There was much gnashing of teeth when the Super 8s were announced for Gaelic football.
Defenders of the club game wondered how this was going to unclog the calendar, traditionalists were unhappy with change, as is their wont, and the hurling fraternity feared for their sport.
Last month it was mooted that the hurling Championship would get more games and on RTÉ Radio Sunday afternoon the GAA president all but confirmed that change was afoot.
The hurling development committee will present their proposals in June but, at this stage, it is still a little unclear where these extra games will be situated on the GAA calendar.
Aogan Ó Fearghaíl ensured listeners there would be more games.
But will a round robin structure with home and away matches be used in the provincial Championship or, as with the football, in the All-Ireland series?
The president seemed to be suggesting a provincial round robin but there is much to be discussed this summer.
“All the teams involved in the Liam McCarthy cup will have additional games, there will be home games and away games and we think it will give hurling the exposure it needs,” said the outgoing figurehead.
“It would start on a round robin, keeping the Leinster championship and the Munster championship. We will need to have home games and away games for all counties, and I would stress that Galway included.
“Galway needs to have hurling matches played at their home venue and with the agreement with the Leinster council we are almost there.”
The Leinster SHC preliminary round is already played off as a round robin stage, while the five-team Munster SHC could certainly benefit from beefing up.
However, retaining the provincial championships as they are and playing the All-Ireland quarter-finals as a separate round-robin series would guarantee more top quality matches.
Which stage of the hurling championship would benefit most from a home and away round robin? #GAA
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) May 7, 2017
The risk here is the cheapening of the two provincial championships so, while the GAA seem determined to provide more hurling matches, there is still much to be discussed.
Having the round robin earlier in the championship would not solve the glaring issue, which is five SHC games in July and August 2018 compared to 19 football games.
An All-Ireland series round robin is the way to go.
