7 Things we Learned from the early rounds of Hurling & Camogie Championship 2026

A DSS Coaching piece by Brendan Delaney, focusing on lessons from the Hurling and Camogie Championships through the prism of coaching and performance.

This week in brief:

1. Is there enough jeopardy in Leinster?
2. Under 20 stars thriving at senior level.
3. TJ Reid, top of the pile again.

Early baths for Tipperary and Waterford?

Tipperary and Waterford find themselves with a small mountain to climb to be in the top 3 in Munster at the conclusion of the round robin series. A share of the points in Walsh Park means they both need to get points from their remaining two games to be in with a chance of progressing. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility with anything and everything possible in today’s game of hurling, but they certainly are sizeable tasks with Tipperary facing Limerick and Clare while Waterford battle Cork and Limerick. Waterford have battled extremely well in their opening games and have been very exciting in attack through the leadership of Stephen Bennett. He has been excellent again this year and looks to be playing with the absolute determination of elevating Waterford to new heights. On the other side of the pitch, it begs the question where they would be without Billy Nolan but overall have conceded 66 scores across two games which puts them on the back foot in every fixture. Regarding Tipperary, I mentioned in one of my pieces that they could and should be in a position to dominate hurling for years to come with underage and school success and building from the All-Ireland success from last year. Their stuttering start to the Munster Championship has put serious questions to them as I thought they looked very flat against Cork and blowing an 11-point lead against Waterford is quite worrying.

Jeopardy in Leinster

I have really enjoyed Kildare’s rise to the senior ranks of intercounty hurling, and I do think it is great for other counties of similar level to use them as inspiration. Offaly’s recovery from the barren years has been great as well as their underage success, Wexford and Dublin serve up some fantastic performances while Galway and Kilkenny will always be at the top of Leinster. However, I feel the lack of jeopardy in Leinster has stagnated the level of excitement and standard on show and in my opinion, this is down to having 6 teams in the competition. For years, we have seen Munster teams go all out for every game in the round robin series, as the jeopardy is huge if you drop points. On the other hand, Kilkenny lost to Galway on the opening day but have another 4 games to make amends and aim for a Leinster final. I think if there were 5 teams, there would be more pressure on every game and the standard and excitement would increase. You would see more teams going all out for games as 1 win or 1 loss could drastically change the season, as we see in Munster.

Championships taking Shape

Following the opening rounds in the Championships we see the tables taking shape and we can really focus on each team’s form. I mentioned recently how quick the Championships come and how important the opening rounds are. Leitrim head up the Lory Meagher with 3 wins from 3 as they enter the break week. Cavan and Longford make the remaining top 3 but with those teams having to play each other, Leitrim seemingly already with one foot in the final. Tyrone look to be in pole position in the Nicky Rackard topping the table and their remaining fixtures are against Fermanagh and Armagh who are struggling this year. Sligo and Mayo make up 2^nd and 3^rd spot but face each other in the next round, Louth will certainly have a chance to pass either team. Kerry will be hoping to make their visit to Christy Ring as brief as possible as they top the table with 3 strong wins to date. Their mix of youth and experience has put them in the driving seat to feature in Croke Park on the June Bank Holiday weekend, with Padraig Boyle reeling back the years with 2 hat-tricks to date. The Joe McDonagh table makes for interesting viewing as Carlow and Down started with 2 wins each. Antrim have struggled further from the league and find themselves at the foot of the table and will need some big results to avoid a second successive relegation.

Young Guns Seamless Transition To Senior Inter County

There has been lots of coverage the past few weekends highlighting young players stepping up to senior inter county hurling. Oisin O’Donoghue (Tipperary), Barry Walsh (Cork), David Purcell (Dublin), Aaron Niland and Jason Rabitte (both Galway) are all still under 20 and making their mark on the senior Championships. Obviously, they all have the technical attributes to be playing at this level, but their physical attributes and ability to take a hit from established players has helped make this transition seamless as they look at home on the big stage. I think it is very important at any level to have an influx of youth players each year to increase squad competition and there is no doubt that these young players are excelling now. I am lucky enough to play with Barry Walsh at club level, and his rise has not surprised us in Killeagh as he shows skill and power that are way beyond his years. Oisin O’Donoughue’s performances this year have been excellent as he proves to be a pivotal part to Tipperary’s team. It is Aaron Niland who has impressed me the most. We know of his name for years from underage teams but his role in this Galway team has been slightly different to those teams. He can play anywhere in the forward unit and his ability to mix his play between an inside forward and a link man has made him very difficult to pin down. He will have a massive impact on how far Galway progress in this year’s Championship.

Camogie Coverage

An age-old topic of coverage for Camogie has been highlighted again. Rachel Sheehan spoke on Off The Ball last week about the double header in Thurles and the lack of advertisement around the camogie match on prior to Cork and Tipperary hurlers locking horns. I think these players deserve the credit, recognition and coverage for playing at the highest level. They have realised their dream, put in the thousands of hours to get to this stage and are fantastic role models for the next generation. Broadcaster and media outlets must give them some coverage. There was no highlights package on the Saturday Game or the Sunday Game which was very disappointing. All that being said, more needs to be done from their own associations around the games and these players. The Munster Camogie Website had no promotion of the game between Limerick and Tipperary, or any result at the time of writing. There is no advertised fixture ahead of the other semi-final between Kerry and Waterford. The Leinster Camogie Website has no result of the Kilkenny and Wexford semi-final, which Wexford won by a point. There are posts and stories on Instagram on their respective pages but again, more needs to be done to highlight these players and these games. There was fantastic coverage during the league where games were shown live on YouTube, but the provincial boards haven’t done this for their own competitions.

Big Absences Swinging Big Games

When the news filtered through of Aaron Gillane missing the opening two rounds, you immediately felt Cork had a much better chance of success than if he was playing. He is the best player in the country at the moment, and his absence was a big loss for Limerick on Sunday. They now travel to Ennis next week without Cian Lynch as well and this will put a massive strain on their strength in depth. The news of Ciaran Joyce’s ACL rupture is devastating from a Cork point of view as he has been excellent since stepping in to full back. Damien Cahalane stepped up and could be the go-to option, especially looking at the match ups with Sean Walsh of Waterford and Peter Duggan of Clare. Robert Downey will also miss the rest of the Munster campaign who is a huge loss after two good games from him. Two big pillars of Corks defence will test their resolve but also potentially swing the games away from them with Waterford and Clare eyeing a scalp. Adrian Mullen’s ongoing thumb injury has proved to be a loss as well for Kilkenny and there’s no doubt that they are a better team with him on the pitch. Despite ongoing injury concerns, Shane O’Donnell and Stephen Bennetts presence for their respective teams gives them a chance against any opposition in the country, such is their impact. The Championship is so tight as any available or unavailable could have a big impact on the whole season.

TJ Reid – All Time Top Scorer

Everything to say about TJ Reid has already been said, and he deserves massive credit and recognition for regaining the all-time top scoring status overcoming Patrick Horgan at the top of the pile again. Since his Championship debut in 2008, Reid has scored 41 goals and 657 points which is a phenomenal achievement. The Ballyhale-Shamrocks player has won every accolade in the game, and this is another feat to add to his fantastic career. It shows how pivotal he is to Kilkenny’s team that he is still playing 70 minutes in crunch games and is their go-to player from play and placed ball. It is hard to see this total being topped as his longevity and excellent free-taking will be hard matched in years to come.

See you next time!

Brendan

__________________

About DSS Coaching

DSS Coaching supports Gaelic Football and Hurling coaches through practical, evidence-informed content. Membership includes weekly video breakdowns, coaching resources, CPD webinars, reflective tools, and access to a growing community of coaches.

You can find out more or join the DSS Coaching membership at: https://www.dsscoaching.ie/platform-membership