PUNDIT DONAL ÓG Cusack feels there are number of issues holding hurling back. 

Speaking on The Sunday Game last night – following Limerick’s thrilling victory over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final – the former Cork goalkeeper said believes the decision to introduce a split season means it felt “rushed” this year. 

“Looking back, you’ve seen all those great moments and I think today was again an example of how the envelope has been pushed in terms of this game,” Cusack explained.

“It’s just getting better and better. The players are getting faster, stronger… the skills level.

“I couldn’t help thinking today that even the performance by Kilkenny, given how the game has advanced over the last number of years, that would have won a lot of the finals that Brian Cody managed in. 

“That’s testament to that team as well and they pushed it on, and now Limerick have taken it on to another level.

I think hurling, very often, is better to us than we are to hurling, You’re talking to the converted here, we’re all hurling fanatics, every one of us.

“I just feel it was a rushed season and finishing the game now, such a distance between the major games, young people seeing all those top players on television, it’s too long.”

He gave an example of the Munster final between Clare and Limerick, which needed extra time to separate the teams, and suggested that playing a replay would have put hurling front and centre of sports media coverage that weekend.

Dónal Óg Cusack makes a passionate plea for more "oxygen" to be pumped into the sport of hurling #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/zXJYdZsUQE

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 17, 2022

Cusack also criticised the scheduling of the All-Ireland quarter-final between Galway and Cork for 1.45pm on a Saturday afternoon last month.

“This game needs oxygen, as much oxygen as possible,” he said. “Whoever allowed that to happen is not watching the back of hurling.

I’d question was that because there was rugby game on that evening, did hurling suffer because of that? I think it did, I think it came down to someone signed off on a decision to play an All-Ireland quarter-final at half past one on a Saturday and there was a rugby game on that evening.”

On the topic of media coverage, he added: “I was out in Ballsbridge this morning having a cup of coffee and a person opens up a national newspaper and I look at the front page of the national newspaper and I see the Irish rugby team and fair play to them, it’s obviously a great achievement [beating New Zealand].

“But then I see him opening up the sports pages. Front of the sport page, the All-Ireland hurling final is on today and there’s not a mention of hurling on the front page.

“And I asked him for a look at the supplement – you might say why didn’t you just go in and buy it yourself – and it was page 13 by the time there was a mention of hurling. There were four pages of hurling compared to all the other pages about different sport.”

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