christy Ring or Nicky Rackard competitions.

Rule 6.9 Special Eligibility Provisions for Hurling states: For Senior Inter-County Hurling Competitions, a player, subject to the conditions hereunder, shall be entitled to – (a) Declare for the First County of either of his parents; or (b) Play for the County of Residence, provided this County is a designated County as provided for in Condition (1) below, while continuing to be eligible to play with his own Club.
The following Conditions shall apply: (1) The County availing of this Rule is not participating in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (Liam McCarthy Cup) or Division 1 of the National League.

Since the rule was passed, Carlow and Westmeath have made the step up to MacCarthy Cup level after winning the Christy Ring Cup. Both counties have played in the MacCarthy Cup without players from other counties. But after last week’s ruling, that won’t be the case for the Kingdom after a plea for special treatment from Kerry Hurling Board to Central Council was accepted.

Kerry Hurling Officer, Ger McCarthy, not surprisingly, welcomed the outcome. “It was a common sense result. A case was made on compassionate grounds on the basis that Pa Kelly played in Division 2 for Kerry. We can continue to use any player we used in the last two seasons. That’s down to Ciaran Carey and the management now.”

The chief benefit to Carey, as referenced by McCarthy, is the availability of Clare’s Pa Kelly. Kelly was part of Davy Fitzgerald’s panel in 2013 when the Banner county won the MacCarthy Cup but Tipperary trio James Logue, Davy Butler, and John O’Neill also played for Kerry at stages last year under former manager Eamonn Kelly.

Ironically Kerry were one of the most vocal opponents of the rule when it was first introduced. The then manager Jerry Molyneaux was asked whether he’d be making approaches to any Cork players to bolster his ranks. He replied that he wouldn’t be using any outside players as when push came to shove, their loyalties would lie with their home clubs.

“Suppose they’re playing club championship at home on the same day as we’re playing Christy Ring? They’ll play for the club,” Molyneaux prophecised. And indeed last year when Kerry were playing Antrim in the league promotion/relegation play-off, Logue played for his club Ballingarry instead of Kerry, and in previous seasons players have chosen to field for native club over adopted county.

Personally I have no issue with the decision in principal – in the bigger picture, the prize of assisting another county to become competitive in the top flight trumps the inherent unfairness of the decision. It is most unfair to Westmeath and Carlow, and neither of those counties have expressed any dissatisfaction with Central Council’s favour to the Kingdom.

That attitude may change in time if Kerry beat either of those teams in the Leinster Championship round-robin group and indeed, Antrim may also be ruing the rule if they have to face Kerry again in a relegation/promotion play-off if the Allianz League Division 1B and 2A roll out as predicted and the two sides clash for the right to top flight league hurling in 2017.

It’s always been a contentious rule. While it may help a county’s fortunes in the short term, it also denies a place in the starting line-up to a player who has been developed by that county and thwarts his development as a senior county hurler.

It also discriminates against northern counties who don’t have the same opportunity as those south of hurling’s Dublin-Galway Maginot Line to avail of players who have moved for work purposes in the likes of the teaching profession, Garda, civil service or public sector.

It should be pointed out of course that the Kerry hurling set-up is not made up of a bunch of mercenary hurlers from MacCarthy Cup counties who are being rotated season after season. Kelly was the only ‘non-native’ starter in the 2015 Christy Ring Cup final, although both Butler and O’Neill came off the bench, but what needs to happen now is for the dispensation to be included in Rule 6.9 so that no other counties aren’t going to Central Council looking a favour.

A timeframe also needs to be included in relation to teams retaining their MacCarthy Cup status. An agreed timeframe – say two seasons – by which all squad members should be playing for clubs within the county also needs to be added to the rule.
The current situation would require Kerry to go back to Central Council to ask for a similar favour next year.
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