Dual minors had better chance of progressing at senior level for Tipperary
By Shane Brophy
Players who played both minor hurling and football for Tipperary had a greater chance of progressing onto play at senior level.
With the issue of underage players being allowed to develop in both hurling and football a live one, the Nenagh Guardian looked to undertake a study from the six years from 2010 to 2015 when dual players were allowed in the minor grade.
The study found that of the 33 players who represented Tipperary in both hurling and football at minor level, 19 (58%) have so far gone on to play either senior hurling or senior football for Tipperary.
Ten of those players have played both made a senior hurling and football panel at some stage subsequently; Seamus Kennedy, Liam Treacy, Bill Maher, John Meagher, Colin O’Riordan, Steven O’Brien, Paul Maher (Kilsheelan/Kilcash), Willie Connors, Paudie Feehan and Colin English
Four of those dual minors (Niall O’Meara, John McGrath, Mark Kehoe, Dylan Fitzelle) have gone onto play senior hurling only, while five have played senior football only (Josh Keane, Ross Mulcahy, Emmet Moloney, Liam Fahey, Stephen Quirke), leaving fourteen dual minor players (42%) that didn’t go onto play at senior level at all.
58% is a very high percentage and certainly indicates that pursuing both codes at minor level didn’t inhibit their chances of playing at senior level, in fact it benefitted it.
With the new GAA calendar set to propose the inter-county minor hurling and football championships to be run concurrent to one another, accommodating dual players will be almost impossible. However, the figures do indicate that the more players that are allowed to play both codes at development squad level (up to under 16), the greater the chance they have of progressing to play either senior hurling or football, even if they have to prioritise one code at minor level, as the under 20 grades will have separate windows in the calendar which would allow for dual players at that level once again.
Senior progression
In a further breakdown of the figures, 129 players (including dual) have been part of Tipperary minor hurling panels from 2010 to 2015, from which just 15 (11%) have gone onto play senior championship hurling up to last year, while another 30 (23%) have been part of the senior hurling panel, leaving 85 (67%) that didn’t go onto senior level.
Fifteen players going onto play championship over the past decade does seem a poor return for a hurling first county such as Tipperary, which goes to show how hard it is to progress onto play at the highest level. It also provides further evidence of just how good the minor cohort from the 2006 & 2007 All-Ireland winning teams, that have backboned the senior panel over the last decade, have been where the younger brigade haven’t been good enough to take their places on the team.
The retention rate in Gaelic football from minor to senior was slightly higher where of the 129 players (including dual) who played minor from 2010 to 2015, 27 (21%) have gone onto play senior championship football so far, while another 22 (16%) have made a senior football panel at some point, leaving 84 players (65%) who didn’t go onto play at senior level.
Now some players have crossed over to the senior hurlers and back, but have 35% of minor players tasting some level of senior football is very high indeed, particularly when you take the 2011 All-Ireland Minor winning panel where of that 31-man panel, 16 players have played senior football at some point or other over the past decade and it would have been one more with John McGrath likely to easily have played senior inter-county football if he hadn’t made such an impact with the hurlers.
Dual Minors who made a Tipperary Senior Hurling & Football panel (10)
Seamus Kennedy
Liam Treacy
Bill Maher
John Meagher
Colin O’Riordan
Steven O’Brien
Paul Maher (Kilsheelan/Kilcash)
Willie Connors
Paudie Feehan
Colin English
Dual Minors who made a Senior Hurling panel only (4)
Niall O’Meara
John McGrath
Dylan Fitzelle
Mark Kehoe
Dual Minors who made a Senior Football panel only (5)
Josh Keane
Ross Mulcahy
Emmet Moloney
Liam Fahey
Stephen Quirke
Dual Minors who did not progress to play Senior Hurling or Football (9)
Darren Cass
Jack Loughnane
Jack Shelly
Jimmy Maher
Lorcan Egan
Ross Peters
Gavin Ryan
Jack Skehan
Michael Connors
Minor Hurlers that have progressed to play Senior Championship Hurling (15)
Cathal Barrett
Dan McCormack
Jason Forde
Joe O’Dwyer
John McGrath
Niall O’Meara
Seamus Kennedy
Barry Heffernan
Michael Breen
Ronan Maher
Brian Hogan
Willie Connors
Mark Kehoe
John Meagher
Dillon Quirke
Minor Hurlers that played National League and/or made Senior Hurling panel (30)
Aidan McCormack
Daire Quinn
Justin Cahill
Liam McGrath
Liam Treacy
Tommy Heffernan
Bill Maher
Conor Hammersley
Tomas Hamill
Colin O’Riordan
Dylan Fitzelle
Mark McCarthy
Paul Maher (Moyne-Templetuohy)
Seanie Nally
Sean Ryan
Tom Fox
Andrew Coffey
David Sweeney
Jason Ryan
Paul Maher (Kilsheelan/Kilcash)
Mark Russell (played minor football)
Paul Shanahan (played minor football)
Paudie Feehan
Colin English
Robert Byrne
Brian McGrath
Cian Darcy
Killian O’Dwyer
James Quigley
Alan Tynan
Minor Hurlers that did not progress to play Senior Hurling (72)
Minor Footballers that have progressed to play Senior Championship Football (27)
Billy Hewitt
Bill Maher
Donough Leahy
Liam Boland
Liam McGrath
Liam Treacy
Shane Leahy
Colin O’Riordan
Colman Kennedy
Evan Comerford
Ian Fahey
Jason Lonergan
Michael Quinlivan
Seamus Kennedy
Steven O’Brien
Jimmy Feehan
Kevin Fahey
Padraic Looram
Colin O’Riordan
Emmet Moloney
Liam Casey
Shane O’Connell
Willie Connors
Colm O’Shaughnessy
Jack Kennedy
Paudie Feehan
Tadhg Fitzgerald
Minor Footballers that played National League and/or made Senior Football panel (22)
John O’Callaghan
Paddy Dalton
Dean Lonergan
Gearoid Slattery
Greg Henry
Philip Quirke
Sean Flynn
Luke Boland
Tom Kirwan
Tommy Nolan
Liam Fahey
Stephen Quirke
Liam Ryan
Brendan Martin
Ben Hyland
Gavin Whelan
Paul Shanahan
Jody Sheehan
Tommy Lowry
Colin English
Joseph Nyland
Conor O’Sullivan
Minor Footballers that did not progress to Senior Level (67)