Following last weekend’s defeat to Ireland in the Shinty / Hurling second test, Scotland Head Coach Drew McNeil speaks out about a whole range of issues in relation to the international series.
The Scots went down 51-23 to Ireland in the Shinty / Hurling second test and so lost the series 6-2. McNeil reflected on the Cusack Park encounter saying, “We planned before the game to go for goals. We played six players up front and four men at the back and we tried to out-score the Irish. We had chances too and we passed up three or four opportunities in the first half alone. However we lack composure at the vital times and their goalkeeper Bernard Rochford took his good form from the first game into this match too.”
The late change to award five points for a goal instead of three was a talking point but did it suit the Scots? “I think everyone could see that the change to five points for a goal didn’t suit us,” said McNeil “It meant that when Ireland went a few goals in front, we had to use our two-point opportunities to try and score a goal to cut the gap. We couldn’t afford to just put the ball between the posts and collect the two points. That negated our two-pointers and of course the gap remained intact if we were not able to score a goal from these situations.”
McNeil was very impressed with opponents Ireland. “It also has to be said that Ireland gave very little away. They were the better team. They were extremely fast and had good physic. The pitch was 90 metres wide and that suited them. I would say that they were the best Shinty / Hurling Irish team that I had seen in all my time as player and on the coaching staff for these games. Guys like Neil McManus have come through the Shinty / Hurling U21s and he played for the seniors in 2010. They were telling me that he is the first Antrim player to be nominated for an All-Star award.”
McNeil is pragmatic about the Scots’ defeat, and the gap between the sides in the second test. He says, “I think we have to put this in all in context. There are around 800 hurlers to every shinty player. That gives the Irish a huge resource to pick from. Both shinty and hurling run Development Camps every year. Around 70-80 shinty players attend our Camp and it’s a great thing. However over 86,000 hurlers attended their Camps and they have an annual budget of around £8-9 million pounds to run it. Hurling is just on a completely different scale.”
The Scotland boss is clear on the benefits that come from the international series. “I’ve said before that I would like to think that clubs like Kinlochshiel, Lovat and Glenurquhart have benefited from having so many players involved in the international set-up. These players return from international duty with more ambition and I’m sure they are better players for the experience. They may have ideas that their club coaches could use. They also get to see what the Camanachd Association coaching team can deliver and they can be a great resource for clubs. These are some of the the benefits of this game.”
McNeil makes it clear that he stands by the current selection process “There is always discussion about the selection process. First of all I would say that it is NOT a closed shop. Shinty and hurling are two different games and that shouldn’t be forgotten. The Shinty / Hurling composite rules is a different game again but it is something that is important to both sports. When I became Head Coach, I wanted a system in place where clubs nominate players who could be part of the international set-up. The clubs score these players on strengths and weaknesses. The players then buy-in to the process and come along to the fitness sessions. We held three fitness sessions but the players only need to come along to one of them. These are necessary because you have to be very fit to compete in this environment against the hurlers. We benchmark our players’ fitness against their previous performance and against the hurlers because we have that information. We can see the improvements that our players are making as their benchmarks improve. We then carry out training sessions where we go through specific drills. We have to do that because you just can’t play shinty in the Shinty / Hurling international because it is a different game. We hold three sessions and again, it is not absolutely necessary to come to all three if a player can’t make it for whatever reason. But I don’t think it is too much to ask a player to commit to one fitness session and two or three training sessions.”
He adds, “It is also interesting to look at the quality of player who sign up and who are selected. This year’s squad included the National player of the year, the Premiership player of the year and the North and South Division 1 players of the year. Ireland pick players from the top tier, second tier and third tier of hurling. But, like us, their players play for their local club so you can still have quality players playing in the second or third tier of hurling. It just so happens that these hurlers live in one of the counties who don’t have a squad strong enough to get in the top tier. We are the same. Look at Kevin Bartlett. He plays in shinty’s second tier but the Irish were raving about his performances over the two games. It just so happens that Kevin’s club Caberfeidh are not in shinty’s top tier but he is still an excellent player.”
What happens next with the international series is one of the topics contained within the current Competitions Review being carried out by the Camanachd Association. A paper issued to clubs said,
“Recently the Senior Shinty Hurling International has been played on a home and away basis, although both the Under 21’s and Women’s team have only had one match. Should we expand this to enable all three teams to have annual home and away fixtures or should we revert to just one fixture per team each year?”
Cost is an obvious issue as the shinty community considers whether they can afford the financial commitment required for the senior team to continue to take part in an annual home and away series. However no-one has been able to categorically confirm that should we revert to just one international for the seniors each year, would the funds used to participate in the second international be available for
other aspects of the game or are these funds simply generated by the second international itself.
There is very much a future for the Shinty / Hurling international in McNeil’s eyes. “I’ve already mentioned the benefits that shinty gets from the international series and the Irish love it too. They were very pleased with their individual performances in the series and how clinical they were as a team, especially in the second game. I would like to have a panel of players to work with in the lead up to next year’s internationals and there is of course the potential of a New York game on the horizon. That way we could get together on a monthly basis and have a conditioning programme. We could plan and improve and get all the benefits that this experience has to offer. That’s the way forward for me.”