The gospel according to…
Some of us live for the entertainment, others crave detail and analysis, the best pundits in the game are able to strike a balance. At the end of the day, the most important thing for a pundit is that they’re one hundred percent confident in what they’re going to say.
These are their views and this is something you can either agree with or you can rip to shreds but at least then it got you thinking, it got you riled up one way or the other.
Some of us only tune in to see what the lads had to say at half-time or at full-time, right or wrong. Nowadays, pundits can come in many forms, through podcasts, radio shows or on the box itself.
We’ve put a table together ranking our favourite hurling pundits over the last few years.
20 Ken McGrath
Doesn’t talk about the game with the same levels of conviction he played it with.
19 Michael Duignan
Duignan still views hurling to be the same game as it was when he was playing.
Michael Duignan says Davy Fitz will be better off sitting in the stands anyway. Read the full story here: https://t.co/JiPANCCT6x #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/U7PE4skSpp
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) April 20, 2017
18 Henry Shefflin
Henry was slow to take to the punditry game, offering bland, flavorless views for a while, but the bite is beginning to come now. Doesn’t have the intensity or drive of colleagues Walsh and Brennan.
Fascinating, awesome hurling – Henry Shefflin serves up the opening 35 minutes pic.twitter.com/lgDl6d7bvw
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 21, 2017
17 Tomás Mulcahy
While his passion for hurling is absolutely unquestionable, he’s also prone to going off on a nostalgia inspired tangent.
16 Eoin Kelly
A new addition to the punditry game, the legendary Tippeary forward is learning as he goes along. Only out of the game a few years himself, he’s well aware what’s going on but he’s a little cagier to share his stories than say, the likes of Jackie Tyrrell.
15 Jamesie O’Connor
The Clareman speak an awful lot of sense. Well able to break a game down, you’ll learn something by listening to Jamesie.
Where he falls down is a lack of real expression and authority and that doesn’t do his calculated and balanced views justice.
14 Cathal Moore
Cathal Moore knows what he’s talking about. He always has his homework done, but like Jamesie O’Connor, he wouldn’t be quite as intense or engaging as the lads below him.
13 Ollie Canning
Canning comes into his own when talking about the art of defending and it’s always a good listen when he shares some anecdotes about his experiences as a teak tough corner back in the maroon of Galway.
12 Ger Loughnane
You just can’t get away with saying four of Tipperary’s defenders are over the age of 30 when in fact none of them are. The nagging suspicion is always there that he’s not really in touch with the modern game, and that if asked about younger players, he wouldn’t know their names never mind much about them.
Ger Loughnane: "Tipperary have come to the end of the line.. there's no way back for them now – either today or in the championship" pic.twitter.com/ATp2gJxbAc
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 27, 2018
He speaks with authority and will always have a divisive, thought provoking outlook, but too often he tries to compensate for his lack of knowledge with some needlessly cut-throat analysis in order to stay relevant.
11 Michael Rice
Michael Rice is immersed in hurling. A student of the game, he knows all the players, their clubs and other little facts about them. A star in TG4’s rise to becoming one of the best, himself and Cathal Moore are similar in that they always have their research and homework done.
10 Cyril Farrell
The Galway man always has his homework done. He knows the players inside out, the game inside out and calls it right most of the time.
Cyril Farrell fancies Galway for the Liam MacCarthy Cup in September. #AllianzLeagues #AllianzLeagueSunday #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/tVwze4Fvcp
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) April 23, 2017
His best asset can often be his biggest downfall, however, because that information overload often sees him take off on a tangent at the like a high speed train and by the time he takes a breath, you don’t really know what he’s after saying.
Free-scoring Cork were comfortable in picking off Waterford, says Cyril Farrell #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/dHVflqRlhF
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) March 18, 2018
9 Brendan Cummins
His enthusiasm for the game is clear for all to see. When something gets him going, his blood races, his head rocks, his facial expression goes wild and he Brendan Cummins comes to life.
He knows hurling inside out, has his finger on the pulse with most teams in the game and is a real salt of the earth hurling man. For this reason, most hurling folk will see eye to eye with his views.
The Ballybacon Grange man speaks with intensity and he’ll always draw you in.
8 JJ Delaney
Not one for hyperbole, the 7-time All-Star defender has absolutely no problem rallying against any aspects of the modern game that he feels are over the top or unnecessary.
He knows what it takes to get to the very top and he has no problem calling it as it is if lads are going the wrong way about it. And even though he has achieved everything there is to achieve in the game, he still comes across modest and unassuming.
Comes into his own when talking about his own county but crucially, his judgement is never clouded by that.
That makes him easy to listen to.
7 Liam Sheedy
Management’s loss is punditry’s game. Dissects the game in detail but he doesn’t speak in tactical jargon, he cuts the rubbish and speaks like he’d speak to another man down at the hurling field.
That’s easy on the ear and his tactical readings are nearly always spot on.
If Clare click in the final third, someone is getting a pasting, says Liam Sheedy #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/CkexpZLMYh
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 20, 2018
6 Tommy Walsh
Hurling is what gets Tommy Walsh going. Is he going to break down where a game is won and lost? No. Is he going to provide sharp tactical analysis on the game? Maybe not. Is he entertaining? You’d better believe it.
The Tullaroan man speaks with such zip and excitement in his voice that it’s almost impossible not to get carried away with him. A brilliant man for those tales that could only exist in the GAA, Walsh tells them in such a captivating manner that it’s hard not to enjoy the show.
"His uncle was MOTM in the 1993 minor final" – Tommy Walsh dropping some knowledge on co-commentary duty today. 😂😂😂😂 #ClubChampionships pic.twitter.com/jtQz2ceUly
— eir Sport (@eirSport) September 30, 2017
5 Eddie Brennan
Nobody cuts through the guff quite like Eddie Brennan. He’s not one for a charm offensive and he has no hesitancy in calling anybody out. Has a sharp hurling brain too as his recent description on Kilkenny’s tactical switch to shorter passing and more crisp build up play showed.
Very opinionated, he will always have a strong outlook and he will deliver his thoughts with conviction.
Eddie Brennan says Waterford didn't trust themselves in the last 10 minutes #KKvWAT https://t.co/6zBO1S6Hz6
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 7, 2016
4 Anthony Daly
Dalo is like a child at Christmas at the mere smell of the Munster Championship. His sheer grá for hurling jumps out of the television screen the very second he opens his mouth and starts nodding his head.
"Momentum is a massive thing" –
Dave McIntyre is joined in Thurles by Anthony Daly & Tommy Walsh. #AllianzLeagues #MatchNightLive pic.twitter.com/VXtitfDl4F— eir Sport (@eirSport) February 17, 2018
Recently, while analysing the Clare senior hurlers, the Banner legend told us how ‘sound’ John Conlon is, just about stopping short of analysing his ability to drink pints.
Dalo loves hurling, he loves everything about it, and it’s hard not to enjoy him when he’s giving it socks.
3 Donal O Grady
His knowledge on hurling knows no bounds, the astute tactical mind that inspired Cork to the All-Ireland in 2004 is as alive now as it was then. Always a welcome addition to the commentary box with RTÉ or the punditry table with TG4, he speaks about hurling with insight and he speaks about it with passion.
Doesn’t spare lads but he’s always fair and measured in his judgement. A man who lives and breathes the game, it’s clear that every opinion he comes up with has only been generated after ferocious debate within his own head. That’s why it’s extremely rare you won’t agree with his point of view after he’s given his tuppence.
2 Jackie Tyrrell
One thing Jackie Tyrrell guarantees is the absence of bullshit. Calls it exactly how he sees it and his conviction in his own views will have you believe not only that his way is the right way, but that it’s the only way.
Tyrell isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers, as his book, ‘The Warrior’s Code’ showed and he appears to have no ties to anyone or to anything that might stop him from giving his honest opinion.
No home comforts for Waterford – Jackie Tyrrell on why Walsh Park does not suit the Déise's game #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/z7dlxmzbPr
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 18, 2018
Intelligent, articulate and very insightful, the James Stephens club man is very in touch with the modern game. He tells stories about these players and these teams on the scene now and he does it in an open and engaging way.
That’s exactly what a pundit should be.
1 Donal Óg Cusack
Gone but not forgotten.
The biggest loss The Sunday Game has suffered since its inception. In a fruitful three year career in the RTÉ studios, the Cork man presented himself as easily the sharpest hurling brain around.
That much was hardly surprising giving the cunning puck-out strategies and tactics he used employ during his career as a goalkeeper.
On top of his always clever, incisive analysis, Donal Óg was blessed with the gift of the gab and after listening to him for a while, you were always convinced by his point of view.
When he twirled that pen and the Cork accent thickened, he was at the peak of his power, he was at the peak of punditry and you just couldn’t argue with him.
His picking apart of the Cork county board back in the day was the best four minutes The Sunday Game has ever broadcast.
No longer tied up in management, the Cloyne man’s door is surely getting battered down by eir, RTÉ, TG4 and Sky Sports.
