ANOTHER DAY, another awards ceremony and this time it is Kilkenny's All-Ireland final assassin Eddie Brennan who is asked to solve all that ails Gaelic games. After five minutes in Brennan's company it becomes abundantly clear those on the Hurling Development Committee should be listening more closely to the opinion of players either still involved in the game or recently retired.
Discipline and the proposed entry of Antrim and Galway into the Leinster hurling championship remain top of the agenda ahead of Saturday's special congress.
It's been out there before but Brennan, while supporting the entry of Galway and Antrim into Leinster, feels the championship structures will remain flawed until an open draw, akin to the Uefa Champions League in soccer, is designed to cater for the top-tier hurling counties.
"Realistically, an open draw is looking like it is going to be the only way forward, I suppose, to give everyone a chance. Maybe a Champions League format where you have 10 or 12 teams playing against each other, or maybe seed it that way.
"The only danger with that is it is going to kill the provincial championships. It means you have everybody playing each other twice a year. If you have that from May, June, July and your knockout from August that would create huge interest and high-profile matches all summer long and I suppose that's the one thing that might whet people's appetite.
"It is in the back of everyone's minds. I don't know if it will come to the fore. You could only imagine if you were filling Thurles, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Nowlan Park, Ennis every weekend, crowds out in their droves. If that's the case wouldn't it be great?"
Brennan's season is finally over after Graigue-Ballycallan were knocked out of the county championship by James Stephens, so the garda can finally rest and soak up the plaudits from arguably his best intercounty season. Scoring 2-4 against Waterford saw him collect the man-of-the-match award in the All-Ireland final for the second successive year and with it came the Vodafone hurler-of-the-month award for September.
Waterford corner back Eoin Murphy made the fatal mistake of belting into Brennan moments before the throw-in in the final, an action that seemed to merely sharpen the Kilkenny corner forward's focus and ruthlessness. Such incidents do, however, highlight the protection players may need from repetitive fouling (in Brennan's case you have to catch him to hurt him).
If Saturday's proposals are upheld, a yellow card will see a player sent off but he can be replaced by another. Brennan's solution again lies in the examples of another, professional, sport.
"I think the referees should be helped in as many ways as possible. I suppose you want to bring in consistency. When you look at the rugby, the Heineken Cup and that, they have a very good system in place. There is no abuse of officials and they know where they stand with certain things.
"They could bring about a certain pattern with hurling and Gaelic football. Maybe the likes of your captain or vice-captain can question the referee's decision rather than three or four lads coming over. It's frustrating for everyone as the referee doesn't want to be the one that makes the decision that changes the match."
Asked if the sinbin would be a more viable option, he said: "Something like that. What you really want to cut out of the game is cynical fouling or targeting of good players. You want the games as competitive as possible without losing the physical element, which is very important. When it is hard and fair nobody has any complaints. Maybe a second official up in the stands."
Overall he noted the absence of seeking the advice of recently retired players, basically, those in the know.
"Maybe players and past referees, get them together because it is often we see decisions are made by people who haven't consulted the people they are affecting."
