To Dual or Not to Dual

9th Oct 2008

To Dual or Not To Dual
Finbarr Barry

What an usual situation our local GAA stars and the supporting Cork public have found themselves in after this year's county finals.

Cork footballer Michael Cussen recently helped Sarsfields to win the senior county hurling title while All-Star hurler Ronan Curran lined out for St. Finbarr's to help his side win the intermediate football championship.

Even at this resolution we really dont need to point out Michael 'Elysian Tower' Cussen

While All-Ireland hurling medallist Curran acquitted himself admirably in a football full-forward line, Glanmire tower Michael Cussen bagged the Evening Echo Man-of-the-Match award as well as a superb full forward's goal at a crucial stage in the second half when Bride Rovers were beginning to dominate.

It was also interesting that one of the last legendary dual players, Teddy McCarthy (Peace Be Upon Him) was part of the management team that helped steer Sars to their long awaited victory after a tense wait of a half-century. For younger readers who only joined us in the last decade Teddy Mac achieved the coveted double in 1990 with Cork's hurlers and footballers.

To reduce carbon emmissions Kieran 'Fraggy' Murphy mounted a pieball for the victory tour.

This is something that, for all their media coverage, a Kerry, Tyrone or Kilkenny man will never achieve as long as they continue to ignore one code in favour of another. The only other athletes in the 32 counties to achieve a double of course are our own Rebelettes.

So, whatever the debate about the greatest GAA players of all time, be they male or female, Rocks of Cloyne or Gladiators from Glanmire you can be sure the discussion won't have to go beyond the Cork county bounds.

The point is that the dual-player rule is now on Cork fan's lips again especially on our discussion forum. Currently, club players excelling at hurling and football with their clubs must choose one code at inter-county level. This often leaves players in a conundrum. Will they end up merely on the squad with their preferred code or in the starting fifteen with their second preference?

Curran grabs another poor young fellas hat and starts tagging it.

Thinking of it in terms of the opposition helps highlight the issue better. Any visiting inter-county players watching the fantastic action in Pairc Úi Chaoimh during the club hurling final returned to their own single-code counties knowing that the man-of-the-match of Cork's annual hurling showcase will not be able to threaten them in 2009. He will be busy with the footballers. Pretty nice thought if you're from Waterford or Kilkenny.

For Nemo challengers Douglas an alternative dilemma arises. Potentially, there are twelve Douglas players who took part in Sunday's football final who will line out in the intermediate hurling final against Blarney next week. So the conundrum for Douglas GAA is this.

Would they have had a better chance of toppling Nemo's footballing dictatorship in Cork if all their footballers that lined out against their neighbours last Sunday had had their camáns locked away for the year? Nemo might be a dual code club in theory but haven't won a hurling title since an intermediate win in 1971 so maybe the answer for Douglas is 'yes' but this would effectively penalise them for pushing hard at both Gaelic games.

Action from the Kilkenny senior football championship

Kilkenny operate this one coded system to its extreme with many of the county's main clubs blatantly describing themselves as "hurling clubs" without a single reference to football on their websites.

Interestingly, all star hurlers Eddie Brennan and Jackie Tyrell recently competed in the Kilkenny Senior Football Final for their clubs and Eoin Larkin is one of the James Stephens club's best footballers. However one must take into account the pathetic state of the game in that county before rushing to conclusions.

The use of the word 'senior' does not in any way equate the respective players from James Stephens and Erin's Own players with those like James Masters playing proper senior.

Teddy Mac. Still the only man alive or dead to win two All Ireland senior medals in one year.

No Kilkenny club has ever won a Leinster Football Club title and The Cats have not won a single football championship game since 1929. Therefore the standard that Brennan and Larkin play at is roughly equivalent to that of an U-12 Sciath na Scoil relegation match (with at least one stray barking-mad jack russell playing corner forward) so any comparison between dual-players at club level in Cork and Kilkenny is absurd.

No doubt Cork hurling bainisteoir Ger Mac will have seen Michael Cussen's great performance in the county final but football boss Conor Counihan will have his whip out should Ger Mac even breathe the word hurling within two miles of the Glanmire star.

Although the rule preventing dual-players has its place, should there be exceptions made for exceptional players? These are some of the arguments that will fill the sporting void until the leagues kick off in February and the answer to our question should be the one that benefits Cork most.

*This has been a credit-crunch free article.