Remember all the hullabaloo when the Club Players Association was formed? Where are they now? And where is the Gaelic Players Association as Ballygunner face into their eighth consecutive weekend playing knockout club hurling.

The other side of the argument, of course, is that players want matches and certainly the Waterford champions are getting those. It is the club player’s ideal scenario: train during the week and play a meaningful match at the weekend.

This Sunday in Walsh Park the Clare champions Sixmilebridge visit for the Munster club semi-final and this has the makings of another classic, akin to the one Ballygunner emerged from last Sunday when putting Thurles Sarsfields to the sword.

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The club hurling and football championships are wonderful entertainment at this time of the year, and thanks to TG4 (and eir Sport, for those who have it), we can all share in them. I have a gripe, however, and on the off chance that someone from TG4 or Sky is reading this, perhaps they can help me out.

Technology is amazing and my current Sunday routine is to go to a match, avoid the radio at it, get home and watch the TG4 offerings, having recorded the live show. So far so good. I left the Clare county football final at Cusack Park and was home before six last Sunday, the feet up and this miracle called Sky Plus at the ready.

The Kilkenny hurling final was first up and what an hour that was. The score line at half time was 3-11 to 3-6. I watched that game to a conclusion and settled down then for Ballygunner and Thurles.

Munster hurling, two stalwarts with everything to play for. Another classic, even if the sunshine made it difficult to watch, but we won’t tag TG4 for that anomaly.

No, the problem started when this titanic struggle went into extra time. Next thing, the programme cut out and up flashed a message on my screen: “The programme you recorded has ended.”

“It hadn’t,” I screamed at the TV, “Sure, it’s after going to extra time!”

So, that’s my issue. In this pampered world we live in, where we can see what we want when we want, Sky Plus doesn’t recognise extra time. To quote a man from the long and distant past – Halls Pictorial Weekly, to be exact – “What’s the Government going to do about it? That’s what I want to know!”

This Sunday I will leave nothing to chance and make the trip to Walsh Park. If there’s extra time, I’ll be ready.

At the very same time, my tip for All-Ireland club glory, Limerick champions Na Piarsaigh, take on Cork runners-up Blackrock in the Gaelic Grounds in the other semi-final. The Sky Plus will be set again, despite the fact that the home side are warm order favourites.

It is just 20 months since Na Piarsaigh were champions on St Patrick’s Day and the entire Blackrock squad are new to Munster club hurling, so there can only be one winner, right? That’s not how Munster works, thankfully, so while I still think a powerful Na Piarsaigh will win, the Rockies, disappointed with a close loss in the Cork final, should put it up to them.

Munster isn’t the only province with juicy provincial clashes this weekend. Leinster is also heating up with reigning champions Cuala back in the mix. In Kilkenny, we have Dicksboro emerging as potential contenders and these two waste no time laying down a marker because they meet in Parnell Park this Sunday at 2pm.

The winners will be the hottest of favourites to emerge from the east. Cuala might have too much know-how for the Cats, a strange statement to make about a Kilkenny team, but go back over the Leinster and national roll of honour: teams come for a few years and stick around.

The Kilkenny champions are at this juncture for the first time since 1993 and Cillian Buckley aside, are not stocked with inter-county players, although it is worth pointing that 10 of their team are 22 or under. They will learn from this journey. Cuala were superb last spring, they have regained Dublin, so they haven’t gone away and won’t on Sunday either.

Superstar Staunton

There will be so many stars on show this weekend in all codes, some of them newly minted All-Stars (winners announced on Friday), but really last weekend there was only one individual performance to marvel at.

In the Connacht senior ladies club championship final at Ballyhaunis, Carnacon of Mayo and Kilkerrin-Clonberne of Galway played out a thrilling draw – incredibly the score line was 5-17 to the Mayo side with Galway’s champs replying with 6-14.

Probably the sport’s greatest forward of all time, Cora Staunton fired a remarkable 4-13 in this game. In one game. That’s 25 points – a total most forwards don’t reach over a season. And she is apparently in the twilight of her career at 34.

TG4 (remember them) should really do a Laochra Gael programme on Cora, shouldn’t they? Actually, they did, three and a half years ago, back in February 2014. It will have to be updated.

Much ado about nothing

Before we leave the GAA for the week, it is worth commenting on some of the hysteria and so-called scandal that has engulfed the organisation in the last few weeks.

In Ballyragget, the wholly irresponsible and reprehensible behaviour widely reported was the action of individuals and should be treated as such. But as usual, the reaction has been completely over the top.

This had nothing to do with the GAA. This is not what we’re about. This was most likely about alcohol. Yet there were calls to remove a team from the Leinster championship?

It’s the modern world, where almost everyone wants to throw their tuppence into news stories, usually attention seekers looking to insert themselves into whatever is going on.

As a result, the language quickly moves to hysterical. And quickly again, the stories die away and the world moves on – it doesn’t fall down around us, as some tweeters wished and predicted.

However, the toll some of this is taking on individuals is becoming a problem. Good people are walking away. The GAA cannot be expected to stop the online tide, but perhaps a few lifeguards on duty would be a help. CL