7 Things we Learned from the Hurling & Camogie Championships (6th & 7th June 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. Provincial Final Round Ups
2. Small Revenge in the Opening Round of Camogie Group 1
3. How do New York fit into the Championship?

A Dull Day for a Dull Munster Final

The Mick Mackey Cup makes its way back to Limerick for the 7th time in 8 years after they overcame Cork down in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The teams have shared the cup since 2017 and only separated by the minimum on James Owens final whistle. Certainly not a classic but with challenging conditions and stop-start game, Limerick came out on top. In both halves, Limerick hit their purple patch at the right time, as they rallied to come from 6 points down in the first half to go in 2 points down. They finished strongly again and closed out the game with a 1point win. Unfortunately, the referee’s performance has dominated the analysis of this game. It is impossible to say which team benefitted more from the stop-start nature. Like we have seen Limerick do in the past, would they have gotten a spell where they score 6-10 points across a 10-minute spell? Or if Cork continued to run and move and tire out Limerick, would we have seen more opportunities for scores for Cork, compared to 1 score from play in the second half, and Cork’s last point from play from Rob Downey’s inspirational score on 29 minutes. Maybe not that inspiring. Both teams look a class above the rest and look to be in pole position to be meeting on 19th July again, but the remaining teams will be waiting in the long grass.

Leinster Championship Final

The Leinster Championship finished how it started, with great excitement. On Saturday evening, Galway claimed the Bob O’Keeffe Cup overcoming Dublin in a very exciting game in HQ. 8 goals and 44 points were split between them, but Galway’s range of shooting and strong defending meant they came out 14-point victors. Daithi Burke, Tom Monaghan and Conor Whelan were excellent, but I felt Cathal Mannion completely controlled the tempo of the game. He seemed to always make the right decision in possession, and it was bizarre how he wasn’t tagged, especially after his influence early on. Dublin looked so naïve and open again as it seemed they hadn’t learned from the Cork semi-final last year. Galway had oceans of space for their rotating full forward line and Dublin had no pressure on the play out the field. The half back line looked in no man’s land and they paid the price. They got some gloss on the scoreline with late goals but their over reliance on the long ball was evident. I felt in previous games they mixed well between running and going long but they struggled in both departments. Dublin face a tricky opposition in Clare and the winners face Limerick. Galway wait on the winners of Cork and Offaly and will be relishing their chances at getting back to the All Ireland final for the first time since 2018.

Revenge for Cork and Waterford Camogie

It was a weekend of revenge in the opening games in Group 1 of the All-Ireland Camogie Championships as Cork overcame Galway in a repeat of last years final while Waterford beat Tipperary, just 3 weeks since Tipperary won the Munster final against them. Cork’s new look defence, anchored by the ever-present Libby Coppinger, limited Galway to just 1-8. I thought Meabh Murphy and Ava Fitzgerald were very good in half back line. Pushing Laura Hayes to midfield looks like a great option as she partnered Millie Condon superbly, while Saoirse McCarthy led the line excellently with a player of the match display. Galway struggled to get going with Niamh Mallon and Aoife Donoghue well marshalled up front. Carrie Dolan was only introduced as a second half substitute, but their defenders struggled with the movement and versatility of the Cork forward unit. In the other game in this group, Waterford dominated Tipperary and only for the late penalty from Eimear McGrath to put some gloss on the scoreline. Beth Carton, Niamh Rockett and Eimear O’Neill all contributed strongly to the scoreline of 0-16 to 1 10. Tipperary’s Caoimhe Stakelum didn’t play, and Eimear McGrath was introduced from the bench as they face Cork next week where they will need a win to get going in the All-Ireland series. Waterford welcome Galway next which will also be a great game. If Cork and Waterford win again they will be guaranteed a semi final place each but nothing is certain in this new format.

Laois win the ticket to the Leinster Championship

Laois completed the league and Championship double and regained their status at the top tier of inter-county hurling as they beat Carlow on Saturday evening by 9 points in the end. It was much closer throughout and if Carlow were more accurate it could have been a different story. They clocked up 22 wides which is very unlike them with Kavanagh, Nolan and the supporting cast normally very precise. Cillian Dunne was outstanding and deservedly picked up man of the match with 1-6 from play, Stephen Maher and Aaron Dunphy contributed handsomely to the scoreboard but Podge Delaney’s leadership and dedication to defending was so inspiring as Laois cruised to victory in the end. The level of the Joe McDonagh is improving year on year and it is fantastic to see teams progress to the level of Liam McCarthy, but Laois will be under no illusions that a big body of work will have to go in to maintain that status next year. Carlow begin the tough journey of going again, and with Kildare coming down, Westmeath, Antrim, the ever improving Down and Derry competing for glory, it promises to be an excellent championship.

Offaly and Kilkenny in Control in Group 2

Group 2 have 3 rounds of fixtures played and it is Kilkenny and Clare leading the pack on 3 wins each. They play each other in the next game in 2 weeks with the winner all but confirmed to reach the knockout stages. Roisin Begley has stood up for the Clare team in the opening 3 rounds and aided very well by Lorna McNamara but she fell to injury against Wexford. Aoife Prendergast has continued to lead from the front for Kilkenny as they look to be the standout team in Group 2. With Clare and Kilkenny facing next, there may be an option for Dublin, Offaly or Limerick to swoop in for either of the top 2 spots, the only spots progressing to the knockout phase.

More Hurling Needed for these Counties

The finals of the Lory Meagher, Nicky Rackard and Christy Ring took place over the bank holiday weekend with Longford, New York and Derry claiming silverware. Interestingly, the teams who finished top of the group phase all lost in their respective finals. So much has been spoken about how some teams are knocked out of the All-Ireland series and won’t play games in June. No player from these competitions get to play in June due to when the finals are on. The more it goes on, it begs the question, why can’t these teams compete in provincial championships to prolong their season. The split season is very short for these teams, and their club season doesn’t provide enough championship games to see prolonged improvement. In Leitrim, there are 2 adult hurling clubs so those players will play 1 championship game between the Lory Meagher final and the opening round next April. Kerry, who lost out to Derry, play off their hurling championship before the football championship in the county. The GAA and William Maher need to provide more games for the teams at this level in order to ensure the best players come and play year in year out. There is no reason why there can’t be an Ulster and Connacht Championship played prior too these tiered All-Ireland series. More needs to be done.

How do New York hurlers fit into the Championship?

We see two very different fortunes for the hurlers and footballers of New York with the hurlers claiming 2 trophies in 2 years while the footballers struggling to compete at their level. These players and teams enter a championship that they don’t have the same preparation for as their opposition teams, is that fair? Definitely not. Is it fair they enter a stage of the competition where other teams have to win games to get to? Definitely not. The New York hurlers have won 4 Championship games since last year and have won 2 National titles in that time. Tyrone have won 5 championship games since April and lost to New York in this year’s final. This can’t continue to happen. Would we see New York catapulted into an All-Ireland semi-final against a top team? So why should the teams in lower divisions suffer. If New York want to enter these Championships, they should have to compete in every stage. As a potential option, we could see more championship games played in New York. I would suggest something like 3 games in New York across 3 weekends. So for example, take New York, Tyrone and Mayo. Tyrone travel over and play New York the first weekend, Mayo the second weekend and then Mayo play New York the final weekend. This could then be replicated where New York come back to Ireland and play 2 fixtures across two weekends, like they do now. It is certainly not perfect but could be worth a discussion to produce a fairer championship for all teams.

See you next time!

Brendan

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