7 Things we Learned from the Hurling League (Round 3 – NHL & Round 1 Camogie League 2026)

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

This week in brief:

1. Football set ups in Hurling?
2. Antrim’s struggles under Davy Fit
3. All-Ireland Camogie finalists struggle in the opening round

Leagues taking shape

As we are through 3 rounds of the league, the tables are really taking shape, and we can see which teams are coming into form ahead of their respective championships. Division 1A and 1B has served up great battles along with some surprising scorelines, Cork the only unbeaten team in the top tier and look to be heading for the league final. There have been mixed results for Waterford, Limerick and Kilkenny as they look to reach a league final. Clare and Wexford have 100% starts to 1B but the manner has certainly been different with Clare impressing to date and Wexford getting over the line with mixed performances. Division 2 has Kerry, Laois and Westmeath all unbeaten across the opening 3 rounds with Kerry and Laois looking in good form with big wins to date. Division 3 is extremely competitive with 4 teams all on 2 wins, with Donegal impressing the most with 2 big wins. Fermanagh and Armagh are in a race against time to find form quickly ahead of the Nicky Rackard Championship. Division 4 sees a sizable gap with Sligo and Longford on 6 points and 4 points clear of the chasing pack. The leagues can be hard to judge fully, with different teams at different stages of development, transition and targets. As well as this, the fixtures and where each teams break week lies dictates the focus of training at any stage. That being said, championship hurling will be here in 8 weeks so maintaining and finding form for teams will be essential.

‘Football like’ Set Up

The middle of third of hurling has become an area that coaches and analysts put major focus on. It has a real impact on the winning and losing of the game. We know coaches look to use this area as the springboard for their attack and winning this battle can put teams in a great position to win. The Limerick team and maybe more so, Paul Kinnerk’s coaching, has targeted overloads in the middle third area of the pitch. As team’s and coaches adapt, this year more than ever I think we are seeing more players in this area and turning it into a big battle zone. We now see a set up similar to football, where we have goalkeepers, inside forwards and defenders and then middle 8 players. Bodies are plentiful here and it is a case of working hard in 3s and 4s to hunt the ball, restricting that perfect delivery to the full forward line. This is not entirely new to hurling but we are certainly seeing more teams go this way in the early rounds of the league.

Antrim under Davy Fitz

Antrim’s woes and Kildare’s rise went hand in hand after the teams’ meeting in Newbridge. It is difficult to argue that Davy Fitz has had a successful time up in Antrim with the team now back in Joe McDonagh and struggling in the league. They made fantastic strides under Darren Gleeson, but that progress has stalled since. The style of play looks to be outdated with very little threat up front, scoring an average of 19 points across 3 games. The team looks frustrated and short of ideas in possession and pairing this with a lack of intensity in defence, leads to poor performances and results. It will be a big job for Antrim to turn this form around as they look to avoid relegation and ahead of the Joe McDonagh campaign. Based on the evidence, you would think that a change of style is needed, to more depth in their forward line to create more scoring chances. The narrative around this shows how powerful momentum is. If they held on to victory against Wexford, which would have been a strong start and now confidence and momentum is in their favour.

Red Cards & Melees

The big talking point coming out of SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the match between Tipperary and Cork, was the melee that led to red cards for Shane Barrett and Jason Forde. As mentioned by Ben O’Connor, with the reasoning given to the players that they ‘continued the fight.’ It was probably inevitable that something like that melee was going to happen with the way the second half of the All-Ireland final unfolded last year, but maybe 7 months too late from a Cork point of view! Again, it goes back to supporting the referees and the wording and interpretation of the rules. There was very little in the melee with not much more than pushing, shoving and pulling to the ground, with Barrett and Forde the unlucky sacrificial lambs. On the other hand, it would have been impossible for Liam Gordon and his officials to penalise everyone who ‘contributed to the melee.’ If the incident wasn’t dealt with, and the game lost control with more fights and potentially injured players, the narrative would be that the officials didn’t deal with the initial incident properly. With so much focus and scrutiny on referee’s performances it is hard to not feel sorry for them. I think we need to support our referees more, rather than placing so much pressure on them to not make any mistake.

Delight for Brian Dowling

Brian Dowling is certainly not a new name for people in terms of coaching or management, but he deservedly got plenty of plaudits after a fantastic 24 hours in hurling management. He managed St Kieran’s College to a Leinster Schools Hurling Final win and followed it up by guiding Kildare to a fantastic performance and win over Antrim on Sunday. For the fourth year in a row, St Kieran’s College lifted the Doyle Cup with a strong win over their county rivals, Kilkenny CBS. Jack Sheridan and Muiris Curtin shone for Kildare as they scored 3-21 against Antrim, which could have been more as they only scored 3 points in the final 20 minutes. Knowing the drive and ambition that Dowling has, he will certainly not rest on this but it will be 24 hours he will look back on with great pride in years to come.

Fitzgibbon & The Calendar

Despite the valiant efforts of Jamie Wall’s Mary I team, UL achieved victory in the Fitzgibbon Cup 2026. Their star-studded lineup dominated the competition from start to finish with big score lines and a solid defence. Mary I did very well to breach this defence scoring 3-21 but remarkably, still falling short by more than 10 points. UL’s forward line would put fear into inter county defenders, with them all scoring from play, Cathal O’Neill (0-7), Jack Leahy (1-5) and Aidan O’Connor (0-3) all standing up. It is exciting to see the likes of Adam Screeney playing alongside Darragh McCarthy and Adam English which is made possible by the Fitzgibbon Cup. It also produced one of the moments of the year if not all time exemplifying unbelievable effort and skill from Cian Scully. A phenomenal passage which I’m sure will feature in coaching for years to come. It is difficult to speak about the Fitzgibbon Cup without touching on the calendar and congestion for players at this time of year. It would be fantastic to see third level competitions be given proper time to play and for the players to be fully involved in those teams. We know how congested the calendar is with the inter county and club season set, but none for third level competitions. The reality is, the players playing college competitions are on the fringes of inter county teams, and they will get their opportunity in the league to stake a claim in the team. The pressure on them is massive as they try to break in but also play in the great college competitions. I’m not sure there is a solution without affecting the inter county or club calendar further. 

Camogie Round-Up

Valentine’s Day saw the commencement of the camogie leagues for 2026. A mix of big games, tight contests and impressive wins was seen around the country. In Division 1A, Kilkenny had a great away win overcoming last years All-Ireland champions by a point. Kilkenny will be hoping for some consistency this year having started the league under four managers over the last four years. An impressive win with Galway fielding a strong team with Carrie Dolan, Niamh Mallon and Aoife Donoghue all starting. Dicksboro duo of Aoife Prendergast and Asha McHardy impressing for Kilkenny scoring 1-9 out of their 2-11 total. Tipperary continued their dominance over Antrim in recent years, recording a big win as Antrim return to Division 1A. An all-round strong performance for Tipp, with Caoimhe Stakelum leading the scoring with 1-4 who has made a seamless transition to senior inter county camogie. Waterford overcame Cork for the first time in 3 years with a strong performance in Walsh Park. Beth Carton continued her consistent form over the last number of years with 0-7 from play. Cork are certainly in a small transition period with a number of changes in Ger Manley’s backroom team and on the pitch, most notably Laura Treacy’s retirement and Aoife Healy and Hannah Looney’s AFLW opportunities. The return to the panel of Hayley Ryan and Keeva McCarthy will no doubt help this transition.

See you next time!

Brendan

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